Mark Abruzzese
Owner, General Manager
A native of Stoneham, MA, Mark is a scientist by training with a BA from Dartmouth College in Earth Science and an MS from Stanford University in Geological & Environmental Sciences. At a young age, Mark had a sense he wanted to teach, and found his passion in the high school classroom teaching chemistry, physics, and environmental science for 24 years, most at Menlo School in Atherton, CA, and Belmont High School in Belmont, MA.
Mark’s enthusiasm for music and education converged in this new endeavor to build, open, and lead School of Rock Burlington in 2023. A singer-songwriter primarily, Mark finds deep rewards in the journey of writing and performing original songs. He released his debut album under the name Deviant Folk in 2021 and is working to record and release dozens more of the compositions he has been performing at venues like The Bebop Music House in Boston and Lily P’s Fried Chicken and Oysters in Cambridge (the new home of Bluegrass Tuesdays after decades at The Cantab Lounge).
Mark's list of influences is long and includes the likes of Tom Petty, John Prine, Ani Difranco, Greg Brown, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Journey, AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, James Brown, Steve Miller Band, Bela Fleck, and Tony Rice. Mark plays acoustic and electric guitar, electric and upright bass, and mandolin. At School of Rock Burlington, you will find him coaching ensembles, filling in on a variety of lessons, and reminding everyone that enthusiasm is contagious!
Ben Andrade
Drum Teacher
Ben began drumming when he was just 10 years old and began lessons at Jack’s Drum Shop in Hyannis, MA not long after. Launched into music performance by jazz and marching bands in high school, he decided to pursue a career in it, earning a BA from Berklee College of Music in 2022.
Over the years, Ben has had the chance to see some great shows in the Boston area to fuel a passion for live performance: Red Hot Chili Peppers at TD Garden, Foo Fighters at Fenway Park, Father John Misty at Leader Bank Pavilion, and Toledo at Brighton Music Hall. Ben describes music as a mode of self-expression and connection with others, and teaching as providing students the tools to achieve that kind of communication. This perspective aligns perfectly with the mission of School of Rock! Ben performs locally at venues like The Rockwell and Modern Theatre with Champagne Charlie & the Wah Wahs and BDJ and Jack Holland.
Jamison Jones
Music Director, Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Drum Teacher, Vocal Teacher
Jamison Jones is a multi-instrumentalist from Kansas City, Kansas, and has played with notable musicians including Louis Cato (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), Lester Estelle (Kelly Clarkson and The Kelly Clarkson Show), Justin Raines (Neyo), Grammy Award-nominated producer/songwriter Alfredo Gonzales (Khalid), and James Morales (Jennifer Lopez).
Jamie is the music director at the School of Rock in Burlington, Massachusetts. He plays and teaches guitar, bass, drums, keys, and vocals. Jamie has music directed and played on well over 2,500 performances in his many years of professional music.
Jamie enjoys artists such as Snarky Puppy, Jacob Collier, Coldplay, U2, and Adele.
Ben Knight
Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Vocal Teacher
Ben Knight is a force as a keyboard player and singer! He grew up just next door in Billerica, MA where he took piano and drum lessons as a kid, saying he was “pretty much obsessed with music.” He was lucky to have a touring blues band rehearsing regularly next door, sessions that he was invited to watch. This experience and investment are easy to see in Ben’s enthusiasm and repertoire.
Like many of us, Ben discovered a love of roots music in the movie The Blues Brothers from Aretha Franklin, Elvis, The Beatles, and Little Richard. Ben plays keys and sings in Broken Daisies, Hands to the Pillars, and the Ben Knight Band, playing dozens of gigs a year throughout the Boston area. Alongside teaching and directing at School of Rock, Ben enjoys writing music as well as directing music at his church in Chelmsford!
Steven Kunevich
Drum Teacher
Steven is from the South Shore of Massachusetts (Randolph), and studied drums with the late, great, and widely recognized Boston-area educator Dick DiCenso. Steven believes the magic of music is that it allows us to connect with others on a deeper level—a sentiment we all at the School of Rock in Burlington believe wholeheartedly!
Steven's list of his favorite artists is lengthy and telling: Blink-182, New Found Glory, The Story So Far, Childish Gambino, Mac Miller, Isaiah Rashad, Leon Bridges, Iration, Rebelution, Rage Against The Machine, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Turnover, Just Friends, Dirty Heads, Kid Cudi, Amine, Kendrick Lamar, Tribal Theory, Common Kings. He has seen some of the bigger acts at venues like TD Garden and Leader Bank Pavilion but has also frequented Boston classics The Middle East, TT the Bear’s Place (RIP), The Lilypad, and O’Brien’s Pub. Steven even performed at some of these smaller venues with his band Agree to Disagree until 2017.
