URMI BATAVIA
     Hello!   I am the proud owner and founder of Batavia Music Studios.   I started Batavia Studios in 2002 teaching piano and violin out of my house. We opened the studio in 2004.  My love and passion for teaching and music helped me decide that this was the field that I wanted to concentrate on.   I also got my bachelors degree in Respiratory Therapy, in which i worked for about 4 years.   Althouh I liked working as a respiratory therapist, I did not find it to be as rewarding as I find teaching students music which will last and stay with them for a lifetime. 

FUGI SISCA
     Fugi has been teaching at  Batavia Music Studios for five years.   She has been with the studio since it opened in 2004.  She has a minor in music from the University of Pittsburgh.  Fugi  teaches piano, voice, flute and guitar.   She also performs in a duo band called "Grugi".   Fugi loves teaching and shows her passion for music with her students every day!

 

GREG MACKLIN

     Gregory  Macklin is a graduate of the US Armed Forces School of Music.
He teaches guitar, voice, brass and piano. He toured Europe extensively playing trombone, guitar and singing. He also performed for over twenty years for the National Association for Campus Activites playing colleges all over the United States. In 1992 he was voted in the Top 5 National Acts for college campuses. He has taught throughout his musical career.He is also an accomplished producer and engineer.

ERIN HOLSINGER
     Erin has been teaching piano, flute, woodwinds, and strings at Batavia Studios since 2006.  She has a bachelors and a masters degree in music performance from Indiana University of PA and recently completed her course work for PA teacher certification at Carnegie Mellon University - College of Fine Arts.  In her free time, she enjoys hiking, camping, biking, collecting buttons and playing with her dog Ozzy.   She also loves composing music with her husband Max. 

      
   Erin's goal with each student is to instill them with a love of music, develop their musicianship, spark their creativity, and enhance their academics with a cumulative music education. Teaching is her passion and she loves to enrich young lives with music!

 

ROCKY YOUHON

Rocky Youhon has been making music for as long as he can remember. He began his studies with his mother who gave him his first piano lessons.  In elementary school he picked up the violin and has not put it down ever since.  As Rocky grew up his musical inspiration led him to study the bass at Duquesne with a regiment of jazz and more contemporary styles. Now a days Rocky can be found performing throughout Pittsburgh as  a violinist and bassist in the Edgewood Symphony and the Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra.  Rocky teaches Violin, Piano, Bass and Viola at Batavia Studios.  

 

MIKE BODNAR

      Michael Bodnar has been active with music since a child.  After a few guitar lessons from dad and organ lessons from his aunt, he settled on the trumpet in 4th grade.  Gigging while in high school he also made district and honors festivals with his horn.

     Majoring in music education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he performed in a variety of ensembles such as marching band, orchestra, choruses, and jazz bands to name a few. 

     His passion for playing has taken him from Kennywood Amusement Park in Pittsburgh to New York’s hottest salsa clubs.  He has performed with the likes of Frankie Negron, Herman Jimenez, Peter Nero, Johnny Angel,  Ellis Marsalis, and Roemary Clooney.

     As a vocalist Mr. Bodnar helped start up Pittsburgh’s talented all vocal group “DoubleShot!”  Writing and arranging for the group, he also took a role as one of the vocalists and sang a few leads as well as taking a turn or two at Vocal Percussion. 

     Currently Michael is playing keyboard for the Pittsburgh based band “Verity’s Lie” as well as lending some guitar and vocals on some tracks.  He can also be found performing on the Gateway Clipper as a part of “The Hit Men”

 

JENNIFER DERRICK

     Jennifer has been teaching at Batavia Studios since August 2009. She teaches piano, organ and voice. Jennifer received a Bachelor of Music degree from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she was a double major in organ performance and musicology. Since graduating from school, she has been playing and teaching in the Pittsburgh area. Along with teaching, Jennifer keeps active as a performer and church musician. In her free time, she enjoys extensive traveling to learn about music from other countries. She absolutely enjoys her career as a teacher and loves her students.

 

TESS WALKO

      Ms Tess is a certified teacher with a BA in music education from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  She has taught in public as well as private settings and had worked with student K through adult with various experiences and abilities including special needs students.  Ms Tess has performed with various groups including the Erie Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra.

She has worked for Batavia Studios since 2005 where she teaches piano, woodwind and voice.  She strives to instill students with an inspiration for music through each student’s person success.  The positive results of this approach have been seen in response from advocators in competitive as well as non-competitive situations.

In her free time, Ms Tess enjoys arranging songs, playing piano, reading, writing literature, cooking and eating chocolate.

 

JOSH

       Josh has been playing drums and percussion for 15 years.  He plays drumset, hand percussion, marching percussion and symphonic percussion.  More specifically: congas, bongos, djembe, tabla, doumbek, timpani as well as an infinite number of traps, shakers, and noisemakers.  He recently made the jump into electronic music and has several synthesizers, filters, circuit-bent toys and effects processors.  He is in several bands around the Pittsburgh area. 

Josh has won many awards and honors while he was in middle school and high school and swept national competitions as senior drumline captain. However, he did not pursue music as a major going into college as he wanted to be a musical instrument designer.  After attending Kent State for business management and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for Product Design/Industrial Design, he is currrently in the process of building a prototype drum set that will be the flagship of his company 101 Percussion which will reinvent the concept of drums.

For more information, music news, blogs and design concepts please visit myspace.com/101percussion