Vicki Gray owns and directs the Gray School of Music. She founded the Gray School of music and has taught piano for 40 years. She has a Masters of Music from Southern Methodist University and has done doctoral studies in piano at the University of North Texas. Mrs. Gray is a distinguished and accomplished composer. Compositions have included five children’s fairy tale operettas; MUSIC FOR MINORS, a method for preschool music; and articles in professional journals and newsletters. Mrs. Gray is an expert on musical technology and motivational techniques. Her students have been winners in competitions at Baylor University, Dallas Piano Solo Competition, Dallas Symphonic, DMTA Jazz Festival, at the state level in the Texas Music Teachers Association Solo Performance Competition, and McKinney Young Artist Competition. Mrs. Gray has been awarded a Permanent Professional Certificate by the National Music Teachers Association and has been listed in Who’s Who of American Women. She is the mother of three children, all of whom attended music conservatories and obtained doctorate degrees in piano performance. Jenni has a Bachelor of Piano Performance from Eastman School of Music, Master of Music from the University of Texas, and Doctorate from the University of Houston. Julie has a Bachelors and Masters of Piano Performance at Eastman School of Music and a doctorate from the University of Texas. Justin earned a Bachelor in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School, a Masters of Music in Piano Performance from Southern Methodist University, and a doctorate of Piano Performance at the University of North Texas. Mrs. Gray enjoys gardening, cooking, and playing with her six grandchildren. Her husband, Haskell, is owner of a consulting and representation firm for advanced computer networking.

Reuben (Ben) Allred was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he began the study of piano at age 11.  He began teaching private piano lessons at the age of 18 under the supervision of Keith Snell, and has since been teaching students of all ages from the beginner through the advanced levels.  Studying with Gregory Allen, he received both a Bachelors and Masters degree in performance from the University of Texas at Austin where he held scholarship and a Teaching Assistantship.  In this capacity, Reuben studied group piano pedagogy under Martha Hilley, and private piano pedagogy with Sophia Gilmson.  Reuben currently studies at the University of North Texas under Pamela Mia Paul, and is pursuing both a Doctoral Degree and an Artist Certificate.  Mr. Allred has also received training from Leon Fleischer, John Perry, Paul Badura-Skoda, Nelita True, Timothy Lovelace, Krassimira Jordan, Carol Leone, Yves Henri, and Frank Heneghan.  Reuben is an active teacher in the Dallas/Forth Worth area, and along with his large studio at the Gray School of Music also maintains a studio at the Lonestar Music Academy in Flower Mound, and has several private students in Denton.  Recently he traveled to Guangzhou, China, to teach and perform chamber music with fellow students and UNT professors at the South China University of Technology.  A prolific transcriber, many of Reuben's transcriptions have been premiered in Texas, including his own performance of his transcription of Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for the Lewisville Lake Symphony International Chamber Series.  As an active performer and collaborator, Reuben has been involved with such groups as the Dallas Festival of Modern Music, the American Repertory Ensemble, the UNT NOVA Ensemble, and the UNT Center for Chamber Music Studies.  From 2004-2007, he was the principal pianist for the UT Austin New Music Ensemble directed by Dr. Dan Welcher, where Reuben worked closely with contemporary composers such as George Crumb, James MacMillan, Melinda Wagner, and Christopher Theofanidis to premiere or perform new chamber works.  Reuben was a winner in the 2008 UNT concerto competition which included a performance with the UNT symphony orchestra.  His other interests include jazz, composition, and reading.

Charlene Bell began her piano studies at age 5 in her hometown, El Paso, TX. She grew up as piano accompanist for various churches in the Korean community, where she also began her teaching experience. In 2005, Ms. Bell moved to Dallas, TX to study with Alfred Mouledous at Southern Methodist University, and graduated in 2009 with a Bachelors of Piano Performance. Ms. Bell’s students have participated and won prizes in Dallas Solo Competition and other festivals in the DFW area. She has done work in educational programs for Dallas Opera and Dallas Chamber Players. She teaches Early Childhood Music at Schreiber Methodist Preschool, and is the accompanist of the Children’s Chorus of Collin County. Ms. Bell enjoys road trips, riding her bicycle, and spending time with her horse, Ally.

