Fine Arts

Music Conservatory

About the St. Cecilia Music Conservatory

The St. Cecilia Academy Conservatory of Music continues a long tradition of excellence in music under the patronage of Saint Cecilia herself, the patroness of music. Our Conservatory of Music studios are open to elementary and high school students from across the Dominican campus and surrounding areas. Our commitment to all students and families is to provide excellent training by highly competent musicians and instructors who have studied and performed with their own instruments for decades! In addition, each teacher has pursued continuing education in the best pedagogical practices worldwide and across the centuries.

The practice of music adds joy to life. Many formal studies have shown that the study of music engages the whole brain and body while building individual confidence, personal discipline, and patience. At SCA, we believe that we were born to make music! Psalm 98: 1-7 (excerpts) “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things… Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn.” Though we do not at this time have any ram’s horn instructors, we as faculty, make the following commitments:

To provide a joyful experience in the learning process
To foster mutual respect between teachers and students
To continue our own adult learning and become ever more proficient and effective teachers

All styles—Classical, Pop, Broadway, Jazz, Liturgical, and more—will be taught in the Conservatory, with the permission of each instructor and in keeping with good pedagogical practice for each student regarding age and personal progress.

SCA/OCS Student Registration

Class Offerings and Pricing

List of 7 items.

CAROL MCCLURE - THE HARP SCHOOL
Group and Private Lessons
Click HERE to learn more about this program.

K-Gr1 - The Angel’s Harp™ Beginner Group Harp
(The Angel’s Harp™ -- First Class Harp™)
12 UNITS, Term Tuition: $500
- 10 group instruction units [10 30-min group lessons -- materials included]
- 1 musical discovery unit [1 10-week parent guided listening project]
- 1 performance unit [1 recital with same-day rehearsal]
Gr2-Gr5 - Elementary School Private Harp I
(The Angel’s Harp™ Bk 1/Bk 2)
20 UNITS, Term Tuition: $1110
- 15 private instruction units [10 45-min individual lessons]
- 1 musical discovery unit [1 10-week parent-guided listening project]
- 2 group learning units [2 on-camera Starer rhythm classes]
- 2 performance units [1 ensemble rehearsal • 1 recital]
Gr2-Gr5 - Elementary School Private Harp II
(The Angel’s Harp™ Bk 3, ABRSM Grades 1-3)
20+ UNITS, Term Tuition: $1255
- 15 30-min private instruction units [10 45-min private lessons]
- 1 group learning unit [1 on-camera Starer rhythm class]
- 2 technique units [2 on-camera harp technique classes]
- 2 performance units [1 ensemble rehearsal • 1 recital]
- video performance preparation reviews as needed for ABRSM exam and competition preparation
Gr5-Gr12 Beginning Concert Harp
(The Accelerated Angel’s Harp™, ABRSM Grades 1-3)
24+ UNITS, Term Tuition: $1400
- 18 30-min private instruction units [9 60-min private lessons]
- 2 group learning units [2 on-camera Starer rhythm classes]
- 2 technique units [2 on-camera harp technique classes]
- 2 performance units [1 ensemble rehearsal • 1 recital]
- video performance preparation reviews guided by teacher for ABRSM exam and competition
Gr6-Gr12 Intermediate Concert Harp
(ABRSM Grades 4-5)
24+ UNITS, Term Tuition: $1500
- 18 30-min private instruction units [9 60-min private lessons]
- 4 technique units [4 on-camera harp technique classes]
- 2 performance units [1 ensemble rehearsal • 1 recital]
- video performance preparation reviews guided by teacher for ABRSM exams and competitions
- additional ensemble and solo performance opportunities throughout the community
Gr6-Gr12 Advanced Concert Harp
(ABRSM Grades 6-8)
25+ UNITS, Term Tuition: $1600
- 20 30-min private instruction units [10 60-min private lessons]
- 3 performance preparation units [3 online performance classes]
- 2 performance units [1 ensemble rehearsal • 1 recital]
- video performance preparation reviews guided by teacher for ABRSM exams and competitions
- additional ensemble and solo performance opportunities throughout the community
GUITAR OR UPRIGHT BASS

Private Lessons
30 minutes x 15 weeks = $628
45 minutes x 15 weeks = $862
PIANO

Private and Group Lessons
30 minutes x 15 weeks = $628
45 minutes x 15 weeks = $862
60 minutes group lessons x 15 weeks = $518
SUZUKI VIOLIN PROGRAM AND VIOLIN

Private and Group Lessons
Suzuki Violin Instruction - (Levels determined by instructor)
Beginner - 30 minutes/30-minute group x 15 weeks = $737
Intermediate - 45 minutes/45-minute group x 15 weeks = $811
Advanced - 45 minutes/60-minute group x 15 weeks = $956

The 15th week concludes with a studio performance show.

Lessons are not refundable. All students must inform their coaches and club directors of their commitments immediately. For a very limited range of issues, we will try to accommodate families (such as incremental athletic tournaments that could not be forecast in advance or serious personal illness with a doctor's note.)
If school is canceled, we will work with students to reschedule lessons.

