Faculty

Joseph Booth

Guitar | Bass Guitar

Mr. Booth was born in Webster, Texas, and grew up on the Gulf Coast. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin St. University in Nacogdoches, Texas where he studied classic and jazz guitar as well as contemporary worship music at Nacogdoches Bible Fellowship. During his time there he began teaching private lessons through the SFA Music Preparatory House. Having performed at hundreds of events and many recitals he has been playing guitar for 15 years and has also composed some works for the instrument. An important mentor who influenced his life is Teacher of Classic Guitar John Calderon, who teaches adjunct at several locations around this area; he with the guitar inspired me to continue to pursue a career in music.

Nikkita Zuberbier

Guitar | Voice | Piano

Nikkita Zuberbier has a degree in Music Education with a focus on Elementary Education from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She has had the honor of studying under Dr. Lynn Brinkmeyer, the former President of the The National Association for Music Education and Ms. Cheryl Parrish, soprano at the Austin Lyric Opera. Her first instrument is Voice, but she also plays and teaches the guitar and piano to young students. She has been teaching since 2007, and has been a member of the Rockin' Robin family since 2013. She incorporates classical techniques as well as popular repertoire, and finds it very important to integrate modern music and teaching methods into her curriculum.

Dustin Cunningham

Violin | Piano

Dustin Cunningham is a locally grown Houston area violinist. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah before his family relocated to Texas quick as they could, opening the door for him to begin studying the violin in school at the age of 10. Since then, he has been inseparable from his violin and making music, having played in orchestras and ensembles throughout Houston and the United States, including on such stages as Sarofim Hall, Jones Hall, the Moores Opera House, and The Grand 1984 Opera House, at Lincoln Center Square in New York City, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He recently gave a solo recital at the University of Houston in November 2022.

He got his feet wet teaching violin by volunteering as a beginner group instructor in the Klein ISD 5th Grade Strings program while in high school, continued on with the Touch of Music Program in 2017, and has taught his own students since 2015. He has studied with Dr. Jackson Guillen of Terra Nostra Ensemble, Dr. Javier Pinell, professor of violin at Sam Houston State University, and currently with Dr. Kirsten Yon at the University of Houston. Dustin has performed in masterclasses with James Dunham, Will Fedkenheuer, and the Formosa Quartet, and regularly performs at various private and public events throughout the city. He loves playing small-ensemble chamber music, watching a good musical (or playing in one), singing along in the car, eating chocolate covered almonds, and relaxing with a nice glass of chocolate milk after a long day.

Tony Moore

Violin | Piano | Guitar

A Native Houstonian, Mr. Tony started his violin journey at the age of 6. From the age of 9, Mr. Tony has performed violin competitively in solo and ensemble settings across Houston. In 2019, Mr. Tony graduated from the University of Houston and has a degree in Music Business with a Songwriting and Composition focus. 

With his teaching method, Mr. Tony puts emphasis on both technique and creative expression in music.  Through his engaging style, students will quickly progress while having fun! 

Joshua Elton

Drums | Guitar | Piano

Josh Elton is a professional musician based out of the great Houston area. Josh has been playing music on various instruments since he was in elementary school. After starting out on piano, he moved to guitar and other stringed instruments. Since then, Josh has been performing live at countless venues all over the country and has almost 15 years of experience playing music. He began privately teaching lessons in high school and has been teaching private lessons for about 10 years now.

Steve Hitt

Guitar

Steve was born and raised in the Houston area.  He began his musical career in his middle teens by playing with various local bands, and in particular, the UNION. While with the UNION, Steve began writing songs and eventually penned one entitled “I Sit and Cry” which aired on The Larry Kane Show.  The song charted in the 20’s on the two local “Top Forty” radio stations KILT and KNUZ. This opened the door for Steve and the UNION to become the opening act for such artists as Neil Diamond, Sam the Sham, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the WHO, and many other national acts. After which, Hitt began touring the southwest eventually ending up in Austin, Texas in the early 1970’s with the blues band Brazos Cane with compadre, Tommy Dardar. When the band dissolved in 1973, Steve returned to Houston and joined the funk band Bump City. From there, onto the local club scene with the Don Russell 5, showman Bill Nash, country song writer and singer Jim Collins, where they opened for numerous national country acts:  Johnny Williams, blues-funk band Nequebone, and songwriter and singer Connie Mims. In addition, Hitt played lead guitar with Roy Head of “Treat Her Right” fame, played in back up bands for the Bo Diddley, the Coasters, Percy Sledge, Freddy Fender, and Mickey Gilley.  The 1990’s began his collaborations with Miss Molly & the Whips, soul band Green Onions (for 14 years), and currently Michael Aguillar’s (formerly of LaMafia) Classix, playing not only lead guitar, but also lending his soul tinged vocals to the acts.  In addition, Hitt plays lead guitar and does lead vocals for the Healers.

