Tracy Stuever

Tracy Stuever, Studio Owner - harp, piano, guitar, voice, drums

Tracy started playing piano (self taught) at the age of 7.  She added on many instruments over the years, singing and playing guitar proficiently by the age of 13.  By this point in her life, she began composing songs as well.

In the fifth grade, her formal training started with the snare drum.  Her self-developed skills as a pianist aided her in class as she quickly added timpani and mallet percussion to her skill set.  From there she participated in the GMEA District Band in 8th grade, and then did so again every year until she graduated high school.  

In her senior year of high school, she attended the Governors Honors Program for percussion, made the All-State band, and was a member of the prestigious Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra.  In addition to her commitments with the school band, Tracy was a dedicated member of the High School Choir and even student taught the Women's Choir during her senior year of high school.  She performed in over ten musicals and played guitar and sang in every talent show.

In 2007, Tracy graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education.  She also received certification from the GAPSC (Georgia Professional Standards Commission).  During her time at the University, she performed in the Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, Tropical Breeze Steel Band, Georgia Brass and accompanied many other musicians in solo recitals.   She trained on over 40 different instruments during her college years!

Tracy has been teaching privately in Downtown Monroe for over 10 years now. It is her vision to fill the community with musicians who wish to share the gift of music for all to hear. She believes that music brings us together, enriches our lives and is always there to speak for us when words fail. She welcomes students of all ages and all ability levels!  

Emily Casey

Emily Casey, voice, piano, guitar, ukulele

Emily Casey began her musical career through voice lessons in elementary school. Not long after her vocal lessons began, she was encouraged to explore the piano. Emily received her first keyboard for Christmas in fourth grade, and has been hooked to it ever since! She began reading traditional sheet music, but quickly found that her passion lies with improvisation of chord sheets while singing and playing. In addition to learning an instrument, in fourth grade, Emily also began her acting career. Since elementary school, Emily has been in dozens of shows, including lots of musicals. Throughout middle school, Emily focused on playing the piano and vocal lessons. She also learned a great deal about music through experiences in musical theater. 

In high school, Emily found Stuever Studios and added ukulele and guitar to her skill set. Emily has studied voice, piano, ukulele, guitar and teaching methods under the guidance of Tracy Stuever for over three years. Throughout high school, Emily has continued to participate in theater- both in school and at On Stage Walton. Emily recently received a banjo, and is beginning to learn how to play it. You can never run out of things to learn once you have acquired the universal knowledge contained within music theory! 

Emily has found a passion sharing her musical gifts through teaching. She has served as the vocal director at Walnut Grove High School, George Walton Academy, and OnStage Walton. She began her career at Stuever Studios as a substitute teacher and is now taking on students of her own.  Her experience leading the youth is not limited to her private musical teachings. She has been a leader in vacation bible school, supervised at summer camps, and served as a babysitter.

Emily is currently studying Elementary Education at the University of Georgia with a minor in Human Development. She is so grateful to have been taught so much about music and is following in the footsteps of Tracy Stuever by sharing music in her community through teaching and performance. Tracy considers Emily to be her protégée. Emily hopes that everyone gets the chance to play an instrument as music is such a powerful thing! Click here to schedule a lesson with Emily.

James Terrell

James Terrell, guitar, ukulele

James Terrell is a guitarist, composer and music educator currently based in Athens, Georgia. He holds degrees in music from Columbus State University (B.M. Performance, guitar, 2007) and the University of Massachusetts (M.M. Composition, 2011) and is pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Georgia (Performance, guitar).

As a composer-guitarist, even his earliest musical activities sought to combine these impulses. This first took the form of experimental guitar compositions recorded in the bedroom: plaintive atmospheric textures built out of dozens of layers of guitar sounds. At the same time he was learning classical guitar and developing a technique capable of accommodating even the most virtuosic music in the repertoire. Composition and guitar take turns as the dominant force in his musical life.

