Sonora Lee
Owner & Founder
A little history...
Born to a mix of Cherokee and Irish lineage, she remembers the midday Sunday dinners with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. "We were playing music with guitars, harmonicas, spoons, etc.— and lots of singing (in harmony)."
Starting formal lessons at age five, Sonora 'lived' music in rural Missouri where she followed the natural process of growth via church choir, award-winning State Fair performances, etc. She then went on to the University of Missouri at Kansas City-Conservatory of Music where she received awards for Most Promising Education Student and Outstanding Vocal Performer. At her first Freshman conservatory piano jury she was advanced to the Junior level!
As a student, Sonora arranged and directed radio jingles, rehearsed ensembles for Kansas City churches, managed bands (rock 'n' roll and jazz), and coordinated rehearsal space for University students, including an 80-piece Accordion Orchestra. You thought finding a place for that new drum set was hard!
Psychology of Music became another favorite focus and ultimately led Sonora to San Antonio, where she became the Director of Music Therapy at the San Antonio State School. Working with the residents, designing curricula, coordinating staff and supervising Music Therapy interns was rewarding work.
Education
• Bachelor of Music Education
• Masters in Music Therapy
• Diploma in Voice Performance
• Minors in Piano and Theater
Michael Zeoli
Drum Lessons
Best known as drumming member of award winning Del Castillo band. Recognized by SXSW Music Awards (02/03) as "best drummer" having played Montreaux Jazz Festival and recorded with the likes of Willie Nelson and Carlos Santana. Mike has an extensive musical background teaching students of all ages (beginner to advanced) and nearly every application ranging from marching and orchestral percussion, to modern drum set, afro-cuban hand drums and world percussion for nearly 20 years.
**Se habla espanol**
Nick Boettcher
Guitar & Ukulele Lessons
Nick has been a professional musician and educator for over 20 years with experience in a number of musical styles from rock and roll to blues, americana, and jazz. He continues to educate and perform as well as produce and engineer records.
Born and raised in Peoria, IL, Nick started his musical journey as a blues-based guitarist, quickly expanding into songwriting and stretching into more musical styles in order to expand his creative world.
Nick graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in 2006 and moved to Chicago where he played professionally and ran the lesson program at a hip guitar shop in Wicker Park. After family events called him to Texas, he relocated and established new roots in Austin with long time musical and life partner, Paige DeChausse, and their band The Reverent Few.
Nick continues to perform, tour, and make records alongside teaching using his wide range of experience to share and educate everyone from beginners to professionals.
Dorie Howard
Piano & Flute Lessons
Music has been a lifelong joy for Dorie. Her first formal experience began at age seven when she successfully auditioned for a local girl’s choir. By age nine she began playing flute and, though not formally trained until much later, would also play her family’s upright piano for hours at a time. By age ten, she had decided that composing was her calling, and began writing music primarily on piano. As a pre-teen, Dorie began training through the Austin Chamber Music Society, playing flute and singing in various chamber groups. Later, she went on to earn her Music Composition degree through the University of Texas at Austin, and later completed a second degree in Sound Recording Technologies through Texas State. While obtaining these degrees, Dorie worked at Apple Inc. as technical support (a “Senior Advisor”), and also as a freelance flute and piano teacher, music transcriber, and as a composer for short films. Now, she is happily splitting her time between teaching music and composing.
Alexia Benson
Piano & Voice Lessons
As a creative artist who channels her emotions and intellect deeply through her music, Alexia strives to teach her students how to express themselves while making music. She believes that teaching is a process that involves cultivating students' growth into becoming both musicians and people. Her approach is to build students' musical foundation and technique so they can explore creativity in their lessons and in their own free time. This will guide them closer to finding their own musical voice.
Hailed for her performance as the alto soloist in Mahler's 2nd Symphony, composer and soloist for her own orchestra piece, and concert organizer for new music, Alexia is a multi-faceted musician working as a freelance composer, songwriter, vocalist, and keyboardist in Austin. She recently graduated with her Master's in Music Composition from the University of Michigan and received her Bachelor's in Composition and Vocal Performance from the University of Redlands in Southern California.
Alexia grew up playing piano from age 9 and eventually improvising and songwriting at age 11. After winning a local Steinway Society music competition on piano, the head judge acknowledged the immense musicality and emotion behind her performance. It is now that she realizes the significance of this comment and the importance of trusting and building her own musical voice as an artist.
Bryan Kelley
Guitar, Bass, Ukulele and Piano
Bryan cut his musical teeth on the ukulele at the age of four, while living in the Philippines as a navy brat. By thirteen, he'd moved to guitar and Seattle. Growing up in several Northwest bands during the pre-grunge years, Bryan played alongside other emerging artists such as Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) and members of Queensryche and Alice in Chains.
He continued his music career as a singer/songwriter in Los Angeles, and successfully released a solo album and toured extensively. After starting a family and putting his roots down, he expanded his career as a film & TV composer, music producer, and session guitar player.
He has 25+ years of songwriting, composing, AND production experience, leading to thousands of song placements including 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Disney, Universal, Sony, Pixar, Lionsgate, Netflix, ABC, CBS, NBC, and many more. He's experienced in most genres, including: rock, pop, country, blues, and folk.
Bryan also teaches classes in songwriting, composition, and music production.
James Lareaux
Piano Lessons
James graduated from Berklee College of Music with an undergraduate in jazz piano and Texas State University with a Master's in piano performance. Since he was 7, James has found great joy and satisfaction by being involved in the creative music process. He has comfortably taught private piano lessons to students of every age since his high school days in Hawaii. Some of the genres he can teach are jazz, rock, funk, Latin, pop, and classical. Boasting a patient yet thorough teaching style, James is happy teaching all ages and levels!
Aviana Burkepile
Piano & Voice Lessons
Aviana hails from Kyle Texas and is happy to be back in the surrounding area. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and her Master's degree in Vocal Performance from Rice University.
Her performing career has taken her to stages in Canada all the way to Italy. Throughout her academic years, she embraced lead roles at both Oberlin and Rice University.
As a teacher, her main goal is to foster an environment where students have a blast exploring their musical talents while developing a deeper understanding of their chosen instrument and the arts as a whole. Aviana believes that learning should be fun, engaging, and transformative, and she is committed to guiding students on this exciting musical path!