Piano Archives - House Call Music - Bringing Music To You

Jeffrey DeLaRosa

Kevin Kozol — Mon, 27 May 2024 13:42:00 +0000

Jeff DeLaRosa is a trumpet player at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in music education. He has studied with jazz trumpet professors Tito Carrillo, Pat Harbison and trumpet professor Dr. Amy Gilreath. During his time at the university, he has participated in the Wind Orchestra, Hindsley Symphonic Band, Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Illini Student Musicals pit orchestra and jazz combos. He has arranged multiple pieces such as Songs She’s Never Heard and El Muerto Vivo. He is currently student teaching at Roselle Middle School with Marcus Cash as well as Glenbrook North High School with Alex Baxmeyer. In addition to trumpet, Jeff also teaches piano, trombone, euphonium and clarinet!

Outside of school he participates in the Dynamics Ultimate Classics Cover Band playing all around the Chicagoland area. He also performs with jazz groups at festivals and venues such as the Taste of Roselle and Venuti’s and has played in various pit orchestras for community theatre companies in productions such as Beauty and the Beast Jr., Freaky Friday, and Curtains.

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Blake Whatcott

Kevin Kozol — Sun, 05 May 2024 12:41:17 +0000

Blake Whatcott is a dynamic multi-instrumentalist active in the Chicago music scene. Proficient on both trombone and piano, he skillfully melds these instruments, utilizing their distinct characteristics to enrich his improvisation and propel his musical journey forward. Under the guidance of esteemed mentors David Nuccio, Charles Morgan, and Rich Moore at Joliet Junior College, Blake hones his craft with dedication. Frequent collaborator, leader of his quintet, and member of Los Tamales Jazz Band, Blake believes even greater fulfillment comes from outside the practice room, sharing your music with the community.

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Kyle Mesa

Kevin Kozol — Sat, 04 May 2024 13:10:04 +0000

Kyle Mesa is a dynamic educator in the northwest suburbs of Chicago; teaching trumpet, trombone and piano. He recently finished his BM in music education with an Instrumental concentration from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As an educator/performer in Chicago, Kyle works as the Jazz Band Director at West Oak Middle School in Mundelein, Illinois. He also plays with the Shout Section Big Band led by Brett Dean at various jazz venues around the Chicago area.

Kyle currently works at various schools in the Northwest Suburbs as a trumpet clinician working on marching a technical skills and is looking to grow his studio and work with private students online or in person

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Luke Polipnick

Kevin Kozol — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:41:38 +0000

Luke Polipnick is a highly acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator based in Chicago. He has released over a dozen recordings ranging from modern jazz, to minimalistic electronica, to free improvisation and extreme metal. He is a virtuoso guitarist, and teaches piano, drum set, voice, and theory/composition at a high level. He holds a BM in composition from university of Nebraska Lincoln and a MM of jazz studies from Northern Illinois University, where he studied under the iconic guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque. Luke has also undertaken extended intensive musical studies in India and Cuba. He has performed with Aretha Franklin, Dave King (the Bad Plus), the BB King Allstars, and is active in the jazz, experimental, and rock, blues and soul scenes in Chicago, where he maintains numerous working groups that share in his broad-minded approach to music making.

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Margaret Meierhenry

Kevin Kozol — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 03:38:40 +0000

Emerging soprano Margaret Meierhenry is a Chicago-based performer and educator from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She has performed many leading roles such as the title roles in Handel’s Alcina, Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Eliza in Dark Sisters, and Blanche in Dialogue of the Carmelites. Recognized for her singing, Meierhenry is an American Prize finalist and Latin Grammy Nominee. She is currently pursuing a master’s in vocal performance at DePaul University and holds a BMA from the University of South Dakota. With experience in singing and teaching across all styles, she is versatile in anything from pop and musical theatre to classical, Meierhenry is committed to creating adaptive and engaging lesson plans to promote a lifelong love of music.

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Alex Costis

Kevin Kozol — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 03:43:11 +0000

Alex started playing music at five years old, and he has never wanted to do anything else. As he progressed, he explored numerous instruments and genres. He naturally found himself participating in improvised and rehearsed groups, teaching lessons to peers, and honing his sight-reading skills as a church organist. Alex continued his musical growth at the esteemed Berklee College of Music, where he earned a degree in jazz composition. Since graduating, Alex has played with touring groups across the world, as both a writer and instrumentalist, including Monobody, a Chicago-based instrumental rock group. With almost two decades of teaching experience, Alex aims to cultivate creativity and confidence in his students

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Adam Kastler

Kevin Kozol — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 15:22:16 +0000

Adam Kastler is a performer and educator from Vernon Hills, Illinois. He is currently studying jazz piano at Depaul University under the instruction of Jim Trompeter after spending his freshman year studying jazz trumpet at Eastman School of Music.

