Piano Faculty

Roma Bandza

Roma Bandza was born and raised in Lithuania where she received her piano training within the Russian tradition. As a child she received extensive musical training for seven years at Children’s Music School, and in high school she attended the Kaunas Higher Music School as a piano major. She earned her bachelor’s in piano and organ performance at J. Groudis Music Academy and her master’s in piano performance at State Conservatory Lithuania. 

In Lithuania Roma worked as piano instructor and accompanist at M.K. Čiurlionis School of Arts and at B. Dvarionas School of Music. She came to the U.S. in 1990 and has taught piano privately since then. In her lessons she strives to make lessons fun while teaching proper technique and music-reading.

Roma performed the Mozart Piano Concerto no. 12 with the Parma Symphony in 2019. She has worked as a staff accompanist at Cleveland State University for both voice and ballet and was also accompanist at the Academy of Cleveland Ballet. Roma has extensive experience as a music director and organist at many churches in the Cleveland area, including St. Philomena Catholic Church, St. Patrick Catholic Church, and All Saints Lutheran Church. She is currently Director of Music at St. Casimir’s Catholic Church.

Roma has also studied voice at Cleveland Institute of Music with Joanne Uniatowski and with Elizabeth Chesko at Cleveland State University, as well as organ at Cleveland State with Maria Sharff. She is a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Blossom Festival Chorus as well as the Akron Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

Trinity Goff

Trinity Goff is a pianist, organist, and improviser from Salem, Oregon. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance in 2025 from Willamette University, studying with Jean-David Coen. She is currently a Master of Music student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studies with pianist Gabriela Montero. She has also studied with Ilana Vered and participated in masterclasses with John Perry, Jerome Lowenthal, Ursula Oppens, Janina Fialkowska, Alexander Kobrin, and Mikhail Voskresensky, among others. 

With ten years of teaching experience, Trinity has maintained a private piano studio in Oregon with over 40 students of all ages. Her students have earned top prizes and scholarships in competitions and festivals including the Oregon Music Teachers Association (OMTA) Baroque Festival, OMTA Contemporary Festival, the Iva Turner Scholarship Competition, and the Gibbens Scholarship Competition, as well as state and national honors. 

A prizewinner in major competitions, she was a silver medalist in the professional division of the Northwest Chopin Piano Competition and the National Steinway Competition, and a USA finalist and Outstanding Performance Award winner at the NTD International Piano Competition. She has appeared as soloist with the Oregon Symphony and Orchestra Europa in Italy, performing concerti by Chopin, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. Her recent appearances include performances at the Sala dei Notari in Perugia, Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, and opening the Grace Goudy Distinguished Artist Series with Caroline Shaw. She is co-founder and pianist of the Cleveland-based Veles Trio.

Dr. Gary Graning

Dr. Gary Alan Graning earned his doctorate in piano pedagogy from Columbia University, Teacher’s College where he was course assistant to Robert Pace. He received his master’s in piano performance from the University of Michigan and his bachelor’s in piano performance from Oberlin Conservatory where he studied pedagogy with Janet Owens and piano with Joseph Schwartz and Axel Sigunde.

Gary taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Division for over 40 years and is highly experienced in teaching children as young as age 5 up through adults. His teaching career began with teaching assistantships at the University of Miami and Florida State University. Later he taught at Cuyahoga Community College, as well as the University of Akron, where he taught group piano, keyboard harmony, and piano pedagogy. He also taught piano in New York City at the Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts, Greenwich House Music School, and the Community Music Center.

He has performed as a collaborative artist at Pomona College and the Aspen and Scotia Music Festival. Gary has premiered solo piano works with the following composers present: Samuel Adler (Sonatina 1979), Vohn Hilliard (Sonata in the Sun), and Camargo Guarnieri (Dansa Brasileira, Dança Selvagem, and Sonatina VI).

John Philipps

John Philipps graduated as a piano performance major from Cleveland State University, where he studied under the guidance of pianists Angelin Chang, Joella Jones of the Cleveland Orchestra and Jackie Warren, Cleveland's "first lady of jazz". He has served as a private music instructor locally for several years, and teaches a handful of private students in his spare time.

