Chris Kopp
Music Director
Chris Kopp has had a passion for music his whole life which was instilled at an early age growing up in a musical family. This passion eventually led him to attend, and graduate from, the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA with a degree in Professional Music. After graduation he returned to his hometown of Monterey, CA and began pursuing a career in music. In 2008, Chris auditioned for the United States Navy Band where he was fortunate enough to spend more than a decade traveling the world, leading bands, and performing for high-profile audiences, all while sharing the stage with some of the greatest musicians in the world. After separating from active duty service in 2018 he went back to school and received a Master's Degree in Organizational Psychology. Chris, along with his wife Maki, opened School of Rock Santa Ana in 2021 where he currently serves as Music Director.
Anthony Klinner
Singing Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
Anthony Klinner has been in love with music his whole life. His performance career started off in Heidelberg, Germany when he was around seven years old in his church worship band. From there, Anthony would continue to lead worship and pursue music all the way up until today.
Throughout his life, Anthony has been a part of touring jazz groups where he sang and played trumpet, touring choirs, National and International songwriting competitions, and leads worship in many different churches across the country.
Today, Anthony attends Vanguard University where he is studying Musical Theatre and still actively pursuing his music and acting careers. When he is not writing songs or teaching lessons, you'll most likely find Anthony re-watching marvel movies for the 100th time.
Danny Hudson
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
Danny Hudson is a bassist, guitarist and pianist from Fountain Valley, California. He started to play music when he was twelve and soon found a soft spot for the bass. Shortly after, he joined the Huntington Beach School of Rock and developed his skills on the bass. He trained for a few more years until he was accepted into one of the top music programs in the Southern California area at the Orange County School for the Arts. While he continues to focus primarily on the bass, Danny enjoys playing the guitar and piano as well. After playing for a few years, he started performing with local bands and studios as a bassist and guitarist. He is very active in the local music scene and is excited to continue on his musical journey, wherever it may take him.
Sky Wilson
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Drum Teacher, Singing Teacher
Sky Wilson is a multi-dimensional musician from Long Beach, California. After starting piano lessons at a young age, Sky decided that he was going to teach himself as many musical instruments as possible, and that list continues to grow. At School of Rock Santa Ana, he teaches drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and vocals, and has taught music in elementary schools for over 6 years. Sky plays in quite a few bands around LA and OC, everything from Blues to Metal, while maintaining an unmatchable love for his children, and family. Sky is on a mission not only to be a rockstar, but also to create as many rockstars as he possibly can in the process.
Ryan Reiff
Drum Teacher
Ryan Reiff fell in love with music at an early age playing violin in elementary school and tenor saxophone in his jr. high school band. At age 12, he sat down at his first drum set and knew he had found his calling in life. Since those early days, Ryan has played in many bands, toured the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and shared the stage with some of his heroes like TV on the Radio, Little Dragon, They Might be Giants, Sage Francis and Raekwon of the Wu Tang Clan. While collaborating with Ikey Owens (The Mars Volta, Jack White) for a decade in the band Free Moral Agents, Ryan honed his performance, writing and improvisation skills. But the biggest lesson learned was what a great impact a talented mentor can have on a passionate musician. As a drum instructor at School of Rock, he aims to impress those same valuable lessons on his students to help them succeed in their musical pursuits as well as in their lives.
David Sampen
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Drum Teacher, Singing Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
David Sampen is a well-known actor, entertainer, and multi-instrumentalist music producer. He has appeared in several films including "Avatar" and "Blades Of Glory" and continues to work regularly in front of the camera on shows such as ABC's "General Hospital" and Amazon's hit series "Goliath." David grew up playing the violin, saxophone, piano, and voice, and attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts for 8 years. In college, he received degrees in Biology, Chemistry, and Recording Tech. Featured in the famous Los Angeles rock bands 80-DO, Expiate, Sound Library, and The Edgar Allan Poets, David produces music for each group with performances in and around the LA area. In addition to his virtuosic guitar performing and free-lance artistry, Sampen composes music, builds guitars, and produces music commercially.
Ryan Brinkley
Guitar Teacher, Bass Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Drum Teacher
Ryan is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Mission Viejo, California. Beginning with drum lessons at 8 years old, he continued experimenting with various instruments, eventually teaching himself Bass, Guitar, and Keyboard. Ryan studied classical percussion techniques in Middle School and continued his pursuits in music education at the Orange County School of the Arts. In OCSA's Popular Music Program he participated in a variety of shows and played in multiple local bands. His current focus is on building his instrumental skills as a studio/live Musician, and helping to educate the next generation of performers.
Parker Hanna
Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
Parker has been playing guitar and bass since he was 8 years old. He attended Orange County School of the Arts from 7th through 12th grade. Beginning in the 7th grade classical guitar program, Parker was then asked to audition for the Commercial Music Conservatory where he remained for the rest of his tenure at OCSA. Upon graduating, he attended Musicians Institute in Hollywood where he majored in bass performance.
Parker loves all genres of music and is devoted to his craft. He enjoys teaching and is devoted to promoting the importance of music to his students.
