Meet Our Team

List of 11 items.

• Ian Bentley

  Piano and Voice — Wednesday
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  Ian Bentley is a tenor, voice and piano teacher, and early childhood music specialist. He has performed in opera roles throughout the Northeast and has been a Resident Artist with Tri-Cities Opera and the Pine Mountain Music Festival. In addition to his work at LREI, Ian is on the faculty at The Diller-Quaile School of Music, has taught group and private voice at Binghamton University, and maintains a private studio in NYC. He has led musical residencies in schools throughout the tri-state area as part of Tri-Cities Opera's educational outreach program. Ian holds a B.M. in Vocal Performance from New York University and an M.M. in Opera Performance from Binghamton University.

• Helen Yoo Boynton

  Piano - Monday, Tuesday
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  Helen Yoo Boynton is a NYS certified music teacher and has taught for more than 10 years. She has taught elementary and high school piano, general music, and directed and accompanied children’s choirs for the last 10 years in Brooklyn and Manhattan. She has also accompanied middle school Suzuki based string orchestra and Suzuki group classes.  She is certified in the Kodaly method and is experienced with Orff.  Helen studied the piano since age four and the violin at LaGuardia H.S. of Music and Art.  She earned her BA in music from Colgate University and MA in Musicology from New York University.  She is currently studying piano and piano pedagogy with Donald Pirone at the Aaron Copland school of Music at Queens College and is working towards her Dalcroze certification.  She also was the LREI lower school music teacher from 2005-2007. Helen is excited to be back at LREI, and is looking forward to teaching in the Afterschool Program.

• Chris Bradshaw

  Piano — Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
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  A native of Monticello, New York, Chris Bradshaw graduated with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. He then pursued his graduate studies at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, earning a Master of Music in piano performance, and completing the requirements for doctoral candidacy. He has performed at chamber music festivals in the U.S. and abroad. In September 2008, Chris relocated to Manhattan, after teaching and performing in the Philadelphia area for nearly a decade. His students have received honors and awards for their playing. A member of the Bradshaw/Parker Piano Duo since 1992, he has performed and premiered a wide variety of four-hand and two-piano repertoire in the United States, Spain, Austria and Germany. Chris is the artistic director of the Church of the Redeemer Concert Series in Astoria, Queens.

• Lucia Caruso

  Piano — Wednesday, Friday
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  Lucía Caruso is an Argentinean-born composer and pianist, based in New York City. Her musical career has taken her across four continents, and over a dozen countries. She has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the world, such as: the Versailles Palace, the Louvre Museum, and Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, France; Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Vanderbilt Hall at the Grand Central Station in New York City, and the Kew Royal Palace in London. Lucía performed her works for piano and orchestra as a soloist with the Orchestre Lamoureux  in Paris and the London Metropolitan Orchestra in the UK. She also performed as a soloist with the National University of Cuyo Symphony Orchestra in Argentina and the National Youth Orchestra of Costa Rica.

  Lucía is the Artistic Director and founded the successful Manhattan Camerata with composer/guitarist Pedro Henriques da Silva, which is the first ensemble to perform Transclassical music: Transcending classical music, incorporating elements from different cultures around the world with a variety of styles, genres, and exotic instruments.

  Lucía received her bachelor’s degree in classical piano from the Manhattan School of Music, and her Masters Degree in Composition and Film-Scoring from the New York University. Lucia loves teaching piano as well as composition to children.

• Mary Cherney

  Recorder, Flute, Clarinet, Saxaphone  - Wednesday, Thursday
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  Mary Cherney teaches flute, recorder and woodwind instruments in the Afterschool program. She has been teaching at LREI for the last 18 years. In addition, she is the head of the music program at PS/IS 89 in Battery Park City. Mary's performing career has featured her in concerts, both of jazz and classical music, in the New York area as well as annual summer performances in France. Mary is currently performing and recording with 'Duo Nova Antigua' and pursuing a long time interest in Renaissance music.

• Christian Finger

  Drums - Thursday
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  Christian Finger is a professional, award-winning drummer. A drum instructor for over thirty years, Christian has taught children and adults of all levels, imparting his passion for music and sharing his joy for playing the drums.  Christian holds a BA in Teaching and an MA in Percussion from the Music Conservatory of Detmold in Germany.

