Weatogue, CT Music Performance Lessons

ng for parents.

*** Travel Equipment ***
I bring my bass, iPod, tuner, drum machine,manuscript paper,etc. The student needs to provide adequate space and amplification.

*** Specialties ***
Theory, fingerstyle, thumb, reading notation & chord symbols, blues, country, funk, jazz, rock, soul.

rriculum. A couple of years later in 1998, Frixos found his true calling … music composition, Jazz and the Saxophone. Frixos’ purple tenor sax goes everywhere he goes!

“Part of my love for the Saxophone is rooted in this instrument’s versatility for improvisation.” Moving into music composition seemed a natural course for Frixos to follow, culminating in his graduation in 2013 with a University of Florida Music Composition BA from The New World School of the Arts in Miami.

“I was fortunate to be selected to play in various collegiate and other Jazz bands and be mentored by great jazz performers and educators.” Among them was Ed Calle, twice nominated for the Latin Grammy Award; Joe Donato, one of the most active and innovative musicians working in the field of jazz who has performed with many of the greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Carmen McRae, Nina Simone, Jack Jones, and Arturo Sandoval; Rafael Valencia where “I was honored to play for his Latin Jazz Big Band” says Frixos; the wonderful pianist Jim Gasior who has played with Ed Calle, Wendy Pedersen, Fernando Ulibarri and Aaron Lebos; the published and well decorated guitarist Dr. Mike Di Liddo, to name a few.

Of course there were lesser known people that had a profound influence on Frixos for which he makes it a point to say that he is “eternally grateful”. He adds, “My passion for composing was further affirmed thanks to Dr. Susan Epstein Garcia who showed me that there’s no limit to musical expression.” Dr. Ferdinando De Sena brought Frixos another dimension through his teachings of electronic music.

Frixos seeks to create variety in his compositions, by using worldly rhythms and sounds expressed through a multitude of instrumental expressions to create his own unique contemporary sound. “I look for connections between different music genres, from classical, rock, pop, funk, reggae, fusion, jazz etc. These connections are what I bring to my music” continues Frixos.

In October 2007 Frixos released his first CD titled “Cause Frixion” which was dedicated to fund-raising for The Epilepsy Foundation of Florida. This album included a tune he wrote earlier that year called “Freedom”. Other works have been published more recently on the internet, namely cdbaby, iTunes etc. and are played on internet radio stations.

Frixos continues to perform gigs with different musicians and bands in venues around the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area, including recording sessions for Fourth Dimension and others. He plays multiple instruments including alto, soprano and tenor sax, flute and keyboards. His performances comprise events at the renowned Van Dyke Café on Lincoln Road; Avenue D; Crescendo Jazz and Blues Lounge; Churchill’s Pub, a bastion for local musicians; Tobacco Road, the oldest music bar in Miami; Blue Jean Blues in Ft. Lauderdale where Al Kanovsky for The South Florida Jazz Scene wrote on October 15 2012, “They continued, raucously on, with everybody, musicians and audience having fun. A young man walked in, sax case in hand. Joe (Donato) invited him up to jam. What can I say. His name is Frixos, (yes it's right) and this kid can blow.”

sity, creativity, and innovation. I have also performed with the Juilliard Orchestra, the U.S. Coast Guard Band, and International Opera Theater. I hold a Master's in Music from The Hartt School and a Bachelor of Music summa cum laude from Arizona State University (ASU).

Though I specialize in saxophone, I also love teaching beginning and intermediate piano.

If you are outside my travel radius, I may be able to accommodate you for an additional travel fee - please contact me!

***Lesson Materials***

Saxophone students must have an instrument in good repair and required accessories (reeds, mouthpiece, etc.). Piano students must have access to a tuned piano or an electric keyboard with touch-sensitive, weighted keys. I am happy to recommend instrument and accessory brands; please check with me before a major purchase. Quality, working equipment is critical to students’ success.

I periodically request that students purchase books and other lesson materials.

IMPORTANT: If you are planning to buy a saxophone, piano/keyboard, or mouthpiece, please consult with me first. Having good-quality instrument/accessories will help you achieve your success. There are a number of cheap products that are easy to find and purchase, but they are often of poor quality. I can recommend options for your first purchase that may be more expensive, but will help you succeed in the long term.

t the Oakdale Theater, the Rock Cats Stadium, and has also done a number of radio and television interviews. Brian has provided liturgical music for many years in CT; also, in Sicily and Rome. Mr. H is a patient, enthusiastic teacher who enjoys helping his students master the art of guitar.