Dr. Juliette Gray Flanagin graduated Cum Laude from the Hockaday School and earned Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Applied Piano from the Eastman School of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from theUniversity of Texas at Austin. Her teachers include Nancy Garrett, Fernando Laires, Anton Nel, Dr. Donna O’Steen Edwards, and Tong-il Han. She has performed in master classes with Malcolm Bilson, Rebecca Penneys, and Peter Tackas. She first began playing the piano at age 4 and performed her debut solo recital at age 15. An active performer, she has played numerous solo, chamber, and collaborative recitals throughout the United States, was a guest recital soloist at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas and was featured as a guest recitalist at the Mu Phi Epsilon Library Series and the Salon concerts in Dallas and at the Central Arts Series at Central Presbyterian Church in Waxahachie, Texas. She has served as staff vocal accompanist at Dallas Baptist University. She also accompanied for the Dallas based choral ensemble Sacred Song and has performed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Italy and the Dallas area with the ensemble. In addition to solo and ensemble work, Dr. Flanagin also freelances as a vocal and instrumental collaborative artist and is an active adjudicator for area piano festivals.

Dr. Flanagin has been teaching private, partner, and group lessons for almost 20 years, maintaining a private studio in Dallas,Texas, Austin, Texas, and Rochester, New York. She studied piano pedagogy with Tony Caramia at the Eastman School of Music and Martha Hilley and Sophia Gilmson at the University of Texas at Austin. Her pupils range from age 4 to adult and she has had winners in the Dallas Jazz Festival and TMTA Composition Competition. She taught group piano class at the University of Texas at Austin, served as an assistant teacher at the UT High School Piano Camp, and maintained a studio at the Gray School of Music. An award winning teacher, she received the Texas Excellence in Teaching Award for Teaching Assistants for her instruction of class piano at the University of Texas at Austin. Active in a variety of organizations, Dr. Flanagin was one of the founding members of the Hockaday orchestra, served as President of the Mu Phi Epsilon Fraternity at the Eastman School of Music, represented the Eastman Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon at their national convention and served as the President of the MTNA chapter at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Flanagin also led a group presentation on the format of studio performance class at the MTNA National Convention in Minneapolis. Dr. Flanagin began teaching early childhood music in 2003 where she joined the staff of Park Cities Baptist Church to lead the sacred curriculum for two-year olds. Currently, Dr. Flanagin maintains a private piano studio and is an active adjudicator and performer in the Dallas area. She lives in the Dallas area with her husband, Lewis, and three children, Brendan, Jeremy and Sarah.

Ana Maria Gomez Ferstl completed a Master of Music degree in piano performance at Southern Methodist University where she received a full scholarship (Meadows Artistic Scholarship) and studied with Dr. Carol Leone and Bachelor of music in piano performance at the University of Miami, where she was awarded the Bertha Foster Scholarship and studied with J.B. Floyd. She has been a member of the “National Society of Collegiate Scholars” since 2005.

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Ms. Gomez Ferstl began the study of piano at age 9. As a student of Maria de Fatima Geraldes, she continued her studies at the National Conservatory of Music where she also studied viola and was a member of the conservatory orchestra. She won top prizes repeatedly at the yearly “Festival de Musica Latinoamericana”, including a special award for the best performance of a work by dominican composer Margarita Luna.

Ms. Gomez Ferstl participated in several festivals in summer programs, such as Chautauqua Institution, Florida State University summer piano program, the Golandsky Institute summer symposium at Princeton University, International Keyboard Institute and Festival at Mannes School of Music, Piano Texas Academy and Festival at Texas Christian University and Accademia Santoro piano masterclasses in Boiano, Italy.

She has received additional training from Anton Nel, Edna Golandsky, Joaquin Achucarro, Alessio Bax, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Kemal Gekic, Alexander Kobrin, Jose Feghali, Arthur Greene, Rebecca Penneys and others. She received chamber music coachings from Paul Posnak, Andres Diaz, Ellen Rose, Wilfred Roberts among others.

Ms. Gomez Ferstl is part of Richard Rejino’s “What Music Means to Me”, a book that celebrates the value of music in education and quality of life. She teaches piano at the Gray School of Music while continuing private studies with Dr. Carol Leone and Dr. Alex Mcdonald.

Dr. Justin Gray is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York City where he obtained a Bachelor of Piano Performance and was a student of Gyorgy Sandor, a former pupil of Bela Bartok. He completed a Masters in Piano Performance at SMU where he was granted a full artistic scholarship. Dr. Gray has been a teaching fellow at University of North Texas where he completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance in the summer, 2007. Dr. Gray has has been coached by such esteemed artists as Ian Hobson, Claude Frank, Anton Nel, Jerome Lowenthal, and Jeffrey Swan. He has studied extensively with Tong-il Han, Stephen Nielson, and Dr. Donna Edwards. Dr. Gray was the Kawai Grand Prize winnder in 2005 Palos Verdes Music Festival Competition in Los Angeles, and won the 1994 Kingsville International Competition, the 1995 Music Teacher’s Association Competition for Solo Piano, and 1996 Grace Welsh Prize for Piano,2004 Mid-Texas Symphony Competition, and 2004 Los Angeles Liszt Competition. An active teacher and performer, Dr. Gray has given frequent community performances in greater Dallas and New York City areas.

