Moraine Valley Community College || Fine and Performing Arts Center

Instructors

The Directors

Douglass Bratt
Director
Moraine Jazz Band, Moraine Percussion Ensemble and Moraine Concert Band

Nick Thomas
Director
Moraine Valley Chorale and Moraine Chamber Singers

The Voices

Victoria Lowczyk
Victoria is recognized as both a pianist and vocalist in the Chicagoland area received her bachelors degree in Piano Performance from St. Xavier University and with honors received her masters in Vocal performance and Pedagogy from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Erin Matonte
Erin earnered a Master of Music degree in voice performance from the prestigious New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts has served her well in performing at various venues in Chicago and now in teaching private voice lessons at Moraine Valley.

Annie Picard
Annie (B.M.—University of Missouri at Columbia, M.M. and Diploma—New England Conservatory in Boston, D.M.A.—University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) has enjoyed teaching voice here at Moraine Valley and at North Park University since 1998 and is a highly sought after chamber musician and soloist in the greater Chicago area.

Anna Siwiec-Sitkowska
Anna earned her first masters degree in Voice Performance with honors at the Bydgoszcz Conservatory in Poland. She received her second masters in Opera Performance from State University of New York at Binghamton where she was a Resident Artist with Tri-Cities Opera before moving to the Chicago area.

Jeanne Vaughn
Singer, pianist, organist, choir director, actor, teacher are all just facets of Jeanne Vaughn as she guides the Children's Swing Choir and nurtures youngsters in Grease Paint/Musical Workshop and private lessons.

The Pianos

Dennis Dorris
Dennis, who has been teaching since 1978, studied in Austria and Italy and performed in the US, Italy, and Switzerland believes that there is "no life without art; no art without life."

June Gerrish
Educated in London, Germany and the U.S., June finds comfort and joy in playing the piano and through her piano instructions hopes to bring enjoyment and relaxation to others.

Beverly Holt
Beverly is a piano and organ instructor, vocal coach, accompanist, music director and co-founder with movie star John Barrowman of "Dreamers Workshop," has performed in New York, Washington, DC, Milwaukee, and various cathedrals in London. She has also recorded at Abby Road Studios in London.

Ann Koranda
Ann, who has received both her B.M. and M.M. degrees from DePaul University's School of Music in Chicago, has extensive experience teaching piano and violin.

Angela Yang
Angela holds a Master Degree in Piano Performance from Boston Conservatory. She actively performs as a soloist and accompanist throughout the country; most recently she was invited to give a solo recital at St. Raymond's Cathedral in Joliet in February 2006, also she was invited to perform at the Art Institute in Chicago in March, 2007. Angela teaches Class Piano for Children, private lessons for both children and college students and serves as an accompanist for MVCC College Chamber Choir.

The Instruments

Gerald Bailey
Trumpet
A Trumpeter and composer, Gerald holds a Bacherlors degree in trumpet from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters in composition from DePaul University. He has performed with the O'Jays, Richie Cole, Judi Silvano, Balkan clarinetist Jim Stoynoff and the Walkmen. He has appeared on CNN performing at the White House, alongside Diana Krall in 2009 movie Public Enemies, and on ABC News with actor/singer Michael Ingersoll.

Douglass Bratt
Percussion
Doug's musical agenda includes Music Appreciation classes private percussion classes and directing the popular Moraine Valley Community College Jazz Ensemble.

Tim Burns
Guitar
Tim is a guitar instructor, bassist, vocalist, composer, arranger and director of a Jazz Ensemble at Moraine Valley. He has performed professionally for the last 20 years and has shared the bill with the Doobie Brothers, Mary Wilson and the Supremes, Rita Coolidge, Lone Star Smash Mouth, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, just to name a few.

Tammi Carlson
Flute
Full-time Moraine Valley faculty member Tammi's (M.M. from Roosevelt University) teaching experience spans 20 years of flute instruction at all levels and conveys her profound love of music which creates a positive and inviting music environment for her flute students and keeps her performing throughout the Chicagoland area.

Adam Cowger
Percussion
Adam is active as a freelance performer and private instructor throughout the Chicagoland area. He has performed with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Elgin Symphony Orchestra and the new Philharmonic. Adam holds a master's degree in percussion performance from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor's degree from the University of South Dakota. Cowger is a member of the Vic Firth Education Team and the Chicago Federation of Musicians.

Kevin Fort
Trombone/Piano
Kevin (M.M. DePaul University) excels as a trombone and piano instructor. His performances include, Disneyland Resort-Anaheim, Six Flags-Gurnee, aboard the Queen Elizabeth II, and Norwegian Sun Liners, as well as, numerous Chicago venues.

Peng Hu
Violin
Peng has received his master's degree from the University of Cincinnati and has been a faculty member at Southwest Normal University and XuZhou Norman University, as well as a performer in orchestras in China and Chicago.

Sara Kaplan
Hornist
Sara attended the Indiana University School of Music and the Hochschule Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria where she received her master's with honors. She studied with Rudolph Macciocchi, Abe Kniaz, Philip Farkas, Michael Holtzel, Jack Meredith and Edmond Leloir. In her 25 years in Europe she performed in many different orchestras and chamber groups. Since 1996, Ms Kaplan has been back in the U.S. performing, teaching and coaching various groups.

Rich Moore
Clarinet/Saxophone
Rich earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Saxophone Performance, with an emphasis in Jazz Studies, and a Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from Northern Illinois University. An active freelance musician with considerable experience teaching jazz and classical saxophone and clarinet at all levels, Rich will be teaching saxophone and coaching saxophone quartet as a member of the Northern Illinois University faculty for the 2011-12 school year.

Mai Sugimoto
Clarinet/Saxophone
Mai earned her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Northern Illinois , then received her Master of Music in Jazz Studies from Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. She has performed with artists such as John Clayton, Arturo Sandoval and Kenny Werner. In 2006, Mai placed second in the Sisters in Jazz International Collegiate Competition. She currently resides in Chicago and is active as a performer and an educator.