Maggie Weber General Manager
Maggie was born and raised with an undeniable ear for music. Singing has always been her passion. Her mother told her that she sang before she ever spoke. Maggie has always had a knack for music. When she was 18 months old, she would hum to songs happily in key. Maggie believes that everyone has music inside of them, no matter what the age. She has been involved in many projects and studio recordings including The Rip Chords (University of Illinois), Molehill and Willy Dynomite. Her passion for music, paired with her obsessive organization, has led her to be the General Manager of School of Rock Evanston and Highwood. Maggie hopes to open the door to musicians in a way that she never experienced.
Danielle Piccolomini Assistant Manager
Danielle Piccolomini was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, where she was very active in local community and professional theatre. Her passion for music was sparked at an early age by her grandmother, who would sing to her every chance she got. She was immersed in theatre at age nine and started playing the flute, piccolo, piano and handbells soon afterward. After high school, she studied at The Young Americans College of the Performing Arts in Corona, CA, where she had the opportunity to travel and teach music to kids all over the world for almost seven years. She moved to Chicago on a whim in August 2019 and found a way to combine her love of music and love for typing emails at School of Rock Highwood as an Assistant Manager. She hopes to continue sharing her musical and organizational skills.
ERIN COLE Assistant Manager
Erin was born in Albion, Indiana and has always had an interest in music and the arts! Through high school, she was very involved in her school’s theater, choir and band programs as well as a local dance studio where she trained in all dance styles and also developed a love for teaching and choreography. Upon graduating High School, Erin set out for California and joined a performing arts company called The Young Americans where she had the opportunity to travel, perform and teach music for several years. When the pandemic terminated her Assistant Cruise Director contract on board Princess Cruises in March of 2020, she moved to Chicago to experience life in the big city. Now Erin loves to combine her love of music with her passion for administrative responsibilities and organization at the School of Rock and is looking forward to developing relationships with the students and families of the School of Rock community!
Bryan Resendiz Drum Teacher
Bryan Resendiz is a Music Director at the Highwood school. He teaches drums and manages the ensemble rehearsals. His path through the world of rock n' roll began when he got his first drum set in the 3rd grade. Bryan's musical inspiration came initially from his older sister's record collection. Throughout his teens, Bryan performed live in bands and in studio settings. In the summer of 1995 as a part of the Hello Dave Band, Bryan played in venues from San Francisco and New York to Key West. Between 2002 and 2005, Bryan played rock 'n' roll in the Pacific Islands, Asia, Europe, Africa and across the Middle East, culminating in an intense tour across Iraq. Bryan recorded a full-length album for Hello Dave, "Perfect Day," in 2003. Bryan left the Hello Dave band in 2005 in order to focus on freelance music projects and a successful teaching practice at Kevin Connelley Drum Instruction in Skokie. Bryan continues to maintain a busy gigging schedule with a number of Chicago bands.
Scott Balmoos Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Singing Teacher
Scott Balmoos is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and music educator. He started on his path in music while in middle school when he fell in love with the sound of The Beatles. It wasn't long before he was singing and playing guitar in his first rock and roll band. Over the subsequent years, the music in his life grew and expanded, so he continued to pursue his passion by studying at the Eastman School of Music with a focus in Vocal Performance. While at Eastman, along with singing opera, art songs and musicals, and against his teacher's wishes, he continued playing with his band The Shift. This energy eventually provided the spark for him to move to Chicago. Since 2003, Scott has been performing, writing and recording in and around Chicago, most notably with the roots reggae band Akasha. As a lover of all types of music, he believes that through it you can learn about yourself, how to use your voice, and reach out to the world from almost any song. He is a guitar teacher, bass guitar teacher and vocal instructor at School of Rock Highwood.
Anna Marlow Singing Teacher, piano Teacher
Anna Marlow was born and raised in Rogers, Arkansas and enjoyed many years as a performer and teacher with The Young Americans. She has studied and performed improv and musical improv at The Second City and iO. She enjoys singing, playing piano and writing music, and is so excited to be a part of the School of Rock team.
