PRIVATE LESSON FACULTY: PIANO

DR. ANTOINETTE VELIKINA (piano, Harmony Road music classes) has a Doctorate in Musical Arts in piano from the Catholic University of America, Master of Music in piano from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music in piano from the State Academy of Music, Sofia Bulgaria, with additional studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum, Austria. She has been teaching at Music Spectrum School since 2014. A native of Bulgaria, Dr. Velikina has performed on concert stages around the US and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, Mozart Zaal (Salzburg, Austria), Tessaloniki Concert Hall (Greece), National Palace of Culture (Sofia, Bulgaria).  She is a winner of the Catholic University Concerto Competition, and a recipient of numerous awards from Indiana University and Catholic University. Her professional affiliations include College Music Society, Music Teacher’s National Association and National Guild of Piano Teachers. As an educator and the mother of two young sons, Dr. Velikina loves to teach students of all ages and abilities. She has been teaching piano in the Washington, DC area since 2001 and has served as a faculty member at Catholic University. 

Dr. Velikina teaches Mondays to Fridays 

Senior Teaching Artist rate:

(instructors with advanced degrees

and/or extensive teaching experience)

$56/30-minutes; $81/45-minutes; $104/hour

INESSA MIR-ALIYEVA (piano) is a successful award-winning music professional with over 30 years of experience in performing live, accompanying various musical groups and teaching students of all ages. She has been teaching at Music Spectrum School since 2017. She obtained her Master Of Music Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the State Conservatory, Baku, Soviet Union/ Azerbaijan, and her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the Baku Music College in the former Soviet Union, where she also took classes in Organ. For more than a decade, she was a leading piano teacher at a school in the former Soviet Union under the patronage of former director and conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich. After her arrival in the United States she taught at the Performing Arts Institute of Virginia in Blacksburg for seven years before relocating to Northern Virginia in 2015.

Ms. Mir-Aliyeva teaches on Thursdays

Senior Teaching Artist rate:

(instructors with advanced degrees

and/or extensive teaching experience)

$56/30-minutes; $81/45-minutes; $104/hour

DEBORAH MORRIS (piano, flute) has a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Catholic University and a Bachelor of Music Degree from Bowling Green State University as a Piano Major/Flute Minor. She has been teaching at Music Spectrum School since 2019. She studied with William Masselos (Juilliard), Nelita True (Maryland/Eastman), Bela Nagy (Catholic University/Boston Conservatory), Dr. Thomas Mastrioanni (Catholic University), and Virginia Marks (Bowling Green State). Faculty positions include Piano Instructor and Accompanist at The Madeira School in McLean, VA for 21 years (flute instructor for five of those years) and Piano Instructor at the Wolf Trap Foundation. Additionally, Mrs. Morris served as flute choir conductor at Bishop O'Connell High School, Piano Instructor at Bowling Green State University Creative Arts Program and the Arlington Class Piano Association. She has performed extensively throughout the Washington metropolitan area as soloist and accompanist in concert including Wolf Trap for the Performing Arts, the Corcoran Arts Gallery, The Lyceum, Kennedy Center Foyer Concerts, George Washington University and George Mason University. She was also accompanist for the Navy and Air Force Chamber Players for several years. Membership in professional music organizations include The Friday Morning Music Club of Washington, Music Teachers National Association, and Associated Board of the Royal School of Music.  A native of Alexandria, VA, she currently resides in Reston, Virginia with her husband and daughter. 

Ms. Morris teaches Tuesdays, 

Wednesdays & Fridays

Senior Teaching Artist rate:

(instructors with advanced degrees

and/or extensive teaching experience)

$56/30-minutes; $81/45-minutes; $104/hour

ANICA HEEYUN LEE (voice, piano) graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a double major, achieving Bachelors of Music in both Voice Performance and Music Education. She has been teaching at Music Spectrum School since 2017. While attending Eastman, she attained broad experience teaching in many Rochester area schools from Preschool through Elementary School, Middle School and High School. She was also a Secondary Vocal Teacher at Eastman, providing weekly voice lessons to vocal performance undergraduate students. At Eastman, Ms. Lee performed featured roles in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Montiverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea. She also sang in the Eastman Chorale, Repertoire Singers and Women’s Chorus. She has performed onstage at the Eastman Theatre and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Ms. Lee is a native of Northern Virginia. Before attending Eastman, she attended Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, where she served as the Student Music Director of the Concert Choir and Women’s Choir. She also attended and was a soloist at the Virginia Governor’s School at Radford University. Ms. Lee has been teaching private lessons in Ashburn and Rochester since 2011.

Ms. Lee teaches Tuesdays through Thursdays

Senior Teaching Artist rate:

(instructors with advanced degrees

and/or extensive teaching experience)

$56/30-minutes; $81/45-minutes; $104/hour

PRISCILLA YANG (piano, flute) has nearly thirty years of experience teaching piano and flute to students of all ages including at Music Spectrum School since 2018. She received her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Brooklyn College CUNY after receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in her native Taiwan. She also holds a Certificate of Graduate Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. Also, for the past thirty years, Ms. Yang has served as a professional pianist, music director and choir director at large churches in both Taiwan prior to 1993 and throughout the U.S. since 1993, specifically in New York City; Lafayette, Indiana and Cary, North Carolina. 

Ms. Yang teaches on Mondays

Private Lesson rate:

$53/30-minutes; $77/45-minutes; $97/hour

 MADELINE MANAKER (voice, piano, Harmony Road piano/musicianship classes) is currently finishing a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at George Mason University and holds a Bachelor of Science from Vanderbilt University with dual degrees in Education and Mathematics as well as a minor in Music.  Ms. Manaker joined the teaching faculty at Music Spectrum School in 2022. As a classically trained mezzo-soprano, her recent performance credits include the title role of Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Armelinda in Viardot’s Cendrillon, as well as Leonore in scenes from Beethoven’s Fidelio. Ms. Manaker has sung with companies such as Maryland Lyric Opera, La Musica Lirica, the Russian Opera Workshop, and the Berkshire High Peaks Music Festival. Ms. Manaker is an active performer in the Washington DC area, holding a section leader position at First Baptist Church of the City of Washington DC and as a member of a professional quartet at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. In addition to her classical vocal training, she is a trained jazz vocalist. Ms. Manaker loves bringing the joy of music to her students through her teaching.

Ms. Manaker teaches Mondays to Fridays

Private Lesson rate:

$53/30-minutes; $77/45-minutes; $97/hour

W. CHRISTOPHER CLARK (piano, voice, Piano Express group piano classes) earned his Bachelors degree in Sacred Music cum laude from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ after attending the exclusive St. Thomas Choir School in Manhattan., NY. Mr. Clark joined the Music Spectrum School Faculty in 2022. He is also currently the choir director at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church of Alexandria as well as a teacher at the founding school for The Piano Express program in Ashburn, VA. As a performing artist he has recorded multiple works, including "Martin: Mass for Double Choir" with the Westminster Choir and Handel's Messiah with the Saint Thomas Choir. He has done commercial tours in Beijing, China; Berlin, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and, throughout the United States, performing at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Lincoln Center, Julliard, Tanglewood and the Spoleto Festival. Mr. Clark believes that music making is a mix of physical awareness, emotional presence and a tremendous amount of preparedness (aka practice!) Although his degree is in sacred music, he is also no stranger to more contemporary music styles.

Mr. Clark teaches Mondays, Tuesdays,

Thursdays and Fridays

Private Lesson rate:

$51/30-minutes; $74/45-minutes; $94/hour