Mark Weisman

Mark Weisman’s career as a pianist, musician, conductor and educator spans more than the past 20 years. After graduating New York University with a BA in Music Education and Musicology, Mark has never stopped his passion for learning. He has studied continuously with the most respected people in the music profession such as Miriam Brickman (classical concert pianist), Sanford Gold (former pianist of the NBC orchestra), Janice Friedman (jazz pianist), Dena DeRose (singer, jazz pianist, conductor), Dave Frank (jazz pianist & professor, Berklee School of Music) and Celeste Simone (Broadway Theater Coach).

Performance credits include solo piano engagements at various venues throughout the tri-state area including the Marriot Marquis Hotel (NYC), the “W” Hotel, the Water Club, Valentino’s Piano Bar (Morristown, NJ) and the Madison Hotel (NJ) in addition to performing with some of the top rated wedding bands in the state. He also currently plays as the house pianist at the http://thegraycliff.com in Moonachie, NJ, an upscale wedding venue. Additional credits as musical director and conductor include local community and High School theater productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Once upon a Mattress, Pippin, Beauty and the Beast, Sound of Music, Fame and most recently Footloose at Dunellen High School.

As founder and director of The Piano Workshop at Chester, who along with his faculty of 14 teachers specializing in private instruction to over 250 students in the area, Mark has maintained his standing with the Music Educators Association of NJ and serves as an adjudicator for their piano auditions at William Patterson University. His most recent project is the Musiq Club program which offers group piano classes in an enriched after school program environment using state of the art computer lab technology.

Angela Dench is a music teacher currently working in Plainfield Public Schools as a general music, choir/voice, and instrumental music instructor. She has also worked with students in Orange Public Schools as a general music/vocal music instructor and in Hopatcong Public Schools as an instrumental music instructor. She graduated from William Paterson University with a Bachelor’s in Music Education completing a concentration in clarinet performance and a minor in piano. While in William Paterson college she sat as the principal clarinet and concertmaster in the concert band from 2014-2015. She also was principal clarinet of the WPU Orchestra, playing famous clarinet solos in her repertoire such as Capriccio Espagnole and Danzon No. 2. Angela also holds an Associates of the Arts from County College of Morris with a major of Music Liberal Arts. During her time at County College of Morris, she also sat as principal clarinet and concertmaster for 2011-2013. She has worked with numerous pit orchestras over the last eight years, playing shows like CATS, Annie, Sweeney Todd, Legally Blonde, The Sound of Music, and Les Miserables for high schools and colleges around the area. She has also had the privilege of singing with the Harmonium Choral Society under the direction of Dr. Anne Matlack and the New Jersey Cathedral Choir during their annual presentation of The Messiah several times. She has previously accompanied services at First Baptist Church of Dover. Angela has worked with students all over the state of New Jersey from ages Pre-Kindergarten through adult and greatly enjoys working with all age groups.

Ben Schroeder can be described truly as a lover of music. Composing choral works since he was in high school his pieces have been performed by a number of choirs throughout New Jersey. He received his BA in Music in addition to a BA in Physics from the University of Rochester in 2003.
His talent as a pianist and composer are complimented very nicely by his rich Bass voice.

A member of the famed Harmonium Choral Society since 2004, he is currently their Bass II Section Leader. He was also the Bass Section Leader and Soloist for the PeaPack Reformed Church in Gladstone, NJ from 2003-2007. Currently Ben is the Music Director for Abiding Peace Lutheran Church in Budd Lake, NJ.

As a Music Teacher, Ben shares his passion for music with all those that want to learn. His skills as a musician are equally matched by his patience as an instructor.
Ben Schroeder’s professional career travels have enabled him to share his musical gifts with audiences and students across the globe. This is a privilege he plans to continue for many years to come.

Originally hailing from upstate New York, Gregg Welcher began taking piano lessons at age 9, and it has profoundly affected the course of his life. As a teacher, Gregg seeks to bring the same experience to each of his students, by fostering not only a love for music, but also an appreciation and understanding of music that can last a lifetime.

With an extensive background of Classical training in performance, composition, and theory, he hopes to provide every student with a strong base of musical knowledge, but one that can be built on flexibly, in the direction of each student’s personal interests. He also feels it is extremely important for any new student to be exposed to a variety of styles and genres on the instrument, with a comfortable and efficient technique always at the forefront. Gregg is a strong proponent of utilizing the Taubman approach to build such a technique in his students.

He received his M.M. in Composition from Rutgers University, where he studied with Dr. Steven Kemper and Dr. Scott Ordway. He received his B.M. in Composition and Piano from SUNY Purchase, where he studied Composition with Laura Kaminsky and Huang Ruo, and studied Piano with Paul Ostrovsky as well as John Spradling.

