Our Music Lesson Program and Music Teacher Biographies
The Long Island Violin Shop is proud of our lesson program. We offer in- person lessons in our comfortable, spacious lesson rooms at all three of our locations, virtual lessons, or a combination of both!
Our students range in age from Pre-Kindergarten through 80 years old! It's never too late to learn to play an instrument.
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Monica Capiral - Violin/Viola Teacher
Monica Capiral began her violin studies at the Port Jefferson Music Academy in 1998 (the founding year of the Academy) as a student of Sophie Arbuckle and Arik Braude. During that time, she was a member of the Academy's String Quartet which performed regularly at various local outreach events.
She later concurrently attended the Mannes College Prep where she was a member of the Mannes Philharmonic - Monica has also attended the Killington and the Green Mountain Summer Chamber Music Festivals. She began her collegiate studies of music at the Aaron Copland Conservatory of Music at Queen's College (CUNY) and is a violin student of Arik Braude.
Monica joined the Port Jefferson Music Academy faculty in 2008 and has since developed a vibrant violin & viola studio. In addition, she teaches music theory and Kindermusik classes.
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Louisa Feingold - Piano Teacher
Louisa Feingold started taking piano lessons at the age of 6. She was the rehearsal pianist for her high school play Anything Goes. She has an MA in Music from Hunter College, with a concentration in piano performance. She also earned a BA in Liberal Arts from Hunter College, with a concentration in music theory.
Ms. Feingold is a versatile pianist with 16 years of performing experience, including 5 years as member of a chamber music string ensemble. She has performed 11 years as a solo pianist at coffee houses, senior citizen complexes, nursing homes and senior centers. She is proficient at accompaniment and performing classical and popular music.
As a member of the chamber music group Extremely Festive Strings, Ms. Feingold performed Christmas and Hanukkah songs at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the Stony Brook area during the holidays.
Ms. Feingold has five years of experience as a private piano teacher, instructing up to 20 students per week. She specialized in classical and popular music and taught beginners through adults in students' homes. She arranged lessons to accommodate each student's unique goals and interests and selected music from various genres for use as teaching pieces. She established a strong music foundation with students by incorporating basic music theory into weekly lessons.
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Ricardo Garcia - Violin - Viola - Cello Teacher
Ricardo Garcia started on his musical journey as a young boy studying organ and switched to violin in elementary school. He is a graduate of the Crane School of Music and holds a degree in Music Education from SUNY Potsdam. Mr. Garcia received his master's degree in music history from LIU Post.
Mr. Garcia has taught all levels of strings during his career as a public-school teacher. He has participated in various orchestras throughout the Metro Area including the New York Pro Arte Orchestra, The West Islip Symphony, The Rockaway-Five Towns Orchestra, and numerous Pit Orchestras as a violinist. As a violist, Mr. Garcia has performed with his quartet, The Lyrical String Quartet, and with the North Shore Symphony.
He enjoys teaching students of all ages and loves watching his students achieve their goals.
Anthony Klenke - Cello/Bass Teacher
Anthony was raised in North Babylon, where he started his music career at the age of 9. Starting on the cello and quickly moving to the double bass, Anthony initially was taught by his mother until he learned bass professionally with Canadian classical and jazz bassist, John Geggie at the Crane School of Music. With Prof. Geggie, Anthony increased his skill not only as a bassist, but as a musician, too.
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Will Taylor - Cello Teacher
Will Taylor began his cello studies at the age of eight. From 2014-2018, he served as principal cellist of the Tallahassee Youth Symphony. In 2018, he won a position in the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Darko Butorac. In 2019, Will won first place in the Senior Division of the North Florida Symphony Concerto Competition, making his concerto debut in April with the Dvorak Cello Concerto. In addition, Will has performed in solo masterclasses with Colin Carr and Matt Haimovitz, as well in chamber masterclasses with Todd Philips, Philip Setzer, and members of the Dover Quartet. He has attended numerous summer festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival and the National Orchestra Institute.
Will attributes much of his success to the guidance of his primary teacher, Kim Jones. His other teachers include Mark Kosower, Richard Weiss, Greg Sauer, Felix Wang, Yves Dharamraj, and Colin Carr. He received his Bachelor’s in Cello Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and is currently pursuing his Master’s at Stony Brook University under Colin Carr, where he was a recipient of the prestigious Staller Scholarship.
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Drew Vella - Violin/Viola Teacher
Violist and Long Island native Drew Vella delights in performing a wide-ranging repertoire throughout New York and the tri-state area: from Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Broadway - to the UN, cafes, salsa studios, and house concerts. Former violist of the Lehman String Quartet, Mr. Vella has also performed with the Turtle Bay Piano Quartet, the NY Chamber Collective, and has made frequent appearances at Concerts on the Slope. He has performed with the Manhattan Symphonie, the Symphony of Westchester, and Amore Opera. Mr. Vella has frequently been invited to be a fellowship artist at the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival and the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. He has played in masterclasses led by Victoria Chiang, Yizhak Schotten, Lawrence Dutton, Donald Weilerstein, as well as members of the Ying Quartet, Borodin Quartet, and Kronos Quartet.
