AHS-Approved Private Lesson Instructors
Please contact one as soon as possible!!!
Violin
David Horne - Contact at 713-304-2483
Horne Violin/Viola Studio was founded in January of 2006 and has provided professional grade string lessons to many students from the Atascocita and Kingwood community. A graduate of West Virginia University and the Eastman School of Music, Mr. Horne’s students have been selected to the middle and high school Region XIX Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras, in addition to earning top honors at the UIL Solo & Ensemble Contest.
Mission Statement: To develop an informed and inquiring mind that enables each student to engage the fundamental issues of his or her art and to become an effective cultural leader in society. No student will be left behind who keeps the faith, gives maximum effort, and maintains an attitude equal to my own in the pursuit of excellence on his or her instrument.
“I have spent my life sharing and adding maximum stabilization to any and all contacts both privately and in groups with maximum grade musicianship and a sound from the violin which defines the bowing technique that separates the meager amateur from the obvious professional. There is only one right way to play this instrument.”
Violin
Jim McLeland - Contact at 281-360-2456 or 832-264-7833
Mr. McLeland holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Violin Performance from The Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD where he studied with Berl Senofsky, the only American Violinist to have ever won the most demanding International Violin Competition, The Queen Elizabeth Competition, in Brussels, Belgium. Mr. McLeland also holds a Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance from Miami University of Ohio and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree (ABD) from the University of Houston, having served as a teaching assistant at both institutions.
James McLeland has appeared as soloist with several orchestras throughout the United States, performing works by Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Wieniawski, Kachaturian, Barber, Saint Saens, Bach, Vivaldi, and Sarasate. In addition to serving for four years as Violin Soloist with the United States Marine Band Chamber Orchestra (The White House Orchestra) during the Reagan administration, he has served as Concertmaster of the Arkansas and Lake Charles Symphony Orchestras, served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, and Principal Second Violin of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Mr. McLeland has also performed with the Bedford Springs, Brevard, Great Music West, and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestras, having doubled viola at the latter.
As a teacher, Mr. McLeland has held Artist Teacher positions at The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, McNeese State University, and the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC. He has also been a chamber music coach for the Texas Music Festival in Houston, TX.
Currently, Mr. McLeland remains active as a performer, teacher, and orchestra clinician throughout the Greater Houston Region and beyond. He serves as Concertmaster for Choral and Opera productions at Houston Baptist University, as well as the St. Laurence Chamber Singers in Sugar Land, TX. Additionally, he is the First Violinist with the Dave Zeger String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra, to include work as a conductor and arranger.
Mr. McLeland has maintained a private teaching studio at his home in Kingwood, TX for the past fifteen years. He has produced the highest ranking Texas All-State Orchestra participant on violin from Humble ISD to date (third). Three of his students have won Outstanding Soloist Awards at the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Festival. Both his violin and viola students regularly win auditions to include the concertmaster or principal chairs for their region orchestras as well as positions with the local Houston Youth Orchestras. It is not uncommon that his entire studio receives First Division Ratings at the Region Solo and Ensemble Festival. Additionally, Mr. McLeland’s students have won scholarship offers to schools throughout the United States including the Cincinnati Conservator of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Violin
Luis Ramirez - Contact at 713-851-0812
Violinist J. Luis Ramirez holds a bachelor of music and a master of music degree from the University of Houston where he was under the tutelage of Fredell Lack. Mr. Ramirez started his violin studies at age 8 with the help of his father, a violinist from the State of Mexico Symphony orchestra, then continuing them at the "Escuela de musica Vida y Movimiento" in Mexico city under the direction of Natalia Gbdotetskaya. While in Mexico, he was a winner of the National violin competition "Hermilo Novelo" on two occasions. Mr. Ramirez has appeared as a soloist many times in the US and Mexico and Colombia.
Mr. Ramirez is a member of the Orchestra of the Americas and with them has toured the US, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Germany and China. He is also a member of several orchestras in the state of Texas and Louisiana as was recently awarded with a position in the World Orchestra. He has been a member of several festivals including the Texas Music Festival, Premier Orchestra Institute, National Music Festival, Young Euro Classics, among many others. Mr. Ramirez is an active teacher and performer in the Houston area and its surroundings.
