Interested in lessons or just learning more <<CLICK HERE>>..
















































































Christopher Nifong 

Bass
Guitar
Ukulele

Chris loves to help young people (and the young at heart) find the joy and freedom he has found through music!

Mr. Nifong is a guitarist, composer, and educator from Sudbury Massachusetts. He completed his Bachelors Degree in Guitar Performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston and is currently well on his way to completing his Masters in Music Education and Autism at Boston Conservatory.

From an early age Chris learned important lessons about music and the roles of different instruments . His father was assistant chair of the Ensemble Department at Berklee and a professor there at the college for 35 years. He fondly remembers his dad frequently bringing him into rehearsals at the college throughout his childhood. 

Chris has studied guitar with Raja Kassis, Tim Miller, Jack Pezzanelli, Scott Tarulli, Jon Damian, Kevin Barry, Norm Zocher, Larry Baione, Jim Kelly, Joe Musella, Curtis Shumate, Guy Van Duser and a session with Mike Stern. 

For more about Chris visit www.chrisnifong.com
Click here to hear Chris YouTube


Chris teaches
Fridays



  


Leslie Leedberg 

Voice


Leslie Leedberg (soprano) trained at Ithaca College (MM Vocal Performance) and the University of New Hampshire (BM Music Education), as well as the Florence Voice Seminar, an intensive summer program in Florence, Italy.She has been a private voice teacher for over ten years, working with students ranging in age from pre-teen through adult. She has taught throughout New England and New York state, and has been an adjudicator for many music festival auditions in Massachusetts. Leslie worked as an elementary school music teacher before deciding to stay home to raise her sons. She taught children from kindergarten through sixth grade, teaching general music and directing choruses of over 180 students.

Leslie performs frequently in opera, oratorio, and concert. She debuted with Greater Worcester Opera as Frasquita in Carmen. Other notable operatic performances include Blanche in Dialogues of the Carmelites and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Leslie is a frequent oratorio performer. She has appeared as a soloist with Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Pilgrim Festival Chorus, and Masterworks Chorale. She has sung with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the official chorus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops.

​For more about Leslie and voice lessons with her visit www.leslieleedberg.com/lessons






































Silvia Irving

Voice
Piano

Silvia earned her degree in Music Education in Germany and her masters degree in Vocal
Performance and Pedagogy from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. Silvia
concertized in Germany and Switzerland, singing repertoire ranging from Early Music to
contemporary music. After moving to the USA and settling in Worcester, MA, Silvia performed
for many years with professional ensembles such as Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Baroque and Ensemble Abendmusik. Silvia was a soloist and section leader for the Schola at Holy Cross College for 26 years. She has been teaching students of all ages at Pakachoag Music School of Greater Worcester since 1987, and undergraduates at Anna Maria College since 1997.

Silvia has been a NATS Member since 1995.
She provides lessons to singers from age 6 to mature adulthood in a safe and supportive
environment, taking into account the individual student’s talents, interests, and needs. Her
focus is on sound vocal and interpretative skills.
By incorporating fundamentals of music she encourages her students to become complete
musicians.

Says Silvia,
"Learning to sing is hard work and fun!"





Silvia will return
on Tuesdays
Fall 2023































Stan Schertzer 

Piano

Playing piano is his passion. Composition is his love. Teaching is a way to pass both of these joys on to his students. 

A graduate of Berklee College of Music with a BM in Composition, Stan has 33 years of piano teaching experience in all mediums from pop and jazz to the classics.  His strength is in the jazz idiom and improvisation. 

Stan instills in his students the importance of creativeness and self-expression through their instrument. 

He is currently playing keyboards and arranging for the SMS Jazz Project with his son Adam, performing in varied venues throughout the New England area. Stan was musical director and arranger from 1992 - 2016 for the late Cantor Jodi Schechtman of Temple Beth Am in Framingham - where he orchestrated and conducted numerous services and performances of an original Shabbat service entitled Shabbat Unplugged.





Stan teaches
Monday - Thursday


Interested in lessons or just learning more <<CLICK HERE>>..