Brian Anderson - Violin/Viola Teacher
Brian is a passionate musician and teacher, with an approach that draws from both acting and traditional music pedagogy. Brian holds a Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, a Master's in Viola from Stony Brook, and is currently pursuing his Doctoral in Viola at Stony Brook.
"I strive to teach violin and viola in a thorough and thoughtful manner catered to each student, building up a deep understanding of concepts such as sound production, the grammar of musical phrases, and efficient, goal-oriented practicing. My advanced students frequently earn high marks at NYSSMA festivals, and I also take pride in having a high retention rate among my beginning students, helping them find joy in playing and learning music. I started on viola in my public school in Virginia when I was 9, quickly growing as a musician with the help of my private teachers. Now, as a first-year Doctoral student in viola at Stony Brook University, studying under the direction of Matthew Lipman and Lawrence Dutton, with additional studies in the Emerson String Quartet Institute, I am working towards a career of teaching viola at the college level and performing chamber music at every opportunity.
My current performance activities include concerts with the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, frequent appearances for the Music at the MART program at the Stony Brook Cancer Center, and freelance gigs throughout Long Island. I am lucky to have held fellowships at the Manchester Music Festival, Madeline Island Chamber Music, Garth Newel Music Center, and the Renova Music Festival, performing with artists such as Eugene Drucker and Andres Diaz, and I have also gotten the chance to play in masterclasses with world-renowned teachers including Kim Kashkashian, Ettora Causa and Misha Amory. While pursuing my Bachelor's at the Peabody Institute, I studied with Choong-jin Chang and Victoria Chiang. In my spare time, I enjoy playing soccer, competitive Scrabble, and playing in a jazz combo."
Erica Garcia - Violin / Cello Teacher
Erica Rose Garcia is currently a senior at the Cleveland Institute of Music studying under Richard Weiss majoring in Cello Performance earning her minor in Suzuki Pedagogy.
Ms. Garcia is a registered Suzuki teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Her multiple musical accomplishments include being selected for the Sphinx Performance Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied under MaryAnn Ramos. She was also chosen to attend the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Orchestral Studies (NYSSSA) where she studied with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga Springs, New York. She is a three-time first place winner of Gemini Youth Orchestra’s Concerto Competition and has performed numerous times as a soloist. She was selected for All-State Orchestra, All-Eastern Symphony Orchestra, and has performed as principal cellist for the Long Island String Festival Association Orchestra and Gemini Youth Orchestras.
Ms. Garcia has received The Sphinx Fellowship Award, the Edward Miller Memorial Scholarship, the Kevin Cruz Scholarship, the Sylvia and Louis Osler Music Scholarship, the Long Island String Festival Association Studio Award and Antonina G. Nigrelli Memorial Award. Recently, Ms. Garcia was a cello instructor for Through the Staff, an organization dedicated to making classical music education more accessible. She maintains a private cello, violin, and piano studio and enjoys watching her students grow.
Testimonials:
"I'm a teacher, too, and Erica does all the teaching things right." - Joe M.
"Patient and thorough!" - Evan M.
"Erica is articulate, focused, amiable, and polished. She has a pleasant manner and addresses my issues and needs." - Jill B.
Joanne Nastasi - Piano Teacher
Joanne Nastasi began piano studies at age five, majored in music at Hunter College, and to date continues working with a coach because learning never ends! As a Common Branch teacher in NYC, since 1969, her additional responsibility was to produce seasonal music programs for grades 3,4,5, and 6. The last several years in NYC schools were devoted exclusively to music, for which she developed and taught a diverse program for grades K-5. Through the years, she taught piano privately to children and adults using the knowledge gleaned through service as a NYSSMA piano judge to guide instruction. After 2011 an opportunity to create and teach a music program at The College of Staten Island’s Options Program proved quite interesting. Classes focusing on understanding, comparing, and critiquing piano performances were offered for several sessions. Rudimentary components of composition were introduced, the complexity of technique, and the importance of expression and emotion were the basis of critical evaluation.
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Nicholas Siconolfi - Violin Teacher
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Jessica Wong - Violin / Viola Teacher
Jessica Wong attended the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division and obtained her BM and MM degrees in viola performance from Mannes. Currently, she is pursuing her professional studies diploma in viola performance at the Mannes School of Music under the tutelage of Daniel Panner and working on obtaining her Suzuki violin teacher registration at the School for Strings in New York City. Ms. Wong has participated in the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra, Chelsea Symphony, Chautauqua Institution, National Orchestral Institute and Jeunes Virtuoses de New York chamber music workshop. She won third prize in the 2023 Charleston International Contemporary Music Competition and was also a finalist in the LISMA 13th International Competition in Albertson, NY. Outside of playing viola, Jessica enjoys playing table tennis, traveling and working on jigsaw puzzles.