Natalia Bazzi

is a graduate of the Piano Performance Master’s Program at Roosevelt University in Chicago.  She graduated from the Municipal Conservatory of Music Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires, Argentina, receiving a gold medal in Choral Conducting.  At the Municipal Conservatory, she studied under Alicia Sciancalepore and Haydee Schwartz to receive a Piano Performance degree specializing in Solo and Chamber Music.  Natalia also earned degrees as a Higher Education Teacher of Choir Conducting, Artistic Piano Instructor, Choir Conducting Art Teacher, and Teacher of Musical Education.  At various schools in Argentina, she taught Harmony, Counterpoint, and Analysis, General Music, Piano, and Music History, and worked as accompanist.  Her extensive performing experience includes engagements at Scala de San Telmo, Salon Dorado de la Municipalidad de la Plata, British Arts Center, and the Fourth Festival de Musica de Cascavel.

Olga Bojovic

A piano and vocal instructor for over ten years, Olga holds a Master’s Degree from University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Vocal Performance), Bachelor’s Degree from Brooklyn Conservatory-New York (Vocal Performance), Piano Degree from Music School for Gifted Children-Kraljevo, Serbia. Currently, Olga is pursuing the Certificate in Vocal Performance at DePaul School of Music-Chicago. Besides teaching piano and voice, she has experience in piano accompaniment and conducting children’s choir. She is a recipient of many awards and honors, such as: Graduate Teaching Assistantship (UNL), Opera Omaha Guild Scholarship, Honorary Award by Cveta Marin at Concourse de Geneve (Geneva, Swiss), etc. Her leading operatic roles include: Alice Ford in Falstaff, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni.Her other performing experiences include solo recitals (United States and Europe) as well as Symphony and Oratorio soprano soloist appearances. February 1st 2007, Olga sang a live solo radio performance on Chicago’s WFMT station.

Jeffrey Cappelli

is a native of River Forest. He began studying piano with his parents, Dr. Amo and Nancy Cappelli. He received additional instruction from Alex Joseffer of Chicago and the late Donald Isaak of Northwestern University. He was a concerto soloist at Oak Park River Forest High School with the student orchestra and received the Frederick Chopin award. He attended Indiana University and was a recipient of a scholarship from the MacDowell Artist Society, and earned Bachelor and Masters degrees with Distinction. As a graduate student at IU, Jeff served as Assistant Instructor of Piano at the Bloomington campus and the Columbus Indiana extension campus. Jeff's many awards include first place honors in competitions sponsored by the Society of American Musicians and the Illinois State Music Teachers Assn., the Geneva competition and the Steinway piano competition. Jeff has been piano soloist at the Unity Temple, with the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, and Cantigny Concert Series, and performed his own concerts in the Chicago area. Jeff founded the Cappelli Institute of Music in 1980 and he currently serves as the director. Jeff is also founder and president of Piano Renaissance, LLC.  in Forest Park, IL., a company renowned for artisan restorations of heirloom quality and vintage pianos.  Jeff is an RPT or Registered Piano Technician in the Piano Technicians Guild ptg.org and is the immediate past president of the Chicago Chapter.  Currently he serves as an education leader and program director of the Chicago Chapter.  Jeff recently attended the C.F. Theodore Steinway Academy in New York and participated in the Comprehensive Training Seminar at the Steinway & Sons Piano factory.  Jeff also owns Chicago Piano Service Inc. a company that provides piano repair, tuning and maintenance services for Chicago area Institutions, performance venues and private owner's pianos.

John Gibbons

received his doctorate in 1994 from the University of Chicago, where he studied composition with John Eaton and Ralph Shapey. A teacher of piano, composition, music theory and a variety of music appreciation classes for adults, his previous teachers include Dominick Argento and Morris Cotell.
 
John has taught at Triton College and the University of Chicago Center for Continuing Studies, where he was among the first recipients of the Excellence in Teaching Award. John teaches piano with a creative and innovative flair to students of all ages and levels and participates in Cappelli’s popular "Music of the Masters" lecture series. Dr. Gibbons  is also in high demand in the Chicago area as a lecturer on various musical topics including lectures  at Symphony Center.

Premiers of John's work have been performed by the Contemporary Chamber Players, the Minneapolis Chamber Symphony, the Minnesota Opera New Music Ensemble, the Harmonie Chamber Winds, the Northern Chamber Winds and at the Rockefeller Piano Competition in Carnegie Hall. John has taught at Triton College and the University of Chicago Center for Continuing Studies.

Renee Westerberg

is a pianist who has performed with duos, trios, quartets and other instrumental and vocal chamber ensembles as well as choirs and orchestras. She has taught at the  DePaul Univeristy Community Music Division (1990-97), Lehnhoff School of Music, Chicago (1990-94) and Town of Bunde Music School (Germany) and the Yamaha Music School for Children in Paderborn, Germany (1983-88). She served as choral accompanist at the University of Massachusetts (1988-90).

Her education includes studies at the Rheinische Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne, Germany and Staatliche Hochshcule fur Musik Westphalen Lippe in Detmold, Germany as well as the Univeristy of Massachusetts (Amherst) where she obtained her Master of Music in Piano Performance. She also attended various Master classes and is a recipient of several awards and scholarships.