As a guitarist, he is an active performer both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles, and his repertoire spans the history of the guitar, from the Renaissance to new music. As a composer, he has written concert music for all manner of ensembles and soloists as well as orchestral music and works for fixed media. His principal teachers are Andrew Zohn and Daniel Bolshoy (guitar), and Bruce MacCombie, Salvatore Macchia and Adrian Childs (composition).

James has been teaching music nearly as long as he has been playing. This has taken the form of private instruction in guitar most often, but he has also taught composition, music fundamentals, music history (popular music and jazz) and classroom guitar. Recent teaching engagements have been with the Montgomery School of Music (Montgomery, Alabama) and the UGA Community Music School.

Hear him at Sound Cloud or YouTube

MeMe Walton

Meme Walton is a third-year Music Education major at the University of Georgia and currently studies under renowned Mr. Timothy Adams and Mrs. Kimberly Toscano-Adams. She is a classically-trained percussionist with experience in the marching arts, concert percussion, and drum set. 

MeMe Walton, drum set, percussion

In high school, Meme was a principal percussionist all 4 years in the GMEA district 8 honor band, in addition to making All-State honor band and Governor’s Honors Program for percussion her senior year. Meme is deeply passionate about music education and creating an enjoyable music-learning environment. Her teaching experiences include: Front Ensemble tech for Dacula High School, Drumline Instructor for Habersham Central, Percussion tech for UGA’s annual Midfest and Janfest events, Percussion instructor for Dacula Middle School, and private percussion lessons instructor. 

In addition to being an educator, Meme is an avid performer, with involvements in many ensembles across the UGA School of Music. Previously, she was a member of the UGA Orchestra and steel band. Meme is currently a member of the UGA Wind Ensemble, British Brass Band under the direction of Phillip Smith, UGA Percussion ensemble, and a quad player for the Redcoat Marching Band. 

Elizabeth Boyce

Elizabeth Boyce - viola, violin, piano (online only)

Elizabeth Boyce is a violinist, violist, and teacher with ten years of experience teaching students of all walks of life, ranging in age, ethnicity and background. It is her priority in every setting, in or out of lessons to make every human feel comfortable and welcome in their own shoes, and she strives to create sturdy grounds for creative expression in her lessons by letting students be seen for their authentic selves. Elizabeth has received her Suzuki certification in violin/viola books 1-3 and is currently becoming qualified to teach Suzuki violin books 4 and 5 through the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Aside from her teaching, Elizabeth’s current research interests lie in the realm of fostering creativity in classical musicians through the integration of mind and body wellness practices. Elizabeth is currently pursuing her viola performance DMA degree at University of Georgia, where she is the first third-year recipient of the esteemed graduate research assistantship, Ideas for Creative Exploration.

Sarah Nienhiser

Sarah Nienhiser, violin and piano

Sarah Nienhiser, born in 2000, first began piano at age 7 and later started violin at age 10. Under her first instructor, Andrea Probus, she worked diligently and obtained a solid foundation. A few years later she transferred to Dr. David Kovac and under his guidance her skills and passion for playing increased. In 2014, Sarah won the MTNA state solo competition and placed 1st in the BJU chamber group competition. Under Dr. Kovac's coaching, Sarah participated in several years of chamber music further broadening her skills. In 2015, the chamber group she was a member of won the KMTA chamber group competition. In 2020 and 2021 she was accepted into the Maryland National Music Festival. 

Sarah graduated in May 2022 with her Bachelors in Violin Performance from Park University while studying under Ben Sayevich. After graduation, Sarah accepted a full-time assistantship position at the University of Georgia where she is currently studying under Dr. Levon Ambartsumian to earn her Masters in Violin Performance. 