As a performer, Gregg has received top awards in numerous piano competitions, including the Heddy Killian Competition for Piano and Voice, the CYNAMT Piano Competition, and the OCSO Concerto Competition. He is a frequent collaborator in chamber music and vocal performance, and a fervent advocate for new music, regularly programming his own works as well as the music of other contemporary composers. He also believes it is important to include more neglected works of past composers alongside the standard repertoire. Since 2013, he has given world premieres to over two dozen new works of music.

As a composer, he has been twice-involved with the Seal Bay Festival, the first-ever Mostly Modern Festival, the soundSCAPE Festival, as well as the Brevard Music Festival. In his music, Gregg is driven by the desire to connect the diverse techniques and language of modern art music with the urge for direct expression and communication. He is affiliated with BMI.

During the late 1970’s, my parents were on a retreat, and happened to see a girl sitting under a tree, playing the flute.  My parents loved it and decided I was going to play, and thus began my musical journey.  I began taking flute lessons in the 3rd grade.  My first teacher, Rachel, was kind, supportive, encouraging and patient.  Of all the teaching styles of all my subsequent teachers, hers was the most influential on my own teaching style.

I began giving flute lessons in my home in 2003, when my 3 children were little.  Before long, word got around and soon several neighborhood kids would come to my house on Saturdays for flute, piano and guitar lessons.  They often turned into day long play dates, culminating in front yard concerts and elaborate musical skits.  Those are some of my favorite memories of my kids’ childhood!

In 2005, my substitute teaching job as a Musicianship teacher at a homeschool co op in Blairstown became permanent.  Over the years I have taught pre-k through 3rd grade musicianship and recorder, beginning band, various ensembles, as well as private and group lessons in piano, flute, guitar and ukulele.  We perform annual concerts in both winter and spring, and it brings such joy to see the students’ excitement as they and their families enjoy the results of their hard work.

In 2008, I began teaching at Valley Music Center in Long Valley.  My students have ranged in ages from 4 to 64, and over the years I have had the privilege of working with dozens of amazing students and their families.  We have enjoyed both outdoor and indoor recitals, and I have been delighted to attend some of my students’ school performances, as well as special events like open mic and coffee houses.

In 2017 I began teaching at a second homeschool co op in Hackettstown.  In addition to flute, piano, guitar and ukulele, some of the younger kids wanted to learn drums, which I had not taught before.  We decided to go for it, and had a lot of fun forming our own “drum circle” class with hand drums.  The kids learned basic rhythms and counting, and our year-end performance was a rousing rendition of “Ram Sam Sam”.

Throughout the years, I have had the pleasure of playing flute with both the CCM and Lafayette Federated Church orchestras.  Playing with the handbell choir at LFC, along with playing solo, with the praise band, and leading the flute quartet, have been rich and rewarding experiences.  I’ve enjoyed playing at weddings, holiday parties, fundraisers and galas, with some of the most talented musicians.

When our world was thrown off kilter in March of this year, everyone in all walks of life scrambled to learn new modalities of working, of teaching and learning.  My students and their families, in both co ops and at VMC showed their true colors of adaptability and improvisation.  With patience and flexibility, we’ve worked together and really overcome in amazingly creative ways.  I’m amazed and proud of how everyone has forged ahead with new pathways and innovative ways of teaching, learning, enjoying and sharing music!  

I am thrilled and honored to be joining the teaching staff and wonderful musical community at Piano Workshop of Chester, and look forward to meeting and working with many new students and their families, guiding and helping them enjoy and grow along their musical journey!

Dorian Morales started taking piano lessons at age 7 and ever since, his life has been shaped by music. By an early age, composition became his passion. Dorian began enrolling in contests at the age of 16, and performed in recitals at Carnegie Hall. He also was the winner of the televised event “The New Jersey Hispanic Youth Showcase” at NJPAC.

Dorian earned his degree in music at Hofstra University, where he began scoring music for documentaries, movies, radio and television. His clients include MTV, PBS, Z100 radio station, Moviefone.com, chapter 4 Entertainment, NYU Film School, etc… Dorian won an Emmy for his work on the PBS documentary “Su Salud Primero”. Dorian has performed at Carnegie Hall, NJPAC theater, on television and continues to play on an ongoing basis at wedding venues and nightclubs and performs regularly with his Latin Jazz Band. He also released a CD of cocktail music and is working on his next album of World music.

Dorian brings passion, motivation, fun and life into his private lessons. In addition to piano lessons, Dorian coaches students in GarageBand, Megamix software and Pro-Logic for more serious minded musicians who need to learn how to make loops, backing tracks and instrumentation for “radio and cd ready” production.