In addition to teaching, John is an active performer, regularly engaging with the local music community through diverse musical settings, performing in venues such as the Maltz Performing Center, Hoke Theater at Stocker Center and Reinberger Hall at Severance. He has performed as a collaborative pianist with singers and string instruments, a chamber pianist, a concerto soloist, and as part of various jazz ensembles.  John has experience with many genres of music - from Baroque and Classical era music to romantic composers such as Liszt and Chopin, 20th century composers like Debussy and Poulenc, and pop/rock/jazz music.  His concerto performances include both Chopin concertos, Beethoven's 3rd, and Mozart's 23rd and 24th, with which he has appeared with local community orchestras.

As far as teaching is concerned, his determination is to meet each student where they are at, to cultivate enthusiasm for whatever style of music they are drawn to, and to elevate them to be musically self-sustainable - to have the tools to achieve their own goals.  The lessons can focus on any aspect of musicianship, whatever the student needs or wants, including sight reading, improvisation, technique, transcribing, theory, ear training, or difficult repertoire.  Outside of music, John enjoys a casual soccer match and spending time in nature.  

Annie Qin

Guoanni Annie Qin is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance with Kathryn Brown at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She earned her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School in New York City where she received the Van Cliburn Alumni Prize, the John Post Scholarship, the Susan Rose Piano Scholarship, and the Arnold Levy Scholarship. Annie also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory. During her undergraduate years, she earned several notable achievements, including first prize in Oberlin’s Concerto Competition and the Rudolf Serkin Scholarship Competition. She also received the Carol Nott Piano Pedagogy Prize and third prize in the inaugural Peter Takacs Beethoven Piano Competition. 

Annie served as a Piano Faculty member at West Amadeus Music Studio in New York City and at Meet Music Studio. She has taught in the Juilliard Extension program and secondary piano classes as a Teaching Fellow at the Juilliard School, and has also given a master class for pre-college students. Previously, she gained varied teaching experiences at Oberlin Conservatory as a secondary piano teacher.  

Her orchestral engagements include performances of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the Oberlin Orchestra and with the Xiamen Song & Dance Symphony Orchestra. Her recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Oberlin Orchestra has been selected for broadcast on WQXR’s Artists Showcase, New York’s premier classical radio program. Annie was selected to participate in the renowned Aspen Music Festival, PianoTexas Piano Festival, and Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival. 

Diane Haley

Diane Haley earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from Cleveland State University, where she studied under Andrius Kuprevicius. While there, she was among just a few students selected to perform for Leonard Bernstein during a ceremony at Cleveland State where he was presented with an honorary degree.

Diane has taught piano in the Northeast Ohio area for 40 years both at her home studio and at the Bruno Brothers Music Shoppe where she was part owner. She has extensive experience as a piano accompanist, including for the Brunswick and Strongsville school systems, St. Ambrose School in Brunswick, Medina Show Biz Co., and The Beck Center. She also has extensive church musician experience as an organist, pianist and choir director for adults and children. She was Director of Music at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Brunswick for 13 years, Brunswick United Methodist Church for 11 years, and was organist and director of the children’s and handbell choirs at St. Ambrose Church in Brunswick for three years, among other church posts. Diane was for many years a coach for contestants of the Miss Northeast Ohio Preliminary Pageant’s talent portion and judged a number of the Miss Northeast Ohio Pageants.

Diane currently runs a business along with a duo partner called Escape for Seniors, where they perform at retirement communities, assisted living centers, and various clubs for seniors around the northeast Ohio area.

ANNA JUDKINS

Anna Judkins is a native of Decatur, Alabama and studied both piano and organ through her formative years. She studied organ with Suzanne Purtee and piano with Kay Grubbs and Francis Schwemmer. At Brigham Young University (BYU), she took piano lessons with Robin Hancock, piano pedagogy with Irene Peery-Fox, and keyboard skills with Scott Holden. She studied organ with Douglas Bush and Don Cook. In 2015, she received her bachelor’s degree in organ performance. 

Anna has taught both piano and organ privately for 15 years and in various states (Utah, Alabama, Montana, and Ohio). She has taught at multiple traveling BYU Organ Workshops in locations across the United States and Canada. She was the Director of the 2016 Utah Valley Pipe Organ Encounter, taught at local Organ Guild Super Saturday classes held at BYU, and taught at the 2018 Royal Candian College of Organists Calgary Organ Festival. 

