Karen Sloneker, teacher/director, has been teaching Music Together for eight years. The Director of Music Together First Notes, she plays second trumpet with the Pittsburgh Ballet and Opera Orchestras. A member of the faculty at the Rogers Middle School for the Arts since 1981, she has also taught music at Carriage House Children’s Center in Squirrel Hill. Karen spent 20 years teaching in the Music Departments of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Seton Hill College. She has taught a variety of classes during her career, including music theory, music history, world music drumming, and piano lab, in addition to leading a variety of ensembles. She holds Music Together Certification Level I, Early Childhood Music and Movement Association Certification Level II, Orff Level I Certification, and is currently completing her Pennsylvania Music Education K-12 Certification. She attended the World Music Drumming workshop with Will Schmid, acclaimed author of the widely used World Music Drumming Curriculum. She has been a presenter at the Pittsburgh Association of Educators of Young Children annual conference on two occasions, and has led many workshops with early childhood educators on children's musical development.
Kristin Schaffner, piano instructor, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Music degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied with Ralph Zitterbart and Sergey Schepkin. Her work at CMU also includes earning her Certificate in Piano Pedagogy and research in Dalcroze Eurythmics, a method of teaching music that focuses on using rhythmic movement, ear training, and improvisation to unlock creativity and enlivened music making. Along with her music studies, Kristin has training in the Alexander Technique, a technique which focuses on teaching students to recognize and overcome habituated limitations within their manner of movement and thinking. Kristin currently teaches music at the Carnegie Mellon Preparatory School, the Sweetwater Arts Center, Pittsburgh Rogers CAPA 6-8, and the Yeshiva School. She recently completed training to become a Music Together teacher and will begin teaching for Music Together First Notes in September, 2009. Kristin was the winner of the Steinway Society of Pittsburgh’s annual piano competition in 2003.
Sharon Scuoteguazza, creative movement instructor, is a former professional Dancer with Xpressions Contemporary Dance Company (XCDC) in Pittsburgh, where she worked under the direction of Staycee Pearl. She has been involved with dance as a student and a teacher since she began her dance training with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under Marcia Dale Weary, Founder and Artistic Director. She went on to receive a B.F.A. from Indiana University of PA and soon after moved to San Francisco. There she taught local youth printmaking at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and continued her study of dance. Sharon has also taught dance and choreographed for children in Tucson, AZ. Now back in Pittsburgh, Sharon has taught company classes for XCDC, instructed and choreographed for Covenant Church of Pittsburgh’s Fine Arts Academy, and taught for Full of Grace School of Dance and Synergy. Sharon has two young sons who are part of the Music Together family. Currently, Sharon dances with the Mount Ararat Dance Ministry and is a certified Pilates instructor at Harmony Pilates Studio in Shadyside. She adores helping children and adults explore the inner joy of safe, passionate, and creative movement. Sharon is excited to work to help children at all levels and abilities explore movement with a fresh perspective through the universal and multi-cultural voice of music and dance.
Stefanie Moser, hula hoop instructor, spends her days as the Assistant to the director of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. A graduate of Messiah College in Visual Arts, Stefanie has taught in a wide variety of situations around the world. Her current passion for hula hooping has helped her to combine a love of music and movement, visual art skills, and a gift for teaching and connecting with people. On a lovely weekend day, you can find Stefanie hula hooping in a local park and drawing a crowd of children and adults who are inspired to try this retro hobby!
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