  Additionally, he has authored two instructional drum books, is a judge at the ‘Drum Off’ Competition, is endorsed by Gretsch Drums, and writes for Modern Drummer magazine. Christian has played with world class musicians in various musical styles throughout Europe, Australia and the USA, and has released numerous CDs. He is excited to join the LREI Afterschool team!

• Tara McLaughlin

  Ukulele/Guitar - Tuesday
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  Tara is an educator, guitarist, singer/songwriter and life long musician. She recently moved back to New York from Florida to pursue her post graduate studies in a music therapy program at The New School. Coming from a musical family, Tara has spent most of her youth and adult life performing in bands, touring around the U.S and Europe and being very active as an organizer in the Miami rock music scene. After attending college, Tara worked at a progressive Montessori school for ten years, where she taught both private and group enrichment guitar classes to various age levels. She has also led a girls rock band summer camp and co-directed a Miami non-for profit youth community art space. Tara is very passionate about sharing her guitar skills to children and is very kind, patient, creative and fun! 

  Tara has been working for the past 4 summers as a Head Counselor at Summers at LREI. She has also worked as a Core Afterschool teacher in the Reds program. Tara looks forward to returning this year as an instrumental and Enrichment teacher. 

• Alex Perry

  Tuesday, Thursday
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  Alex Perry is a jazz and classical pianist, composer, and teacher. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies. Alex has studied internationally at the Banff Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music and the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam Summer Jazz Workshop. Alex performs in New York with his own groups and collaborative projects. He has performed at the Blue Note Jazz Club, ShapeShifter Lab, Spectrum, Scholes Street Studio, and the Montreal International Jazz Festival. In addition to teaching at LREI, Alex accompanies dance classes at the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn. Alex has spent the last two summers teaching piano lessons, leading the jazz band, and accompanying musical rehearsals at Buck’s Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp in New Milford, CT. Alex is excited to begin his first year teaching piano lessons Afterschool at LREI.

   

   

• Eve Silber

  Guitar — Monday, Friday
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  Eve Silber is a guitarist, singer, songwriter and teacher. She received much of her training in the Village, under the tutelage of guitar great Dave Van Ronk. Eve has worked extensively as a guitar teacher and vocal coach for students of all ages. She is in every respect an ideal teacher bringing a rigor and passion to her work that every student will appreciate, while never losing sight of the fun and creative dimension that lies at the heart of arts instruction. She can also be found regularly in performance at neighborhood jazz clubs. 

• David Ullmann

  Guitar — Wednesday
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  David Ullmann is a guitarist, composer, and lifelong New Yorker. He is a graduate of the New School Jazz BA/BFA program and has performed

  at many venues in and around NYC including CBGB's, The Blue Note, Wetlands, The Knitting Factory and the 55bar. David has been teaching in Afterschool at LREI for many years and his greatest joy is hearing a first performance of "Hot Cross Buns". He is also actively involved in the NYC jazz scene. His debut CD "Hidden" released in 2005 receiving such praise as "Hidden is an exciting record that reflects restless creativity" (all about jazz). David is also a film composer and recently completed D.W Young's "A Hole in A Fence". Currently, David is beginning work on his new album featuring all original compositions.

• Arthur Vint

  Drums - Monday, Tuesday
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  Originally from Tucson, Arizona, drummer and percussionist Arthur Vint began studying music seriously at the age of twelve and by the time he was fifteen was already performing professionally. Arthur focused on classical percussion studies throughout high school and served as principal percussionist of the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra from 2004-2007. 

  
  Since moving to New York City in 2007, Arthur has appeared at many well-respected venues including The Blue Note, The Iridium, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, The Cornelia St. Café, Smoke Jazz Club, Joe's Pub, Le Poison Rouge, Gramercy Theater, The Stone, Nublu, The Museum of Modern Art, Symphony Space, The Allen Room at Lincoln Center, as well as the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. He maintains a busy performing and recording schedule with a plethora of different groups including The Candy Shop Boys, North of Amarillo, The Manhattan Dolls, The Brain Cloud, Melaena Cadiz, comedian Murray Hill, as well as his own band, Arthur Vint & Associates and many more.

  
  Arthur holds a B.M. in Jazz Studies from the William Paterson University of New Jersey, where he studied with Kevin Norton, Bill Goodwin, Rich DeRosa, Steve LaSpina and Rich Perry and an M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with John Riley, Bobby Sanbria, and Dave Liebman. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Lindsay, son Henry, dog Hannah and cat Olive.