*** Lesson Details ***
In the first half of the lesson, students can expect to learn music fundamentals from a guitar method book, i.e. how to read music; I also teach guitar tablature. Depending on ability (beginner, intermediate, advanced), I will show them chords, scales and how to play a guitar solo. The second half of the lesson is spent with the student learning their favorite songs and building a repertoire (song list) for possbile future performances.

*** Studio Equipment ***
home: Seating for parents. I provide the amp, instrument cable and music stand. I expect the student to have a guitar and notebook. If the student does not have a guitar, I will give a referral for reasonably priced guitars.

*** Travel Equipment ***
I expect the student to have a guitar and notebook. If the student does not have a guitar, I will give a referral for reasonably priced guitars.

*** Specialties ***
Rock, Pop, Jazz, & Beginner Classical

Pick and Finger style Guitar & Bass

le, with Hartford Opera Theater as Elise in Dawn Sonntag's Verlorene Heimat, Pythia in Nkeiru Okeye’s We’ve Got Our Eye on You, and as Miss Paige in Dan Shore’s An Embarrassing Position which was nominated for Best Featured Ensemble in a Musical through the 2015 Broadway World Connecticut Awards. She has also performed with Opera Theater of Connecticut, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Madison Lyric Stage, Greater Worcester Opera, Revolution Opera Alliance, the Simsbury Light Opera Company, and the Greater Meriden Concert Chorale.

Prior to moving to Connecticut, Rachel lived in St. Louis, Missouri, where she frequently performed with the St. Louis Symphony as a member of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus. She has also performed with Winter Opera St. Louis, Union Avenue Opera, and the Southern Illinois Music Festival. In 2012, Ms. Abrams had the opportunity to be a sponsored young artist with Winter Opera St. Louis where she performed the role of Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, covered Musetta in La Bohème, and performed in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical review: A Grand Night for Singing. Ms. Abrams has also performed with Opera Fort Collins, Loveland Opera Theater, Victorian Lyric Opera, and Opera Classica Europa in Bad Schwalbach, Germany as an apprentice artist. Additional operatic credits include Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore and Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and the Theif.

A passionate performer of Jewish music, Ms. Abrams was featured as a soloist in Martin Bresnick’s puppet opera, Der Signál, with the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra during the 10th Annual Celebration of Jewish Arts and Culture at Charter Oak Cultural Center in October of 2014. As an active performer of art song, Ms. Abrams has collaborated with various musicians throughout the New England region to create diverse and accessible art song recitals. In April of 2015, Ms. Abrams and pianist Michael Korman presented a recital featuring the works of Schönberg, Ruth Schönthal, Previn, and Weill with the Maurice Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Hartford.

Since the winter of 2016, Rachel has been an active performer with Lollipop Opera Outreach. This touring opera company brings the joy of opera to thousands of school children throughout New England. This season, she will perform the roles of the Mother/Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Babe in The Three Pigs – A Pig Tale, and participate in the premiere of a new interactive “culinary” opera adventure: A Fairytale Kitchen.

In addition to being a passionate performer and collaborator, Rachel is a private music educator dedicated to the success of her students. Ms. A maintains a private studio of voice students out of her home in West Hartford, Connecticut. In addition to her private teaching studio, she is the alto section leader at St. James Episcopal Church in Farmington. She has also taught at Farmington Valley Academy Montessori in Avon, Arts Place in Cheshire and Summit Studios in Manchester.

As a voice teacher, Ms. A provides her students with a holistic, healthy, and age appropriate technique based on her studies of vocal pedagogy, years of lessons from master teachers, and her personal experiences as a performer. Through personalized vocal exercises and repertoire assignments, students will learn how to achieve a proper vocal onset, management of air pressure, increase vocal stamina, and maximize vocal freedom through balanced resonance. While Ms. Abrams teaches "classical" technique, her students apply her pedagogy to all styles of singing including, but certainly not limited to: musical theater, jazz, gospel, barber shop, and even rock!