Lauren K. Harder is originally from Buffalo, New York. She began her undergraduate music studies at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College under Dr. Ray Luck and completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy at the University of Texas at Austin under Dr. Betty Mallard. She received a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at Miami University where she studied under Dr. Siok Lian Tan.

Ms. Harder pursued pedagogical studies with Sophia Gilmson and Martha Hilley at the University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Siok Lian Tan at Miami University. She became a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in December 2008. She has experience teaching students of all ages in many different settings: private lessons, theory and early childhood classes at community music schools, extra-curricular programs at a private school, university pedagogy and class piano programs, as well as in summer arts camps. Most recently, she taught at the Coppell Conservatory where she maintained a studio of 45 private students whom she regularly prepared for competitive piano performances through both Carrollton Music Teachers Association festivals and the Royal Conservatory Achievement Program.

She resides in North Dallas with her husband, Sergio Rodriguez, a classical guitarist who also teaches in the DFW area. They enjoy traveling, biking, and cooking together.

Dr. Heejung Kang Jackson was born in Seoul, Korea, and studied at the Seoul Music and Art High School for musically gifted teenagers. She graduated with the highest honors from the College of Music, Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul and later at the same university she earned her Master’s Degree in Piano, receiving the Ewha Graduate Research Fellowship Scholarship. Completing her doctoral dissertation on Rachmaninoff, she received her doctorate in Piano Performance at the College of Music at the University of North Texas in 2004. In 2002, She made a recording of “Rediscovered Lieder and Piano Pieces by Kletzki, Oppel, and Schenker,” sponsored by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jewish Federation, and College of Music at UNT. In December 2004, she performed music by Paul Kletzki, Reinhard Oppel, Arnold Mendelssohn and other composers live on Israel Radio. In November 2005, she performed solo piano music by Heinrich Schenker at the inaugural meeting of the Korean Society for Music Theory in Seoul and premiered Kletzki’s Sonata for Piano and Violin with Robert Davidovici on Korean National Radio (KBS FM1). Dr. Kang Jackson has recorded Reinhard Oppel’s solo piano music for Toccata Classics in England to be released this year. Currently an Adjunct Professor in Piano at the University of North Texas, she teaches courses in Piano Literature, Sight-reading, Score Reading, and Keyboard Harmony. She is also an active teacher of both children and adults. She has been a judge for the Lewisville Lake Symphony Young Artists Competition. She and her husband, Dr. Timothy Jackson, a professor of music theory at UNT, have two children, Daniel and Anna Sarah.

Xiao-Bo Chen Nestler is the recipient of the Performer’s Certificate and holds an Artist Diploma in Piano Performance from Texas Christian University and a Masters of Piano Performance from UNT. She has taught for five years at Gray School of Music She has experience in teaching all age levels, from young children through adults. Mrs. Nestler won the concerto competition at North Texas this year as well as second place in the TMTA State Competition. She has recently performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City as a winner of the Steinway Competition. She enjoys traveling with her husband Eric who is a world reknowned saxophonist and professor of saxophone at UNT.

Dr. Rinna Saun is a nationally certified teacher of piano. She earned the doctorate in piano performance from the University of North Texas studying with Dr. Pamela Paul. While at UNT, she was a teaching fellow in class piano and accompanying. She received her bachelors degree from the University of Maryland with Dr. Nelita True, and her masters degree from the Mannes College of Music in NY with Richard Goode. Her performances have been heard in halls from New York to Oregon. She is the recipient of first prize from the New-York Korea Times Competition and the American Music Scholarship Association Competition. Her playing has been featured on NPR and she was a guest performer at the Gracie Mansion in New York. Dr. Saun has training in the Dorothy Taubman technique as well as the technique Abby Whiteside describes in her book, the Indispensables of Piano Playing. From 2006-8, performances include Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor K. 466, and the J.S. Bach Keyboard Concerto in D minor, with freelance chamber musicians from the Dallas area.