Camille McClellan Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Singing Teacher
Camille McClellan is an electric guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, composer/arranger and record producer with a dedicated music career spanning over 15 years. Often described by audiences as the female Slash, Camille has garnered years of experience performing at legendary venues around the country, including Fenway Park and The Whisky a Go Go. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2016, Camille spent time in Los Angeles, where she wrote, arranged, pre-produced and co-produced her debut solo EP alongside a Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer. In 2017 she adopted the stage name Blake Red as an emerging alternative metal recording artist. She is a guitar teacher, bass guitar teacher and vocal instructor at School of Rock Highwood.
Macklin Suhre Drum Teacher
Macklin Suhre was born July 21st, 1991 in Lake Bluff, Illinois and has been drumming since the age of 10. He attended Lake Forest High School, studying music and drumming in the jazz band and wind ensemble. In 2009, he was accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston as a drum set principle, where he spent four years studying with celebrated faculty members such as Mitch Haupers, Mike Mangini, Kim Plainfield and many more. Macklin graduated from Berklee in 2013 with a degree in Professional Music, and continues to perform with his band, Tanzen.
Drew Littell Drum Teacher
Drew Littell is a professional drummer, percussionist and music educator from Chicago, IL. With over 20 years of playing experience, 10 years touring nationally and eight years teaching, Drew brings a wide spectrum of experience to private lessons at School of Rock. Starting as a percussionist in grade school, and all the way through a Jazz Studies major at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, Drew has been trained in music at the academic level, but also has always been involved in some sort of independent, original music project. With 10 years of touring experience, he has played many styles of music from metal to bluegrass and everything in between.
John Siegle Guitar Teacher
John Siegle is a singer/songwriter who grew up in Peoria, Illinois. He learned to play guitar with high school buddies and was soon playing at dances and at local bars. John and some friends moved to the college town of Champaign-Urbana in the mid '70s. They formed the power-pop band Screams. John started writing material for the group. Screams was soon signed to MCA's Infinity label.They released an album and hit the road, headlining for national acts and at one point touring with Van Halen through most of the United States and Canada. The Infinity label was dropped by MCA as the band was in the middle of a tour of England, and Screams went back to Champaign to regroup. John moved to Chicago after meeting singer/songwriter Gary Yerkins to play in the band Garrison (a fine band that didn't pan out).John played a stint with local and regional favorites Mike Jordan and the Rockamatics, a glorious rock and roll roadhouse band, before re-joining with Gary to form Insiders. Insiders were signed to Epic Records and produced a successful album that featured the MTV hit, "Ghost On The Beach." Although the Epic deal only lasted for one album, The Insiders remained a Chicago mainstay for over ten years, self-produced three more albums and were regularly played on station WXRT 93 FM. John is still in Chicago, still playing with a couple of bands and still writing music.
Zoey Witz Guitar Teacher
Zoey has been playing guitar since 1987, playing music professionally since 1997 and teaching guitar since 2001. He has played all over the country and in Mexico at clubs, festivals, concerts, theaters and private events playing jazz, rock, country, R&B, bluegrass, blues, zydeco and pop. Over the years he has played with local and national artists like Maggie Speaks, Tributosaurus, The Jersey Boys, Nicholas Barron, Cathy Richardson Band, CJ Chenier and many others. Zoey is thrilled to be a part of the teaching staff at School of Rock.
Jon Allegretto Guitar Teacher
Jon Allegretto is a Chicago-based guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and lyricist who has been writing and performing for nearly 20 years. A versatile musician, Jon enjoys a wide variety of sounds from many eras but his major interests are rock, blues, metal and folk. He believes that music is as much about having fun and harnessing emotional energy and feeling as it is about technical ability and understanding and emphasizes this in his teaching. As a young child Jon would air guitar to his first favorite musician, Elvis. He received his first guitar at age 12 and quickly developed a love for such artists as Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix and Social Distortion. While in his native Williamsburg, Virginia, Jon studied under Greg Eide and Gerald E. Lewis, and worked as guitar instructor and store manager at Authentic Guitars Inc. until his move to Chicago in 2006. Jon earned a Master's degree in Arts, Entertainment Media Management with a Music Business concentration at Columbia College Chicago in 2009. Jon has performed hundreds of shows, including six U.S. tours with his current rock trio A Friend Called Fire, in which he is lead guitarist, lead vocalist and chief songwriter. He has shared stages with many gifted artists including Gary Clark Jr., Bachman Turner, Shinedown, Korn and Sevendust to name a few, and also works as an acoustic solo artist, music photographer and writer, commercial music composer and voice-over artist.
