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Ms. Adrian has lived her life around music, family, faith, and education. She has been singing in church and school since she was a child and began studying classical piano at the age of 6. Although she spent most of her career as a teacher (Fine Arts, Reading, Math, etc.), she is now a realtor as well. Her passions include uniting people together for positive causes and inspiring others to do great things for the world by way of music and education. She is proud to have received her Master’s Degree in Executive Leadership and Higher Ed. Business Administration in the fall of 2023.
 

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Mr. Alvin revealed great promise as a musician at an early age. Moving to New York in 1983, Alvin became the first African American piano player to play for the Tony Award-winning production of “CATS” at the tender age of 16-years old. After a critically acclaimed 3-year run on Broadway, he returned to Houston and shortly thereafter earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from Texas Southern University in Houston, the same prestigious program that produced Kirk Whalum, Yolanda Adams, and Lonnie Smith.
 
Alvin then embarked upon an international professional career, which allowed him to span the globe and share the stage with Jazz and R&B legends such as Ahmad Jamal, McCoy Tyner, Gerald Levert, and El Debarge. The philosophy of this man and his music is as simple as it is complex. He says, “In the scope of the inception of my music, my vision is based on love and passion.” 

He poses the question, ”Why do what you do, without loving what you do?” He believes that he is… part of a generation that has placed passion apart from music. “But I believe that without passion and God – there is no music.”
 

Claire holds her Bachelor’s in Music: Vocal Performance as well as a Master's in Sacred Music: Vocal Concentration from the University of St. Thomas. She studied piano for eight years prior to college and has six years of vocal training at the college level. She sang soprano with the University Singers under the direction of Dr. Brady Knapp at the University of St. Thomas for six years and has also acted in pop shows and musical theater workshops. During her undergraduate, Claire took time to study vocal pedagogy, music theory, and music history. She has over eight years of experience teaching beginner to intermediate-level piano students. Since 2020, she has been teaching voice lessons to all ages and enjoys helping students apply classical techniques to a variety of musical styles.

In Spring 2021 Claire won fourth place for her category in the Greater Houston NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) competition. Believing that music is a form of service, Claire has sung at several different churches in the Houston Area and is currently a staff singer and youth choir director at St. Bartholomew’s in Katy.

Claire is excited and honored to share her love of music with the students of Allegro!

Ms. Natalie is an established professional, with a master's degree from Westminster Choir College in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. Ms. Natalie is proud to have taken voice with established and active pedagogue Dr. Kathy Kessler Price and coached with Dr. Akiko Hosaki at Westminster, as well as Dr. Rebecca Hays at Texas Tech University. She hails from Muleshoe, Texas and she received a Bachelor's in Music Education from Texas Tech University and taught middle-school choir until deciding to pursue a degree in performance in New Jersey. She also has run her own studio for several years in Lubbock. Natalie has enjoyed an involved performance career as both chorister and soloist, performing the roles from Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Westminster Opera Theatre to a Valkyrie with Princeton Community Orchestra. In July of 2019, she also spent time in Nice, France coaching art song with Dalton Baldwin and opera arias with Lorraine Nubar. Natalie enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 dogs and 2 cats, gardening, and exploring local restaurants. She is thrilled to share her passion for vocal arts and piano with students of the academy.

Ms. Natalie teaches both in-studio and in-home lessons.  To book an in-home lesson with Ms. Natalie please contact the Academy.

Graduate from Houston Christian University, Mr. Petro studied and earned his B.M. degree in Vocal Performance, Cum Laude, under the teaching of Emily Tello Speck and Dr. David Kirkwood. His passion for music started in elementary school where he began playing the trumpet. Unfortunately, he had to stop playing due to personal complications at home but that did not stop him from dreaming of music. His passion for music continued internally and when he went to high school he was involved in all the music that was available. It was in high school that he learned to play Guitar, French Horn, and Voice as he participated in the jazz ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and Choir.

Mr. Petro was also in the Schola Cantorum at HCU and served as the section leader during his four years there, he participated in the Husky Band and performed for the Opera Workshop. He has been honored to have been part of many performances in his time at HCU, most notably performing the role of Masetto in Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni. He is a big believer that instruments are tools of self-expression and encourages everyone to give learning an instrument a try.

Mr. Ruben is a pianist and vocal soloist from Houston, Texas. Ruben began his vocal studies at San Jacinto College and studied under Dr. Paul Busselberg. In 2012, won 1st place College Men’s division at the National Association of Music Teachers Singing competition. In that same year, he participated in Opera Orvieto and worked with Dr. Todd Queen from Louisiana State University and Nyela Basney from North Park University. In 2013 he continued his studies at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois under the guidance of Nyela Basney.  As an Undergraduate, Ruben had many opportunities to perform roles for both the Undergraduate and Graduate opera productions at North Park University including The Ballad of Baby Doe, Signor Deluso, and La bella dromente nel bosco. During these productions, Ruben performed a total of 5-7 roles for each performance night. He also worked with Opera Directors in the Chicago Area such as Chicago Lyric Opera with Phillip Kraus, and Chicago Lyric Opera with Directors Michael LaTour and Erik Friendman.  

Proceeding his vocal studies at North Park, Ruben took the opportunity to learn from a few of Chicago’s best pianists including Chris White and Bobby Schiff. In 2015, Ruben graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in Music from North Park University and returned to Houston where he has been teaching piano and voice for the past 5 years.  

Mr. Ruben enjoys getting his students excited about their musical journey and performing professionally as a pianist and vocalist in the Houston Area. 

Vanessa is a pianist who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music with a concentration in piano from Texas State University where she studied under Dr.Kyung-Ae Lee. She has been teaching piano privately for 5 years and enjoys every moment of it.

Vanessa began her studies at San Jacinto College where she studied piano under the instruction of Dr.Sarah Spencer. She also holds a double major in audio engineering and was awarded several scholarships for both music and audio. Vanessa has performed in several ensembles such as women’s chorus, steel drum band and cello ensemble. She has performed in choir for a total of 10 years and had the privilege of singing with the Texas State Women’s Chorus as an alto 1 for several years. Vanessa has performed in multiple masterclasses taught by piano instructors from Rice University and University of Texas. She has also studied secondary instruments in cello, organ and harpsichord. Her favorite composers include Chopin, Brahms, Mozart, and Schumann. Her life goal is to learn all 21 Nocturnes by Chopin along with all 19 of his Waltzes as well.

Vanessa believes every student is unique in their own way and hopes to spread her love for piano along to her students. She strives to find the best teaching method for every student and overcome any challenges they may have.