MAKING MUSICIANS FOR LIFE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Anna Bulkina Piano Teacher for Gray School of Music
ANNA BULKINA - PIANIST "…mature, compelling performances of the Schumann and Beethoven concertos."- Leonard Eureka, Fort Worth Weekly, July 3, 2011 "Hardly anybody has ever affected, touched and transformed the audience in so many different ways and on so many levels." - Schwäbisches Tagblatt, July 10, 2012 "Anna Bulkina is an assertive artiste of substance, combining humanity with intensity,with an absorbing stage presence borne of a set of illuminating personal facets and convictions"-The Worthing Herald, March 15, 2016 Russian pianist Anna Bulkina has garnered applause from both audiences and critics alike. Her performances have taken her around the world and have included appearances at several of the world's most distinguished concert venues including the Gewandhaus (Leipzig, Germany), National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing, China), Seoul Arts Center (South Korea), and the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C. USA). Anna has been heard in broadcasts on radio and television in Germany, Belgium, the Vatican, Italy and the United States. A laureate of numerous prestigious competitions including the Busoni International Piano Competition ( Bolzano, Italy) , the China International Piano Competition (Xiamen) and 2009 MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition (USA), where she received a Steinway Grand Piano, Anna Has performed as soloist with orchestra throughout the united states as well as Italy, Spain, Russia and China. An avid chamber musician, Anna has appeared as guest artist with such string quartets as the Sao Paulo string quartet (Brazil), Orion string quartet (Austria) and the West Edge string quartet (USA). Anna Bulkina has been privileged to work with Alfred Brendel, Leon Fleisher, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Paul Badura-Scoda and participate in Ruhr Klavier Festival, International Piano Festival Ferruccio Busoni, Piano Texas Academy, Festival, Musica Nova Festival etc.After graduated from the Sergei Rachmaninoff Conservatory under Professor Rimma Skorokhodova in 2008, she came to the United States to continue her study at Texas Christian University on the Lili Kraus Scholarship with Dr. Tamas Ungar. After receiving her master's degree, she went to Italy, to the acclaimed Imola Piano Academy "Incontri col Maestro" to continue her studies with Boris Petrushansky She is a currently in the DMA program at UNT'S College of Music under the guidance of Dr. Pamela Mia Paul.
Annie Jeong is a Violin Teacher for Gray School of Music
Violinist Annie Jeong obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degree in Violin Performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University where she was awarded Melissa Tiller Violin Award in 2013, and she recently finished her Performer's Diploma at SMU under the guidance of Emanuel Borok. Annie made her solo orchestral debut with the Oskaloosa Symphony at age 15. In the following year, she appeared as soloist with the Central Iowa Symphony after winning their Young Artist's Competition. An active performer and a passionate teacher, Annie has been playing the violin over 20 years and teaching students of all ages at different levels since 2008. She believes learning the violin can enrich one's life in many areas and enjoys helping her students achieve their goals. While encouraging her students to enjoy playing, Annie also focuses on developing relative pitch, having a correct posture and producing a great tone in every student. She is thrilled to share her passion of music and love of teaching with young children at the Gray School of Music.
Job Titles:
- Member of Texas Choral Directors Association
Cherry Hanes is a Voice and Piano Teacher at Gray School of Music
Cherry has concertized and sung with various symphonies and chamber orchestras, won state and national competitions, and been a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera auditions. She was selected to work with Jerome Hines in a vocal master class. She was a paid soloist at Covenant Presbyterian Church and Highland Park Presbyterian Church, has led worship many years, and has sung specials for various church services and functions.
Cherry began studying piano in kindergarten. She had the privilege of studying voice under Mrs. Florence McCracken Vachon for 27 years. She earned a BS in Vocal and Piano performance from Texas Woman's University and a Master of Art's in Worship Leadership from Dallas Baptist University. Cherry founded her own private vocal and piano studio in 1986 and her students have won state, national and international competitions. Cherry also taught private voice and piano at The Hockaday School for almost a decade.
She is currently serving as Director of Music and served in many other capacities in music ministry in the past 34 years, including leading worship, conducting/directing choirs, orchestras, and musicals/cantatas, special music, and offertories. She has taught piano for 25 years.