Christina has had a love for music since she was a child. She began singing at a young age and was involved in many musical theatre productions and choral ensembles throughout her school years. After graduating high school she studied musical theater at AMDA Conservatory in New York City where she learned from, and worked side by side with, Broadway and other industry professionals. After completing the two year intensive program she received her certificate in Integrated Performing Arts. While auditioning for Broadway and regional productions, Christina went on to study Music Education at Montclair State University. At MSU Christina had the privilege of working with and being coached by professionals such as Heather Buchanan, Karen Driscoll, Mary Pinto and Jeffery Gall, all of which have made their mark and continue to inspire in the choral and opera world. During the pursuit of her B.A in Music Education she has performed in various ensembles at MSU, being a featured soloist in performances and performing in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall. It was here that she really began to develop her passion for singing and studying opera. She is passionate about studying all styles of music and loves to explore these styles in her own singing. Christina fosters a welcoming and fun learning environment for music and her joy of singing comes through in teaching, inspiring, and sharing music with others.

Jean Cheng started taking classical piano lessons at the age of 5 in Taiwan and hasn’t stopped playing since. After immigrating to the United States she went to Rutgers University and earned a B.A. degree in economics, but playing piano – especially classical music – has remained a constant thread in her life.

After settling in Michigan in 1987, Jean started giving classical piano lessons privately. While working with young students she decided to further strengthen her teaching ability and enrolled in Piano Pedagogy at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, MI, concentrating in classical music. The college sponsored her trip one summer to St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, where she attended the Piano Teaching Workshop and other cultural events to further enhance her piano teaching skills.

Upon completing her study of Piano Pedagogy, Jean relocated to Brussels, Belgium, and continued to teach at the International School as well as giving private lessons while spending most of her time learning French. She moved to Randolph, NJ in 2005.

Jean has accumulated more than 15 years of experience teaching piano. She especially enjoys holding recitals for her piano students, to help encourage and motivate them to practice and to provide valuable performance opportunities. She specializes in teaching beginning to intermediate levels, and is looking forward to teaching your future pianist.

Jean also participates in our partnership program with the Morris County Arts Workshop in their after school program at the Bragg and Dickerson schools in Chester. They have a number of young piano students who study with and adore Jean. In addition to her piano teaching schedule, Jean also manages to find time to teach Chinese and Tai Chi.

Mr. Jeremy Sweet, a Piano Performance graduate from Moravian College, has performed extensively as an accomplished classical and jazz pianist. Spending much of his time in Philadelphia, as a performer he has taken the role of a sideman, accompanist, and as a leader of his own jazz trio. His career has granted him the opportunity of performing at a number of prestigious venues such as the Kimmel Center, The Philadelphia Museum, The Barnes Museum, and The Curtis Center to name a few.

He has also acquired a wealth of experience as a private tutor by teaching a wide variety of students for over fifteen years.

Mr. Sweet’s professional experience as an instructor began in 2003 at Sacred Heart School in Princeton, New Jersey, and has continued through private tutoring until the present. Mr. Sweet’s teaching style involves educating the student on the fundamentals of playing the instrument and reading as a foundation, but also on the importance of understanding music theory, form, and structure. This is applied through the encouragement of student composition as well as the study of current music.

Mr. Sweet believes that the study of music improves one’s critical thinking skills and also provides a means of meditation. Through guidance that is tailored to each student’s unique abilities, learning style, and interests, Mr. Sweet achieves his primary focus, which is to establish a solid foundation from which a student can reach his/her full potential.

Ann Majewski was born in Jersey City and began piano lessons at age 7. She studied weekly with Eva Kobren until she enrolled at JCSC or now known as NJCU. She has raised three wonderful children. Mark and Laura are college graduates, and Peter is attending Rutgers in New Brunswick. Ann has devoted her free-time to helping children learn to read music and develop a good habit of practice at the piano. She teaches students of various ages and tries to build a great rapport with them. She is patient and demonstrates how to overcome technical issues at the keyboard. Ann Majewski also accompanies the choir at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Flanders. A good portion of her time is dedicated to playing the keyboard for masses, funerals, weddings, and other church functions. She substitutes as a cantor leading the congregation in song when needed. She is involved with VBS and CCD.

Mrs. Majewski has also taken private lessons with Amy Obra for voice and Andy Wasserman for piano. She hopes to continue her journey of passing on the joy of music to others.

Dan was born and raised in central New Jersey, and began his musical journey at age 7 on the piano, where he took lessons for many years. These laid down a solid foundation for him as he moved on to study electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums among others. As he started to play in different rock bands with friends, he began to focus on the electric bass, and by age 15 was studying upright bass with esteemed classical bass player and local great Nate White. Soon after, he was accepted into the New Jersey Youth Symphony, and played with them for his last three years of high school. In the fall of 2015, Dan started attending Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers for a degree in Music Education. He studied classical bass for two years with Timothy Cobb, the current principal double bassist with the New York Philharmonic. As he began to branch out and play in different styles, he fell in love with jazz and is currently studying with renowned jazz bassist Kenneth Davis. Dan is now finishing his degree in Jazz Studies, teaching music and gigging regularly in various projects. However, his love of the piano never faded and he is excited to continue his musical journey teaching piano.