Julie Jacob

Piano

Julie Jacob learned to play the piano by her father at the age of 7 and continues to use her talents in many ways by utilizing the fundamentals and techniques today. She was born and raised in Houston but grew up in a small-town 45 minutes south of Boston. She completed her Undergraduate in Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and earned a Masters in Finance from Boston University. Today, Julie works for a large oil and gas company and has been in the industry since 2004. Although Julie did not have any formal training from a music school or professional music instructor, her father was her leader and taught as much as he could up to the age of 12. She completed the entire Alfred's Basic Piano Library curriculum on her own and learned several complicated classical pieces by Bach, Mozart, Clementi, Beethoven and many of her favorite music composers. Julie is the Choir Director at her local church and teaches the youth choir. She has been the organist and pianist since 2004. Julie has a never-ending passion for music and loves to teach children and will always continue to share her joy of musical knowledge.

Scott Lee

Voice | Piano

A native of Statesville, North Carolina, baritone Scott Lee has been praised for his “...substance and velvety voice” by the Winston-Salem Journal. In recent years, he has performed with Merola (San Francisco's young artist program), Piedmont Opera, The Princeton Festival, Opera Theater of the Rockies, Magnolia Baroque, and Pensacola Opera as a Jan Miller Studio Artist (formally known as the Artists in Residence Program).

His recent engagements include Jigger in Carousel (Pensacola Opera) and Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Merola), where he was “The star of the evening... giving a silly, lovable, and vocally resplendent performance as Papageno... Lee kept the audience laughing without ever stinting on musical
values.”(The San Francisco Chronicle)
Lee also showed his dynamic range performing the role of Antonio in Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix, where “singing such as Lee’s is still rarer not only in student production but upon all the world's stages.” (Voix des Arts)

In 2020, Lee received the Ron Payne Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Charlotte, N.C. Lee received his Bachelor of Music degree and Master of Music degree from University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) where he studied music and vocal performance. In addition to performing, Lee is a seasoned teaching artist, having served as a member of UNCSA’s ArtistCorps, teaching in schools, and having his own private studio. Teaching ages from pre-k to people suffering from dementia and everyone in between.

Tim McBreen

Virtual Lessons Only

Piano | Trumpet | Saxophone | Clarinet | Flute | Trombone | Composition

Tim McBreen is a "retired" Elementary Band Director. He proudly served HISD for 10 years at Oak Forest Elementary School and is now focusing on spreading his passion of music through private lessons. He has 12 years of experience teaching private lessons. He studied Music Education at the University of Houston and Houston Baptist University.

He focuses on the FUN in music and loves to see his students fall in love with music. He encourages taking song requests from his students and spends time outside of lessons to arrange songs at the student's current learning level. He has arranged 300+ songs over the past 3 years and is looking forward to more. He is actively developing his own beginning method book series for piano, wind, and string instruments!

He thrives the most when teaching beginning lessons. He loves making music easy for each of his students and feels quite accomplished when students have their "aha" moments.

He is a brand new father to his son Theodore. He loves spending time with "Teddy" and watching him grow up.

Joseph Tran

Violin | Viola

Joseph Tran is a violinist that has been playing for nine years. Currently, he is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas.

Ruthie Morris

Guitar | Piano

Ruthie studied and preformed on guitar since age 17 and has been a musician since age 12. She teaches all styles and has 15 years experience teaching children and adults.

Kodey Saldaña

Saxophone | Piano | Drums | Woodwinds

Kodey Saldana is a Houston-based Saxophonist, Composer and Educator. Kodey Saldana is a Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Alumnus, and is currently studying for his Bachelors of Music with a specialization in music education at the University of Houston. Kodey has had the opportunity of learning and performing with many established artists and musicians such as Greg Fishman, Clay Jenkins, Paul Meyers, John Yao, Josh Allen, and Jesse Mcbride to name a few. Along the likes of these artists Kodey has worked and performed with many of the big names of Houston such as Tex Allen, Kyle Turner, Woody Witt, David Caceres, Harry Sheppard, David Craig, Marcos Varela, Jerome Gillespie II, and Armir Lee. Kodey is working to share his love of music through Composition, Performing, and Educating and passing it on to established and future generations to come.