David Lookwhy 

Violin
Viola
Cello

David graduated from UMass Amherst in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance and Music Education. During his time at the university, David studied under Juilliard cellists Astrid Schween, Edward Aaron, and Gregory Beaver. 

Mr. Lookwhy has been teaching violin, viola, and cello privately for six years. An elementary music teacher of Springfield Massachusetts, he believes in making music engaging, by mixing in standard repertoire with arrangements of songs that students would like to play from their own lives.

 Students find lessons very safe and supportive, always working towards music projects that they enjoy. David wants to make music interesting and accessible to students of all ages.



Currently On 
Advanced Education 
Leave



























Becky Lightcap

Piano

Becky is thrilled to join the KAM team. A lifelong musician, experienced educator, and native of the Midwest, Becky has made her home in New England for the past 25 years. With a professional background in the fields of music and education, Becky now teaches piano full-time to beginners and intermediates of all ages.

 For many people, the arts provide an avenue to continued learning and growth in all settings. Through the exploration of the enjoyable medium of music, skill building gives students an opportunity to refine their ability to listen, enhancing their development in all social and cognitive areas. The process involved in gaining skills is dynamic and flexible, and Becky enjoys tailoring each student’s lessons to their individual needs. By combining her dual passions of music and mentoring, Becky’s goal is to foster an ongoing love of music for personal enjoyment and to enhance learning through listening.


Becky teaches 
Thursdays



Miss Karen teaches 

Tuesdays - Fridays 2 - 9 PM 

Saturdays 9 AM - 7 PM

Karen Amlaw 
(a.k.a. Miss Karen)

Piano
Intro to Singing 
Kids on Keys (Group Instruction for 4-8 yr olds)


Ms. Amlaw’s education includes a BA in psychology / music from the University of Rochester/Eastman School of Music where her principal instrument was violin.  She has studied voice with Karen Lykes (currently professor of voice at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music), Maria Ferrante, world renowned soprano Maria Spacagna, and veteran MET dramatic mezzo soprano Sondra Kelly.  Her coaches have included Brian Moll, Olga Rogach and Bradley Pennington, founder of Boston Bel Canto Opera.  She is currently under the tutelage of for MET conductor Maestro Steven Crawford.  Ms. Amlaw also has done graduate work in Elementary Education at the University of Rochester.  

Ms. Amlaw has taught in after school and summer school music programs in both Worcester, MA and Rochester, NY.  In addition to directing the Kids on Keys Program. she has been the traveling music teacher for the YWCA in Worcester and Westborough, MA and a regular guest artist / music educator at Noodle, Noggin' and Bean, a parent/child interactive educational learning center in Northborough, MA.  She has owned and operated Karen Amlaw Music since 2005.

































Mr. Lam teaches 
Monday - Wednesday
Peter Lam  

Violin
Viola
Cello

​Mr. Lam's earliest exposure to violin playing began in 3rd grade in the Worcester public elementary schools. Captivated by what he heard he began his violin studies that year and enrolled in group lessons at the school. 
Since then Peter has studied classical violin for nearly 18 years and has branched out and studied many different genres like tango, bluegrass, jazz and hip-hop. Peter has studied with many different highly trained musicians/teachers including Reggie Pineda, Liz Chang, Fred Cohen and many others. 

 Mr. Lam is an experienced educator, having taught students ranging from as young as 3 to adults. He has participated in a practicum program through UMass Amherst having played for local string programs in Amherst and Worcester areas. 

Peter continues to play in a number of gigs ranging from church services, Christmas Parties, Symphony Orchestras and performing solo recitals throughout the New England Area.  
Peter currently resides in the Worcester county and continues to upload media of his musical journey through social media platforms such as YoutubeFacebook, and TikTok.

For more about Peter visit www.peterlamviolinist.com




























Evan Palmer

Double Bass
Electric Bass
Oboe
English Horn

Evan Palmer (they / he) is an improviser, bassist, oboist, English hornist, composer and educator based in Boston, Massachusetts, who specializes in music in the Black American tradition, particularly improvised music. 