With a fascination for the instrument, Natalia started playing the piano at the age of five. She attended the Drohobych State Pedagogical University of I.Frankо in Ukraine with a double major in piano and conducting. After graduating, she was a teacher in Ukraine for four years. After, she had ventured off into the great United States to further pursue her career. To this day, Miss Hentysh has been teaching students piano for fifteen years in New Jersey. She has been residing in Chester since 2006.

Erika has spent most of her life involved in music, starting with her very first instrument, the recorder, in 2nd grade.  Music was always an important part of her childhood and studying the flute led her to realize her interest in pursuing music as a career.  Erika went on to achieve a BM in Music Therapy from Marywood University, a NJ Music Teacher Certification through the NJ alternate route program, and is currently working to complete her MA in Music Therapy at Montclair State University. 

 Upon completion of her music therapy education, Erika has had the privilege of working in a variety of unique settings as both a music therapist and a music educator over the past twenty-three years in the field, including in-patient child and adolescent psychiatry, private and public schools, an autism clinic, music studios, and private practice.  She was also the flute specialist for the Jersey City Public Schools Performing Arts High School, received several grants to create special music programming for the Jersey City Public Schools, directed music performances for the Special Olympics Project Unify rallies, acted as general music teacher for a homeschool co-op, ran Sprouting Melodies family music classes, and directed hand bell choirs, too.  Additionally, Erika completed the Raising Harmony Sprouting Melodies Training where she became an early childhood music development specialist and continued on to become the training moderator. 

 She has remained proactive in continuing to build her knowledge, skills, and abilities through various continuing education programs including digital music technology, clinical music improvisation, piano improvisation, disability studies, songwriting, music wellness, child development, music development, and parent/caregiver-child attachment.

Erika works from a strength-based, music development, and student-centered approach.  She strives to support each student in discovering their own unique relationship with music.

Aimee’s passion for music began at a very young age and has only grown as time goes on. She has been playing the violin since middle school and played in her school orchestras and string quartet. She also played with the Sussex County Youth Orchestra in Sparta, New Jersey, and is currently an adult mentor with the group. In 2016 she traveled with SCYO on a concert tour of Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany. Aimee attended New Jersey City University on a full scholarship and was a member of the Honors Program, a group with which she traveled to Germany and Peru. She graduated in 2018 with a degree in Music Education, and currently teaches music and plays with the Hunterdon Symphony Orchestra.

Salomi has been employed by the Piano Workshop for over ten years. She holds a BA in Music Therapy from Montclair State University and a Masters in Educational Leadership from the College of St. Elizabeth.  Salomi has over thirty years’ experience in teaching music private lessons.

In addition to teaching piano and voice, Salomi is the Principal of St. Andrew’s Hellenic Afternoon School and teaches Greek to preschoolers. She also tutors children and adolescents in behavioral health care at a local hospital.

Salomi enjoys working with children and adults of all ages.  Her focus is on teaching music in a student centered and developmentally appropriate manner. Her hobbies include singing with several choirs and volunteering for her church.

Sarah O'Halloren was born and raised in Northwest New Jersey, and has spent the majority of that time creating music! At the age of 8, she began taking piano lessons and continued through college. She played keyboard in her high school's award-winning marching band, danced and sang in her high school's award-winning musicals, and played in the school's wind ensemble. At the University of Delaware, where she earned her B.A. in Communication, she performed in musicals, as well as playing keyboard for the pit orchestras in the university's musicals. She also played the violin in the university's string orchestra!

Whether it's classical piano, swing dancing, musicals, hip-hop, or rock and roll, Sarah loves to be a part of anything musical! Sarah is now in her final year at Montclair State University, where she is working towards her Masters in Teaching. Sarah has a passion for teaching, music, and creating something that brings people together- just what teaching an instrument encompasses!

Overall, Sarah believes that making music should bring you happiness, and that is the true joy of learning an instrument!

Sascha Sternecker holds a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Hollins University where she also studied theatre, choral conducting, and psychology.  She is an accomplished choral singer, having performed masterworks such as the Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, and The Peaceable Kingdom, and also has extensive experience with women’s choirs, chamber choirs, and a cappella ensembles.  She has been involved with theatre from an early age– both onstage and backstage– and has worked professionally in technical theatre in New Jersey and Virginia.  Sascha’s passions in performing are operatic and classical, musical theatre, and choral music.  When not teaching or singing, she is an avid equestrian.