Meet Our Adult Education Instructors!
Michael Anthony is a musician’s musician. Throughout the sixties and seventies, Michael Anthony built his reputation and his chops as a professional studio musician in Los Angeles and was a second generation member of the famed "Wrecking Crew". Michael has recorded and performed with: Tony Bennett, Nelson Riddle, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mandel, The Beach Boys, Peggy Lee, Diana Ross (Do You Know Where You're Going To, Theme From Mahogany), Barbara Streisand and the LA Philharmonic under Zuben Meta. Today, Michael Anthony applies his talent and his experience as a musician in the realm of education, teaching guitar workshops and master classes on both the secondary and university levels.
Guitarist John Maestas is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He primarily studied with guitarist Michael Anthony in New Mexico, and later studied Jazz at the Chicago College of Performing Arts and Berklee College of Music. Primarily a guitarist, he started his career first as a sideman to many inspiring contemporary young artists performing their original music, while also accompanying and learning from New Orleans legacy artists that keep the traditions of their city’s music alive and thriving. As a music producer he has worked in the studio writing, recording & performing songs for other artists and for his own band, Juan Tigre. He has had the pleasure of sharing the stage and studio with many inspiring artists in his career including Christian Atude Adjuah Scott, Elzhi, Pell, Bernard Purdie, Nesby Phips, Nicholas Payton, Jason Marsalis, Jamison Ross, Fiend, Doug Lawrence, Ellis Marsalis, Jon “Papa” Gros, Michael Anthony & many other friends and mentors.
Singer, songwriter and recording artist Zenobia began her singing career in her church choir in Los Angeles where she taught herself to play the piano at 5 years old and wrote her first song at 8. At 18, she debuted in the LA company of the rock musical, HAIR, then was sent to New York to join the original Broadway company. Zenobia was a studio singer on sessions and live gigs. Her CD, “Resurrection" was voted "Best of the Year" 2015 and "Glory" 2014 Best Gospel Song by New Mexico Music Awards.
John Sandlin has a Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance from the University of New Mexico, has been performing “mangy, filthy jazz” in the acclaimed Albuquerque band Le Chat Lunatique for 20 years, and has taught hundreds of guitar students along the way.
Award-winning educator Frank Leto is a master of Brazilian percussion, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and the lively steel drums of Trinidad. As the driving force behind his band PANdemonium, Frank performs vocals, steel drums, and percussion, weaving together an irresistible blend of reggae, ska, soca, calypso, samba, salsa, and zouk. His original compositions create a colorful, high-energy sound that’s all his own. https://www.frankleto.com/
Micky Patten has a degree in music from the University of Minnesota and did graduate work in Jazz Studies at Oakland University. He is a working bassist and was owner of Grandma’s Music and Sound for over thirty years.
Patty Stephens teaches voice from her private studio as well as being a faculty member at NMJW. She teaches music classes to pre-schoolers and has developed a wonderful program of community music-making for families with infants and toddlers. Patty is lead singer in Bert Dalton’s award winning band, “The Brazil Project”.
Trumpeter Henry Estrada was band director at Los Lunas High School for over 30 years and is a member of the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra. He was named Outstanding Music Educator by the National Federation of State High School Music Educators Association and was inducted into the New Mexico Music Educators Association Hall of Fame.
Ricardo Carrido has studied Latin percussion and conga as a student of his father, Romeo Carrido, as well as Afro-Cuban traditional music from the age of three. Ricky was very fortunate to take his studies to another level learning with a lot of master drummers from Cuba. He maintains a private teaching studio and performs regularly with such groups as Nosotros, Son Como Son, and Calle 66.
Robb Janov, multistyles violinist, educator, composer and actor, is the creator of the national award-winning “Rock and Rhythm” program, which emboldens and inspires underserved public school students through innovative music education. The 25-year program’s success, featured on the PBS Newshour, Colores, and local newscasts, has served as a model for other music programs throughout the country. Robb mesmerizes live audiences with electric violin and vocal ‘live-looping’ performances and joyful grooves. His background includes performances with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Indiana University’s orchestras.
Diane Richardson holds a DMA from USC, an MM from the Boston Conservatory, and a BM from Berklee College of Music. Her recordings and performances include A Tribute to Abbey Lincoln; Berklee Sun Ra Arkestra; SingusMingus: A Jazz Lieder Program, The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington, and African American Spirituals and Arts Songs. Diane Richardson is recently retired from her position of Assistant Chair/Professor, Voice Department, at Berklee College of Music.