Instructors
Jon Colston – Guitar
Jon has been teaching music three decades. His focus is on practical music theory and improvisation. Jon has taught guitar and non guitar students his approach to improv. He has toured professionally throughout the U.S. Has recorded with Michelle Young on her Marked For Madness album and toured with Leah Seawright. Jon is the founding lead guitarist for the band Voodoo Slim. Check out Jon’s website.
Linda Price – Piano & Voice
Linda graduated from Grand Rapids School of Bible & Music in Michigan. She has 25 years of experience in directing choirs (adult and children, working with ensembles and many small music groups. She has taught piano and voice both privately and in a performing arts school. Linda likes to focus on teaching correct and basic vocal and piano techniques, while developing an individual’s style and confidence in their performance. She has experience working with young adults in the area of music competition (i.e. Riverbend and other local contests.) She helps individuals select their music and also works with them on presentation and delivery of their music. Linda also performs as a soloist in the Chattanooga area and is a member of a southern gospel mixed quartet.
Rachelle Steele – Piano, Violin, Cello, & Viola
As a young person, Rachelle Steele enjoyed playing violin, viola, and cello in various school and church orchestras. She attributes much of her ability to concentrate and excel in what she does today to those early music education experiences. For this reason, Rachelle is a passionate and encouraging teacher, with a heart to see every one of her students excel. She began accompanying church and youth choirs at only sixteen years old, while touring much of the West Coast, including outdoor arenas in the beautiful Redwood forests of California, where she was able to hone her acoustic folk guitar skills. After graduating from Biola University in La Mirada, California with a major in Christian Education and a minor in Piano, Rachelle went on to accompany and lead various children’s, youth and adult choirs in California and Colorado. Aside from Tennessee, she has taught music in San Jose, California and Colorado Springs, Colorado, where one of her violin students took first chair in the Children’s Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a member of Abba’s Army, the adult choir at Central Baptist Church of Hixson. One of her passions is to join with other church choir every year in an annual Worship Chattanooga event sponsored by the Nehemiah Project. Rachelle has found this event to be a marvelous way to connect with the community through music dance, and other creative arts.
David Creel – Violin, Viola, & Cello
David been a violin performer and teacher in Chattanooga for 30 years. He holds a Bachelor of Violin Performance, Master of Instrumental Conducting from UTC, and has attended Suzuki Institutes in Bristol, VA with William Starr and Rudy Hazucha. He played in the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra for 20 years, and spent 2 years in the Alexandria (VA) Symphony Orchestra. David has made concert tours with the Southern University Orchestra (Collegedale, TN) to Canada, Asia and Europe, and admittedly loves to travel. He has taught violin, viola and cello at the Cadek Conservatory at UTC, spent 15 years on the music faculty at Chattanooga State Community College, and taught privately since 1988. David also developed a string program at a Hixson elementary school under the auspices of the Chattanooga Symphony Association; which ran for 8 years. In his leisure time David reads history, biographies and autobiographies, usually related to music. He also likes to cook, because he likes to eat.
Megan Janusch – Piano & Voice (Virtual Room)
Megan Janusch is a performing vocalist with a passion for teaching and helping each musician reach their goals. Miss Janusch received her Vocal Performance degree from Wayne State University where she studied with the head of the vocal department and most noted Sopranos in Detroit, Michigan; Frances N. Brockington. She began her teaching career in the Metro-Detroit area where she taught private lessons to students of all ages. She has prepared multiple vocalist for competitions including the Michigan School Vocal Music Association where her students received Excellent Division I ratings. She has performed and taught music from multiple different genres and always encourages students to learn more. Miss Janusch has performed all over the United States in noted halls such as Carnegie Hall New York, NY, Orchestra Hall Chicago, IL, and Orchestra Hall Detroit, MI. Other performances have been with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Wayne State University’s Opera Workshop, and Wayne State University’s Vocal Division Recitals. Additionally, Miss Janusch was a cantor at Holy Name Parish in Birmingham, MI for two years and performed the National and Canadian Anthem for several Grosse Pointe, MI Commodore Balls. Some of her leading roles included performing as the second Christine Daae from the Phantom of the Opera in the state of Michigan and as Miss Hannigan in the musical Annie. For three years she competed at the National Association of Teachers of Singing while attending several master classes with many noted coaches from universities all over Michigan. Miss Janusch has a positive and fun attitude about learning and looks forward to teaching new students within the Chattanooga area. She believes music is a gift and is honored to teach at Music Instruction Studio Online.
Alaina Hill – Voice & Piano
Growing up in a musical family, Alaina Hill found her love for singing at the young age of 4. Shortly after this time Alaina was introduced to the piano. From then on, she has been a part of musicals, church bands, Chattanooga State’s choir, Choral Arts of Chattanooga and even given a full voice and piano solo recital. Alaina was awarded “Excellence in Vocal Music” from Chattanooga State’s academic award ceremony. Most recently, she was the first student ever asked to sing the benediction at Chattanooga State’s graduation. Alaina has a love for music and Music Theory, but most importantly the drive to help others find their love for the art. She was given the opportunity to be Chattanooga State’s Music Theory and Aural Skills tutor, where she taught in group and private settings. Alaina will obtain her BS degree in Music Education from Bryan College in May of 2021.
