Author: Simon Duffill

Evan Waaramaa is a performing musician, composer, educator and content creator currently living in New York City. He can often be spotted playing fusion jazz on a red keytar at Manhattan clubs like Groove, Harlem Nights, and Silvana.

He can also be spotted in a wide variety of music videos performing with artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Troy Ramey. He routinely releases compositions and music analysis videos at his YouTube channel BitBlitz. And in the summers he can be found leading rock bands and recording classes as the head of Creative Arts at Park’s Music Department in Brookline, MA.

Combined with his experiences as a private instructor and having taught at NYU Steinhardt Evan has experience teaching students from a wide range of backgrounds.

Natalie Pereira is a writer, singer, teacher, and performer based in New Jersey. She graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A. in Music with Performance Honors and a B.A. in English and Textual Studies. Natalie writes and performs her own original music, singing at venues such as 54 Below, and is working on and performing in new and developing musicals. Her first solo album is slated to be released soon!

Natalie has fully immersed herself in the New Jersey youth theater community, directing and music directing numerous shows. She has performed, directed, and music directed at the Summit Playhouse, a venue close to her heart (notably – The Prom, Seussical Jr., and many more); music directed and taught at Centenary University’s Youth Performance Workshop; and run various theater and voice classes at the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. She is an active vocal teacher and coach, working with students from kindergarten to post high school.

Natalie is invested in using art and expression to build confidence, relationships, and happiness. As a teacher, she believes in building strong foundations in technique while finding and fostering each student’s individual voice.

Joseph Mathusek is a composer, performer, pianist, and director based in New Jersey. During his studies of vocal performance at Brigham Young University-Idaho, Joseph has performed various new musical works such as: That They May Have Joy (Ethan Wickman) and A Song Cycle (Ryan Terry). Joseph is also a highly sought after accompanist by vocalists and instrumentalists alike.

Joseph has composed a number of both large and small-scale works ranging from theatre pieces to commissioned choral arrangements that have been performed for thousands of audience members. Together with collaborator John Ertman, Joseph has written two musicals: Alone (American Music Theatre Project, Concept Album), And Mews (Commissioned 2023).

Joseph is an experienced private educator, teaching both voice and piano to students of all ages and backgrounds.

Connie graduated with a BA from Northwestern University and has had a diverse and dynamic career.

She grew up dancing, starting with ballet and later expanding her repertoire to include lyrical, jazz, theater dance, and hip hop.

After performing professionally in musicals, she transitioned to straight theater, as well as television and film.

Connie has appeared in numerous regional and national commercials and had roles in major TV shows and films, including The Sopranos and Law and Order: SVU.

Today, Connie is focused on empowering others through coaching, leveraging her unique blend of experience from both the performing arts and the corporate world. She specializes in career and leadership coaching for working professionals and is passionate about mentoring and coaching young actors. You might also recognize her as one of the sassy moms in Tom and the Moms!

Larysa Maliutina is a Ukrainian pianist and piano teacher. She is a graduate of Gnessin Academy of Music, University of Connecticut. Currently she is working on a Professional Studies Diploma at the New School – College of the Performing Art – Mannes with Professor Pavlina Dokovska.

Larysa has won top prizes in international competitions and has participated in master classes and musical festivals around the world. As a performer Larysa has appeared at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium.
She has concertized a soloist, chamber musician, collaborator, and orchestral pianist. She also has conducted research in the fields of music theory, performance practice and the areas of piano pedagogy and educational psychology.

Paige Faure is a theatre maker and performer in NJ/NYC. Her Broadway credits include A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, the latest Tony-winning revival of Company, the title role in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Miss Saigon, Bullets Over Broadway starring Zach Braff, and How To Succeed in Business… featuring Daniel Radcliffe. She’s toured internationally with five other Broadway shows, premiered new works regionally at The Old Globe, Papermill Playhouse, The REV and the Kennedy Center, and has, most recently, created choreography for The Rev Theatre’s 2024 production of Jersey Boys. She will also be a part of the choreography team for the upcoming A Beautiful Noise national tour. Paige has an eleven year old son, Hank, is an advocate for parenting as a creative/performer, and is a Yoga Ground-certified and passionate yoga instructor. She also teaches for Little Apple Arts and Sellwood Studios in NJ, and coaches musical theatre students of all ages

Praised for her “rich sound” and “remarkable agility,” mezzo-soprano Cornelia Lotito is an emerging artist with Opera Idaho. She has performed roles such as Berta in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and covered Rosina. Lotito has been a young artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, starring in scenes as Carmen (Carmen), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), and others.
A two-time Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Regional Finalist, Lotito won the Idaho-Montana District in 2023 and Indiana District in 2022. She has received awards from the Gerda Lissner Foundation and NATS. Cornelia has been a finalist in competitions like Camerata Bardi International Vocal Competition, SAS Performing Arts Vocal Competition, and Piccola Opera’s Opera Idol Competition.
She has a M.M. in Vocal Performance from University of Tennessee, 2021 and a B.M. Vocal Performance Montclair State University, 2018.

Emily McNamara was recognized by Time Out New York as one of the “top ten local women every[one] should know—and be obsessed with.”

New York performing credits include: A Musical About Star Wars, NEWSical The Musical, The Awesome 80’s Prom (also co-wrote), My Big Gay Italian Wedding, My First Time, The Karaoke Show, and Around The World In 80 Days.

Regional favorites: Gettin’ The Band Back Together at George Street Playhouse (also co-wrote), Little Shop Of Horrors, Fiddler On The Roof, Dreamgirls, Godspell, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Chicago.

Emily performs regularly as a host, singer, and comic at venues all over NYC. She recently co-starred on the HBO drama Vinyl, produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger. Other TV: Sex And The City and Billy On The Street. Emily is the lead singer for 80’s tribute band, White Wedding Band, 90’s tribute band, Uncle Jesse, and The Broadway Project Band. Emily loves teaching performing arts to students of all ages and particularly has a blast at Sellwood Studios!

Paige sings opera, jazz, and theater in the tri-state area, and runs a choir out of Morris County with her husband who is also a Westminster alumnus.

She has a Batchelor of Music degree from the prestigious Westminster Choir College, and a Masters of Music from Manhattan School of music.

She has extensive private teaching experience, with students of all ages.