New Faculty at MacPhail
The dedicated artists at MacPhail teach, write, record, and perform just about every style of music there is. Lessons are available for 35 instruments and voice, composition, songwriting, electronic music, and the recording arts. MacPhail center for Music offers lessons online or in-person at one of our five locations. Meet some of our newest teaching artists!
Questions? Please call 612.321.0100 or email [email protected]
Meet Our Newest Teaching Artists
Jean del Santo
Lyric soprano Jean del Santo has distinguished herself nationally on both the concert and operatic stage. Critics have noted her outstanding vocal and dramatic qualities in reviews stating “She has a voice that is rich, resonant, true, pleasing and effortless in its projection-the kind of voice that sounds as if there is no end to it”, “ Jean del Santo has the vocal and emotional range to transcend the printed page and deliver a superb performance”. She has performed as soloist with the late Maestro Robert Shaw in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center in Washington DC), Verdi Requiem (San Francisco Festival of Masses), and Britten’s War Requiem which was aired on Nebraska Public Television. As soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Perform America, Ms. del Santo sang a two week concert tour in the country of Spain and was soprano soloist in Verdi Requiem with Varna International Music Festival during a two-week tour of Italy. Ms. del Santo also appeared with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional in Mexico City as soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor.
Jimmy Finch
Jimmy Finch is a Minneapolis based teacher and performer. He loves working with students of all ages and skill levels helping them build confidence in themselves through music!
Born in Lansing, Michigan, Jimmy has performed across the US and in Italy in Opera, Musical Theatre, and Oratorio. He made his professional operatic debut in 2009 in “Carmen” with Opera Southwest, and his New York City debut in 2018 singing the tenor solos in Mozart’s “Requiem”. Most recently he was on the road for the 2023 holiday season with Lorie Line performing a 30 city concert tour.
Riley Helgeson
Riley Helgeson is a freelance trumpet player and composer based in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, MN.
Helgeson has toured North America and Europe with Sonny Knight and the Lakers, Friendly Fires (UK), and his own project, McNasty Brass Band. He has also performed on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” with Minneapolis-based McNasty Brass Band. His performances have been broadcast on MPR, The Current, and “The Lowertown Line” at Twin Cities PBS.
He serves on the jazz faculty of Shell Lake Arts Center, WI, and maintains a private trumpet studio in the Twin Cities, MN.
Lara Hicks
Lara Hicks is a dedicated violin instructor and performer, teaching at MacPhail’s Minneapolis and Chanhassen locations. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music and German at the University of Redlands in California and her Master of Music in String Pedagogy from the University of Texas at Austin under the tutelage of Vincent Fritelli and was advised by renowned string pedagogue Phyllis Young.
Lara is an accomplished teacher. She coached and instructed at the United States Military Academy at West Point and was the director of the Music Skills Classes and Pre-School Suzuki Program for the University of Texas String Project, all while continuing her own private studio. Lara’s teaching experience also includes Austin Lyric Opera School, Austin Chamber Music Center, and Suzuki on the Island in both private and group instruction capacities.
Sten Johnson
Sten Johnson has been teaching beginning and advanced students since 2006. Tailoring his teaching to each student’s goals with a variety of methods and repertoire, Sten believes learning an instrument is best when we enjoy the sounds we make and works to help each student unlock their potential for self-expression through music.
As a performer, Sten has toured North America and Europe with groups such as Youngblood Brass Band, McNasty Brass Band, Shaun Johnson Big Band Experience, and has performed with Latin music legends Maelo Ruiz and Manolito Simonet. He maintains a busy schedule performing in the Twin Cities as a freelancer as well as with his own groups and continues to write and arrange and write music in multiple genres.
Erin Livingston
Erin has a passion for teaching students of all abilities from beginner to seasoned professional. Her education and experience as a musician are enhanced by her years spent raising and advocating for a special needs child. Erin is able to connect, encourage, and teach students in a fun and inclusive environment. Her voice studio is an open, accepting space for exploration and expansion.
Erin loves to teach the art of singing and vocal production as well as ear training, music reading, improvisation and writing for cabaret, stage presence, audition skills and managing stage fright and performance anxiety. Erin’s lessons are primarily student-led with the option of utilizing an array of traditional techniques and alternative methods including breath work, yoga, EFT tapping, Reiki, theater games and more. Erin leaves no stone unturned to help her students reach within and access their deepest creative selves.
Samantha Martinez-Brockus
Samantha Martinez-Brockhus holds a real passion for piano and for teaching music. She is a recipient of the Carol Nott Pedagogy Prize in 2016 from the Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she minored in pedagogy. Later, at the University of Oklahoma, she received a double Masters in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. She served as the Applied Piano Teaching Assistant for non-major applied lessons as well as for both music major and non-major class piano instruction at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Additionally, Samantha was awarded the Applied Piano Teaching Assistantship to both individual private undergraduate music lessons as well as instruction for non-major class piano for all college students at the University of Minnesota. Past students of hers have participated in MTNA’s Fall Festivals where they have received superior and superior plus ratings, as well as performed in an Honors Recital in Oklahoma. Currently faculty of the MacPhail Center for Music as a piano teaching artist, Samantha is excited to teach students of all ages.
Emily Rudquist
A native to Minnesota, Emily Rudquist, is a dedicated piano teacher that individualizes her instruction to the learning style of each student. Her curriculum is based on the belief that music learning is a dynamic experience. Students can expect to the learn the foundations of piano playing through engaging activities that allow students to discover and create music with their whole selves.
Emily has devoted her education to the art of teaching piano. She holds a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor’s Degree from Gustavus Adolphus College. In 2022, she completed a one-year fellowship teacher training at The New School of Music Study in Kingston, New Jersey. In addition, she is currently being trained in the Dalcroze method. Emily is a member of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association), MMTA (Minnesota Music Teachers Association), and is a NCTM (Nationally Certified Teacher of Music).