The Zion Conservatory of Music Faculty:

A school is only as good as its faculty. The Zion Conservatory of Music maintains a well-qualified staff. New teachers are required to have a minimum of a Bachelor's degree in their field or significant professional experience, and are carefully screened before employment. They eagerly work together as a faculty, dedicated to nurturing each student and inspiring them with their own skills.

Rex Carroll:
Mr. Carroll is a well-known and accomplished guitar player, having performed with the bands Whitecross, Fierce Heart, King James and The Rex Carroll Band. He not only appeared as the lead guitarist but also served as songwriter and producer for six U.S. and world tours. His band, Whitecross, won two Dove Awards as Metal Album of the Year. His playing has been heard on commercials for the Milwaukee Bucks, and he was recently a soloist featured at the Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary celebration. In June, 2004, he place third in the North American Rock Guitar Competition sponsored by Guitar Player magazine and WNED/New York.

Rex holds a Bachelors degree in classical guitar performance from Northern Illinois University. He has 22 ears experience as a guitar instructor for all ages and all levels. Rex teaches everything from rock to acoustic and has developed his own method books for learning good guitar technique. His broad performance experience provides students with the skills needed to improve their own performance abilities.

Angela Leopold:
Ms. Leopold is a graduate of the Zion Conservatory of Music and went on to major in music at Butler University. While in Indianapolis, she held a large studio of private violin students as well as coaching chamber music groups. She also taught at the Indianapolis String Academy's summer chamber music camp and assisted teaching a weekly group class with the ISA. Ms. Leopold has completed Suzuki teacher certification through Book 1. She prefers to teach a combined method of Suzuki and traditional styles, incorporating the ear training of the Suzuki method with learning to read music. She also play occasionally with community ensembles.

I really want learning to play the violin to be a positive experience for my students. I enjoy the challenge of discovering how each student learns best and then working with them in the ways that are best suited for them. I think it is an invaluable lesson for students to learn that the effort they put in will determine how much they will enjoy playing and taking lessons.

Brian Massimo:
Mr. Massimo's passion for the arts stems as far back as the age of 12, when he performed as a soloist with the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra. He then spent four years with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dudley Powers. He has studied with such greats as Web Dowed, Mike Balter, Bernard and Caryl Stiner, as well as sectional studies with Gordon Peters, a member of the Percussion Hall of Fame and former percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Massimo has been a private percussion teacher in the Lake County area for over 20 years teaching everything from drum set to orchestral percussion. He has been on the staff of LEAP, Learning Everything about Percussion, the 2003 and 2004 World Champions of indoor drum line/ensemble competition of WGI(Winter Guard International) percussion independent class "A". Winning back-to-back gold medals is a first in the 25 year history of the WGI. Along with being a percussion instructor for the Zion Conservatory of Music, Mr. Massimo is principal percussionist for the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, the Waukegan Municipal Band and the newly formed Chicagoland/north shore group, "Full Score." He has also held the principal percussionist position with the Zion Chamber Orchestra, Illinois's Chamber Orchestra of the Year for 2000. Mr. Massimo continues to perform in several professional projects ranging from classical, contemporary Christian to heavy metal.

Constance Allen:
Mrs. Allen is a Zion Conservatory of Music graduate and a faculty member since 1961. She was a piano major at Mundelein College and continued her studies, receiving a Robert Pace Piano Pedagogy Certificate. She was Coordinator of Educational Programs and Assistant to the Artistic Director for the Lake Forest Symphony. Mrs. Allen attends seminars to keep current with piano repertoire and educational materials and serves as pianist or accompanist for various programs and local organizations.

The Zion Conservatory of Music has been a wonderful influence in my life, first as a piano student opening up the world of music to me, and then as a member of the faculty. I enjoy working with students of all ages and trying to develop each student to their fullest potential, whatever the ability level. I emphasize technical skills and musical expression in my teaching, along with a solid background in theory. Through the study of piano, I hope to promote a lifelong love, understanding and appreciation of music in my students.

Angela Ashmore
Mrs. Ashmore is a Zion Conservatory of Music graduate of 1980. She was a piano performance major at Wheaton College, and also studied under Willard Wikowski at Oral Roberts University. She finished her education at Carthage College while teaching at the Conservatory. Along with her love for the piano, she has been involved most of her life in church music. Her involvements in church music range from choir member to choir director, from church pianist to worship leader, from soloist to director of music, Etc. As a pianist in church music, she loves the challenges of sight-reading new music, creating arrangements of existing music, improvising, playing-by-ear, and most of all, worshipping the lord.

