Our Faculty

Fabian Ularu, violin and viola - Assistantconcert master of the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, Highland Park Strings (1st  Teaches intermediate to advanced students.violin), former member of Galveston Symphony Orchestra, Houston Civic Symphony, La Orquesta Sinfonica de la U.AN.L., Filharmonica “George Dima”, and “Virtuoziidin Transilvania”. Six years ago I was given the opportunity to teach at Solo Classic. During my tenure at Solo Classic I have enjoyed teaching a range of students from 1st grade to high school level using traditional methods and also Suzuki method. I appreciate that Solo Classic has developed quarterly concerts in which the students have to opportunity to demonstrate theirs skills and knowledge accumulated. We encourage students to participate in local activities, school orchestras or local competitions. In the last IGSMA, several of my students have taken gold medal.
Solo Classic provides a full range of services from lessons to repairs, to music store, which helped me in my duties, becoming a reference a local community for schools, local musicians as well as local orchestras.

Andrew Snow, cello - Andrew has extensive experience as a teacher, orchestral musician, and chamber musician.  He has a bachelors degree in cello performance from Northern Illinois University and a masters degree in cello performance from Southern Methodist University.  He maintains a private studio of young students and is also on the faculty of Trinity International University.  As an orchestral cellist, Andrew has performed with numerous prestigious orchestras, including: Chicago Sinfonietta, Grant Park Symphony, Lyric Opera Orchestra, Ravinia Festival  Orchestra, and Milwaukee Symphony.  As a chamber musician, Andrew was a member of the Lyra Quartet, which was in residence at Carthage College for over ten years.

 

 

  Emily Nash , violin-Emily began her violin studies at the age of 7. She received her Bachelors of Music as a violin performance major from Universityof Illinois at Urbana Champaign while studying with Simin Ganatra. She finished her Master`s Degrie in Violin performance with Almita Vamos at Northwestern University.Emily played in the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra alternating sitting principal second and associate concertmaster, was afirst violin section member in Sinfonia Da Camera under Ian Hobson, Associate Concertmaster for the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, Guest Principal Second in the Kankakee-Valley Symphony Orchestra, and played regularly in the  Prairie Ensemble. At the university, she studied chamber music with the Pacifica Quartet, Ani Aznavoorian, Sherban Lupu, Rudolf Haken, and Stephan Milenkovich. Past teachers and chamber music coaches include Wendy Sharp, FionaMurray, Ellen Higham, Miriam Eckelhoefer, and Adrian Slywotzky. During highschool, she played in both the New Haven Youth Chamber Orchestra and the New HavenYouth Symphony Orchestra where she was a section leader and solo competitionwinner.  Emily was a guest soloist with the Choate Rosemary Hall's tour to Italy in 2005, a finalist in the Greater Bridgeport competition, taught a large studio, and was very active in playing chamber music on both violin and viola. Summer festivals Emily has attended include: California Summer music (4 years), Interlochen Arts camp (3 years) and MadelineIsland (1 year). Emily has participated in master classes with Wendy Sharp, Roland and Almita Vamos, John McGrosso, Kurt Baldwin, and the Parker Quartet. She was Senior Violin Instructor for the Illinois Summer Youth Music Program and was a chamber music coach at the Allerton Chamber Music Festival. Currently , Emily teaches violin and viola at Solo Classic Inc.  Along with teaching, Emily is very active as a performer and averages abort 70 performances per year. She will be a regular member for the 2011-2012 season of the ''Civic Orchestra of Chicago". She was most recently awarded the Farwell Award from the Musicians Club of Women Scholarship Competition. 