Paula Schear has been teaching piano since 1987 and has been teaching at the Gray School of Music since 1995. After obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education with an emphasis in piano from California State University, Fresno, Mrs. Schear earned a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Southern Methodist University. Andreas Werz, Alfred Mouledous, and Sheila Paige have been her piano instructors at the universities and beyond. Schear has attended and performed in master classes in California, Texas and Austria. She also enjoys incorporating her conducting and vocal experiences into teaching piano. Mrs. Schear has attended many seminars and conventions to enrich her teaching expertise. Hearing students perform in festivals gives her the joy of encouraging students and their teachers in their piano study. A few of her performance achievements include overall winner of the Fresno Women’s Symphony League Concerto Competition and recipient of the Meadows School of the Arts Artistic Scholarship. Mrs. Schear is listed in Who’s Who of American Women. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son, Nobel and Isaac.

Youjoo Son started playing piano when she was 6 years old. She has been teaching and playing as a soloist and an accompanist for 12 years. She specially studied Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Sam Holland and taught various level of students in the Piano Preparatory Department of SMU. She graduated Dong-a University in Korea with bachelor degree of Piano Performance, and she won the Concerto Competition in the University in 2000. She finished Piano Performance Certificate program from University of Texas at Arlington, where she received Area Keyboard Award in 2008. She gained a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Southern Methodist University where she was a recipient of Meadows Artistic Scholarship and Fellow, and studied under Dr. Carole Leone. She performed in master classes with Joaquin Achucarro, Rebecca Penneys, and Uwe Balser. Now she has been studying Piano Performance DMA in University of North Texas under Gustavo Romero.

Branda Tan was born in Malaysia. Starting at the age of 7, she entered for the music exams offered by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and completed all 8 levels of graded exams in piano, violin, and music theory. She then studied at The Malaysian Institute of Arts (MIA) with a major in piano and a minor in violin. In 2001, Branda earned an Associate in Recital in Solo Piano through the Trinity International Examination Board under the Trinity College London. She was also awarded an Achievement Award by the Music Department at MIA, and graduated with distinction. In December 2004, Branda graduated cum laude from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Music in Music History and Music Literature. While studying at UNT, she was a student of internationally renowned pianist Mr. Adam Wodnicki. She was also the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, including the Multicultural Scholastic Award, the Academic Achievement Award, and the Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Musicology Honor. Branda was later offered a teaching assistantship by the UNT department of Music History. She completed the Master of Music degree at UNT in May 2008 with a Master Thesis on Franz Liszt’s “Swiss” volume of Anneé de Pelèrinage. Branda has many years of experience as a piano and violin instructor to students of all ages and levels. She also accompanies many vocalists and solo instrumentalists at recitals.

Margareta Wesolowska earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, Summa cum Laude, from Oklahoma City University, and a Masters of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Southern Methodist University where she studied with Alfred Mouledous and where she was the recipient of the Meadow’s Artistic Scholarship Award. She is a member of Phi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. Ms. Wesolowska has taught piano since 1989 and has experience in teaching children and adults. She joined the Gray School of Music faculty in 2001. She has also taught private and group piano lessons at the SMU Piano Preparatory Department for two years as well as in Oklahoma City and Sweden.

Dr. Eri Yoshimura , born in Osaka, Japan, earned a music education degree from Shinshu University before moving to Denton, Texas. There, she obtained Master’s and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from the University of North Texas under Dr. Pamela Mia Paul with a related field in Music and Medicine under Dr. Kris Chesky.

Dr. Yoshimura’s scholarly research has focused on understanding and preventing piano-related medical problems. Her research papers were published in the Medical Problems of Performing Artists journal 2006 and 2008 and in the MTNA E-journal 2009. Her dissertation focused on the possible application of an ergonomically modified keyboard (a narrower-sized keyboard) for reducing piano-related pain among small-handed pianists. In April 2006, she performed on the 15/16-sized keyboard in one of her doctoral degree recitals; this performance marked this keyboard’s concert premiere. She has presented her research in conferences at Aspen (PAMA), Chicago (NCKP), Serbia (EPTA) and England (RNCM). She won the research scholarship in 2008 and was featured in the university homepage/magazine and the TV news.

Dr. Yoshimura has performed solo and four-hands recitals in USA (including Hawaii), Japan, Mexico, and Hungary (Franz Liszt International Festival). She and Hungarian pianist, Emöke Ujj, released their first album together, “Contemporary Piano Music for Four Hands”, which contains the works by four living composers. All compositions in this album were specifically composed for Emöke and Eri.

Dr. Yoshimura's Web site is www.dolcedolcemusic.com