Gene Nastri School Faculty

Anne Rose Bergsma, voice, received her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Voice from the University of Washington. She has sung opera, oratorio, Gilbert and Sullivan and concert repertoire in the northwest, the southwest, and Germany. Anne is an adjunct instructor at Northwest University in Kirkland and  also teaches voice at the Bellevue School of Music. She is the Director of Traditional Music at Redmond Presbyterian Church.

Brian Crisafulli, traditional and Suzuki violin, Scottish fiddling, has received training in the Suzuki violin method from the Chicago Suzuki Institute, and in Scottish fiddling from the Ohio Scottish Arts School in Oberlin, Ohio, and the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle School in Boulder Creek, California. He has degrees in counseling (M.Ed.), teaching (M.A.T.), and zoology (B.S.). Brian has served as leader and violinist with Scottish dance bands, as solo violinist for dance classes and Scottish dance workshops, and as a teacher of Scottish fiddling and classical violin playing. 

​Loreen Petty, violin, viola, began studying violin at the age of nine with Gene Nastri in Everett.  After graduating high school she attended Northwest Nazarene University and, while a student, played second violin with the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, and studied with Karen Krout, the orchestra concertmaster.  After earning a Bachelors degree in violin performance, Loreen returned to Seattle in 1983 and continued her music studies on viola with Eric Shumsky at the University of Washington and Irwin Eisenberg of the Philadelphia String Quartet.

Loreen earned an A.A.S. degree in biotechnology and currently works for 
​a biopharmaceutical company in Bothell.  She enjoys occasional work on violin and viola as a freelance player in the Seattle area.  She was a member of the Sylvan String Quartet for twelve years, and a member of the Bellevue Philharmonic for six years, performing as section violist and substituting as principal violist for one concert.  Loreen has served as principal violist with Civic Light Opera, Village Theatre, Olympic Ballet, Northwest Symphony, and Emerald City Philharmonic, and as a section player with the Federal Way Philharmonic and Juneau Symphony.  Loreen was the conductor of the Mukilteo Community Orchestra for 2 years and directed a church choir for several years.
 
As part of the GNS faculty, Loreen teaches private violin, viola, and beginning piano lessons to students of all ages. She enjoys ensemble work and often organizes large ensembles to perform on student recitals, where she also accompanies her students on piano.  

Christopher Foerstel, viola, violin, started learning the violin at age 9, and found his love for the viola while attending Central Washington University. After spending two years in California studying with Don Erlich of the San Francisco Symphony, Chris moved back to the Pacific Northwest. Currently, he plays as principal violist of the Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island as well as the Federal Way Symphony, and
performs on both violin and viola with the 5th Avenue Theatre, the Village Theatre, and the Seattle Rock Orchestra.
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Not strictly a classical musician, Chris has recorded with such Pacific
Northwest artists as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Blake Lewis, and performed with touring groups Il Divo, Trans Siberian Orchestra, and DJ Spooky. A former faculty member of the Evergreen Music Festival and Orchestral Coach for Tacoma Youth Symphony, Chris now keeps a small studio of private students.

Eli Weinberger, cello (not currently available)
In demand for recordings, solo engagements, and as a leader in local ensembles, Eli embraces the uniquely dynamic world of a freelance musician. Since obtaining his Masters and Post Masters performance degrees at McGill University, Eli has performed with a wide variety of internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles from pianist Menahem Pressler to pop group Macklemore, and has appeared on and recorded for television shows, film scores, video games, albums, music videos and commercials. During the pandemic, he founded the recording studio C Monster Music, and has kept busy with various recording projects. Eli is principal cellist of the North Corner Chamber Orchestra, (NOCCO) as well as the Northwest Symphony Orchestra. As a teacher, he currently maintains a small studio of dedicated students.

​Tim Pizzichemi, cello (not currently available), completed his Bachelor's of Music Performance at the University of Texas at Austin, Butler School of Music and his Master’s of Music Performance at Southern Methodist University, Meadows School of the Arts. Tim has performed in several orchestras in the states of Texas and Washington since 2012. Some of these orchestras include Plano Symphony, Round Rock Symphony, Federal Way Symphony, Bellevue Ballet Orchestra, Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, and Saratoga Chamber Orchestra. Tim has also performed as a soloist playing concertos by Dvorák and Haydn with orchestras in the Pacific Northwest. He has recently moved back to the Seattle area and has enjoyed coaching chamber music with organizations such as Emerald City Chamber Music Organization and Seattle Chamber Music Society. Tim also spends a great deal of time teaching young cellists and also serving as a coach and mentor for music students with the Northshore School District. His passion for music was nurtured from a very young age and has shaped his life since childhood. 

Rowan Skye, guitar, ukulele, has been teaching music lessons since he was high school. A current honor student at the University of Washington, Rowan is pursuing a career in architectural design as well as in construction management. He has recently been making a name for himself on YouTube and Spotify for his musical explorations and singing impressions. He has already studied many instruments, as well as learning to sing and produce. Rowan has played in school and youth orchestras (as a cellist) and bands (as a drummer, guitarist, and bassist) and has had opportunities in those groups to do musical tours of some of Europe's magnificent performance halls. From a diverse knowledge of instruments and musical genres, Rowan presents a unique curriculum that teaches people how to feel, connect, and resonate with the power of music.