I believe God has created each of us with individual gifts, talents, personalities and callings. It is my desire to inspire and develop musical talent at the piano. I enjoy working with students, young and old, on an individual basis, using a variety of methods and approaches. At the core of my teaching is a focus on solid technique, a good understanding of music theory, lots of reading, and a tone quality that “sings”. Above all, I desire for my students to be inspired to play the piano the Glory of God.

Dennis Hankinson:
Mr. Hankinson has over two decades of piano performing experience and has been teaching professionally since 2001. A member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, he gives students the option of participating in the annual National Piano Playing Auditions, an encouragement for diligence and achievement. Mr. Hankinson is studying at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to complete a Certificate in Piano Pedagogy and Literature. He is the keyboardist for Frizane Ministries, an ensemble that performs at various venues including parades and nursing homes. He joined the ZCM staff in 2004.

I prefer to focus on Alfred's method for beginners, but utilize Bastien as well. For advancing students, I seek to bring them to a familiarity with both the well-known European and very modern world-wide composers.

Dr. Terry Martin, Dean of the Conservatory:
Dr. Martin is the Minister of Worship, Music, and Drama at Christ Community Church and holds a Ph.D. in Piano Performance from Washington University, and the Licence d’Enseignement in piano from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. Dr. Martin is a well-known keyboard specialist, performing on organ and modern piano as well as on his replica fortepiano and harpsichord. For over twenty years, he has been actively involved in church music, academia, and concert performance, and he is the founding Director for Workshops in Historic Music Performance, which offers special Early Music experiences for high school and college music departments.

Dr. Martin produced an international release for Narada Records of "Hallelujah! Great Choruses from Handel's Messiah", and appeared on film with pianist David Lanz in "Through the Hands of David Lanz". Dr. Martin wrote the study guides and closely collaborated with Lanz on the instructional video. Dr. Martin is a versatile musician, arranger, singer and composer, being equally fluent in classical music, commercial music and Christian music. His strong interest in the Christian faith has been a prime concern as he has pursued artistic excellence for the sake of Christ.

JoAnne Pekkarinen:
Mrs. Pekkarinen has extensive experience teaching piano and thoroughly enjoys the challenge of keeping her students motivated. She is always looking for new material and innovative ways to inspire her students. JoAnne has had students go on to play at the college level and become music teachers themselves including Jennifer Warren, one of our new ZCM piano teachers. Mrs. Pekkarinen received her Bachelor of Music degree from Mundelein College and did additional graduate work at the University of Illinois before transferring to the American Conservatory of Music where she received her Master's Degree.

Mrs. Pekkarinen is involved in performing, accompanying, and teaching, as well as attending workshops and masterclasses. In the last several years she has collaborated with Conservatory violinist and Dean, Rebecca Engstrom. Together they have performed the violin/piano sonatas of Poulenc and Faure and transcriptions of Spanish dances by Manuel de Falla. as well as arrangements of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". She enjoys the challenge of fine chamber music, coordinating the musical styles of the performers as well as the notes. Mrs. Pekkarinen also has an affinity for 20th century piano repertoire, but enjoys a variety of music, including the Romantic era composer, Chopin. Mrs. Pekkarinen has been a faculty member at the Zion Conservatory of Music since 1968.

Learning to play any musical instrument requires discipline and dedication. There are so many aspects involved in learning to play the piano--rhythm, phrasing, hand position, etc. At the top of my list is good tone quality, because you don't express music well without beautiful sound.

Donna Poucher, Director of the Conservatory:
Mrs. Poucher holds a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Education from Milliken University, a Master of Arts in Piano Performance from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Arts from Lake Forest College in Chemistry/Pre-Med. Mrs. Poucher has extensive experience in many areas of music including teaching privately for over 20 years. She has also performed in chamber music groups and as an accompanist. She has served as choir director for churches over the past 17 years and conducted the Zion Chamber Orchestra for seven years after holding the Assistant Director position for seven years. Her musical endeavors have also included arranging instrumental and vocal music.

Jennifer Warren:
Ms. Warren is a graduate of the Zion Conservatory of Music, where she received the Grace Ryan Award in 1998. She continued her studies at DePaul University, earning a Bachelor of Music. At DePaul, she participated in the Baroque Ensemble and the Concert Choir. She also completed her teaching certificate in Music Education at DePaul University and teaches general music at Beach Park Middle School. She has been teaching at the Conservatory since 2004.

As for my teaching style, I want my lessons to consist of as much playing as possible. I want my students to not just learn the skill of playing the piano, but also to understand and embrace the broader elements of music, which can help lead them to make good musical choices as well as have a fulfilling musical experience. I expect my students to come prepared for a lesson and ready to play.