Adam started playing piano at age 7, studying classical piano with Sophie Pak-Cheang and eventually working as a music theory instructor for her studio. He picked up trumpet at age 10 and taught himself jazz before taking lessons with Mark Olen during his senior year of high school. Throughout high school, he played trumpet in multiple groups, including the West Loop Big Band, Midwest Young Artists, Calienda’s Banda Napoletana, and his own trio. At age 15, Adam began teaching piano and trumpet lessons professionally, as well as accompanying fellow students at solo and ensemble competitions. Since then, he has been active on the Chicago music scene, playing at various venues while composing music and continuing to teach. Notable honors he has received include being a semifinalist for the National Trumpet Competition, winning the Chicago Jazz Orchestra’s Definitively Dizzy competition, winning a substantial scholarship through the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists competition, and making the honor roll for 3 years at Depaul, as well as playing in its top jazz ensemble.

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Matt Wolf

Kevin — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 15:33:58 +0000

Matt Wolf is a classically trained cellist who collaborates and performs in all genres of music as a soloist and with ensembles. Some of the ensembles include a cultural ambassador orchestra that toured China, the Taro Trio which performed all over Chicago at cultural centers connecting classical and world music, and the Surabhi Ensemble, a world fusion music and dance collective. Matt is currently a performing artist with the Healing Arts Program at the University of Chicago Hospital where he provides guests/patients solace through musical performances. He is also an active member of the musical theater pit orchestra scene in and around Chicago.

Growing up Matt had the opportunity to learn and perform in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Allen Tinkham while also working with Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians. This early experience of finding the joy in learning music inspired Matt to continue passing on to other aspiring musicians what he had learned during his years with CYSO. Matt has taught all ages and levels of cello and piano. He finds it a true joy helping students identify goals and guiding them to find their most authentic musical voice and style.

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Liam Marchant

Kevin — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 15:53:06 +0000

Liam is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who plays piano, saxophone, guitar, and electric bass. He has been teaching for over 9 years and works to help students reach their creative potential by focusing on material that they want to learn. From Bach to Katy Perry, or Oscar Peterson to Charlie Puth; Liam wants to integrate what you love about music into being a rounded and creative person. Coming from a variety of musical backgrounds in blues, rock, jazz, and classical, Liam works to curate and compose exercises to help students reach their goals. Liam holds two degrees from the University of Idaho in saxophone performance and music composition and is currently pursuing a masters in composition at DePaul University. If you are wanting to get better at reading chord progressions, work on a Bach invention, dive into improvisation, or learn how to write your own songs, Liam would be an excellent fit for you or your student!

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Ben Jossi

Kevin — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 13:25:46 +0000

Ben Jossi is an up and coming composer, performer, and educator based on Chicago’s North Side. Originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota, Ben moved to the city in 2019 to pursue a Bachelors of Music in Composition and Production at Columbia
College Chicago where he recently graduated this past spring. As a composer, Ben is active in media projects nationally and his work has been used in Gut Dreams, a five play mashup of new student writers at Columbia, a summer long interview series called Stuck in Your Stereo on WCRX, and recently a short film debut with Red Rectangle. This spring, he worked with the graduate students in Columbia’s theater department on incidental music for a live reading of poetry called
Neutral Grounds. As well as a movement performance accompanied by a concerto for
flute and chamber ensemble entitled rinding Gleam As a performer, Ben has a strong background as a jazz saxophonist holding soloist recognitions from Elmhurst University, University of Notre Dame, and University of Wisconsin: Eau Claire and being a recipient of the Louis Armstrong Award. He has been featured alongside Vulfpeck member Woody Goss, Hippocampus’ Decarlo Jackson, and Tia Fuller of Beyonce. He also has played keys as a musical theater accompanist and has been an on-call piano sub for recording engineer Nick Eipers’
course on jazz production at Columbia. He now runs his own band called Retrospect. This is a group where jazz improvisation dances with Latin rhythms, hip hop grooves, with a dash of Americana. They have been featured as a headliner at Manifest Urban
Arts Fest, WCRX’s Sessions@33, and the Epiphany Center for the Arts. As an educator, Ben is both a learner and a teacher. As a student, he has worked with GRAMMY nominated Ilya Levison, Emmy winning Brandon Campbell, Sharel Cassity, saxophonist for the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Groups and Dan White, currently on tour with Kurt Elling. As an educator, Ben has worked with all ages from four years old to late teens mainly at day camps teaching social skills and the arts. This past summer he worked as a unit head for apachi camps with JCC Chicago and worked for six years in
the ‘Twin Cities with the Minnesota JCC. Ben is based on the north side, he works in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, North
Center, Roscoe Village, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Edgewater and Rogers Park.

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