Alex Zeravica Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Drum Teacher
Alex Zeravica was born in Georgia in 1990. He had a bad habit of banging on anything he could find around the house. When his parents realized it wasn't a phase, they bought him a beginner drum set when he was six or seven. After moving to Lake Bluff, Illinois at the age of nine, Alex started taking drum lessons and enrolled in school band. In middle school, Alex joined the jazz band, and also joined Midwest Young Artists, enrolling in their jazz ensemble and advanced percussion ensemble. He continued all of these throughout his time at Lake Forest High School. After graduating, he moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music, studying Film Scoring. Alex currently plays with a handful of different groups and records as a session musician, having played on dozens of different projects, from demos to full-length albums. He is a guitar teacher, bass guitar teacher and drum teacher at School of Rock Highwood.
TJ HORANSKY Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
TJ is a musician, songwriter and producer/engineer originally from Cleveland, OH. After years of taking piano lessons from a sweet old lady down the street, at 13 he discovered Blink-182 and taught himself guitar. He moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University and graduated in 2013. For the past few years, he has been a full-time touring musician, releasing a few albums on Equal Vision Records and playing Riot Fest main stage. As the chief songwriter for the band, he loves composing, recording and layering different instruments.
While in junior high, his mom ran an in-home day care where he would often help babysit and entertain the kids. It was then he realized his love for teaching, especially music. When quarantine hit, he took the opportunity to teach himself how to engineer and produce music on his own. TJ now runs his own Music Workshop, offering services like producing, mixing and mastering. He also loves Star Wars, sushi, editorial writing, coffee and riding his bike.
JACK BRERETON Bass Guitar Teacher, Drum Teacher
Jack Brereton fell in love with music as a young child. Often he was found singing and dancing around the house to any tune in his head, and at the age of ten he first picked up a bass. From then until now, he has performed in a range of musical groups including jazz ensembles, rock bands, cover bands, and pit orchestras. Jack has played all over the country, including famous venues like the House of Blues in Chicago and Carnegie Hall. Jack’s dedication to the art doesn’t stop at playing music, he also graduated from the Blackbird Academy where he learned how to engineer records and now works with clients throughout the Chicagoland area. He puts in the same exceptional effort while working with his students to help them achieve their goals.
Tyler Damon Drum Teacher
Tyler Damon is a drummer and instructor who has been drumming on everything within arm’s reach from an early age. Recognizing this, his parents presented him with a Pearl student model snare drum for his 10th birthday, unwittingly inviting years of percussive clangor into their basement.
Tyler has been recognized internationally for his work with Bhutanese guitarist Tashi Dorji and Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis, in duos and as the trio Kuzu, as well as for his drumming with Haley Fohr’s chameleonic Circuit Des Yeux. He can often be found performing around the city with Gerrit Hatcher & Joshua Abrams, Mars Williams, Eli Winter and many others. He also performs as a solo percussionist.
Over the last decade he has performed on over 50 recordings and has toured extensively in North America, Europe, Vietnam, & Colombia. In addition to his own teaching, Tyler is fortunate to study with world-renowned drummer, percussionist and educator Pete Magadini. His recorded output has been offered by a myriad of labels including Family Vineyard, Astral Spirits, Matador, Drag City, Trost, Aerophonic, Magnetic South, Feeding Tube and Auris Apothecary, among others.
Photo by Ricardo Adame.
Drew Bunge Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Singing Teacher
Drew Bunge is a musician, producer snf engineer currently based in Chicago, IL. He plays the bass, guitar, keys, and sings. Drew began playing music regularly at the age of 11 years old. After graduating from New Trier High School where he played bass in the top Jazz band and orchestra, Drew attended Berklee College of Music. While attending, Drew majored in music production and engineering, and played in numerous musical acts whilst also garnering over 500,000+ collective plays on streaming services through working with acts like Dee Beam, Lip Service, Mom Rock, Winkler, Luvrgurl, and more.
