Instructor Biographies
Mark Anderson
Having begun piano studies at the age of 5, pianist and Executive Director of New World Music Academy Mark Anderson is widely recognized as one of the world’s outstanding classical pianists. In the United States, his formative teachers were Trula Whelan and Aiko Onishi while in the UK they were Ryszard Bakst and Benjamin Kaplan. He has performed in Japan, throughout Europe and the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. Mr. Anderson’s recordings on Nimbus Records have received numerous awards and distinctions worldwide from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, among others.
Mr. Anderson holds a bachelor degree in piano performance from San Jose State University as well as postgraduate degrees from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In June 2001, he was awarded the Master of Arts in Multimedia from California State University Hayward.
Mark Anderson is regularly invited to judge local, regional, state-wide, national and international piano competitions.
Mark Anderson is a Steinway Artist.
Katalin Kincses
Katalin studied piano from age 5 at the State Music Conservatory Schools in Budapest, Hungary. After completing school, she was accepted to continue her studies at the Franz Liszt Academy. However, political events in Hungary forced her into a career in jurisprudence. In later years, she worked as an attorney both in Hungary and the United States. However, desiring to return to music, she earned her Master of Arts degree in Piano Performance. Upon retirement from the legal profession she established her private teaching studio in Livermore. She incorporates the Kodaly method in her teaching and enjoys teaching all levels of piano performance, music history and theory. Katalin has varied experiences: performer, accompanist, music and choir teacher; and is an active member of the Music Teacher’s Association of California. She is very enthusiastic about the new opportunities afforded by high-tech methods in music teaching.
John R Burr
John R Burr (jazz piano) – Jazz pianist, John R Burr, is a musician with uncommonly broad range of musical interests and experiences. He is equally at home with traditional jazz as well as pop, bluegrass, blues or rock and has been recently nominated for a Grammy Award. He has performed and recorded with such artists as Robben Ford, Steve Smith, Dennis Chambers, Maria Muldaur, Jackie Ryan, Paul MacCandless, Jimmy Witherspoon and Kenny Rankin.
John R has been a mainstay in the quartet of Grammy Award winning Banjo virtuoso Alison Brown. His solo album “Piedmont Avenue” on Compass Records features his lyrical approach to the piano in both the solo and duo format. He has over thirty years of experience teaching people of all ages with a particular emphasis on Jazz and Blues piano.
Kathy Revay
Kathy studied piano and music theory with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto for more than 10 years. More recently, she completed the certificate requirements for the Music Pedagogy Program at Las Positas College in Livermore. Kathy is the music tutor at the college, and also assists in the piano classes at Las Positas. Additionally, she teaches piano and music theory in her private teaching studio in Livermore. She is a member of the Tri-Pulse Drum Ensemble, the Las Positas Drum Ensemble, and the LPC Performing Arts Club. Kathy is a very patient and compassionate teacher who enjoys teaching music to all ages.
Kathy is an active member of the Music Teachers Association of California.
Melissa Farley
Melissa took an interest in piano at the age of three and also performs regularly as a vocalist. She has sung in numerous productions with the San Francisco Choral Society, UC Berkeley’s University Chorus, the Sonoma State University Chamber Singers, and Voices of Musica Sacra. In addition, she enjoys writing and performing folk music.
Melissa graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from UC Berkeley, where she also tutored undergraduate students in theory and musicianship. She is an active member of the Music Teachers Association of California who especially enjoys working with beginning through intermediate level students.