Texas Music Conservatory Faculty

MEET OUR TALENTED TEXAS MUSIC CONSERVATORY FACULTY

ZackBrasfield

Zack Brasfield
Voice & Ensemble Instructor

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COMING SOON!

KeithGroh

Keith Groh
Voice Instructor

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Keith Groh is a professional vocalist from Weatherford,TX who actively performs in the nationally/internationally touring group Big City Productions. Throughout his life, he has performed with the world renown, Grammy Award Winning Texas Boys Choir (2002-2008). He has also performed solo performances at Bass Performance Hall, Billy Bob’s and Johnnie High’s Country Music Review. 

Keith is versed in multiple genres of music including Opera, Musical Theatre, Gospel, Classic Rock, Blues, Oldies and Country Music. His passion for performance and musicianship is matched only by his dedication to constant improvement in all aspects of the creative process.

Syuzanna Kaszo

Syuzanna Kaszo
Piano Instructor

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Born in the region of Transcarpathia in the Ukraine, Syuzanna was brought up in a Hungarian environment in a family of musicians. Her musical education began at the early age of five. Over the years, Syuzanna has appeared in many leading concert stages, most notably at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, and Chapell of Bond Street in London, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Plus, Flagey in Brussels, Ehrbar Saal in Vienna, the Colony Hall of National Philharmonic in the Ukraine, Petit Palau in Barcelona, Sala Sao Paolo in Brazil amongst many others.

Syuzanna is a graduate of the National Music Academy of Ukraine where she studied under the Honoured artist of Ukraine prof.Valery Kozlov. She then continued her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, with the Head of Keyboard Department and a renowned British pianist Graham Scott. Syuzanna was one of the two winners of the prestigious ABRSM Scholarship for the year of 2011-2013 that kindly supported her Master of Music Degree Programme studies at the RNCM. In earlier years Ms.Kaszo has also benefited from support of the Barbara Silverstone Bursary, the F W Wright Scholarship.

During her studies in the UK, Syuzanna has won many awards, including the Beethoven Performance Prize, Concerto Performance Prize and Bakszt Memorial Prize for performance of Chopin at the RNCM and a 4th prize at the Sheepdrove International Piano competition (UK).

Her latest international competition successes and appearances included a victory at the XVI Stefano Marizza Piano Prize during October 2012 in Trieste, Italy, a Bridgewater Hall performance at the “Reflections on Debussy” festival, organized in collaboration with the RNCM and under the leadership of Noriko Ogawa, and a performance of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto with RNCM SO under the baton of Gergely Madaras earlier that Year.

Other competition awards include first prize at the A. Zatin International Piano Competition and the Grand Prix at the XXIst Century Hopes International Competition in the Ukraine. Syuzanna was also awarded a Medal in the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona.

Notable Festival appearances count the Judith Weir, Steve Reich, Watford and Newbury Spring Festivals in the UK, Zemplen and Bartok Festival in Hungary, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Tbilisobo in Georgia, the Pianotexas Music Academy and Festival supported by Cliburn Foundation in Forth Worth.

Through her performing career Syuzanna has collaborated with many major orchestras in the Ukraine, such as the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, EstradnoSymphonic Orchestra of Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk Philharminic Orchestra, Uzhorod Camerata, Harmonia Nobile under conductors Volodimir Sirenko, Mykola Sukach, Victor Zdorenko, Anatoly Zatin and Natalia Ponomarchuk among others.

Syuzanna participated in masterclass workshops under MariaJoao Pires, Zoltan Kocsis, Andras Schiff, John O’Conor, Malcolm Bilson, Ilana Vered, Vladimir Viardo, Vladimir Krainev, Bernd Geotzke, Steven Osborne, Gary Hoffman and Michel Beroff among others.

Syuzanna is an eager chamber musician and often appears on stage with singers and various chamber ensembles.

As of August 2016 Syuzanna has joined the outstanding music department of Texas Christian University on their Artist Diploma program where she continues her artistic development under the mentorship of Dr.Tamas Ungar.

Ellie Lin

Ellie Lin
Piano Instructor

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Ellie Lin is currently the Interim Artistic Director of the Dallas Symphony Children’s Chorus. She is also the High School Choir Director at High Point Academy, Artistic Director/Conductor of Great Land Choral Society, and a faculty member at Texas Music Conservatory.

Lin has been working with children and youth choruses for over 25 years. With the world-renowned Texas Boys Choir (TBC), she has served as its Interim Artistic Director, Associate Artistic Director, Conductor, Pianist, and Algebra teacher at various times since 1991. Other positions held include Director of the Academy Chorale at Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, Conductor of Pinnacle Choristers, Director of Southwest Christian School High School Choir, Artistic Director/Conductor of Good Earth Singers, Choir Director at Arlington Chinese Church, and Piano Instructor at University of Charleston in West Virginia.

Throughout the years, Lin’s choirs have concertized in Austria, Germany, China, Taiwan, Argentina, and in almost every state in the United States. With Texas Boys Choir, Lin has performed before Presidents, in several CD recordings, on national radio stations, and on TV shows such as CBS This Morning and ABC’s Good Morning America. Furthermore, while Lin was Associate Artistic Director, TBC was invited to perform at national American Choral Directors Association conferences in 2013 and 2017.