Evan is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where they received a Bachelor of Music in Bass Performance, studying with John Lockwood, Billy Kilson, Bruno Räberg and many more. They have performed and recorded with many artists including Francisco Mela, Phil Grenadier, Jim Robitaille, Leo Blanco, Shinya Lin, Mark Walker, and John Dalton. 

Evan's band performs their own improvisations and compositions as well as music by Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, and other great composers. 

Evan is currently a private lesson instructor for the Hopkinton Music Association, Note-Worthy Experiences and Karen Amlaw Music.




























Michael Shapiro 

Percussion

Michael hails from a musical family in Brookline, MA. He has studied with a variety of drummers – most notably the world-renowned Thom P Hannum.and his influences have varied from jazz, to classical, to classic rock, which expanded to prog rock and much later Drum corps Bands like Kansas, Zappa, Rush, Spiro Gira, Pat Metheny, The Garfield Cadets and Chick Correa.

Michael sees the sharing of music making as his true calling and seeks to give back the gift of music that has been given to him over the years. Furthermore, he has learned of all the health benefits of playing music and how it benefits mental and physical health. “Drumming got me through the worst of covid” he says. You can delve more into Michael's approach to the psychology of drumming at his Patreon page www.patreon.com/bangadrum or his you tube channel www.patreon.com/bangadrum, which also includes hand drumming.

Michael is sensitive to his students needs and strives to try and make things fun and engaging. With patience and step by step challenges he guides his students to learn technique, music reading, tempo training, and musicianship.  He says, “it’s not about being the best, it’s about the never-ending journey to strive for excellence.” 

 He is always learning new things and believes anything is possible with the right practice approach, repetition and most of all, maximum effort.

Be it young or old, ADHD or not Michael encourages his students to love the drums as much as he does. Humor helps and most folks learn the "bud um bum crash" from him after a clean joke told by him or his young or old students. 

No matter what a person’s musical tastes, the foundational skills Michael employs help his students achieve whatever musical goals they want to achieve. He has worked with children as young as 6 to adults over 60.  

Michael teaches the afterschool program in Lunenburg, as well as at two other locations in central Massachusetts. He is excited to be a part of KAM’s growing team!




Mike teaches
on Tuesdays





























Mauri Tetreault 

Voice

Mauri has been teaching voice to students of all ages and abilities across the New England area for over two decades. Her pedagogical approach is not only rooted in a foundation of excellent vocal technique, but also in the creation of well-rounded musicians prepared for all aspects of the profession including diction of singing languages, dramatic interpretation, music theory, recital curation, and audition preparation. 

Dedicated to helping students find repertoire that excites them and is appropriate for their voice, Mauri works with her thriving private vocal studio on a variety of repertoire ranging from pop and musical theater to art song and opera. Mauri has found particular success with high school students and has greatly enjoyed being part of their musical and personal development at such a transformational time in their lives. 

Besides maintaining a private studio, she has also held positions at Marlborough High School, King Philip Regional High School, Joanne Warren Dance Academy, Ailey Dance Camp and the Jeanne Drumm Music Academy. 

She has helped several students apply and audition for competitive undergraduate voice programs, worked with them to create successful ongoing practice regimens, and instilled in them a high degree of interpretive skill and musicality. 

Mauri’s active performing career allows her to engage with students in a direct and practical way about the ways in which studio work translates to performance. Her roles have included Stepmother and the Witch (cover) / Into the Woods with Boston Festival Orchestra, Alma March / Little Women with MassOpera, Miss Todd / Old Maid and the Thief with Hartford Opera Theater, and Mercedes / Carmen with New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. Mauri also appears regularly in the professional ensemble of Boston’s Grammy winning Odyssey Opera. 

Mauri recently performed and recorded Awakenings and Lord of Cries, both with Odyssey Opera and BMOP. On the concert platform, she has appeared as a soloist with organizations around New England, recently performing a solo recital of Spanish and American folk songs. She can be heard weekly at Wellesley Village Church.

Mauri earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of UMASS Lowell, and her Master of 
Music from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. 

As an educator, Mauri believes the art of 
teaching voice is ever evolving and keeps up with her schooling by attending Vocal Pedagogy 
classes at The Boston Conservatory.



Mauri teaches
on Wednesdays