Julia Chesney

Julia Chesney, violin, guitar, piano, ukulele, voice

Julia teaches piano, guitar, voice, violin, and ukulele. She is passionate about coaching kids as they build skill, self esteem, and explore their creativity! Julia attained a Bachelor of Arts in Music from VCU in 2015, where she focused on violin, jazz, and arranging music. She now writes and performs with a number of artists and bands around the Athens area. She is passionate about guiding students of all ages in finding their own musical voice!

Emily Elmore

Emily Elmore - flute, piano, cello

Emily Elmore is a first-year graduate student in Flute Performance at the University of Georgia, Hugh Hodgson School of Music, studying with Professor Angela Jones-Reus. Currently, she is Principal Flutist of the Hodgson Wind Ensemble, as well as an active performer and teacher in Georgia. Emily completed her undergraduate study at the University of Central Florida with Dr. Nora Lee Garcia. In 2021, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance, with honors. A multi-instrumentalist, Emily played both flute and cello in University of Central Florida ensembles, including the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Flute Ensemble, and Cello Choir. She has performed in masterclasses for William Bennett, Jim Walker, Mark Sparks, Karl-Heinz Schütz, Demarre McGill, and Lorna McGhee, won Third Prize in the 2020 Florida Flute Association’s College Young Artist Competition, and was a member of the 2019 Florida All-State Intercollegiate Band. In 2020, Emily was awarded both the John R. Quello Memorial Music Scholarship and a Women’s Executive Council Orlando Scholarship.

Emily’s love for performing is matched by her passion for education. She has enjoyed teaching private piano, flute, and cello lessons for the last four years, and has experience teaching in classroom settings in Florida. As a second-generation music educator, Emily grew up witnessing what a remarkable impact music education can make, and maintains that she learns as much from her students as they learn from her. Emily is an alumna of Manatee High School’s music program, during which time she was a member of Florida All-State Band, NAfME’s All-National Honor Band, Music For All’s Honor Band of America, and was awarded the E. James Forssell Outstanding Music Student Scholarship. Above all else, her goal as an artist and educator is to share the joy that music brings, always.

Frances Prager

Frances Prager, violin, piano, voice, guitar

Frances was born in Havana, Cuba and is the daughter to a French father, who is also a musician, and a Cuban mother. She grew up speaking French and Spanish at home. She picked up the violin at 8 years old and continues to go back to Cuba to study with her professor there. She has attended Luzerne Music Center in Albany, New York, has made Allstate several times, and has been concertmaster to her local symphony orchestra in Savannah, Georgia. She is now a Junior at the University of Georgia studying Music Therapy. She has studied with Arianna Ochoa, Ricardo Ochoa, Sinisa Ciric, and now with Levon Ambartsumian and Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva. Thanks to the Music Therapy department at UGA, Frances also plays piano, guitar, and sings.

Jacob Pilz

Jacob Pilz, drum set, percussion

Jacob Pilz is a third-year University of Georgia student pursuing a double major in Music Education and Percussion Performance. He has been passionate about making music since he began in middle school - and he now expresses this passion through teaching. Jacob has taught both marching and concert percussion in the Savannah and Athens areas and plans to teach at the high school level after graduation.

In high school, Jacob studied with Cory Shuman and was Captain of the South Effingham High School Drumline. He was principal chair of the SEHS Wind Ensemble, and participated in the GMEA District 1 Honor Band all four years of high school. Jacob was also center snare for the inaugural line of the WGI ensemble Charles Towne Percussion. His senior year, Jacob was awarded the John Philip Sousa Award, which recognizes “superior musicianship and outstanding dedication.”

Since starting at the University of Georgia, Jacob has studied percussion under Mr. Timothy K. Adams Jr. He has been involved with the UGA Percussion Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, and Steel Band. Jacob is currently involved with the UGA chapters of CNAfME and Kappa Kappa Psi. He also is currently also employed as the Drumline Battery Technician at North Oconee High School.

When he’s not teaching or practicing, Jacob enjoys spending time with his friends and his cat, Mickey. Jacob is excited to work with percussion students of all levels.