Rita Byrd:
Ms. Byrd has always loved to sing. In school, she was involved in music ministry, singing with the choir and playing guitar for contemporary liturgies. She took part in high school musicals and choirs, performing major roles and as a soloist. Rita earned an Associate of Arts degree from the College of Lake County and continued at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, majoring in Music Education/vocal emphasis. She has served as an elementary music teacher, director of music ministries at two local parishes and most recently as Liturgical Music Director at Carmel Catholic High School. Ms. Byrd directs the Gurnee Park District's community chorus, the Viking Park Singers, and appears as a freelance vocalist for a number of local churches, private parties and community events. She joined the faculty in 2006 and is happily building her studio at the Zion Conservatory of Music.

My enthusiastic love for music and the vocal instrument permeates everything I do. I sincerely hope I pass on that enthusiasm to students! Learning how to sing properly can be a very daunting task--it takes practice, patience and discipline. But it is also such fun that your spirit will soar! Each voice is a very unique gift from God. I use my gift to give back to God--to help lead, teach and hopefully inspire others to do the same. I delight in coaching students of all ages, supporting each effort, caringly correcting and guiding and applauding their successes.

Scharema Daniels:
Ms. Daniels began singing at age three and playing the piano at age six. She studied at the Zion Conservatory of Music and went on to seek training at Parkland College, forming the Parkland Gospel Ensemble. She completed her Music Education degree at the University of Illinois - Champaign/Urbana and has begun her graduate studies at Vandercook College of Music. She has taught music at Novak-King Middle School in North Chicago, Illinois and the Kings Academy Christian School in Zion, Illinois. Ms. Daniels sang and toured with the University of Illinois Black Chorus, where she also served as assistant conductor and pianist. She has assisted in gospel music recordings and served as a guest vocal clinician. In July, 2004, Ms. Daniels starred in the leading role of Tracey in the musical production "T'Morrow Ain't Promised." She also wrote and produced original music for the production. Ms. Daniels currently sings with gospel music recording artists Glenn Johnson and the Voices of Innerpeace, Persuaded Ministries, Cynthia Turner and Heartspeak, and Ricky Dillard and New Generation. She is also the Minister of Music at Word of Life Ministries in Beach Park and began teaching at the Conservatory in 2004.

Patricia Jamison:
Ms. Jamison holds a Bachelor degree in music education from Milliken University and a Master of Music from Northwestern University. She toured for eight years with the San Carlo Opera Company and in 1965 through 1969 appeared in the Broadway productions of "Bye, Bye Birdie" opposite Dick Van Dyke and as an understudy for Nanette Fabrey in "Mr. President." Still a member of three performing unions in the Chicago area, Ms. Jamison has worked at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, Marriot Lincolnshire with Van Johnson as his leading lady, Marion, in "The Music Man." She has appeared in over 150 plays and musicals in an acting and singing career which spans three decades encompassing Broadway, stock productions, summer theater, touring companies and dinner theater. She worked at Tom Curtiss's production asistant for MGM during the filming of "Dr. Zhivago," and worked for Disney Studios doing voice-overs for educational films and commercials. Her latest efforts include raising funds for churches and schools with her own theater company, Premiere Players, of which she is the founder and artistic director.

As for my teaching style, it changes from student to student. That's the nice thing about teaching one-on-one: you can fit the lessons to the student. If I can teach my students to appreciate how hard it is to sing well and recognize good singing in others, then I've accomplished something.

Riccardo Selva:
Mr. Selva received a Bachelor of Music in music education and saxophone performance from the University of Michigan and his Master of Music and Doctor of Music in saxophone from Northwestern University. He has had extensive studies in jazz, conducting, arranging and composition. He had done professional work in classical, jazz and church music; music publishing, recording and music technology. Mr. Selva serves as a subsitute for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on saxophone and flute.

Goals for each student are set at the beginning of the academic year based on their interests and the Conservatory guidelines. Students are expected to keep a notebook of these goals which also includes a detailed account of their lesson assignments and educational information for reference. This notebook serves as a record of achievement, a source of reference and a point of reflection for future goals. Each student has specific interests, talents and levels of motivation which is the primary factor in setting teaching strategies to serve individual needs.

Mitch Palmer:
Mr. Palmer holds an Associate Degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Trumpet Performance. He has continued his education through private instruction with Charles Geyer of Northwestern University and Paul Merkelo, a member of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. Mitch Palmer has also participated in many Master Classes with various professional musicians. He has over 10 years experience as a trumpet instructor and performer and has performed with the University of Southwestern Louisiana Symphony Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony of Lafayette, Louisiana; and the North Suburban Symphony of Lake Forest, Illinois; to name a few. Mitch has also completed Music Audio Post Production Project development and Training through Horse-Drawn Productions. He has extensive experience in Radio Broadcasting as an emcee, disc jockey, board operator and remote technician and has also worked in music retail as a salesperson and technician.

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