Beth Anderson, Early Childhood & Keyboard Classes
Beth Anderson graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics,
and as a teacher certified in Physics and Math taught in the public schools for seven years.
Her love of music and education brought her to the Apple Tree Family as a parent in 2004, and she
has enjoyed participating in classes with her two children since that time. Now, certified in
the Musikgarten curriculum, she is excited to combine a life long love of piano with a passion for education.
Theresa Atkinson, Early Childhood, Keyboard Classes & Piano
Theresa is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where she studied saxophone and Film Scoring. A piano player since the age of six, she has served as an accompanist for solo vocalists and choirs. She has taught private and group lessons on the piano, saxophone and clarinet, and is trained in the Musikgarten method. Theresa is a member of Carillon Women's Chorus.
Narine Badadjanian,Piano
Narine Babadjanian holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Tbilisi State Conservatory, Piano Department, majoring in Piano Performance and Teaching, in Tbilisi, Georgia. She has participated in many competitions and festivals, and performed with various orchestras throughout Russia, Georgia, and Holland. Since 1998 Narine has taught in various music schools, colleges in Georgia and USA. Together with her husband, a wonderful cellist, and other accomplished musicians, she has performed many concerts in Boston Conservatory, Longy School of Music, Cambridge, MA and other venues.
Laurie Baker, Early Childhood & Theatre Arts Laurie has taught private piano lessons since 1995 and owned and operated Grace Notes, a noted early childhood music program located in Whitinsville from 1999-2008. In the fall of 2008, Apple Tree Arts enfolded Grace Notes in their family tree. In addition to working in the theatre and early childhood departments at Apple Tree, Laurie teaches music to grades K-5 at the Whitinsville Christian School and conducts their 6th grade chorus. She has taught music through grade 8, directed elementary musicals, co-directed and accompanied various children’s choirs, and taught at a school for children with special needs. Laurie is certified in the Musikgarten curriculum and has her Level 1 ECMMA certification.
Jan Barlow, Early Childhood & Keyboard Classes
Apple Tree Arts education director, joined Apple Tree Arts in 1993 overseeing all of our early childhood music programs. Jan carries a passion for educating young children and their families during the informative early childhood years; she shares this passion offering music training for preschool teachers and daycare providers and teaching children from birth through keyboard classes. Jan is trained extensively in the MusikGarten curriculum, has earned an associate’s degree in business management at Dean College is an alumna in vocal performance from Berklee College of Music, and is level 2 certified by the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association.
Linda Bento-Rei, Flute & Youth Flute Choir
Linda received a BM in Flute Performance, cum laude, from the Boston Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music. Since the completion of her studies, Ms. Bento-Rei has performed with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Festival Ballet Orchestra of Rhode Island, the Worcester Symphony Orchestra and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and most recently the Key West Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Bento-Rei is also a member of the newly founded Massachusetts Flute Choir which is a professional organization.
In 2002, Bento-Rei and her husband, Stephen, co-founded “The Art of the Flute Scholarship” a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money through benefit concerts for outstanding high school senior flutists continuing their musical studies. Linda Bento-Rei is the current President of the Flutists’ Guild and a member of the Greater Boston Flute Association. In 2004, Ms. Bento-Rei co-founded the Flutists’ Guild, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the New England flute community through social and educational events to foster growth and affiliation. In addition to freelancing, Ms. Bento-Rei maintains a private teaching studio in Milford, is on the faculty at Apple Tree Arts, and she also teaches at various schools throughout the central New England area.
