Faculty Biographies
JoAnn Black
Ms. Black, Accompanist for Aria and Cantabile Choirs of NCYC, earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Ms. Black is the staff accompanist for the Harand Camp of the Theater Arts at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI each summer, and is a frequent accompanist for instrumentalists, vocalists, churches and school musicals in the Chicagoland area. When not accompanying, Ms. Black works as Research and Development Coordinator at Universal Oil Products in Des Plaines.
Alex Boccia
Mr. Boccia, Guitar Instructor, started studying music at the age of 4 on the cello. After 5 years of cello lessons he would soon pick up the guitar at the age of 11 in 1997. His studies on the guitar would lead him to learn, in depth, the styles of Rock, Blues/Slide, Metal, Progressive, Country, Classical, Jazz, & World Music. Writing, recording, and performing music has always been his passion. He has played many various venues in the Chicago land area such as the Double Door, Congress Theater, and the Clearwater Theater, and recorded various demo CDs with different music groups. He has studied with renowned guitar greats such as Tom Hess, Jody Fisher, & David Jacobs-Strain. While Mr. Boccia is most prominent on the guitar, he also has a great deal of skill in playing bass guitar, mandolin, harmonica, and percussion. In 2005 he received his Luthier’s certificate at John Marshall’s Luthiers International. Soon after he attended Harper Community College (Palatine, IL) where he studied music theory and aural skills. Mr. Boccia continues to educate himself on subjects such as orchestration, recording engineering and composition.
Michelle Hackman
Ms. Hackman (soprano), Private Voice Instructor, received her BA and MA in vocal performance from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. She studied voice with Maria Lagios and Frances Crawford. Ms. Hackman is an experienced vocal instructor and has taught voice lessons at a number of places including the Cary-Grove Performing Arts Center, McHenry County Music Center, and Schaumburg Academy of Music. She has a strong and eclectic musical background and her teaching skills are geared towards the individual and his/her goals for their own singing. She enjoys working with a broad range of people in all age groups and is able to forge harmonious interpersonal relationships while focusing in on each person’s musical needs in technical and performance areas.
Kristen Inion
Mrs. Inion, Early Childhood Music Instructor, graduated from the Moody Bible Institute and North Park University where she studied music and teaching and toured internationally with the Moody Chorale. Mrs. Inion has had four years experience teaching Kindergarten and second grade before having her own children, Charlie and Liza. She and her husband Byron live in Crystal Lake.
Cynara Pierzina
Mrs. Pierzina, Founder and Executive Director of NCMA and Private Flute Instructor, earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Augustana College and her
Master’s Degree from DePaul University, both in Flute Performance. She is a frequent freelance flutist and
teaches private flute instruction. She has a background in arts administration, including
Assistant Director of DePaul University’s Community Music School and Director of Admission and Programs / Interim
Executive Director at Sherwood Conservatory of Music.
Robin Snodgrass Restrepo
Mrs. Restrepo, Early Childhood Music Instructor, started her music training at the age of 3 with Suzuki Violin. Her love of music and children combined when she started teaching Kindermusik 15 years ago in Norfolk, Virginia. She then added Music Together as a registered Music Together instructor and center director. For the past nine years, she has taught music to the children at Children’s Gate Montessori and maintained a large private Suzuki violin studio. Currently she teaches music for the lower elementary students at Crystal Lake Montessori as well as Children’s Gate Montessori. She enjoys playing bells at First Congregational Church as well as directing two youth bell choirs, two singing choirs and two early childhood music classes. In her free time, she focuses on her family. Her husband Gil, son Will and daughter Ellie are her greatest joy and blessings! She is excited to be invited into this amazing program and looking forward to a journey filled with love of music for life!
Kimberly Scherrer
Mrs. Scherrer, Director of Di Canto Choir, earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in Music Education and her Master’s Degree from VanderCook College of Music in Choral Music Education. Mrs. Scherrer is a native of Crystal Lake. After teaching elementary music for a year in Indian Prairie District 204, she accepted the choral music position at Crystal Lake Central High School. She enjoyed five years of Choir, Madrigals, Musicals and Swing Choir, where she built the choral program to 325 students. Ms. Scherrer managed and taught a private voice and piano studio for three years while raising her family. She currently serves as Director of Music at Resurrection Catholic Church in Woodstock, where she accompanies two of the services and conducts both the children and adult choirs.
Karen Snodgrass
Ms. Snodgrass, Director of Bella Voce Choir, has had a long career as a music educator. She attended Northwestern University as a voice major and graduated from Carthage College with a BA in music education. She studied voice with Hermanus Baer, Norman Gulbrandsen, and Eleanor Gardner and has sung under Margaret Hillis with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Thomas Wikman with the Elgin Choral Union. Her love of children and teaching has taken her down many paths including studying and teaching Suzuki violin, Kindermusik, and handbell ringing. She developed a graded bell choir program at First Congregational Church and was elected Midwest (Area VIII) Chairperson for the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers serving on the national board for six years. Karen has directed children’s choirs in churches and public school settings for over 25 years. She most recently retired from Crystal Lake School District #47 and is currently teaching part-time at Indian Prairie School.
Steve Szalaj
Mr. Szalaj, Private Voice Instructor, recently retired as vocal music instructor at Richard Bernotas Middle School in Crystal Lake, IL, where he had been teaching since 1980. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Millikin University in Decatur, IL and a Master’s Degree in Music/Choral Conducting from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Mr. Szalaj has completed extensive course work beyond the master’s degree, particularly in vocal pedagogy/physiology and educational methods. Mr. Szalaj has taught voice from beginning through advanced levels, and is an adjunct instructor of voice and electronic music processing at McHenry County College. He directs the MCC chorus and is founder and conductor of Voices in Harmony.
Sherry Taliaferro
Ms. Taliaferro, Private Piano Instructor, began studying piano at age 8. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from The University of Iowa, graduating magnum cum laude. Ms. Taliaferro has 25 years teaching experience and has accompanied for various soloists, college choirs, churches, and music festivals in Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois. Currently she accompanies for schools in District 47 and District 155.
Beverly Taylor
Mrs. Taylor, Accompanist for Bella Voce and Di Canto Choir of NCYC, is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and maintains a private piano studio in Crystal Lake. She earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Applied Piano from West Virginia University. Mrs. Taylor is an active member of the Northwest Suburban Music Teachers Association, the Fox Hills Music Teachers Association, the Illinois State Music Teachers Association, and Music Teachers National Association. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Taylor is a frequent adjudicator of student performance events. She also serves as an accompanist and member of the pit orchestra for Christian Youth Theater.
Ann Tucker
Mrs. Tucker, Founder and Artistic Director of Northwest Community Music Academy (NCMA), has taught in the area for
over fifteen years, and grew up in Crystal Lake. She directs the Aria and Cantabile Choirs of the
Northwest Community Youth Choir and is one of the proud Founders of NCMA. Mrs. Tucker earned both her Bachelor’s
and Master’s degrees in Music Education from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. In addition to her
work with NCMA, Mrs. Tucker is the Director of Music at First Congregational Church in Crystal Lake, where she
directs four choirs including youth and adults.
