 |
| |
|
|
All of our teachers are Registered Music Together® teachers. They are passionate about music and the development of children. Their goal is to create a fun, informal, social setting that promotes engagement and supports each child's musical development.
 |
|
Paul Godwin
Paul
Godwin (Director of Music Together of San Francisco)
is a composer, musician, and music teacher with 25 years experience. In
the role of parent and teacher, he expresses his passion for awakening
the innate skills of children by blending musical modeling with pure enjoyment.
He founded MT of SF in 2001 and continues to be actively involved in
the day-to-day operation of the program, selecting and mentoring teachers
and participating in parent education and support.
Paul has worked with
children in music at the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis
and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He has composed for film, television
and interactive children's entertainment. In 2002, he composed the original
score for Tony Kushner's "Homebody/Kabul" in its West
Coast Premiere at Berkeley Rep and won the Bay Area Critics Circle
Award for Best Original Score for this work. Paul studied music and
theatre at Northwestern University and holds a B.A. from Berklee
College of Music in Boston. In 2004, Paul was certified in Orff Music,
Level One at Mills College, Oakland. He is the lead singer, keyboardist
and founder of The Sippy Cups, a Bay Area family-favorite rock
band.
Paul received his
Certification from Ken Guilmartin, founder of The Center for Music and
Young Children and Music Together, LLC. A parent says: "Years ago I taught music to children and bring this up only to stress that I speak with authority when I say Paul is a gem and I appreciate the musicianship, sincerity and joy he brings to us each week." |
 |
|
Andrew Gomez
Andrew
Gomez
has been working with children for over 10 years and has a B.A. in Child
Psychology from the University of California, San Diego. From organizing
events at summer camps as a 16-year old to working for San Mateo County
teaching K-8 special education students, Andrew has acquired extensive
experience entertaining, nurturing, and enlightening youngsters, and now
devotes his time to aiding their musical development. Besides being a
Music Together teacher, he also teaches piano, guitar, drums, and choir
in the after-school music program, From The Heart Music. Blending
his love for athleticism and exotic music, Andrew has been involved in
Capoeira, an acrobatic Brazilian martial art/dance, for 6 years, and has
performed with Capoeira Mandinga of San Diego and Capoeira U.S.A.
of San Francisco in different festivals, fairs, and clubs. As a singer/songwriter/musician,
Andrew has released the internationally released, critically-acclaimed
rock album Glean as part of the band Echobrain and has opened for
such artists as Neil Young, Elvis Costello, and Willie Nelson. These days,
he still flexes his voice and musicianship in the San Francisco-based,
electro-rock act, Fast To The Center. |
 |
|
Irena Smith
Irena grew up in Bergen, Norway where she became actively involved in music making at an early age. Drawn to singing and acting, she participated in various choirs, acted in children's theatre projects and joined a theatre school when she was six years old. Later, Irena attended a performing arts school in Bergen, where she received instruction in music theory, vocal technique, dance, and drama. Always performing throughout her teens, Irena even formed her own theatre ensemble, delving into experimental drama as well as children's theatre and performing regionally in southwestern Norway.
She currently studies jazz piano and vocals, and also plays folk guitar and drums in a duo with her husband, a local multi-instrumentalist and jazz saxophonist.
In addition to her creative life, Irena has also worked in childcare for over 10 years as a nanny, child-care assistant, and preschool teacher. Constantly nurturing kids' spontaneous creativity, and incorporating the imagination and in-the-moment responsiveness of music, she has developed her own relaxed, magnetic and relatable rapport with children as well as adults. Irena's warmth and energy bring out the ease and joy of music.
"Irena brings music to my child's preschool
and always engages the children in singing, acting out and even playing
along with the songs. She incorporates lyrics the children make up
which contributes greatly to them seeing their ideas as valuable. Don't
miss her!" Barbara M.
"I want to give a rave review for Irena. I rarely provide this type of
feedback but really feel like she deserves it. Everyone really enjoys
her class. The kids really get into the songs" Elizabeth W.
"Irena is a magnificent teacher - she has a fabulous energy that draws the kids in and gets them moving and singing." R.W.
Irena Smith is a registered Music Together teacher. She recently
relocated to the Bay Area from Denmark, where she studied music, stage
performance and movement at Testrup Arts School.
|
 |
|
Daveen DiGiacomo
Daveen DiGiacomo originally hails from the Heartland, where she
developed her love for music, playing piano at the age of seven. She
received her degree in music at San Francisco State University.
Previously, she taught an after school orchestra/band program for
Children’s Music Workshop in Los Angeles, in which she helped
coordinate 15 elementary schools to participate in a spring concert at
UCLA each year. Daveen also plays the accordion and performs
professionally in local dance/theatre companies, doing sound design and
composing. She is very passionate about the teachings and philosophies
behind Music Together.
|
 |
|
Bevin Fernandez
Bevin Fernandez was born and raised on the Peninsula in a music-loving family. She was lucky enough to get an early start in her creativeendeavors. At the age of three, she started ballet classes with the South San Francisco Civic Ballet. Auditioning, rehearsing and performing with Bay Area companies was a highlight of her childhood that leant to a dedication and practice which continues to this day. She also began teaching ballet to young children by the time she was
fifteen. At the age of six, a special delivery which she thought was a treehouse, ended up being a piano. This was slightly to her dismay at the time but that quickly faded and led to mastering classical sonatas, blues pieces, and old standards to play for her grandmother. In the fourth grade, Bevin picked up the oboe to the surprise of the school's band director and throughout her school years played in award-winning symphonic bands and chamber ensembles with the oboe and also jazz band on the piano. After high school, Bevin left the Bay Area to attend college in Southern California. There, she received her B.A. in Sociology at the University of California, Riverside. Back in San Francisco, she was introduced to Music Together as a nanny and experienced first-hand what a special program it is. With a personal knowledge of the innumerable benefits of early exposure to creative and performing arts, Bevin is excited to share her knowledge, experience and love of it with her class. |
Janny Lukawski
Janny Lukawski is a native from Hong Kong who studied abroad in
England from the age of 15. Janny earned her Teachers Licentiate (LTCL)
degree from Trinity College of Music, London, where she specialized in
piano and the pipe organ. Janny has performed in England in solo piano
recitals and has taught classical piano to both children and adults for
more than 12 years.
Janny came to the United States in the early 1980’s and decided to
enter the corporate world of managed health care where she held various
director positions in hospitals, medical groups and managed care
companies. With the birth of her daughter in 2001, Janny decided to
dedicate more time to her family and to involve herself again in music
with a non-classical approach.
Janny discovered the Music Together program as a parent with her
daughter in 2002. With her daughter now in pre-school, Janny decided to
stay connected with the program by becoming a registered Music Together
teacher! She taught with Golden Gate Music Together for several years. She is passionate about working with young children and enjoys
using her training to open the door to musical development for these
young minds. Janny lives in San Francisco with her husband Ed and their
daughter Audrey.
 |
|
Kara Michele Blanc
Kara
Michele Blanc
has been immersed in the world of music since she can remember. Her grandmother
was an opera singer and her father, a violin prodigy. With a backround
in classical piano as well as musical theater, Kara has been teaching
and performing for more than 20 years. She taught preschool and elementary
school throughout the state of California for the past 10 years and most
recently lived and taught preschool at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. Kara
has written and directed plays and musicals for young children, in addition
to teaching music, movement and dance in after-school settings. She is
just back from an amazing tour of North, Central and South Africa where
she was privileged to teach native children from various cultures and
countries. She is excited to begin working with you and your children
as a Music Together teacher. |
|
|
|
|