Champaign School of Music

Originally from Brazil, Daniele is a piano and voice teacher, accompanist, and performer located in Champaign-Urbana. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the EMBAP University (Escola de Musica e Belas-Artes do Parana) in piano pedagogy and music education and a master’s degree in composition from the Southeastern Louisiana University. During her academic years, she collaborated as an accompanist for recitals and plays, performed in musical theatre and operas, and participated in many Musical Festivals and Masterclasses in south Brazil.

With more than 12 years of teaching experience, Daniele believes the most crucial goal in piano lessons is fostering an enjoyment of music that lasts a lifetime. To nurture and develop that music appreciation, she believes students need to become musicians in their own right.

To help students become well-rounded musicians, she likes to instigate discovery learning by asking questions and having students think independently rather than merely giving instructions and corrections.

She loves hiking, biking, and spending time with her friends and family. She has the privilege to help more than 50 students at the Champaign School of Music and loves meeting with them every week.

Stephen brings his experience teaching music in the public schools to offer piano and voice lessons for students of all ages. Comfortable with both popular and classical styles, Stephen meets students at their present skill level, and helps develop them into skilled musicians. Always eager to make music, Stephen sings with UIUC Oratorio Society, Baroque Artists of Champaign, Canterbury Choir, and conducts the Urbana Pops Orchestra. When not singing or playing piano, he enjoys video games and historic buildings. 

Bill teaches Music Together, guitar, ukulele, electric and acoustic basses and percussion. He specializes in introductory guitar lessons for kids and beginners, classical/fingerstyle guitar and singing and playing at the same time.

A Champaign/Urbana native, Bill has sought to share his love of music with the community for many years. A lifelong musician, he honed his skills on the North Coast while studying classical guitar with Nicholas Lambson at Humboldt State University. During this period he also studied improvisation and education with beloved North Coast vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Bill Allison.

In 2013, Bill returned home to Champaign/Urbana to continue his classical guitar studies with Dr. Guido Sanchez/Portuguez at the University of Illinois and finished his education study at Eastern Illinois University. He honed his skills as a music educator at the Upper Bout in Champaign teaching private and family lessons. In partnership with the Upper Bout, Bill brought after-school guitar lessons to South Side Elementary School in Champaign and developed a guitar program for teens at Salt and Light in Urbana.

In lessons with kids, Bill’s goal is to keep fun and play at the center of every lesson. He seeks to expose students to many styles of music from around the world believing that as his students are introduced to the foundations of music they have the opportunity to experience the world through musical culture.

In lessons, Bill strives to meet the students where they are, utilizing what they already know about music to develop their own unique sound and he delights when his students discover they may already know more about music than they think.

Ms.Anna is a music teacher from Indiana, and is excited to share her knowledge about the violin with her pupils. 

As a private teacher, she believes one of the most important steps for her is to learn how her students learn best. Do they need a familiar structure to their lesson, or would they be better engaged with rotating activities? Are they self-disciplined, or do they require more incentive to practice? And of course, why do they want to learn music? This last question informs every decision she makes throughout lessons. 

Helen is a dedicated pianist and teacher with professional training. She began teaching in 2017 and is continuing her passion at the Champaign School of Music. She teaches students of all ages from beginner to advanced levels and believes all students are unique and each student deserves a personalized teaching plan that will fit their indidual learning style.

Her approach to teaching relies more on hands-on experience than textbooks. Her teaching strategy encourages students to enjoy and make music first while explaining concepts as they came up in the music.

As a performer, Helen graduated from the Music School attached to Xinghai Conservatory of Music, one of the most prestigious performing arts high schools in China, and was admitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a piano performance major at the age of 16. She is the winner of the Gertrude Weber Gassmann Piano Award in 2020, First Prize of 2020 Best Beethoven competition Age Group V, winner of 2021 Clara Rolland Piano Competition, and winner of Illinois Club The Judith Life Ikenberry Fine Arts Award.

Ms. Jenny is a Korean-American pianist pursuing Bachelor of Music in piano performance at the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under the guidance of Professor William Heiles. Ms.
Jenny has extensive experience in piano performance, accompaniment, ensemble, and musical
broadways as well. She is currently teaching piano at the Champaign School of Music in
Champaign, Illinois.

Ms.Jenny's pedagogical approach for students is to maintain a communicative and proactive
environment while learning. She aims to help students overcome pianistic challenges through
technical and musical awareness. It’s important to understand and realize how our physical and
mental concentration are connected with one another especially in music. Ms.Jenny believes all students are
individually unique, and her teaching methods are tailored to each students’ learning style.
During the process, she likes to provide various methods while offering helpful suggestions and
advices for students to achieve a better understanding. 

Max is a guitarist, bassist, composer, and audio engineer from Urbana, Illinois. He is currently a graduate student studying jazz guitar performance under professor Larry Gray. Max received his undergraduate degree in Commercial Music from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. There he took both classical and jazz guitar lessons, and
also spent a large amount of time in the recording studio.

Max teaches students of all ages and experience levels.His teaching philosophy is based on technique and fundamentals; however, he also like to know each student's musical interests and shapes each lesson accordingly. Max believes it is important to be goal oriented when learning an instrument.The goals don't have to be lofty but as simple as learning to play a beloved song. 

While jazz is Max’s main focus, he also listens to, plays, and records rock, reggae, R&B, hip-hop, folk, and just about anything else you can think of. Max teaches and plays guitar, ukulele, bass, and drums.

Originally from Nebraska, Seth's music performance history began with clarinet in 5th grade band, but really developed when he became interested in the guitar at age twelve. Growing up in a small town, he primarily taught himself guitar and studied voice and piano from local music teachers to broaden his music knowledge.

From this early passion and effort, Seth started playing guitar in cover bands and got professional opportunities when he was just 13-years-old.

Seth holds a bachelor's degree in Guitar Performance and a Master’s degree in Classical Guitar Performance. While at college, he accompanied orchestras and choirs on classical guitar & also played jazz in both big bands and small combos. His teaching experience has also led him to teach in charter schools and coach teachers in fretted instrument music as a consultant.

Due to a diversity of experiences in his own musical life, Seth believes that students should have a diverse understanding of music. He believes students can flourish through successful practices, following their curiosity, exercising original ideas, developing within a musical community, and having a positive growth-mindset.

Teaches online lessons only. Ming is a piano teacher and enjoys sharing her knowledge of music with students. Ming has more than ten years of experience teaching piano lessons, music theory, aural skills, and musicianship. She does more than simply teach keyboard skills. When a student studies with her, they also learn the theory and aural skills that are important for being a well rounded musician.

Ming's teaching philosophy involves helping develop a deep appreciation and understanding of music. Instead of simply telling students to spend more hours practicing, she finds students improve faster when they understand the logic behind the music.

Ming also helps students learn efficient practice techniques and sight-reading skills so that they will feel more involved and interested in practicing and performing.