Anna has performed concerts throughout Utah, Montana, and Calgary, Canada. She was invited to perform at the Washington D.C. National Cathedral in 2020. She received third prize in the Utah American Guild of Organists Young Artists Competition. She has been the collaborative pianist and organist for multiple groups and soloists. Notably, she played with the Utah Baroque Ensemble, The Great Falls Symphony Orchestra Choir, and with Emmett O’Hanlon at the Irish Festival in Painesville, Ohio.

Anna is the current organist/pianist for both Westlake United Methodist Church and St. Rocco Catholic Church in Cleveland. She is a sought-after accompanist for churches, recitals, juries, and adjudicated events in the area. 

MARINA KERZE

Marina Kerze received her musical education from prominent institutions in Russia such as the Perm College of Music and St. Petersburg State Conservatory. She moved to the United States in 2005 to study with renowned pianist Margarita Shevchenko. She received her master’s degree in piano performance from Cleveland State University and an artist diploma from Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student of Sedmara Rutstein.

Marina has over 20 years of experience teaching piano. She received training in piano pedagogy while at Perm Music College and later at St. Petersburg State Conservatory. She has taught students of different ages and levels, some of them pursuing a musical career. She has served as a piano faculty member for the Aurora School of Music and as a collaborative pianist at Cleveland State University.

Marina made her debut performing as a soloist with a symphony orchestra at the age of 12 and has won several young artist piano competitions such as the Igumnov All-Russian Competition (Lipetsk, Russia) and the Tchaikovsky All-Russian Festival (Perm, Russia). She has participated in a great number of concerts as a soloist and a collaborative pianist and has also won several concerto competitions. She is known as a pianist with impressive virtuosity and fluid playing. Her performances have been described as “brilliant” and “powerful.”

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance and music composition from Baldwin Wallace University (BW), where he served as principal pianist of the BW Symphony Orchestra and the BW Jazz Ensemble. In addition to piano and composition, Ryan also studied pipe organ, harpsichord, and basso continuo. He performs as a piano accompanist in the Cleveland area.

Ryan has taught students of a wide range of ages and experience levels. As a teacher, he values the development of aural skills and the cultivation of a strong internal sense of music. Priority is placed on pragmatic and sensible explanations of musical conventions that lend themselves to the acquisition of good musical intuition. He works to guide his students toward a relaxed, fluid technique that allows them to play with agility and musicality while avoiding tension and discomfort. Ryan appreciates the individuality of all of his students and adapts his approach with consideration to their goals, experiences, and learning styles.

Jarred Sorauf

Jarred holds a Bachelor’s in Piano Performance from Wittenberg University, and a Master’s in Piano Performance from Cleveland State University, where he studied with Grammy Award-winning Angelin Chang as well as Joela Jones. He also studied organ at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Todd Wilson. 

Jarred has taught private piano for over 10 years. He has been on the piano faculty at Cleveland State University and the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) where he taught all of CIM’s keyboard skills courses. His approach draws from the Dorothy Taubman Institute which emphasizes releasing muscular tension and maximizing efficiency of position and movement for greater facility on the piano as well as preventing overuse injuries.

Jarred has considerable solo and collaborative experience in piano, organ, chorus, musical theater, and instrumental and choral conducting. Some highlights include performing in the 2016 World Piano Meeting in Coimbra, Portugal, and at the Conservatory Maurice-Baquet in Paris, France. He has also been piano accompanist for numerous ensembles including Cleveland Winds, the Cleveland State University Symphonic Band, and the Southwest Community Chorus in Berea. Jarred held the position of Director of Music at Middleburg Heights United Church of Christ and is the Director of Traditional Music at First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland in Shaker Heights. 

Maeve Woehrman

Maeve earned her Bachelor of Arts in Piano from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music, where she studied under Steinway Artist, Dr. Sungeun Kim and Robert Mayerovitch. While at BW, she performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and as part of larger ensembles including Treble Choir and Jazz Ensemble. She continues performing as a collaborative pianist for music programs and students in the Cleveland area.

Maeve has several years of teaching experience with students of various ages and skill levels, from age four to adult beginners. In lessons, her main goals are to strengthen students’ understanding of music theory, develop proper technique, promote self-discipline, and encourage creative expression. Most importantly, she wants her students to fulfill their individual goals and enjoy playing piano. Maeve also holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and applies her unique approach to problem-solving to help students break through technical challenges.