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MEET THE TEAM

OUR FACULTY

Check out our impressive Western and Indian music teacher biographies below to meet our entire team. For teachers that specialize in specific instruments or voice, click on the corresponding button below.

bollywood music teacher

Alex Doolittle

Drums & Band Director

B.S. Music from University of Kansas, Specializing in Jazz and Marching band

bollywood music teacher

Alicia Deckard

Western Vocals and Piano (Classical & Contemporary)

Classical, Jazz, Blues and Pop Singer and Piano Player/Teacher.

bollywood music teacher

Andrew Allen

Drums, Percussion

Andrew Allen brings over a decade of teaching experience and a lifelong passion for percussion to his students.

bollywood music teacher

Aswathy Vijayan

Carnatic Classical & Light, Hindustani Vocals

A playback singer, lyricist, composer and a stage performer from Kerala..

bollywood music teacher

Bhargav

Vocalist, Composer, Actor

Bhargav, a dynamic vocalist, composer, and actor, is making...

bollywood music teacher

Carolina Santos

Western Vocals and Piano

BA In Music specializing in Jazz Vocals

bollywood music teacher

Carolina Serrano

Voice, Piano, Guitar, Music Production

Carolina Serrano brings over 24 years of professional singing experience, both as a celebrated soloist and an accomplished vocal coach.

bollywood music teacher

Chitra Sridhar

Indian Voice (Carnatic Classical)

Chitra Sridhar has been singing Carnatic Classical music since the age of four, and has studied with legendary vocalists such as Maharajapuram Santhanam and Smt R Vedavalli.

bollywood music teacher

Curtis Park

Guitar, Piano, and Western Voice

With over 19 years of experience on the guitar, Curtis emphasizes applying proper vocal and instrumental technique tailored to the student’s individual needs.

bollywood music teacher

Dr. Joe Carbone

Ph.D, Classical Guitar and Piano

An eclectic taste with fluency and mastery in many styles of music such as: rock, pop, blues, jazz, folk, funk, and classical.

bollywood music teacher

Gabriel Evangelista

Guitar and Piano

Gabriel has been involved with music throughout his life, starting with the piano at the age of 5. Throughout high-school, he has been involved with many musical projects ranging from classical ensembles to rock bands.

bollywood music teacher

George Castiglia

Drums, Percussion

George Castiglia is a skilled and versatile drummer based in Northern Virginia, with a deep-rooted passion for percussion that began at age 10.

bollywood music teacher

Gopika Sinha

Indian Voice (Hindustani Classical)

B. Muse (Sangeet Prabhakar) holder in Classical Vocal from Prayag Sangit Samity, Allahabad.

bollywood music teacher

Indu Gnanaprakasam

Carnatic Classical & Light

Indu started learning Carnatic music at the age of 8. With her father’s Army job, she travelled and lived in various parts of India.

bollywood music teacher

Jaden Shahin

Drums

Jaden Shahin is a drummer and composer from Northern Virginia.

bollywood music teacher

Juan Sossa

Ph.D, Classical Guitar and Piano

Brings repertoire from Colombian and Latin styles, and diversity of salsa and jazz bands from Colombia...

bollywood music teacher

Kari Hart

Western Voice (Contemporary and Classical)

Holds a Masters of Music in Classical Vocals and Performance.

bollywood music teacher

ParthaSarathy Nemani

Indian Voice

Popularly known as Parthu, Parthu is an Indian Telugu Playback singer with rich classical music background. Parthu rendered more than 100 film songs and sung more than 2000 private songs in Telugu, Hindi and Kannada.

bollywood music teacher

Purvaa Sampath

Western and Indian Voice

A graduate from Berklee College of Music, Ms. Purvaa holds a dual degree in Western Music Performance and Therapy.

bollywood music teacher

Ramaa Pusthakam

Carnatic Classical

A Top Graded Artiste of All India Radio, Dr. Ramaa brings a wealth of knowledge in Carnatic Classical..

bollywood music teacher

Stella Link

Stella is an award-winning entertainer for her vocal/celebrity impressions, comedy and
dance, and is thrilled to bring over three decades of teaching, performing, and song-
writing experience to Northern Virginia!

bollywood music teacher

Stephen Gliatto

Piano (Classical & Contemporary)

An elementary music teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools....

bollywood music teacher

Steven Velasquez

Drum, Piano, Guitar from Berklee School of Music

An eclectic drummer with vast styles of musical knowledge, Steven studied at Berklee School of Music..

bollywood music teacher

Swetha Ashok

Carnatic Classical & Light

Swetha Ashok is an Indian Playback Singer, who is well known for her work in the Malayalam Film industry.

bollywood music teacher

Thomas Creek

Ph.D, Classical Guitar and Piano

Brings experience from masterclasses for renowned artists and Classical guitar styles...

bollywood music teacher

Thomas Wilson

Tenor

Thomas Wilson is a tenor with a passion for teaching.

bollywood music teacher

Umarani Pandiri

A.I.R, Carnatic Classical and Light

An All India Radio artist from Visakhapatnam, India.

bollywood music teacher

Veena Pandiri

Founder & CEO, Carnatic Classical & Light

A passionate musician and teacher, Veena's dream is to make music enjoyable to all...

bollywood music teacher

Vishnu Ashok

Violin - Carnatic & Light

A beautiful blend of classical and non-classical plays on his violin..

bollywood music teacher

Vishnu R

Classical, Rock, Jazz, and Carnatic guitar styles

Vishnu R is an award-winning performer, composer and multi-instrumentalist...

Western & Indian Music Teachers & Team Biographies 

Notes n’ Beats is taught by Western and Indian music teachers who have a passion for teaching a wide range of music that runs the gamut from the latest hits on the radio to classical Indian music. Our experienced teachers specialize in specific genres such as piano, guitar, Indian voice, and Western voice. We started many years ago in 2005 by teaching music to children of family and friends in the neighborhood.  Seeing the amazing development in those children unleashed the passion in us for teaching music in a way that resonates with children the most.  Over the years, we have developed a program that is fun and engaging to our students - children and adults alike. 

We are a team of professional music teachers who feels a strong responsibility to keep music education alive and accessible to all. We believe that music is crucial to one's development and growth - most importantly, we believe that music can become one's soul mate for life. Additionally, music education is beneficial for cognitive development—many research centers have published studies on how music education improves cognitive abilities in children in other subjects like mathematics.

 

At Notes N’ Beats, we also find ourselves in the unique position to bring together the best of two, rich, worlds of music - Indian and Western.  As Western and Indian music teachers, we believe in a strong foundation of Classical music, but we also allow for creative freedom in the classroom—our students explore many other genres of music like Rock, Pop, Theatre and Bollywood.  Our curriculum provides multiple educational tracks for students to pursue - A) Western music only, B) Indian music only, or C) A combination of the two. These curriculum tracks are unique to our school, in that our curriculum intertwines the complexities and nuances of both cultures of music, providing powerful insight into how Indian and Western music genres compare and contrast with one another. In 2021, we have enhanced our curriculum to incorporate this unique approach in our lessons beginning from a student's first day of lessons. 

 

Our music school challenges the traditional methods of teaching by including hands-on projects, performances, recitals, and our newest program called "Creative Immersion". Additionally, our teachers help students prepare for recitals, competitions, performances, and certification exams that further enhance each student’s musical education.

 

We are humbled and proud to be able to bring music to you! ​

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