Music On Main - Meet Our Faculty
John Durbin - Owner of Music On Main & Music Instructor
John has an extensive background in learning and teaching musical instruments. He specializes in piano, guitar, bass, ukulele, drums, saxophone and clarinet. John has been teaching music in the South Bay and Palos Verdes Peninsula area for over 30 years. He attended Pepperdine University under a full music scholarship and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education. In addition to his teaching career,
John is the leader of two successful bands, "All Nite Express" (Top 40 & Classic Rock) and "The Fabulous Chevelles" (50's & 60's music). His groups have entertained crowds on board cruise ships, at major hotel chains, restaurants, and casinos throughout Southern California and Nevada. They have shared the stage with Aretha Franklin; Paul Revere & the Raiders; Blood, Sweat & Tears;
Chubby Checker; and Dick Dale. They are invited back year after year to
entertain at various corporate events throughout Los Angeles, school award ceremonies, debutante balls, cotillions, graduation galas and car shows.
Christine - Piano, Violin & Viola Instructor
Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Christine is a classically trained musician with a talent for musical improv on the violin, a flare for Mozart on the piano and a love of teaching. Her music education began at age 7 with piano lessons. And by age 10, she had persuaded her parents to allow her to study violin as well. Christine is an all-around musician with over 14 years of private instruction on both instruments and experience performing in orchestras, ensemble groups, and as a solo artist. As a violinist, she has performed as Co-Concertmaster of the Colorado College Chamber Orchestra, played five concert seasons with the Catalina Chamber Orchestra, and as solo fiddle player in the musical Quilters for the Arizona Repertory Theatre. More recently, Christine has performed and recorded with indie band MAGs Element in Pasadena, creating her own solo arrangements. Christine has an M.A. in Theater Education from the University of Arizona. And in addition to teaching music lessons, Christine has enjoyed teaching creative drama classes as an afterschool teacher with Woodcraft Rangers and as a summer camp instructor. But what Christine loves most is teaching piano and violin. She loves sharing the joy of music with students of all ages and skill levels, helping to bring out their highest potential with her patient approach. She helps her students build a strong foundation in the classical tradition while also encouraging them to explore various contemporary styles, from jazz to modern. She strives to make music lessons creative and fun, while covering all the basics of music theory, proper technique, note reading, and musicality. Christine teaches beginning to advanced piano, violin and viola.
Stacey - Voice & Piano Instructor
Stacey is a Jazz singer and pianist who combines natural talent, professional skill, and intelligence into a powerful and diverse sound. Educated at Humber College for Jazz Performance, she was mentored by world-class musicians like Shannon Gunn, and won the Thomas Kohoe vocal jazz award. As a musician in Seoul, Stacey translated her skills into impressive professional achievements. As a member of the vocal jazz group Hi-Singers, she collaborated on singles, albums, and live performances. As the bandleader of the fusion group Fahrenheit, she produced two mini-albums. As a vocal coach for the Korean indie label 9th Street Records, she nurtured talent and directed recordings. Through all those professional engagements, she cultivated an independent voice as a singer-songwriter, composer and arranger, culminating in a wide range of creations. In Los Angeles, Stacey composes for film and TV and does session vocal work. Throughout, she has taught and mentored a diversity of talent, and continues to teach with empathy and skill. Stacey specializes in vocal techniques and improvisation at all professional levels, music theory, stage performance, and piano in the beginner and intermediate range to all age groups.
Special Note for Vocal Instruction: Due to warm-up and amount of information covered, minimum lesson time is 45 minutes.