Nina Bishop Nunn, Violin
Nina graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy, the premier performing arts boarding school in the US, at the age of seventeen and subsequently attended the University of North Texas. Music festivals include Interlochen Arts Camp, Wethersfield Music Festival, Academie d'Ete de Nice, International School of Musical Arts, Manchester Music Festival and Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. Nina has studied with Michele Auclair, Roland and Almita Vemos, Atis Bankas, Danwen Jiang, Ben Holland at the Royal Northern School of Music in England, Cynthia Roberts (Baroque violin) and Julia Bushkova at the University of North Texas. Her graduate studies were with Dana Mazurkevich and members of the Muir Quartet at Boston University. Notable concerts include performances with Sir David Wilcox, Graeme Jenkins, the Eroica Trio, Kanye West's Touch the Sky tour, the Boston Early Music Festival and a nationally televised broadcast with Sheryl Crow. Regional groups include New Bedford Symphony, Orchestra of Indian Hill, The Samuel Felsted Project, Marsh Chapel Collegium and the new Baroque orchestra of Boston, L'Academie. Nina founded Atlantic Strings in 2003.
Donna Blanchard, Community Chorus
Donna Blanchard founded Apple Tree Arts in 1989. She has a BA from Connecticut College in clarinet performance and is a certified K-12 music teacher. Donna received her Masters degree in Education from Worcester State College and has completed courses of study in Executive Director Management through the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Arts Management in Community Institutions through The National Guild of Community Schools for the Arts, and Choral Conducting at Boston University. Donna is certified in Orff and by the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association.
Tim Gruntman, Guitar
Tim graduated in Spring 2009 from Berklee College of Music with a dual major of Performance and Music Production, and Engineering. Tim has taught private guitar lessons for 10 years, and has performed extensively throughout the area, as well as in Indiana, in jazz, rock, and blues bands.
Monica Hatch, Voice
Monica Hatch studied at the Julliard School with renowned operatic soprano Eleanor Steber. She received her Bachelor of Music degree at Eastman School of Music, and her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance, at the New England Conservatory of Music. Monica is an established area soloist having sung with the The Massachusetts Symphony, The Thayer Symphony, The Concord Symphony, The Cathedral of St. Paul's Festival Orchestra, The Bach Society of Worcester, The Worcester Chorus, and dozens of church choirs. She is a recording artist and was also a radio personality, hosting the Jazz Matinee on the NPR station WICN 90.5FM.
Tina Ho, Piano
Tina Ho is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University with a MM in Piano Performance/Pedagogy and also graduated from Northwestern University with a BM in Piano Performance and a BA in Psychology. Prior to that, she received training from the Preparatory of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory where she completed the Certificate Program with honors in music theory and piano.
Her piano and pedagogy teachers include Olga Radosalvjevich, Jean Stackhouse, A. Ramon Rivera, Sylvia Chambless, Alan Chow, Marcia Bosits, Hyun Sook Park and Yong Hi Moon.
Born to Taiwanese immigrants, she has participated for years in the Chinese Foundation for Performing Arts’ Summer Music Festival at Walnut Hill, where she has collaborated with faculty and won the concerto competition to perform with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, under Jonathan McPhee. She has performed at the New Orleans Piano Institute, ARIA International Summer Academy, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
Tina Ho is a recent recipient of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Student Achievement Recognition (StAR) Award.
Beth Hodgeman, Early Childhood
Beth joined Appletree Arts in 2008 after teaching for Gracenotes in Whitinsville for a year. With a background in Social Work and more recently teaching preschool, Beth has found teaching Music in Motion and Tots & Tunes to be a truly rewarding experience. Beth completed the Cycles Musikgarten training in 2009 and looks forward to additional learning experiences.
Russell Jewell, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba & Baritone/Euphonium
Mr. Jewell attended the University of Illinois and received a Bachelor's of Music from Berklee College of Music. He has studied with Tim Meyers (St Louis Symphony), Dr. Richard Monaco and Don Sanders (Boston Ballet, Boston Pops).
In addition, he participated in jazz studies with Jerry Bergonzi, Herb Pomeroy and Phil Wilson. He toured and recorded with Grammy-nominated Either Orchestra
and Mighty Sam McClain and is also the co-founder and co-leader of Pan-American chamber group, Grupo Mambique.
Katia Khannanova, Piano
Ms. Khannanova was educated at the Musical College, Ukraine, majoring in Classic Piano. She received her B.M. and awarded the qualifications of Instructor, Ensemble Actor and Accompanist and is pursuing her M.S. in Psychology, Ukraine. Ms. Khannanova enjoys a career as a Piano Instructor and Accompanist through out the Grafton, Holden and Worcester area. She willingly shares her joy of music and teaching with students of many ages and abilities and is loved by them all. She has been teaching with Apple Tree Arts since 2003.