Born in Calgary, Alberta Canada, Aaron Bielish began his musical studies with the piano at age seven and the violin at thirteen. Pursuing a Bachelor of Music at the University of Calgary in Viola Performance, Mr. Bielish studied viola with the principal of the Calgary Philharmonic, John Thompson, as well as Gerald Stanick, violist of the Fine Arts String quartet.
Further study at Rice University resulted in a Master's degree in Music Performance studying with Csaba Erdelyi of the Chilingirian string quartet and Wayne Brooks, Principal violist of the Houston Symphony. During his studies at Rice he was the recipient of the Anderson and Mitchell Scholarships for Musical excellence. Further study allowed him to expand his knowledge of visual art and music composition, studying viola with Karen Tuttle and Rivka Golani.
He was appointed Principal Violist of OrchestraX, a position he held for seven years until 2004. An active performer, he has been a featured chamber musician in Canada, the United States, Poland and Japan. He is equally at home among a variety of musical directions; having performed with period chamber ensembles such as the Mercury Baroque Ensemble to modern avant garde music, as evidenced by his most recent performances with the Musiqa Ensemble in 2008.
Cello
Scott Card - Contact at 936-228-2656
Scott Card is starting his 24th year of private studio teaching and is currently Principal Cellist with The Opera in the Heights. In addition to active freelancing, he maintains a large, successful, private cello studio in the Conroe, Klein and Humble school districts.
Mr. Card has been on the faculty of Lamar University in Texas, Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma and Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina. He has been principal cellist of The Woodlands Symphony Orchestra and assistant principal of The Victoria Symphony. Prior to moving to the Houston area, he was a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic cello section.
Mr. Card has been the recipient of an Aspen Music Center Fellowship, in addition to being a part of the American-Russian Youth Orchestra and Chautauqua music festivals. He was a Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas for three years.
Mr. Card received a Masters of Music from the University of North Texas and a Bachelors of Music from Ohio State University. His major teachers include Carter Enyeart, Alan Harris, William Conable and Jeffrey Solow.
Cello
Ryan Gilchrist - Contact at 903-714-9920
Ryan Gilchrist earned both a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and a Master of Music in Conducting from Sam Houston State University. While at SHSU he studied cello with Dr. Peter Kempter, and conducting with Dr. Carol Smith and Dr. Allen Hightower. After completing his graduate studies, Mr. Gilchrist was appointed to the faculty at SHSU. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Mr. Gilchrist also served as the Associate Artistic Director of the Huntsville Youth Orchestra, and assisted the SHSU Symphony Orchestra. Since 2001, Mr. Gilchrist has also maintained an active private cello studio in North Houston. Mr. Gilchrist continues to preform frequently throughout Texas in a variety of genres and venues, and has been a part of performances in Eastern Europe and China as both a cellist and conductor.
Bass
Stephen Martin Contact at 713-806-8886
Double Bassist Stephen Martin began his serious studies of music at Sam Houston State University in 2004. While at SHSU, Stephen had the privilege of studying with Deborah Dunham, who helped put him in the "fast track" of Double Bass playing. At Sam Houston, Stephen also had the opportunity to tour internationally in China, Eastern Europe, and Puerto Rico on orchestral/cultural exchanges with the university orchestra.
Stephen graduated from SHSU with his Bachelors of Music Performance in Double Bass in 2009. From there, he spent a year of preparation for graduate school auditions, studying with Timothy Pitts, former principal of the Houston Symphony/ Rice University.
Stephen then went on and graduated with his Masters in Double Bass Performance with Honors from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 2012, studying with Lawrence Wolfe, associate principal of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. While in Boston, Stephen enjoyed 2 years of playing section bass for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Benjamin Zander.
In addition to his school studies, Stephen also enjoys summer music festivals and has been apart of the Texas Music Festival for four years (2012,2011, 09, 08). He has also had the opportunity of playing in masterclasses for Paul Ellison, Ed Barker, Eric Larson, Dennis Whittaker, Sandor Ostlund, and Hal Robinson.
Stephen enjoys playing all styles of music including jazz and rock, but finds himself at home teaching and being a part of a bass section.
