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Masako Yamamoto holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) and an M.S. degree in Music Education from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also holds a B.A. degree in Music (major in voice and minor in piano) from Elizabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan.

Ms. Yamamoto’s teaching career started after completing her undergraduate study, and she has been teaching music for more than 25 years. She has taught music classes in middle schools, special education schools, preschools, and at music studios in Japan and in the US.  Besides music, she has taught Japanese language/culture in elementary schools and at the university level. Currently, she is teaching group music programs as well as piano and voice privately. She was also a conductor at Crystal Children’s Choir. Besides teaching, she has performed as a solo vocalist in various concerts, including two solo voice recitals as a guest artist and the role of "Duchess" in Verdi’s opera "Rigoletto" at Illinois Opera Theater. Her career is noted in the 21st Century Award for Achievement and Who’s Who in America.

The photo above is of her Solo Vocal Performance at the University of Illinois Smith Hall.

Wakeford Gong holds a bachelor’s degree in Music from UC Berkeley, where he studied violin with Serban Rusu. He is an active musical theater musician, working with musical theater companies in the Bay Area including Youth Musical Theater Company (YMTC), Berkeley Playhouse, Woodminster, the Berkeley Symphony and the Awesome Orchestra Collective.

An experienced pedagogue, Wakeford has taught violin students of all ages, emphasizing musical expression through the proper use of technique. His talents also go to the literary arts; from 2001 to 2010 Wakeford was associate publisher of Pureplay Press, an independent Bay Area publishing firm, in charge of book design and production.

Christina holds a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Arizona. As a piano major, she has over 20 years of experience in teaching piano. She is a member of the National Piano Guild Association and is a certified teacher of Suzuki Piano Pedagogy, which allows her to build a strong musical foundation in piano playing for children and adults.

Christina also has an experience in teaching children’s choirs, Orff/Kodaly Music Classes, and Kindermusik programs for pre-schoolers. She also has worked as a professional music instructor with Music for Minors and delivered quality music lessons at several elementary schools in the San Mateo School District. In her spare time, she serves as a worship leader and keyboard player at Tree of Life Christian Church. Christina wishes to continually bring the beauty of music to children’s life.

Melody Liu has been an active and experienced church pianist since the fourth grade. She received her Bachelor’s degree from California State University, East Bay. Over the last three decades, she has been actively involved in several Presbyterian churches in Taiwan as well as in the States as church pianist, piano teacher, keyboard player and choir piano accompanist. She is also an experienced accompanist for several local violin recitals and community events. Melody started piano teaching with her own two children, whom were active members of SFSYO and ECYS for many years. Most notably, Melody launched "SingYeMusic" in 2016, a music ministry to spread God’s love through her composed music. Since 2016, she has published three songbooks in Taiwan for three consecutive years.

With her music knowledge, enthusiasm, and experience in teaching piano, Melody is confident in fostering a deep appreciation and love for music in children of all ages.

Michelle Chi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea. She has over 25 years of experience teaching piano for all ages, styles, and skill levels in the Bay Area. She also has a plethora of experience working as a church pianist, choir accompanist, and keyboardist. Since 2006, she has been an active member of the Music Teacher’s Association of California and currently serves as the board member for the Southern Alameda County Branch. She guides many students to success each year through the MTAC’s Certificate of Merit program.

Michelle’s goals when teaching students are to help students build up basic skills and to develop students’ abilities and talents to an advanced level. She is deeply committed to helping her students enjoy, understand and express music in real life!

James Leyba holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Guitar Performance from California State University East Bay. Playing guitar since he was a teenager, James carries with him over ten years of guitar experience, including, but not limited, to pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop and classical music. James also has over ten years of experience in Voice, performing alone and in choirs.

His pursuits in vocal music have led him to perform in a variety of venues, from local churches to across the Pacific Ocean in Japan. Due to his high school and college ensemble experience and completion of Cal State East Bay’s Music Education circuit, he also has performance experience with percussion, viola, violin, piano, African drumming and bass guitar.

Zachry Taburaza holds a Master’s in Instrumental Performance degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He also has a Bachelor’s in Instrumental Performance as well as Music Composition from California State University, Long Beach. Zachry has been playing music all of his life, starting with piano as a child. As he grew he learned new instruments, such as saxophone, clarinet, guitar, and flute. He constantly searches for new ways to innovate and teach his craft. With this in mind, Zachry seeks to teach his students by feeding their curiosity, as well as honing their technique.

Gemma Aurora D.G. Garcia holds unit of Master of Arts in Music and graduated from Bachelor of Music at University of Santo Tomas, Conservatory of Music, Philippines. She taught music classes in Elementary, High School and College levels. She served as a choir accompanist and conductor, as well as the Director of Church Music Ministry for 15 years.

When she came to the United States in 2014, she worked as a Music Teacher in a catholic school. She taught private piano lessons and is a piano accompanist at Saint Joseph Parish for two years. At present, she is a church choir accompanist of the Filipino community. She wants to share her God given talent and bring out the beauty of music in the heart of every child.

Jose Deanon is a Choir Director, Pianist, and Cantor at St. Edward Catholic Church, in Newark, California. He holds a Bachelor’s of Music in Piano Performance from San Jose State University, trained in Classical piano repertoire including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Scriabin, and John Williams.

He formally studied under Dr. Frank Levy for applied lessons; under direction of the department head, Dr. Gwendolyn Mok. From ear-training, collegiate music theory, and other music courses, Jose learned a variety of skills from highly technical professors and continues to apply their traditions in his current professions. Jose is also well-versed in Roman Catholic Liturgical Sacred Music literature & Filipino Bukas Palad Choral literature.

He has strong experience composing and arranging for Choir and Piano, and is very skilled in classical-jazz solo improvisation and has a hobby of making piano covers of mainstream music.

Cesz Islaya is a classical pianist who trained at Fiat Music Company under her mentor, Marie-Louise Fiatarone. A committed musician, she has won talent competitions, including first place at the 1990 California State Talent Competition, and has performed at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, the Juneteenth Talent Show, and events for the National Exchange Club in Richmond, California. She serves as the pianist for the long-standing Last Roll Call Ceremony of Remembrance—an honored tradition held across the nation at many VA health care centers to commemorate and honor Veterans who have passed away.

A piano major at Ohlone College and former piano teacher at Fiat Music, Cesz brings a compassionate, relationship-centered approach to teaching, fostering self-confidence, musical excellence, and a lifelong love of music in her students. She is also a licensed clinical social worker at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, furthering process improvements to better serve Veterans and their family caregivers.