Rev. Elizabeth Kubota, Piano, Guitar, Voice & Organ
Elizabeth received her B. S. in Music Education, Minnesota State University at Winona, MN, 1975, magna cum laude. Other educational achievements include Summer term at Vienna Academy of Music in 1974, Organ recital, 1974, Voice recital in 5 languages, 1975 (leading roles in 2 operas ) Master of Sacred Music & Master of Divinity, Boston University, 2000-2004,Organ recital, 2004.
Elizabeth joined the Apple Tree Arts faculty in 1994, then began her master’s degree program in 2000. She was the music director at First United Methodist Church in Stillwater, MN and is currently the music director at First United Methodist Church in Westboro as well as a staff member at the Westboro public school system. Elizabeth has probationary ordination in the Order of Deacon, New England Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, 2006 and has been appointed by Bishop Peter Weaver to serve in the church as music director and in the world as a music teacher.
Elizabeth Mack, Piano
Betty has her BA in elementary education from Framingham State College and is certified to teach K – 8. She taught elementary and middle school children for 30 years in the Natick and Grafton Public school system. While teaching school and raising her children she also enjoyed being an organist for St.John’s Episcopal Church in Westboro, and the Unitarian Universalist Society in Westboro. Betty has been an accompanist for many middle and high school musicals as well as the Westborough Community Chorus,most recently she retired as the organist at the Evangelical Congregational Church in Grafton after serving this post for many years. Betty continues to be the accompanist for Apple Trees Arts’ Community Chorus and an admired piano teacher for Apple Tree Arts since 2001.
Myra Franks MacLeod, Violin, Viola & Fiddling
Myra, a certified Suzuki violin instructor and fiddler teaches Apple Tree Arts students of all ages with passion and dedication. She began studying solfege and violin at the South End Music Center at the age of five. Her love of folk music and performance were fostered while living in the culture-rich Cambridge folk scene of the 1970s. In 1990 Myra was requested to develop a folk music program as part of the curriculum for the Performing Arts School of Worcester. It was there she developed the FiddleKids of Worcester(tm). Now a fiddling group in Grafton is being nurtured, again offering spirited youths the opportunity to learn and perform together in an environment where they are encouraged and revered.
Throughout her career she has performed extensively in New England, in many different musical settings. Currently she is part of the Riverbend Trio, and can also be found adding her special sound to the many CDs on which she has collaborated.
Ingrid Murphy, Early Childhood
Ingrid Murphy has been with Apple Tree Arts since 2003 working in the Early Childhood Department. She teaches at a number of our outreach sites and has serviced our Head Start program from the beginning. She is certified by the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association and has been trained in the Musik Garten curriculum. She enjoys teaching the children new music concepts and watching them discover their musical and creative selves.
Mario Portev, Piano & Cello
Mario currently teaches music in the Princeton public school system, as well as private piano and cello at M. Steinert’s and Sons. He is also a cellist with the Newton Symphony Orchestra, performing all over New England. Mario has taught throughout central Massachusetts, at many different levels, in both piano and cello.
Lisa Scarlett, Theatre Arts
A trained voice student and community theater member, Lisa brings much experience to the stage. She has been involved with numerous theatrical productions at many different levels both on and off the stage since the age of 13. Joining Apple Tree Arts in 2000, she began teaching a variety of early childhood music classes ranging from birth to age five. Since 2004, she has directed and produced over 20 youth theater productions for Apple Tree Arts. Lisa earned a BA at Tufts University and also holds a MA degree in Education from Elms College.
