Go MAC Band
Private Lesson Teachers
Andrew Dobos, Percussion Teacher
Maryland-native Andrew Dobos (b. 1991) is a percussionist, composer and educator, currently living in Austin, TX. Andrew has performed both internationally and locally as an ensemble member and soloist, with notable performances in Vienna, Prague, The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, The Long Center for Performing Arts, and The Music Center at Strathmore. Andrew is a founding member of The Kraken Quartet, an Austin-based percussion group that tours internationally, and has performed with Sō Percussion, Dirty Projectors, TTNG, and El Ten Eleven. Their debut LP, “Separate | Migrate” was released in 2017 to critical acclaim. Their EP “Backdrop” was released in 2020.
Andrew is the founder of Modded Marimba, a video series dedicated to performances and improvisations using an electric marimba with effect pedals. Andrew is the Assistant Director of the Austin Samba School, the largest escola de samba outside of Brazil, and is an annual attendee of the California Brazil Camp. As an educator Andrew is the Director of Percussion at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, and coaches Brazilian ensembles at high schools throughout the city of Austin. He is the director of the Austin Percussion Festival, and the director of Samba Beats Music Camp.
M.M. Percussion Performance, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
B.M. Percussion Performance, Ithaca College Whalen School of Music
Contact info: andrewrdobos@gmail.com
Victor Battista, Clarinet Teacher
Victor Battista is an instrumentalist and music educator from New York's Hudson Valley. He has earned degrees in music education and music performance with a minor in conducting from music schools in Indiana and Texas. Victor has had the pleasure of performing concerts as a fellow with The United States Air Force Band JBAB and The Chautauqua Festival Orchestra. He has also performed as substitue clarinetist with The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and The Central Texas Philharmonic, and is on substitue lists with The West Point Band and The United States Air Force Band JBAB. He has been a finalist in professional auditions for The West Point Band, The “Pershing’s Own” US Army Concert Band, and in international music competitions. Victor most recently won first prize in the 2023 “World’s Best Musicians” International Music Competition. His musical goals are to provide his students with an appreciation for music that they can take with them after high school, regardless of their career paths. He plans to show how capable his students are of success and learning through the pacing and delivery of his feedback.
Contact info: victorbattista812@gmail.com
Seetha Shivaswamy, Flute Teacher
Seetha Shivaswamy is a passionate flutist, educator, and recording artist. Her flute playing is featured on several movie soundtracks, video games, PBS documentaries, and TV commercials for the Super Bowl, UNICEF, and United Nations. She is a faculty artist with Austin Chamber Music Center, maintains an active private flute studio, and offers Yoga for Musicians workshops for several arts organizations. Seetha holds a Master of Music Degree from The University of Texas at Austin, a certificate in contemporary flute technique and improvisation from her studies in Spain with Wil Offermans, and a 500 hr RYT yoga certification with Colleen & Rodney Yee in NYC.
www.austinflute.com / www.posesforthepracticeroom.com
Contact info: seetha@austinflute.com
Wayne Myers, Trombone Teacher
Wayne Myers is an active freelance trombonist and teacher based in Austin, TX. Wayne has performed with dozens of groups of nearly all genres, including Star Parks, The Stingers ATX, Austin Musical Theatre Orchestra, Bobby Patterson, Sly Curtis, Tony Campise Big Band, Nash Hernandez Orchestra, Urban Achievers Brass Band, Lynval Golding (The Specials), The Killer Bees, and Golden Arm Trio. He has toured Europe several times with The Stingers ATX, Contra-Coup, and Jamaican legends Laurel Aitken and Doreen Shaffer (of The Skatalites). His U.S. tours with Golden Arm Trio and The Stingers ATX have taken him everywhere from dive bars to the Kennedy Center (D.C.) to the Knitting Factory (NYC) to Chicago Public Radio. Guest performances include Big Star, The Walkmen, Broken Social Scene, Spoon (Austin City Limits Festival and the ACL television broadcast), Grupo Fantasma, The Temptations Review, DJEA (Berlin), The Black Diamonds (London), Menotti HiFi (Muenster, Germany), Manhattan Transfer, Ballet Austin, and the Austin Chamber Music Festival Orchestra with Maestro Peter Bay. Wayne was also a featured solo recitalist for Austin’s Golden Hornet Project’s concert series.
Wayne earned his master’s degree in trombone performance at Penn State University, where he was the first music major to receive the University Graduate Fellowship. While at Penn State, he was assistant conductor of the brass choir and trombone choir and a lecturer in music history and brass pedagogy. Wayne also teaches private lessons at public schools and fine arts academies in the Austin area. You can find Wayne's full bio and playing samples at www.waynemyerstrombone.com
512-586-8225 waynemyers111@yahoo.com
Chris Gonzales, Bassoon Teacher
Chris Gonzalez is a freelance musician serving the southeast United States. A native of Orlando, FL, he currently resides in Austin, TX where he teaches a full-time bassoon studio of over 40 middle and high school students.