In October 2017, Lin was nominated on the preliminary ballot for the 60th Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, along with the Texas Boys Choir’s 70th Year CD for the Album of the Year and Best Choral Performance awards.

Born in Taiwan, Lin grew up in Westchester County north of New York City. She studied Choral Conducting with Donald Neuen at the Eastman School of Music, where she received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education and Choral Conducting, with a concentration in piano.

In addition to conducting, Lin is a popular piano teacher and collaborative pianist. She is a member of ACDA, TMEA, FWMTA, and a certified Chinese interpreter and translator.

Dr. Amy Prickett

Dr. Amy Prickett
Voice Instructor

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Amy Prickett is a gifted soprano who has performed as a guest artist with the Arkansas Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Lansing Symphony, Adrian Symphony, St. Clair Symphony, Calvin College Oratorio Society, North East Texas Symphony, and Oregon Bach Festival.

Amy appeared as the soprano soloist in performances of Brahms’ Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Faure’s Requiem, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, she was a frequent soloist with the Fort Wayne Bach Collegium, singing Bach masterworks including St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, B Minor Mass, and Magnificat.

Equally at home in operatic roles, Amy has sung the roles of Anna Maurrant in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Lola in Douglas Moore’s Gallantry, Diana in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and Elisetta in Cimarosa’s Secret Marriage.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Christian University, a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Michigan State University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Alabama.

Amy has been teaching voice for over twenty years to students ranging in age and ability level. She has taught elementary, middle school and high school students as well as college majors and adults with a variety of vocal backgrounds. Although her focus is mainly on classical repertoire, many of her students sing other styles of music as well. Amy’s focus as a teacher is to provide her students with a foundation for healthy singing.

Amy has previously served on the faculties at Weatherford College, Huntington University, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, and Mississippi State University. She has also taught for schools in a variety of school districts, including Birdville and Arlington, as well as private schools, including The Oakridge School.

Amy lives in Fort Worth where she teaches Music Theory and AP Music Theory at Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts and serves as Production and Operations Assistant. She maintains small studios at the TCU School of Music Preparatory Division and Tarrant County College (Northeast campus). She loves being part of FWAFA’s outstanding program and teaching enthusiastic students!

IsaiahProctor

Isaiah Proctor
Piano Instructor

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Isaiah is an established musician with performance and educational experience in virtually all genres of music from blues to classical to modern pop to his specialty—jazz. Has played in big bands, small jazz combos, and also in churches. Isaiah studied under Dr. Robin Connell for 3 years – who taught Norah Jones at Interlochen Center of Arts. With a love for teaching music, Isaiah has taught children of all ages to develop their love of learning. 

Kerra Simmons

Kerra Simmons
Singing Girls of Texas Artistic Director

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Kerra Simmons earned her BM from the University of North Florida in Vocal Performance with a Choral Conducting cognate and her MM in Choral Conducting at Texas State University. Ms. Simmons has been involved with choral music since junior high and has sung in multiple Florida All-State Honor Choruses, the 2010 ACDA Southern Division Honor Choir, the 2014 ACDA Southern Division Collegiate Honor Choir with world-renowned conductor, Simon Halsey and most recently the 2016 ACDA Southwestern Division Collegiate Honor Choir. Ms. Simmons is currently the Artistic Director of the Singing Girls of Texas and the Associate Artistic Director of the world-renowned, GRAMMY © award winning Texas Boys Choir, both of which rehearse at Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts. Additionally, Ms. Simmons leads the Singing Girls of Texas satellite efforts and curriculum development for the Texas Music Conservatory.

Her experiences as a Soprano include opera roles in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and La Boheme, as well as multiple honors within the divisional competitions of North Florida’s chapter of NATS. Ms. Simmons began to pursue conducting in her undergraduate. At UNF, she was highly involved in Choral Leadership and was the Assistant Conductor to the UNF Chorale, UNF Chamber Singers, and UNF Women’s Chorus. During her time at Texas State, she was the Assistant Conductor of Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, University Singers, and the Texas State Chorale. She also assisted in creating an undergraduate lab choir and was the Teaching Assistant for the undergraduate conducting class.

After completing her Masters, Ms. Simmons used her gap year to teach Music and English in Seoul, South Korea where she rewrote an English as a second language music curriculum and taught ages 5 to 12. Ms. Simmons’ goal in her teaching is to not only inspire the singers to produce a beautiful sound but to also encourage them to tap into their individual and unique strengths as musicians and human beings. She believes in the power of music to bring together all people from different backgrounds and uses creative programming to intertwine various artistic mediums such as poetry and visual art. Her favorite pieces to conduct and teach are those of the non-Western tradition and her current research is in the advocacy and visibility of female composers. In her free time she likes to cook vegan food and hang out with her cats, Bubba and Peaches.

“Texas Music Conservatory and its options will provide an excellent way for your child to expand their artistic grasp and to enjoy making music after the school day is done.” – Kerra Simmons, Singing Girls of Texas Artistic Director