Before opening her own private studio in Connecticut, Ms. Abrams lived in St. Louis, Missouri where she taught throughout the region. While in Missouri, she served as an Adjunct Voice Instructor/Lecture Professor at East Central College and a Private Voice and Music Instructor at St. John's School of the Arts.

In addition to her teaching experience in the Missouri area, Rachel was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Northern Colorado, where she was an assistant instructor for Music Survey and Music and World Cultures classes.

Ms. A holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado and a Bachelor of Music degree from San José State University. She lives in West Hartford with her husband Ben and their anti-social diva cat, Bonnie. She is currently accepting new students!

*** Specialties ***
I teach classical technique, specifically focusing on proper resonance and breath control. This method can be highly useful to broadway, jazz, popular or any other style of singing.

of Brazil,  receiving TV and radio coverage. He has also done workshops and performed at the Conservatory of the state of Pernambuco. In August 2004 he performed weekly at Rio Scenarium in Rio de Janeiro. His Band Brooklyn Brazil Bop has played at Joe's Pub as well as Central Park Festival. His band the Brazilian Acoustic ensemble performs periodically at 'Barbes' an important performance space in Brooklyn NY. In 2007 he gave a successful jazz workshop and concert in the city of Florianopolis Brazil. Billy has been awarded 3 prestigious composer's residencies 2006 - Yaddo and 2007 - The MacDowell Colony. He was featured on the PBS news hour during his residence at MacDowell. In 2008 he was awarded another MacDowell residency and followed this with a 3 hour appearance presenting his compositions live on WKCR Jazz Radio and another live radio appearance with band in 2010. Billy regularly plays in many venues around NY in Jazz trio settings as well as with Brazilian vocalists and instrumentalists. Most Recently his groups have been performing at the famed Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City. He also specializes in solo guitar and can double on percussion (Pandeiro) and Cavaquinho. Billy has completed two CD's of his original music and an EP of his original Choro music. He has a BFA in Jazz Performance from CCNY.

Testimonials:
From Coda Magazine August 2012: by Seton Hawkins

Through outstanding collaborations like the Brazilian Acoustic Ensemble, guitarist and composer Billy N has emerged as a leading exponent of the music of Brazil. Exploring far beyond the well-trodden bossa nova path. Billy unearths the full range of styles the country offers, including choro, baiào, valsa and samba, and gives American audiences a rich panoramic glimpse into Brazilian art, highlighting its parallels with progressive jazz.

A recipient of composers residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell Colony, he is the curator of a three-day series at the club dedicated to the country's music. Billy will showcase his own group—a sextet with drummer Matt Kane, bassist Leco Reis, saxophonists Michael Attias and Eric Schugren and trumpeter Ben Holmes—in a concert primarily featuring his original works. SH

Reviews of my Book on Alfred Brazil: Guitar Atlas,  I love this series and this is the best of the six titles I have. Billy really knows his stuff; the analysis of time at the beginning is superb: something I now use in my teaching. This is definitely for intermediate and higher guitarists, but the pieces are worth the effort to get right, and the accompanying CD shows you what you are aiming for. This is as good as my other Brazilian guitar book (by Nelson Faria) and much more compact and easier to follow. Highly recommended!

#2

This book is essential homework for students of Brazilian guitar. It is one of the best resources out there, along with Nelson Faria's "The Brazilian Guitar Book." The original etudes are not only instructional, but are nice pieces in their own right. An excellent value.

*** Lesson Details ***
I've taught all levels over 20 years both in NYC and Brazil. I work with the material that the student wants and also through recordings and charts introduce much music that the student might have been unfamiliar with. My lessons are catered to the individual. There is no obstacle anyone has that is too great to work through. My approach to rhythmic training has helped many. I have simple way of breaking down the guitar fingerboard which can used as a guide to learn harmony. I'll get you into the horizontal aspects of guitar, traveling across the neck, making music across one string as well, mastering the guitar in a small fret range - " vertical position playing".

*** Studio Equipment ***
I have guitar for the student, either electric or nylon. Cavaquinho students bring their instrument. First time students must bring their instrument so I can see what they are playing on.

*** Specialties ***
Brazilian Fingerstyle - Choro, Samba, Baiao Solo
Jazz Guitar - Pick or Fingers
Beginning Flamenco
Cavaquinho
Improvisation for any instrument
Harmony and Theory