Cherry is a member of Texas Choral Directors Association, Richardson Music Teachers Association, Dallas Music Teachers Association, Texas Music Teachers Association, Music Teachers National Association, Sigma Alpha Iota, and National Association of Teachers of Singing and has served as an officer, vocal judge, and board member in these organizations. Cherry has been awarded Teacher of the Year by Richardson Music Teachers Association in 2014-2015 and 2019-2020.
Cherry has students concertizing in Europe, Music Educators here in Texas, and professionals on the stage on Broadway. She loves teaching and educating. She also studied pipe organ. Cherry has a doggie named Allegro that loves to sing with her students along with 2 kitty cats that support the arts - Massai and Dolce. Her number one supporter is her husband Mike.
David Simons is a Voice Teacher at Gray School of Music
David Simons is an accomplished, classically trained Tenor. At age seven, David began learning piano and participating in local children's choirs. In high school David began training in classical voice, participated in several musicals, and was inspired to continue studying voice culminating in a Bachelor of Arts in Music. While studying at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, David became the only undergraduate member of the Chamber Choral, the premier choir, which he maintained until graduation. As a teacher, David's primary concern is to engender a love of music through a balance of technical study and musical exploration. Furthermore, David believes a teacher should take into consideration his student's current abilities as they develop musically and artistically. His goal is to create skilled musicians whose knowledge and abilities will bring them joy, and benefit them for the rest of their lives. As a vocalist, David has performed in concerts across the globe. Touring in Mexico, Malaysia, South Korea, and Great Britain. In some instances, performing for audiences numbering over nine-thousand. Additionally, David has participated in several Oratorios such as Handel's Messiah, William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, and Mendelsohn's Elijah. Currently, David maintains a position at Saint Andrew's Anglican Church as a paid soloist where he regularly performs and assists with the choir. In his free time David enjoys international travel, and walking his dog. He is also and avid reader, and can't resist a good tiramisu.
Dr. Heejung Kang Jackson is a Piano Teacher at Gray School of Music
Born in Seoul, Korea, Heejung Kang Jackson studied at the Music and Art High School for musically gifted teenagers. She graduated with the highest honors from the College of Music, Ewha Woman's University in Seoul. Later she earned her Master's Degree in Piano at the same college and furthermore received the Ewha Graduate Research Fellowship Scholarship. Finally Dr. Heejung Kang Jackson received her doctorate in Piano Performance at the College of Music at the University of North Texas in 2004. She by completing her doctoral dissertation on Rachmaninoff while there.
In 2002, she made a recording of "Rediscovered Lieder and Piano Pieces by Kletzki, Oppel, and Schenker,". Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jewish Federation, and College of Music at UNT were all sponsors. She performed music by Paul Kletzki, eReinhard Oppel, Arnold Mendelssohn and other composers live on Israel Radio in December 2004. In November 2005, she performed solo piano music by Heinrich Schenker at the inaugural meeting of the Korean Society for Music Theory in Seoul and premiered Kletzki's Sonata for Piano and Violin with Robert Davidovici on Korean National Radio (KBS FM1).
Dr. Justin Gray is a Piano Teacher at Gray School of Music
Dr. Justin Gray is a graduate of The Juilliard School where he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance under Bartók scholar Gyorgy Sándor. Moving back to Texas in 2003, he continued his studies at Southern Methodist University, where he graduated with a Masters of Music degree in Piano Performance, and was granted a full artistic scholarship while under the instruction of Alfred Mouledous. In 2007, Dr. Gray earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas, where he was a student of Joseph Banowetz and Dr. Pamela Mia Paul. While at North Texas, he extensively researched the music of 20 th century composer Karl Weigl, and presented lecture concerts over previously unperformed solo piano works.
Dr. Gray was the Kawai Grand Prize winner in the 2005 Palos Verdes Music Peninsula Festival Competition in Los Angeles, and he has also won prizes in the Kingsville International Competition, the Texas Music Teachers' Association Competition for Solo Piano, the Grace Welsh Prize for Piano in Chicago, the Mid-Texas Symphony Competition, and the Los Angeles Liszt Competition. He has been featured as soloist with the Southern Methodist University Symphony, conducted by David Milnes.
As a pedagogue, Dr. Gray has completed Master's level courses in group piano instruction under Martha Hilley, and given instruction to group piano classes at North Texas University as a Teaching Assistant to Dr. Brad Beckman. He has been a member of NMTA and has taught private and group lessons to all ages since 2001. As a piano teacher and part of the Gray family, Dr. Gray's enthusiasm for instruction flows from his desire to pass on his musical knowledge to his students.
