In My Backyard

Maggie Speier, director
violin, viola, piano

Maggie has been teaching privately (see Speierstudio.com)  for twenty years, and in schools in New York, New Jersey and Texas, currently at the Learning Center in Clifton, NJ.  She has degrees in Viola Performance from the University of Michigan and Manhattan School of Music. She completed long term teacher training in the Suzuki Method, and enjoys integrating different approaches to teaching music.

Jasper Lewis
guitar, bass guitar, Garage Band

Jasper was brought up in his own (with two younger siblings) year round "backyard music camp", studying violin, piano, and guitar. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Sound Recording Technology and Jazz Guitar from Duquesne University, and is an in-demand teacher at Empire Music in Pittsburgh. He was a counselor at the National Guitar Workshop in Connecticut and at Duquesne's Summer Guitar and Bass Workshop, and is a registered EMT. 

Sharon Snyder
dance

Sharon is a graduate of the University of the N.C. School of the Arts, as a ballet major. She has studied under the tutelage of N.Y. City Ballet's Balanchine Ballerina, Melissa Hayden. Ms. Snyder has performed leading roles in the Nutcracker, Four Temperaments, and Concerto Barocco, among others. Other training includes: The Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She is presently teaching Ballet, Tap, and Creative Movement at the Leonia Recreation Center.