Private Lessons
30 minutes x 15 weeks = $628
45 minutes x 15 weeks = $862

Private violin instruction, without group, is available by prior permission of instructors only at the rates listed above.
60 minutes private violin = $1128
UKULELE

Private Lessons
30 minutes x 15 weeks = $628
45 minutes x 15 weeks = $862
VOICE

Private Lessons
30 minutes x 15 weeks = $628
45 minutes x 15 weeks = $862
WOODWINDS

Private Lessons
30 minutes x 15 weeks = $628
45 minutes x 15 weeks = $862

Lessons are not refundable. All students must inform their coaches and club directors of their commitments immediately. For a very limited range of issues, we will try to accommodate families (such as incremental athletic tournaments that could not be forecast in advance or serious personal illness with a doctor's note.)

If school is canceled, we will work with students to reschedule lessons.

Music Conservatory Interest Form

Conservatory Documents

Instructors

Marcina Hayden

Marcina Hayden – Piano An Indiana native, Mrs. Hayden has lived in Nashville for more than 30 years. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Belmont University, with a major in Piano Pedagogy and a minor in voice. She has been an accompanist for the children’s choirs of the W. O Smith Nashville Community Music School and Blair School of Music, as well as for local Chorister’s Guild Festivals. For the past 15+ years, she has served as Coordinator of Music at St. Ann Catholic Church, where she leads an adult choir and is a paid soloist. Prior to teaching at Overbrook Catholic School, Mrs. Hayden taught PK-8 Music & Guitar Lab and directed both an elementary and middle school choir at St. Ann Catholic School. She has sung with the Nashville Symphony Chorus, The Chapel Sessions Singers, where she also served as accompanist, and the Charles Heimmerman Chorale. As the choral director and general music teacher at Overbrook Catholic School, Mrs. Hayden brings years of liturgical, choral, vocal, Kindermusik and Orff experience to the SCA Music Lessons Program. Mrs. Hayden came to Overbrook Catholic School in 2017. She teaches music to PK3-8th grades and is music director for the school musical, the hand bell ensembles and other various musical programs.
Antonia Ferguson

Mrs. Antonia Ferguson—Private Violin (K-12), Group violin, Recording Studio Techniques, Toni Ferguson is a professional violinist with over 35 years of teaching and performing experience. She is the co-founder of the Suzuki Center of Nashville, on the faculty of the Overbrook School and the director of the St. Cecilia Academy Chamber Ensemble. She has been recognized and received twice, the Tennessee Governor’s School Outstanding Teacher Award. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Ferguson has performed in Washington, D.C. at The Kennedy Center and currently performs with regional orchestral groups, professional theatrical productions, private events, weddings, wedding receptions and charitable fundraisers. Mrs. Ferguson attended the University of South Carolina (BME 1980) and was awarded the Maria Monkton Scholarship for Music Education. She has also continued her violin teacher training through the American Suzuki Institute at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. Mrs. Ferguson and her husband Jim, have one daughter who is an accomplished violinist!
Carol McClure

Carol McClure, BA, MCM, founder/director of The Harp School learning program for beginning through professional harpists and founder/director ABRSM National Summer Harp Academy, University Lecturer in Harp, is a concert and recording harpist, competition-preparation specialist teacher, international adjudicator, composer, editor, arranger, conductor., and church musician. A harp student of Marcel Grandjany and Mildred Dilling, and a prize-winner in both concert harp and Celtic harp competitions, Carol’s career has taken her to the UK, Europe, the Caribbean, and both American continents as solo recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral player, master teacher and competition judge. With a career spanning three decades as a busy Nashville recording session musician, Carol has also produced a discography of more than twenty solo recordings, (sacred, classical, and seasonal) for both US and UK labels. Author of The Angel’s Harp™ curriculum for beginning harpists, in use around the world and recently adopted as the official harp curriculum of the Music Institute of Chicago, Carol has built a career teaching beginning through professional students, preparing them to win auditions and competitions, including coveted entries and scholarships to major conservatories in North America and the UK, principal chairs in national youth orchestras, awards and prizes in major national and international. Her students routinely win principal chairs in local youth orchestras and all-state orchestras. Carol and husband Wes Ramsay are Representatives of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools
Dawn Seidenschwarz

Mrs. Dawn Seidenschwarz—Beginning HS Piano, Organ Dawn Seidenschwarz is Organist/Choir Director for the traditional service at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Choir Organist at the Cathedral of the Incarnation and Assistant Choral Director/Accompanist at Saint Cecilia Academy. Her organist experience began as teenager in her hometown of Stuttgart, Arkansas, and she has since that time had opportunities to accompany worship and choirs in churches of many denominations and locations including Tokyo, Venice, Quebec, San Francisco, Little Rock, and for the last 30 years in Nashville. She taught piano for several years both in her hometown and at St. Cecilia Academy. Ms. Seidenschwarz earned a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Middle Tennessee State University where she studied with Dr. Polly Brecht. She holds the Service Playing and Colleague certificates from the American Guild of Organists. She is a long-time member of the Nashville Chapter of AGO and has served as secretary and on the executive committee. Most notably, she is the beloved choir accompanist for St. Cecilia Academy!
Alan Suska