He and his wife, Sheila, enjoy cooking, spending time with family, and enjoying the many blessings they have been given.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Music Theory at UNT
Eddie Healy is a Composition and Guitar Teacher for Gray School of Music
Eddie Healy began playing guitar at the age of 13. He attended Eastfield College before completing his Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance at The University of North Texas. He subsequently completed a Master of Music degree at Southern Methodist University.
He is a faculty member specializing in guitar and music theory studies at Dallas College. He has also taught at the Gray School of Music since 2002. Eddie is the director of the Brookhaven-Allegro Guitar Orchestra, a community guitar ensemble that meets regularly at Dallas College. He has served as the assistant festival director at the Texas International Guitar Competition/Festival since 2010 and is director of the festival's youth competition. Additionally, he serves as the Director of Education at the annual Houston Classical Guitar Festival and Competition.
Eddie performs regularly in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. He has also performed live on WRR-Classical 101.1. He traveled to Spain in 2008 for a series of concerts and twice to Mexico in 2009 to perform at the 19 th Annual International Guitar Festival of Morelia and the 4th Festival Internacional de Guitarra Ramón Noble. He has appeared on national television and radio programs in Mexico. Healy returned to Spain in 2014 as a member of the faculty of the annual ChamberArt Madrid Festival and has done so several times since alongside his students and his duet partner, mezzo-soprano Dr. Brandi Estwick. Estwick and Healy have performed together in many venues in the DFW area, Houston, Oklahoma, and in Spain. Many of the selections they program are Healy's own arrangements. Likewise, he has produced many arrangements for one or two voices with guitar ensemble.
Eddie's original compositions have been performed all over the world. He has composed the theme to a series of podcasts produced by The University of Texas at Dallas titled "A Conversation With…", the theme for the Arts-Based Learning for Business video series, scores for several video games produced by the UTD Arts and Technology Video Game Lab, and the alma mater for Rogers Middle School in Prosper, Texas. In 2012 Healy released a CD consisting exclusively of his compositions titled, Direction. James Scott of minor7th.com said that the recording, "…is a triumph, offering the listener accessible compositions matched by immaculate performances." He published the sheet music for several of the compositions from Direction with Joachim-Trekel-Musikverlag in 2010 and has eleven publications with Les Productions d'OZ to date. Eddie is a member of ASCAP.
Genny Chang is a Piano and Cello Teacher at Gray School of Music
Genny Chang received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, Taiwan. She taught music in Taiwan before moving to Italy in 1989 to further her music education. Genny studied piano and the Italian language at the Universita' di Perugia for a year before moving to Milano to study piano and opera performance at A. Peri Conservatorio in Reggio Emilia with Maestro Mauro Trombetta. She was also selected to attend the professional performance classes with Mirella Freni.
Genny received her diploma with Honors from the Brescia Conservatory of Music in Brescia, Italy in 1994. She continued to study piano and organ at the Music Institute of Brera in Novara, Italy with Maestro Mateo Spina and Roberto Frigato.
During her 12 years of studies and living in Milan, Italy, Genny has performed in many churches and theaters including Teatro Coccia di Novara, Teatro di Donizetti in Bergamo, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova,Teatro Politeama di Palermo, Teatro Dialettale di Reggio Emilia, Teatro dei Rassicurati, Montecarlo. etc….
Genny also taught piano and singing at her own music studio - Bella Musica in Milan, Italy. In addition to music, Genny was also a fluent Italian translator. She did a lot of translation works for business exhibitions and trade shows in Italy.
After 12 years in Italy, Genny decided to move to the USA to pursuit her American dream. She arrived in Boston in 2000.
Genny is a very talented music teacher and has taught music in Taiwan, Italy and the USA for over 25 years. Furthermore, she was the head instructor at the Musical Page Piano Studio, Windham, NH(2001-2003); and a Piano instructor at the Nashua Community Music School NH. (2003-2007)
In 2007, Genny moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. While there she continued her private piano teaching. After Genny lived in East coast and West Coast she moved to Dallas in 2010. She taught at her own Bella Musica Music Studio in Plano. Genny Chang performed with Dallas Symphony Choirs from 2010 to 2014 at the Meyerson Symphony Hall and sang at the Summer Music Festival in Vail. Colorado in 2013. Genny was a piano teacher in Dallas from 2011 to 2016. She is a member of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).