Liana - Piano & Voice Instructor
Ms. Liana is a Gundo resident who has been surrounded by music her entire life. Having started choir and piano at age 6, she began diving into different music ensembles in high school including marching band, color guard, choir, and symphonic string. Through the string program, she helped elementary students as a section leader in beginner strings after school. She continued her music journey and received an A.A. at El Camino College. During that time she interned at South Bay Children's Choir under Diane Simons and helped developing voices. After El Camino, she transferred to Cal State University of Long Beach where she received a Bachelor of Music in Performance with an emphasis in Opera. Discovering a passion for music and the arts, she has years of experience in ballet, acting, band, symphony, choir, solo singing, color guard, and a season with DCI through Gold Drum Corps. Her primary focus, however, is opera and musical theater. She has played roles including Marsinah from Kismet and Euridice from Orpheus in the Underworld along with scenes as Cunegonde from Candide and Adele from Die Fledermaus. She has won several scholarships and competitions through solo voice. Her notable achievements include singing at Carnegie Hall, singing with Music Academy of the West, and receiving the Daily Breeze Making a Difference Award.
Liana teaches beginning to advanced lessons to students of all ages.
Special Note for Vocal Instruction: Due to warm-up and amount of information covered, minimum lesson time is 45 minutes.
Andrea - Voice & Piano Instructor
Ms. Andrea is a pianist and vocalist from Lindon, Utah. She completed her Master’s degree in Music at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music (USC). She currently works as an accompanist and private vocal coach at USC and in the Los Angeles area. She recently performed as Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Hawai’i Performing Arts Festival as the only soprano or mezzo Encrantz Professional Fellow in 2023. This last year, she also performed as the lead in two of USC opera’s most recent shows: Cherubin in Cherubin by Massenet and Simone in La passione de Simone by Kaja Saariajo. Andrea previously performed the roles of Mimi in La Boheme and Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica, both by Giacomo Puccini, at the Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival in Caltagirone, Sicily where she studied for a summer with tenor Gioacchino LiVigni. Church also performed Handel's Messiah and multiple concerts with Utah Opera and the Utah Symphony. Andrea earned a Bachelor’s of Music in Voice with a certificate in Collaborative Piano at Utah Valley University (UVU), simultaneously taking Music Education and conducting courses and working in Special Needs Facilities as a caregiver. At UVU, she performed the roles of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II, Violetta in La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti. Andrea has studied piano since age six, but took interest in voice during high school while she continued being involved in piano, organ, theater shows, concerts, and competitions. She was a collaborative pianist and vocal TA for Utah Vocal Arts Academy, as well as a collaborative artist with Utah Lyric Opera, Cedar City Heritage Theater, and The Shakespeare Festival. She served as a missionary in England, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria and continues studying and speaking German, Italian, French, and Russian. In her free time, Andrea enjoys reading, hiking, spirituality, and good company. She absolutely loves new compositions and making all genres of music palatable for present day audiences. She strives to bring passion and accessibility to music lessons for everyone. Andrea teaches beginning to advanced piano and vocal to students of all ages.
Special Note for Vocal Instruction: Due to warm-up and amount of information covered, minimum lesson time is 45 minutes.
Kiana - Violin & Piano Instructor
Ms. Kiana is a Junior at Cal State Long Beach, majoring in Violin Performance. She is a graduate of the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA), where she has served as both Concertmaster and Second Violin Principal of the OCSA Symphony Orchestra. Kiana has been studying the violin for 17 years and currently studies under Moni Simeonov. She formerly studied under Gail Gerding Mellert and Hiroki Kajita. Kiana has won several competitions including Satori, SYMF, and VOCE. She has also performed in various musicals and youth orchestras, such as All State, All Southern, Asia America Youth Symphony, and JCM Chamber Group. Kiana teaches beginning to advanced violin as well as beginning to intermediate piano to students of all ages.
Noriko - Piano Instructor
Ms. Noriko was born and raised in Japan where she started her musical journey. Beginning with private piano lessons at the age of five, Noriko also studied the clarinet as an elementary school student and played in an award-winning woodwind ensemble at her school. She also studied voice in high school and worked as a staff member for orchestra and opera programs in Japan. After coming to the U.S., Noriko studied piano performance at Irvine Valley College under the tutelage of well-known pianists Dr. Anna Gliadkovskaya, Dr. Kirill Gliakovsky, Dr. Susan Boettger and Dr. Svetlana Smolina. She later joined the Philadelphia International Music Festival and conducted master classes and recitals. Noriko has been teaching piano for over 8 years and teaches beginning to advanced piano to students of all ages.