Mitch Seidman, Intermediate-Advanced Jazz Guitar
Mitch Seidman has performed at concerts, festivals, and nightclubs
throughout the U.S. and overseas, and has recordings on Jardis (Germany),
Cadence, and Brownstone Records. His performances and recordings have
included numerous renowned jazz musicians. Seidman has earned a bachelors
degree in Composition at Berklee College of Music and a masters degree in
Music Education at Boston University. He is a Professor of Ear Training
at Berklee College of Music, was a long-time contributing editor to 20th
Century Guitar Magazine, and co-authored the book Playing the
Changes:Guitar (Berklee Press/Hal Leonard).
Photo credit- Chi Sun Chan
Paul Surapine, Clarinet & Saxophone
Paul Surapine began clarinet studies at the age of nine in his hometown of Enfield, CT. He graduated from the Hartt School, where he studied with Kalmen Opperman, and continued his studies with Opperman for almost fifteen years.
One of the most active and prolific regional producers of educational and cultural performances, Paul is the founder and Executive Director of The Claflin Hill Music Performance Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to creating cultural events in the Worcester-Metrowest-Boston region and creating performance opportunities for the region's finest resident professional musicians. As Executive Director, Paul produces between 35 and 50 concert presentations each season - providing performance opportunities for over 200 of the finest musicians in the Boston region - and managing numerous professional performance ensembles, such as The Claflin Hill Summer Winds, The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, the Paul Surapine Clarinet Ensemble and many other chamber and symphonic ensembles. Claflin Hill also produces Milford's summer concert series, Family Night at the Bandstand, as well as several other educational and chamber music series.
Mr. Surapine is a faculty member at Apple Tree Arts in Grafton, MA, the Rhode Philharmonic School of Music in Providence, and Indian Hill Music Center in Littleton, MA. Paul has resided in Milford with his wife, Susan and two sons, Zachary and Joshua since 1992.
Christine Tsen, Cello
Christine Tsen attended the Eastman School as an undergraduate studying under Paul Katz. She received her masters with high honors from the New England Conservatory studying under Colin Carr. Christine has been a member of several professional quartets and her chamber coaches have included The Cleveland Quartet, The Emerson Quartet, The Tokyo Quartet, Charles Castleman, and Zvi Zeitlin. She has performed with a number of orchestras including The Acton-Concord Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, Mastersingers of Worcester, Worcester Symphony, The New World Symphony, and the Heidelberg Castle Opera Orchestra in Germany. Christine has played solo concertos with The Rochester Chamber Orchestra, the Acton-Concord Chamber Orchestra, Penfield Symphony, Eastern Music Festival Symphony, and Greece Symphony among others. Christine finds great joy in performing many different styles of music, and in sharing this love of music with her students.
Susan Upham, Theatre Arts
Susan Upham has been a private voice and drama teacher for the past 20 years. She has been a voice and drama coach for New England Christian Performing Arts Center as well as the co-director of the Whitinsville Christian School Middle-School musical. Prior to moving to the Westborough area two years ago, Susan implemented the DRAVO program both in her church and school and it enjoyed tremendous success with over 40 young girls participating. Susan hold her Master's Degree in vocal performance from Boston University. She lives in Westborough with her 4 children and her husband David.
Kim Webster, Early Childhood
Mr. Kim Webster weaves music and puppetry to entertain and educate young musical minds.
Mr. Kim Webster has entertains thousands of children and adults. His first CD "Musical Child" for which won the 2004 Children's Music Web best new Artist Award, features 20 original songs written, arranged and performed by Mr. Kim. His second original works "Children Of the Sea" was released in 2005 and third "HUMM" was released in 2008.
Music and education go together for Mr. Kim As a faculty member of the Grafton based non-profit music organization, Apple Tree Arts he contributes to their Early Childhood Music Outreach programs. A certified member of the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association [ECCMA] Mr. Kim's programs incorporate basic musical concepts of rhythm and tonality with fun guided movement activities.
Rebecca Wright, Early Childhood & Theatre Arts
Rebecca's passion is working with special needs children introducing them to the world of music and movement. Her enthusiasm for introducing all children to the wonderful world of music is a great match with the Apple Tree Arts vision. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education from Taylor University. She is a songwriter/vocalist and markets her Children’s music in Europe as well as in the USA.