Alexander Rowney, piano - is a classically trained pianist who has received his Masters of Music in Piano Performance from one of New York City’s premier conservatories, The Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Phillip Kawin. He also attended Northwestern University where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano studying with Dr. Sylvia Wang. He has concertized abroad in Russia, Italy, Austria, Germany, and England as well as in Chicago and in New York. During his undergraduate career, Alex studied abroad at the IES Center in Vienna, Austria, attending the Vienna Music University where he studied with Antoinette van Zabner Zinn- Zinnenburg. 
Alex was a finalist in the Artur Balsam Competition for Duos at Manhattan School of Music and the Thaviu-Isaak Piano Competition at Northwestern. He has performed for masterclasses given by Sergei Babayan, Earl Wild, and Vladimir Feltsman.
In addition to his pianistic training and performances, Alex is an avid composer of experimental, electronic, pop, and film music.  He also is a multi-instrumentalist, playing electric/acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drum set, and French horn.  Recently he has begun programming synthesizers with his own sound designs.  He enjoys improvisation and experimentation in his music, and often blends a more grounded pop sensibility with the extremes of experimental music.  Alex’s favorite activity, though, is teaching music to any age and skill level.

Matthew Jenetopulos, violin - began his violin lessons at the age of 4 in Connecticut. In 2004, he was accepted to interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, MI where he studied with Paus Sonner and Chamber misic with Hal Grossman. In 2005, after graduating from Interlochen, Mattew attended Lawrence University for two years studying violin with Stephane Tran Ngoc and chamber music with Anton Miller and earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Management in 2009.

Matthew has been playing chamber music for the last 10 years. In 2009, he traveled to Turkey for a three week tour with his trio "The Anatolian Trio". In 2004 he was given the Certificate Award and Excellence in Chamber Music Award from the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven,CT and was awarded scholarship to attend the Advanced String Quartet Institute at Interlochen Arts Camp where Trio and the Guilford String Quartet. He has Performed in master classes for Kenneth Sillito of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Abram Loft of the Fine Arts Quartet, Jan Nykryn of the Czech Nonet, Marcy Rosen of the Lion`s Gate Trio, and the Daedalus String Quartet.  

John McCurley, guitar - started playing guitar in 1969. He has been performing live since 1972 in a variety of venues from school dances, clubs, festivals, weddings, concerts and conventions. He has been teaching guitar for 37 years and electric bass for 23 years. His students have ranged in ages from 5 1/2 years to 83 years old. He teaches in a variety of acoustic and electric styles. He believes in being flexible and encourages requests. Some of his students have gone on to be guitar teachers themselves and many of his students are in bands varying from junior high and senior high school jazz bands to working club bands. At Solo Classic Recitals he alternates between backing up his student(s) to having them back him up. The results is a "Hot Jam Session"! Most importantly with all  his experience, he is patient and motivated to bring out the best in all his students, regardless of ability, age or any limitations they might have. He encourages weekly feedback with parents as a way to stay on top of the students progress. John and his wife, Teresa (Terry) live in Mundelein, Illinois.Remember the sky is the limit! 

Sarah Beske, cello is an avid performer and teacher.  She has received a Bachelor's of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory, and a Masters of Music in Cello Performance from Northwestern University.  In addition to teaching privately, she has been the teaching assistant at Oberlin Conservatory as well as Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music.  She has also served as visiting guest artist and faculty for the Franz Liszt Conservatory Winter Music Festival in Quito, Ecuador. Sarah has performed as soloist and in chamber ensembles in America, Germany, France, the Czech Repulic, and China.  Sarah has collaborated with members of the Prague Philharmonic and professors of the University of Michigan in a recording for Czech National Radio. She has served as principal cellist in the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra and the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, performed on the Oberlin Conservatory Chamber Music Honors recital, and was featured as a soloist in the Northwestern University Contemporary Ensemble performance of Jackie's Song by Michael Daugherty. Sarah's primary teachers include Anthony Elliott, Amir Eldan, and Hans Jorgen Jensen.

 

 

Sonia Hadar, violin- Tel Aviv University. Student of Shlomo Bohr and Oedoe Partos. First prize winner in Gina Bachauer competition; principal, co-principal and  1^st violinist in Haifa Symphony Orchestra(Israel), Israeli Opera and Radio of Israel Light Music Orchestra, Tel Aviv, soloist and ensemble player in chamber groups, Ramat Gan(Israel) and I Musicanti of the Cape Town Simphony. Currently teaching at Music Institute in Highland Park and Solo Classic' Music School of young children through adults.