Jasmine - Violin & Piano Instructor
Ms. Jasmine is a professional violinist and music teacher/coach based in Orange County. She received her Bachelor’s in Music Performance at the Bob Cole Conservatory in California State University, Long Beach in 2014, where she studied with Linda Rose. She also studied with Elizabeth Baker, past director of the Taos Music School and LA Phil First Violinist. She currently receives coaching from Stacy Wetzel, a first violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Jasmine performed as a soloist in the Glendale Youth Orchestra in 2010, in the Bob Cole Conservatory Showcase Concert in 2014, and in various recitals, operas, musicals, and concerts. She has also played for a group of 20,000 people at the Urbana Missions Conference in 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri. She enjoys being a chamber/orchestra musician and is part of the American Youth Symphony based in UCLA, and the La Mirada Symphony Orchestra. Jasmine is also an MTAC-certified music teacher for beginner piano and violin and a strings coach for Laguna Hills High School, Millikan High School, and Hughes Middle School. Currently in her 9th year of teaching, she enjoys teaches students of all ages around Los Angeles and Orange County.
Derik - Piano Instructor
Raised in an Armenian family with a pianist as a mother, Derik always heard music of Beethoven and Chopin resonating throughout the home when she would practice. Despite her encouragement to begin studying the piano, Derik was initially more drawn to guitar at that young age. It wasn’t until he was fourteen that he decided to begin classical study of the piano with his mother’s first teacher, Ms. Magda Markarians. At the age of seventeen, he continued his studies with Dr. Peter Green at Glendale College where he performed in various solo, collaborative, and chamber settings. While there he became the school’s first ever recipient of the Ella Fitzgerald Scholarship, among others, for his performance of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in F Major, Op.10 No. 2. For the past five years, Derik has been studying under the guidance of pianist-composer Craig Richey at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, where he is a Cole Scholar. Since then, he has been active as a soloist, collaborative, and chamber musician, notably premiering Dia do Mar, the new song set of composer and friend Andre Serra. He has been a prize recipient in the CAPMT Piano Concerto Competition, and recently won the 2023 Bob Cole Conservatory Concerto Competition, for which he will perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat, Op.10 with orchestra at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Fall 2024. Derik has been teaching students of all ages for over 7 years and teaches beginner to advanced students at Music On Main.
Gabe - Saxophone, Clarinet , Flute & Oboe Instructor
Mr. Gabe is a Los Angeles based saxophonist and woodwind doubler known for his versatility across all styles of music. Gabe first picked up the clarinet at the age of ten in school band, and later shifted his focus to jazz saxophone in high school where he discovered the music of Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, and John Coltrane. While attending Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Gabe performed as part of the SCSBOA ambassador band, performed as a guest with the Tom Kubis Big Band, and gigged around L.A. at venues including the Red Leprechaun and the Industry Café with his own jazz quartet. After high school, Gabe continued his studies at the University of North Texas where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in jazz studies. At UNT, Gabe studied with legendary saxophonist and educator Brad Leali, and played in the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band where he collaborated with artists such as Chris Potter, Miguel Zenon, and Allison Miller. Gabe can be heard playing alto saxophone and clarinet on their most recent album, Lab 2023. After graduating, Gabe moved back to Los Angeles where he currently teaches at various middle schools and works as a freelance woodwind artist. Gabe is passionate about practice, as well as about teaching and performing. He teaches beginning to advanced saxophone, clarinet and flute.
**We are always looking for talented and experienced music teachers to join our awesome staff. If you are interested in teaching at Music On Main or would like to be considered for our substitute teacher roster, please submit your resume for consideration via email (no phone calls or walk-ins, please).
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