Alan Suska— Private and Group Brass, Percussion and woodwind (flute, clarinet, saxophone) Alan Suska was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1980, having received an undergraduate degree in Music Education and a Masters in trumpet performance from Duquesne University, he moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. Beginning his Nashville career at Opryland, Alan has continued an extensive career as a freelance musician and teacher. Currently, Alan is principal trumpet with the Murfreesboro Symphony and the Nashville Praise Symphony along with being the first call trumpet player for several contractors in the area. As an educator, Alan has been fortunate to have taught as an adjunct professor at Tennessee Tech University, Cumberland University, Lipscomb University, Middle Tennessee State University, University of the South, Welch College, and the Blair School of Music. Recently, Alan was the Director of Instrumental Music at Pope John Paul II High School. Additionally, Mr. Suska also travels extensively serving the Lord on musical mission trips and sharing the Gospel. Currently, he is the Band Director at Overbrook School.
Deidre Fominaya Bacco

Deidre Fominaya Bacco, Private Violin, joined the Nashville Symphony in 1982. During the 32 years with the Nashville Symphony, she recorded 26 CD's, 15 Grammy nominations and 7 Grammy wins. She holds a Music Performance degree from Bowling Green State University (Ohio), and studied with Dr. Eloy Fominaya (her father), Myron Kartman, Paul Makara, and Camilla Wicks. Prior to moving to Nashville, she played with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham String Quartet, Concertmaster of the Hidden Valley Opera Company in Carmel, California, the San Jose Symphony, Monterey Symphony, the San Rafael Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico in Toluca, Mexico. She is a founding member of the Suzuki Center of Nashville, a member of the lessons faculty at St. Cecilia Academy, Overbrook School, and the W.O. Smith School, as well as assisted with Early Suzuki Childhood Education classes in East Nashville and Franklin, TN.
John Pennell

Mr. John Pennell—Private/Group Guitar, Group Ukelele John Pennell has been a member of the Overbrook/St. Cecilia lessons faculty since the Fall Semester of 2014 teaching Guitar, his primary instrument. John has a Bachelor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University(1979 Magna Cum Laude) in theory/composition with a minor concentration in Classical Guitar. In 1980, Mr. Pennell was accepted into the Master of Music program at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he received a diploma in Musical Composition and Theory. During his tenure at the U of I, John picked up the Double bass as a secondary instrument to guitar and has become proficient in performing the instrument in various ensembles and genres since. In November of 2020, John received an Emmy Award for his song ‘Backroads’, (co-written w/ Graham Edwards) as part of a PBS documentary ‘Illinois Country’ , which began airing in March of 2020. Mr. Pennell also performs with his wife Julie Pennell (Julie and John Pennell) and they have released two albums worth of mostly original material. John was born in rural, east central Illinois, about two hours south of Chicago. He has lived in Nashville, TN since 1996 where he has pursued a career in songwriting. John was the original bass player in Union Station with Alison Krauss.
Matt Davich

Graduate of Ball State University(1978), Opryland theme park shows(1978-96), Woodwind doubler (clarinet, flute/piccolo,saxophone,recorders, oboe), Performed in pit orchestra for over 100 professional musicals at TPAC and other locations, 200+ performances with Nashville Symphony (pops and classical) on saxophone and clarinet, TV and recording sessions, Nashville Jazz Machine, Nashville Jazz Orchestra, Chamber music and free-lance orchestra performances, 100’s of wedding ceremonies/classical and receptions/jazz&pop, Adjunct faculty- Tennessee State U, Austin Peay St U, MTSU, Taught over 300 private students (gr 5-12)
Megan Calgaro

Megan Calgaro is a Nashville-based vocalist originally from Wisconsin. She is a recent alumna of Belmont University, where she earned her Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy. Prior to her graduate studies, she completed a certification program in Vocology from Lamar University. She also received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, where she double majored in Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education. She has successfully directed choral ensembles of varying ages and voice types, maintained a private voice studio, directed a traveling opera production, and remained an active performer of both opera and musical theatre. Recent roles she’s performed include Edith (The Pirates of Penzance), Fifi (The Merry Widow), Kate (Legally Blonde: The Musical), and the Queen of the Night / Papagena (The Magic Flute). Calgaro has been a member of the lessons faculty at St. Cecilia Academy Conservatory of Music since the fall of 2024.
Justin Alcorn

Born and raised in Ohio, Mr. Justin has called Nashville home for the past seven years. With a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Lipscomb University, Mr. Justin brings a strong foundation in classical music to his teaching. Currently in his third year of teaching at St. Cecilia's, he has consistently demonstrated his ability to foster the growth of young musicians. Prior to his current position, he gained valuable teaching experience while pursuing his degree, working with a variety of students from beginners to intermediate levels. Additionally, his previous role as accompanist for the Willow Oak Center for Arts and Learning's Adult and Children's choirs has further honed his musical skills and understanding of various genres. While Mr. Justin specializes in classical piano, he has a versatile repertoire that includes musical theater, pop, and jazz. His approach to teaching is collaborative and supportive, believing that learning is a journey best traveled together.