Dylan Gagnon
Guitar Teacher
Dylan is a guitar player from Medford, Massachusetts who grew up in a musical family. Learning music was a formative part of his youth and he wants to offer that same experience to kids through his work at School of Rock.
Dylan studied Music and Music Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and works at a prestigious Boston booking agency when he’s not teaching at the School of Rock in Burlington. Some of his favorite bands are Foo Fighters, Porcupine Tree, and Big Wreck.
Dylan finds inspiration in the people he works with to create a composition. He thinks the real mark of success is when collaborators can inspire each other in a work.
Atticus Crowley
Studio Coordinator
Atticus is a guitarist from Pittsburgh. He moved to the Boston area in 2021 to study music business at Berklee for a few years before taking some time off to focus on his bands.
Atticus currently plays guitar for a Boston-based rock band called JVK and has performed with the band across the country. He started playing violin in the first grade but transitioned to guitar when he went to college because he found writing with guitar to be closer to the type of music he had always loved.
Atticus grew up loving punk rock bands like Bad Religion and Rise Against, and those two bands have been the most influential to him as a player and a writer. Atticus is a completely self-taught guitarist and learning the music from those two bands was the bulk of his learning experience on guitar for the first few years. He has been lucky enough to see Rise Against live several times and the best show Atticus has ever seen was their set at 77 Montreal in 2018.
Zac Van Alst
Drum Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Zac is from Winchester, Massachusetts. As a teenager, playing hours of drums and guitar gave him a sense of purpose and genuinely made life better. Zac has a bachelor's degree in composition for new media from UMass Lowell (whose music programs are widely respected). He currently plays percussion with the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra which performs regularly in the area.
Some of Zac’s favorite artists are Animal Collective, Cocteau Twins, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. His favorite concert was Machine Girl at The Crystal Ballroom @ The Somerville Theatre in Somerville. Zac has released his own music under the name Wish We Were Dogs and continues to work on producing more content!
Zach Kay
Drum Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Hailing from the great state of Connecticut, Zach has previously taught drums and keys at The Music Cellar in Millerton, NY, and currently studies electronic production and design at Berklee College of Music. “On a whim” according to Zach, his parents got him started learning piano and drums from a Berklee alumnus as a kid, and it became his primary passion.
Equally comfortable with the two instruments, Zach has a great diversity of musical skills and experiences to share with students. In addition to drums and piano, he plays bagpipes, marimba, and bass, and produces digitally synthesized music as well. Zach has played a diversity of styles including funk/fusion, jazz, rock, reggae, R&B, Balkan, Flamenco, and Brazilian. His list of influential artists is equally diverse: Tower of Power, Led Zeppelin, Chaka Khan, Snarky Puppy, Childish Gambino, Knower, and Aphex Twin. Zach’s teaching reveals his dedication to what makes music meaningful to other people: how to communicate and express oneself through playing.
Rachel Webb
Vocal Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Rachel is originally from Dallas, Texas, and graduated from Berklee College of Music where she majored in music production and engineering. When not playing music, running sound, or teaching, Rachel enjoys horror movies, reading, and DIY clothing.
Rachel began her musical journey at just 6 years old and thinks of music as a fundamental mode of expression. Her favorite types of music are metal, punk, and outlaw country. Some of the best shows she has been to are Iron Maiden in Dallas, Stevie Nicks in Oklahoma City, and My Chemical Romance at TD Garden in Boston.
Rachel's main passion in life is performance, and she has been performing professionally since the age of 13. Rachel instructs and performs on bass and vocals.
Izak "Murph" Murphy
Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Izak “Murph” Murphy is from nearby Belmont, Massachusetts. Murph is a bass specialist who majored in music and minored in psychology at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When you meet Murph, you will know right away that he LOVES music and sharing it with others, and that enthusiasm is contagious!
The significance of music to Murph comes across when he tells the story of seeing Anderson .Paak with childhood friends who listened to his album on repeat (they traveled all the way to Wantaug, New York on Long Island!).
Murph has gigged with jazz combos on bass and an eclectic performance-forward cover band called Test Drive. Ever a learner, you will find Murph working on guitar and drums in his downtime at School of Rock.