Most of all, Genny loves children. She teaches piano and cello from beginners to advanced levels. Genny believes that music opens up many opportunities for fun, for building confidence, and for personal expressions. She has the love and the patience for teaching music to all ages and offers supportive and inspiring instruction to those seeking to learn more about just playing music. It is also her belief that music is a universal language that can spread happiness and can create strong bonds with those around us.
Genny is a loves skiing, swimming, traveling, photography and good food. She skis in Europe and the US. Genny has enjoyed swimming since she was 9 years old and was in the county swimming team. As a swimmer she won many medals and was also a swimming instructor at Flying Fish Swim School in San Francisco. Genny has traveled more than 30 countries and keeps on traveling every year.
Joel Arnold is a Violin and Piano Teacher for Gray School of Music
Joel Arnold maintains a versatile career as an educator, church musician and performer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As a teacher Mr. Arnold seeks to bring a multifaceted approach to music education with the incorporation of skills that can be applied to daily life in relation to all styles of music. Furthermore Mr. Arnold emphasizes the study of music theory and music history to encourage artistic development.
As a Baroque enthusiast, Mr. Arnold has performed harpsichord for the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Chamber Ensemble where he graduated with a BAM Piano Performance with a double major in Philosophy. As a collaborative musician, he has accompanied many young artists in various recital settings. Likewise, as a church musician, Mr. Arnold has performed numerous solo recitals and concerts where he featured his ability as an arranger, blending hymnody with a virtuosic flare.
As a violinist, Mr. Arnold has performed with several orchestras including the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra where he was an active member under the direction of Dr. Kurt Sprenger who is a member of both the Fort Worth Symphony and principal violinist with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra. As a student Mr. Arnold was privileged to study under Dr. Sprenger's wife, Dr. Jill Sprenger who received many awards including a Fulbright grant.
Outside of the music world Mr. Arnold is an enthusiastic reader and traveler having visited both Germany and Lebanon where he was on exchange with Bonn Bible Seminary and Arab Baptist Seminary.
Jonno Garver is a Guitar Teacher for Gray School of Music
Jonno Garver began his guitar studies in 2011 at Collin College in Plano Texas with Dr. Olga Amelkina-Vera. He has since received a BM degree from Oklahoma City University in 2017, and a MM degree from University of Louisville in 2020. He has studied guitar privately with Matthew Denman, Dr. Lynn McGrath, Dr. Stephen Lochbaum, Kyle Patterson, Dr. Stephen Mattingly, and Dariusz Kupiński. Jonno is currently pursuing a Doctor in Musical Arts at the University of North Texas with a Teaching Fellowship under Tom Johnson.
Jonno has taken masterclasses with renowned guitarists such as Pepe Romero, William Kanengiser, Marcin Dylla, Ana Vidovic, Giampaolo Bandini, Johannes Moller, Rene Izquierdo, and many others. Jonno has taught guitar lessons at the Salvation Army, Ballard School of Performing Arts, Boaz Performance Academy, and Music & Arts.
Jonno has received many awards in guitar competitions including, 1st prize winner of the Collin College Guitar Competition in the advanced division. 1st prize in both the duo and trio divisions of The Brownsville Guitar Ensemble Festival. A prize winner in the Mountain View Guitar Festival professional division, the University of Louisville Guitar Festival and Competition collegiate division, and the University of Memphis Guitar Competition. Semifinalist in the Classical Minds professional division, and The Lone Star Guitar Festival and Competition professional division.
Rolly Mireles is Guitar Teacher for Gray School of Music
Rolly Mireles began playing the guitar at the age of 13. He started his formal classical guitar studies at Eastfield College with Eddie Healy. Rolly graduated from Texas Woman's University under the tutelage of Carlo Pezzimenti. He received a Bachelor's degree in music and a Master's degree in music with an emphasis in music pedagogy.
While at TWU, Rolly performed as a soloist for the annual Honors recital and annually at the Chrysanthemum Tea festival. During his undergraduate studies he was inducted as a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, a national music honor society. He was also a member of the TWU guitar ensemble and Wind Symphony as a percussionist
Rolly has enjoyed collaborating with vocalist and other instrumentalist. He has participated in master classes with Robert Guthrie, Brian Clément-Foreman and Martin Pedreira. Rolly has taught at Texas Woman's University Community Music Center and is current faculty at the Music Institute of North Texas since 2014. Aside from being musical, Rolly enjoys hiking and long distance running.