Alex Keiss – Guitar, Bass & Uke
Alex is passionate about music and about teaching students to share that passion as well, whether they are guitar students or not. He holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Music Performance from Middle Tennessee State University where he studied under many internationally renowned composers and performers in both the classical and the jazz world. Much of his time in the Nashville area was spent touring and recording with bands of all different genres from jazz and r&b to rock and folk. Along with performing, Alex privately taught around the Nashville area as well as at the MTSU Jazz Festival each year and has lead a Master Class at Nashville State Community College for their jazz performance department. One of his biggest strengths is in music theory and arranging. Alex has written arrangements for Big Band Jazz ensembles to 5 part jazz guitar ensembles to rock groups, even incorporating string sections, and loves the creative aspect of pulling together the different sounds and ideas into one greater piece of music.
Alex teaches a large variety of styles and techniques for both the beginner and advanced player. He caters his lessons to what the student wants to learn—whether it’s strumming along to their favorite songs, mastery of the fretboard/chords and improvisation, to advanced music theory. Along with guitar, Alex also teaches bass, ukulele, lap steel, and music theory/composition/arranging.”
Jeanni Highlander – Piano, Guitar, Ukulele and more
Jeanni earned her BA in Music Education from UTC in 1981 as a clarinet/instrumental music major. In 1982 she began her career with Chattanooga Public Schools and then later with the merged system of Hamilton County. She spent 30 years in Elementary General Music as a certified teacher of grades 1-8 with responsibilities that included teaching beginning band, classroom percussion, Orff instruments, and hand bell ensembles. During this time she has directed numerous musical theater productions and choirs. Jeanni earned her Master of Arts in Education from Tusculum College in 2003. She teaches clarinet, flute, piano, beginning guitar and voice with Music Instruction Studio.
John Cook – Piano, Keyboard & Accordion
There are two ways to play the piano or keyboard. The traditional way to play is by reading music, and the alternative way to play is by using chords and lead sheets. John Cook utilizes both methods to play. He learned the traditional method by taking nine years of piano instruction, and he learned the alternative method by playing in bands and by accompanying singers throughout his life. After retiring from his career in the legal field, John is now teaching students piano and keyboard at our studio using both the traditional and alternative methods of playing. For those adults who took piano lessons when they were young, but never learned to simply sit down at a piano and play, John encourages those adults to learn the technique of playing the piano using chords, lead sheets, and improvisation. Likewise, for those younger students who want to learn to play piano by focusing on chords and improvisation, this alternative method of playing the piano might be right for you. If you would like to learn how to play a piano or keyboard to accompany singers or for enjoyment without having to read a complicated piece of music, John can teach you how to do that. John played in rock bands when he was young, and in later years led a church band playing contemporary Christian music. He has studied music theory at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and he plays for groups who want to enjoy singing a myriad of different songs in what John calls his “live Karaoke.” John also plays guitar, accordion, and saxophone, and he is available to teach accordion in addition to piano and keyboard.
Dr. Nicole Doran – Piano, Voice & Woodwinds
Dr. Nicole Doran has loved music from a young age and enjoys musical adventures with her students. Every day she finds ways to connect a singing tone to work with pianist, singers and other woodwind performers. She studied bassoon performance, music education classes, woodwind and vocal techniques at the University of Miami with Luciano Magnaninni and completed her studies in performance, music history and music composition at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory on a full scholarship with William Winstead and Allan Sapp. Since that time she has performed with Northern Kentucky Symphony and the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, performed many original compositions at churches in the DC area. She has performed at Eastern Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and Arkansas Music Festival.
When her family settled in Tennessee she served as adjunct music faculty with Bryan College and taught college seniors courses that would prepare them for the next level of musicianship after graduation. She has worked as an assistant children’s choir director at North Shore Fellowship and promotes classical music and the arts in many ways throughout the region and online with a youtube website at https://www.youtube.com/user/nicoledoranmusic/playlists and is registered with the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Greg Smith – Drum, Percussion, Woodwinds & Brass
Greg Smith has been an instructor since 1980. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Music Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education. He has toured extensively throughout the United States as the back beat for many bands.
As a Music Educator, Greg has instructed numerous school drum lines and ensembles who performed at major theme parks, stadiums, on radio and television broadcasts. his students have won awards and scholarships. Several have launched successful careers in the music industry. Greg is author of the Dynamic Drumming series and composer/ arranger with his steel band: AmeriCalypso
David’s formative years were spent playing and recording rock and pop guitar in various groups around the southeastern United States. Intending to broaden his musical perspective, David enrolled at Chattanooga State Community College to study piano and music theory and quickly fell in love with the classical guitar, studying with Adam Hale. David moved to Baltimore to study with renowned pedagogue Ray Chester at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He worked with the entire guitar faculty at Peabody, and has had private lessons and ensemble coachings with Serap Bastepe-Gray, as well as performing in master classes for Julian Gray and Manuel Barrueco.
David teaches a wide variety of styles of music and is excited to be a part of Music Instruction Studio. The skills one uses learning and playing music are beneficial to the student the rest of his or her life. Beyond that, music is life-changing and fun!
Jerry Haynes – Guitar, Bass Piano & Drums
Jerry Haynes started playing guitar at the age of 8, after receiving an acoustic guitar as a present from his grandfather. Now, at 50, he is an accomplished musician and teacher with a Professional Certification from Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA and a BA degree in Music Composition and Theory from UTC. He has been teaching private lessons for 27 years. He started out teaching guitar and bass, and now teaches piano, drums and ukelele as well.
Brandon Wade – Guitar
More to come