Miré Molnar
Vocals Teacher
Miré came of age during the 90's Indie Rock Movement and was playing in Riot Grrl bands by the age of 16. One of her bands, Point of Theta, opened for The Softies. Orange County was a vibrant scene for early emo/hardcore, indie pop, punk and ska revival bands and Miré loved all of it. Ska was the most fun for her, so eventually she started up a ska band with some co-workers and they played as Los Pantalones. Life unfolded and a few years later that band became Save Ferris and one of the songs Miré co-wrote ended up featured in the Disney film, 10 Things I Hate About You (and that soundtrack went gold). After college Miré focused solely on music and was in two bands, Kill Baby Kill and Radio Vago. Radio Vago was an all girl dark synth band with high energy and toured the country while making an album produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (of The Mars Volta). Most notably they opened for Sleater-Kinney. Sadly Radio Vago broke up right before a European Tour and before their LP was released. So Miré has some good war stories of being out on the road and in an "almost famous" type band situation. She lives on to tell the tale and help young musicians discover their own passion for Rock N' Roll while navigating the underground music scene.
Giancarlo Arzu
Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Giancarlo Arzu is a musician from Los Angeles California. He earned his bachelor's degree from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2018 as a jazz bass performance major (with minors in Digital Arts and Music Theory). While at CalArts, he taught with the CalArts Community Arts Partnership (CAP) program at Plaza de la Raza, Sotomayor Arts and Sciences Magnet, and Susan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. After graduating, he worked full-time as program coordinator for Young Musicians Foundation where he helped initiate and manage the development of the Online Music Academy.
Giancarlo has performed and recorded at several venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Capitol Records, The Troubadour, and The Walt Disney Concert Hall and has played music alongside artists including Ozomatli, Steve Lacy, Justo Almario, Ndugu Chancler, and Patrice Rushen. He is excited to bring his experience and passion for music to School of Rock Santa Ana.
Justin Lynch
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Justin has always been inspired to play music, even at an early age. Growing up in a family of musicians, he learned to play multiple instruments and found a passion for recording, production, and performance. Justin has performed with well-known musicians and up-and-coming stars. He is a studio musician in some of Southern California's most auspicious recording destinations, as well as performing regularly in bands ranging from R&B to punk rock. Justin has a passion for music education and loves to share his knowledge and expertise with the next generation.
Maddison Hempstead
Singing Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Maddison has always been a huge fan of music and currently plays many instruments including piano, violin, flute, acoustic guitar, ukulele, and voice. As a native of upstate New York, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Music Education (K-12) there and has taught elementary-level general music classes in public and private schools and summer camp programs for the past four years. Maddison has also performed in open mics, musical theater, and various concerts and shows throughout her career. Her passion is teaching, working with young students and introducing them to musical experiences, and sharing her talent and love of music with others. Rock on!
Michael Malinowski
Drum Teacher
Michael Malinowski is a freelance drummer and percussionist who has performed with artists such as Blue Man Group, Monobloco, and Sheila E. He has had the privilege of performing at some of the biggest venues in LA, including the Hollywood Bowl, Ford Amphitheatre, and Microsoft Theater. Michael graduated from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, at California State University, Long Beach, with a degree in Percussion Performance. There, he studied classical, jazz, and world music. Currently, Michael is focused on performing live, touring, teaching, and recording in his studio.
Michael has performed and toured with multiple groups in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas – most notably One High Five and Samba Da Mudança. Being a versatile drummer, he balanced those shows with numerous musical theatre performances, including Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, and Guys and Dolls. In the last several years, he also filled in drumming for numerous Los Angeles and Long Beach Rock bands, including Riot Stage, Katie Jo & the Mijos, DCHAV, Lazarus Casket, Alyssandra Nighswonger, and more.
Elijah Vann
Drum Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Elijah Vann is a drummer and bassist from Los Alamitos, California. He started playing music at the age of 6 when he picked up drumsticks for the first time; he learned how to play bass guitar shortly thereafter. Elijah has played in a multitude of groups throughout his life at prestigious venues such as the NAMM show, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Angels Stadium, and others. During high school, Elijah studied music at the Orange County School of the Arts. While at OCSA he performed dozens of times as a part of the Popular Music Program as well as the school’s Premier Performance Ambassadors, Montage! Currently, Elijah is actively working as a musician for hire and is excited to share his musical expertise with the future rockstars at School of Rock Santa Ana.
Lindsay Martin
Drum Teacher Lindsay Martin
Lindsay grew up on a farm in Upstate New York. She started learning classical piano at 6 years old and when she was 9 years old, her dad introduced her to the sounds of Led Zeppelin. As a 16-year-old, Lindsay made a name for herself by entering the Albany, NY Guitar Center Drum-Off. During her senior year of high school, Lindsay was accepted into USC's Popular Music program.
Lindsay has been a drum tech for some of the best including Kenny Aronoff, Tommy Lee, Ringo Starr, and Glen Sobel, and volunteers at a summer music camp for kids. She also volunteers as an ambassador to kids afflicted with a rare skin disorder known as EB. Lindsay has had articles written about her in Modern Drummer and Drum! magazines. Her past projects include Grammy-winning pop singer DAYA, The Starbreakers, Alexandria Corn, ABBARAMA, and others. Lindsay also had the chance to open up for different acts, ranging from Montgomery Gentry, Deana Carter, Vince Neil of Motley Crue, and the All-American Rejects. She was part of the 2019 Vans Warped Tour and during her freshman year of college, she had a small part in the season finale of Glee!
Lindsay wants to be an inspiration to young, up-and-coming female drummers as well. In 2021, Lindsay toured with Evanescence and Halestorm and continued touring in January 2022, opening up for Godsmack, Three Days Grace, and more. She is endorsed by Sabian Cymbals, REMO Drumheads, Vater Drumsticks, and Ultimate In-Ears.