A passionate educator, Chris has been teaching private bassoon lessons for over 10 years. He’s held positions as a graduate teaching assistant in bassoon, a highly-effective rated music & art teacher in the state of Florida, and a high school marching band technician. He was featured as a guest clinician in bassoon at Rollins College.
As a professional bassoonist and contrabassoonist, he’s performed with the Northwest Florida Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, Panama City Pops, and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestras. Additionally, he has performed in a variety of musicals as a woodwind doubler.
As a soloist, he was awarded grand prize at the First Coast Wind Symphony Concerto Competition performing the Mozart bassoon concerto. The Tampa Bay Symphony awarded him as the sole woodwind finalist two years in a row performing the Mozart and Hummel bassoon concerti.
He has attended Florida State University, Louisiana State University, McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, and Lynn Conservatory of Music. His primary teachers include Jeff Keesecker, Darrel Hale, Stéphane Lévesque, Whitney Crockett, and Ashley Heintzen. Awarded fellowships, he has attended the National Music Festival, National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, and Orford Musique.
Contact info: chrisgonzalezofficial@gmail.com
Laura Malloy, Percussion Teacher
Lauren Molloy (she/her) is a percussionist and educator based in the Austin area and an alumni of the McCallum Fine Arts Academy. She seeks to actively promote new music for percussion and steelpan by collaborating with living composers, commissioning new works, and performing both as a solo artist and with her duo, Larkspur Percussion. Lauren aims to enrich her students’ relationship with music through accessible applications of music theory and the inclusion of other non-classical percussive art forms in her teaching.
Lauren performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in 2015 with McCallum High School and in 2017 with the University of Kansas West African Drum Ensemble. While an avid percussionist, she continues to specialize performing on steelpan and has played alongside artists such as Andy Akiho and Jonathan Scales.
While at McCallum, Lauren performed on marimba as a member of the front ensemble as a freshman and then joined the snare line the following year.
At the University of Kansas, Lauren studied with Dr. Michael Compitello and Dr. Scott Murphy, earning degrees in Music Performance (BM) and Music Theory (BM). This fall, Lauren will begin her study as graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin studying music theory.
Contact info: lmolloy.music@gmail.com
Dr. Matt Maldonado, Saxophone Teacher
Dr. Matt Maldonado is a top-call saxophonist and music educator that currently resides in
Austin, Texas. He is best known for being a versatile multi-instrumentalist that keeps a busy
schedule performing numerous styles as a side man, a pit musician for Broadway, or a band
leader with his high-energy quartet, the Matt Maldonado Experience. Also keep a look out for
his latest project with the Waxahachie Horns.
Dr. Maldonado has performed with numerous musicians such as Seth James, Butch Miles, Doug Lawrence, Randy Brecker, Bill Waltrous, Paquito D'Rivera, Conrad Herwig, Wayne
Bergeron, Claudio Roditi, Bob Mintzer, Vincent Herring, Kirk Covington, Andre Hayward, The
Temptations, The Four Tops, Austin Symphony, Victoria Symphony, and the Corpus Christi
Symphony. He has also performed at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and
the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.
As an educator, Dr. Maldonado has given masterclasses on classical and jazz performance at
various universities and high schools across Texas. He currently holds a private studio
consisting of saxophone, flute and clarinet students of all levels. During his time at the
University of Texas, he served as the director of the Jazz Ensemble, private lesson instructor and combo coach. Dr. Maldonado earned his bachelor’s degree in Music Performance in Jazz from Texas State University and both Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. While attending the University of Texas, he earned the Eleanor Stribling Award for Excellence in Jazz Performance.
Contact info: maldonadomusic30@gmail.com
Connor Korioth, Tuba & Euphonium Teacher
Connor Korioth is a current graduate level student studying Music Performance at the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated from Texas Christian University in the spring of 2022, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. Mr. Korioth has been named runner-up for the Principal Tuba Position of the Round Top Music Festival, and has been named a semi-finalist for several professional auditions, including the Phoenix Symphony, U.S Air Force Band of Mid-America, and the U.S Air Force Ceremonial Brass. Most recently, Mr. Korioth earned third prize in the ITEC Arnold Jacobs Mock Orchestral Competition. He has also been named a semi-finalist in Tuba Artist division of the Leonard Falcone Solo Competition. As an educator, Mr. Korioth has led several masterclasses and maintains a private studio of both high school and middle school tuba and euphonium students throughout the Austin metroplex. His primary teachers include Charles Villarrubia, Richard Murrow, and Dr. Clay Garrett. In his free time, Mr. Korioth enjoys traveling, hiking, fishing, and playing disc golf.
Contact Info:
512-971-5799
connorkorioth20@gmail.com