Jamie Yanda Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Jamie’s journey in music all began when he got his first guitar at the age of 9. From day 1, he was hooked! His first “gigs” were running home from school and setting up his amp on his front porch to play for all the kids as they walked by on their way home. Since that time, Jamie has played in countless bands, toured extensively throughout the U.S., and written and recorded his own albums. While attending the University of Wisconsin, Jamie started to teach guitar for fun to friends and family. It was then that he realized his love for teaching.
Jamie often plans lessons according to the songs and styles of music that the student enjoys, and seeks to connect those songs and styles to broader musical concepts. All the while, Jamie seeks to create a friendly, welcoming environment that invites curiosity, encourages questions, and keeps students excited about learning their instrument.
Isaura Flores Singing Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Isaura (they/them) is a performing artist, educator, and community organizer from Chicago. Since graduating from Syracuse University with a BFA in musical theater they have performed around the country and the NYC/Chicagoland area. Based out of Pilsen, they are working on building brave, healing and creative autonomous learning spaces for families and longtime residents with an emphasis on care for indigenous black and brown youth, trans, queer, undocumented, and femme identifying folks. They are also currently self-producing their first album!
Guillermo Casal Keyboard Teacher
Guillermo Casal is a pianist and music educator. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in arts and music education from Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) in Argentina, his home country. He’s been teaching students of different ages and backgrounds for the last 10 years, in a variety of settings from elementary to high schools, and private lessons. As a music performer, he has collaborated on many projects, including a recording with Argentinian Rock/Pop singer Agustín Valero, and the Contemporary Tango/Rock fusion band “YeSca!”, with whom he recorded two albums and performed in some of the most prestigious Tango venues in Argentina. In 2019, he moved to the United States, and joined the “Athens Tango Project”, based in Georgia, as pianist and arranger.
Tamara Jenkins Keyboard Teacher, Singing Teacher
Tamara Jenkins spent the last 30 years as a professional actress in New York City before moving to the Chicago area. Her acting credits include: BROADWAY/TOURS ‘Velma’ in Chicago, ‘Cosette’ in Les Miserables, ‘Demeter’ in Cats, the ‘Eliza’ cover in the Richard Chamberlain revival of My Fair Lady, and ‘Elyse Schulman’ in The New World. OFF-BROADWAY: Brel Returns at The Zipper Theater. Her numerous regional credits include: ‘Fiona’ in Brigadoon with Dick Van Patton, ‘Hodel’ in Fiddler on the Roof with Theo Bikel, ‘Guinevere’ in Camelot with Noel Harrison, ‘Glinda’ in Wizard of Oz with Bob Keeshan, ‘Christine’ in Phantom, ‘Anna” in The King and I, ‘Sarah Brown’ in Guys and Dolls, and many others. TV: Conviction, Another World, Guiding Light. Ms. Jenkins has appeared as a featured vocalist with jazz greats Wayne Shorter, Buster Williams, Larry Coryell and Nestor Torres. She has also sung with The Richmond County Orchestra, The Lake Forest Symphony, The President’s Band, and at Carnegie Hall.
Tamara Co-Founded and served as Artistic Director at The Harbor Lights Theater Company in NYC. In her eight-year tenure, the professional company presented 29 productions featuring over 100 Broadway actors, including Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Oscar winners and nominees. She is a classically trained singer and voice teacher with a Bachelor of Music from The University of Illinois (Magna Cum Laude), and is known in the industry for her versatile vocal stylings and her crystalline soprano.
Ait Fetterolf Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Singing Teacher
Ait Fetterolf is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and award-nominated screenwriter from South Carolina. Ait has been playing piano since the age of five, where his teacher told his parents after his first lesson that he had perfect pitch. After a brief stint as a piano performance major at Furman University and several years in punk bands, jazz ensembles, drum lines, and orchestras, his affections tended towards the theater where he performed in numerous musicals including as an actor and singer in The Lost Colony outdoor symphonic drama in North Carolina. He has also served as musical director and conductor for several stage productions, arranging harmonies and rehearsing vocalists for The Rocky Horror Show, Belz!, The Last Five Years, and more. In addition to teaching private voice, guitar, & drum lessons for more than a decade, he has also performed stand-up comedy at the world famous Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip. Ait loves to discover new genres and artists, and believes that a key component of musical education is providing a musician with a drive & desire to explore the totality of humanity’s harmonies.