Kristi Wiant, flute, piano, Kristi was interested in music at a young age. She enjoyed playing both the flute and piano. Her years of teaching private lessons lead her to continue her education later in life at Shoreline Community College and the University of Washington. At the UW, Kristi studied flute under Felix Skowronik and, after graduation, she continued private flute studies with Klaus Liebetanz until 2016.  At Shoreline Community College, Kristi studied private piano under Helena Azevedo and various faculty at the University of Washington. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2006 with a BA in Music and continued study in piano pedagogy with Judy Baker through Western Washington University.  Kristi has been teaching private lessons for the past 25 years and currently has flute and piano studios in Lynnwood and Mukilteo. She is choir accompanist for North Creek Presbyterian Church in Mill Creek and an occasional accompanist for voice classes at Shoreline Community College. She is a member of the Mukilteo Community Orchestra   And is a member of the Seattle Flute Society and the Snohomish County Music Teachers Association. Kristi is the President of the Board of Directors of Gene Nastri Community School of the Arts and serves on the faculty as a flute and piano teacher. ​

Julie Buetow, clarinet,  grew up in a musical family and earned a degree in clarinet performance from Western Washington University. Julie performed with the Seattle Youth Symphony for five years and since then, has played for numerous local performing ensembles, most recently including Philharmonia Northwest, Cascade Symphony, and Seattle Wind Symphony. She has also played for the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society and the Cascadian Wind Quintet. Her teachers have included Eugene Zoro (Western Washington University), Christopher Sereque (Seattle Symphony), Laura DeLuca (Seattle Symphony), and Jennifer Nelson (Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra). Julie enjoys playing chamber music, and has performed in a number of small ensemble concerts for Philharmonia Northwest and Cascade Symphony. As a teacher, Julie has taught private clarinet lessons to young students and coached the Everett Youth Symphony clarinet section. She also volunteered in Everett and Mukilteo elementary schools as a coach for general music recorder classes, and taught a multi-age recorder class for a private school in Woodinville. 
Julie started as Director of the Gene Nastri School in May 2020, after serving on various Seattle area arts organization boards. Before that, she worked for Boeing Commercial Airplanes for eleven years as a technical aide, technical writer, and database programmer. She and her husband have three teenagers, who also play musical instruments. 

​Ian Mengedoht, saxophone,  is an experienced saxophonist and educator based in Seattle. He grew up immersed in Seattle’s vibrant and diverse jazz scene, while also participating in various big band competitions on the regional and national level. While studying at the University of Washington, he also became a member of Seattle’s expanding Brass Band community, and became an instrument repair technician at Metropolitan Music. He has played around the world with artists like Bill Frisell, Cuong Vu, Meshell Ndegeocello, Wynton Marsalis, and Stomu Takeishi.
 
As an educator, Ian has taught students of all ages. With an emphasis on improvisation and learning from both manuscripts and recordings, his students are exposed to a variety of styles. Most importantly, students are encouraged to focus on the music they love most, not just the music they play at school or in community bands.

Rebecca Herivel, low brass, voice, piano, is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and arts educator.  Born and raised in a musical family, she appeared on her first recording at age 5 and began formally studying music at age 7, and went on to study piano, low brass, and voice.  She sang with the Seattle Children’s Chorus for ten years, touring in Europe, South America, and across the US. She graduated from Edmonds-Woodway High School where she played euphonium and trombone in the award-winning Wind Symphony and Jazz Ensemble I, performed at the Essentially Ellington competition in New York City, and appearing at State Solo and Ensemble for brass and voice each year.  She studied musical theater at the University of Washington, where she sang in Chamber Singers directed by Dr. Geoffery Boers, with whom she toured the Baltics, appearing at the 2013 Latvian Song Festival.  She has taught private lessons since 2016, and also works as a professional actor and voiceover artist, appearing in multiple film and theater productions throughout the Seattle area.  She performs regularly as a featured artist with the Great Bend Chorale, and appeared on their recording of “Borders” (John Muehleisen) which placed second for the 2020 American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award.  She is a teaching artist with Dandylyon Drama (Shoreline, WA) and Studio East (Kirkland, WA) and has served as the cantor at Pointe of Grace Lutheran Church in Mukilteo since 2015.
 

Willow Goodine, trombone, euphonium, piano, composition, has played music for over 30 years and is influenced heavily by jazz and improvisational music. Willow composes and arranges original music that has been played by professional orchestras including the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Rock Orchestra and also has movie credits on IMDb for scores he created, conducted, and produced professionally. He also orchestrates music for west coast theaters and various northwest orchestras.

Currently, Willow is keyboardist and songwriter in his original Seattle-based jazz/funk/groove fusion band, Swindler. Willow plays multiple keyboards in the group and has developed an arsenal of sonic weapons and keyboard wizardry and provides textural backdrops, menacing funky clav riffs, percussive organ, and punchy Rhodes. He also composes and arranges originals and mixes audio for the band. Swindler follows an extensive touring schedule across the West Coast, Canada, and Alaska and performs regularly in the Puget Sound area.

Starting with piano as his first instrument, Willow went on to study trombone in college and received his Bachelor of Music in Composition from the University of Maine in 2001 (Magna Cum Laude). He then continued to perform all over New England and Canada in pit bands, big bands, and also as a solo pianist. A Canadian native, Willow moved to Seattle in 2011 to pursue a music career and received his Master’s Degree in Film Scoring from the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute. Willow also plays other brass instruments including euphonium (baritone), trumpet, and horn, and also plays organ, contemporary/jazz keyboards, mandolin, guitar, and has served as a vocal coach. Willow has taught private music lessons in his studio for the better part of 15 years. He is also the Director of the Portland Youth Rock Orchestra and Seattle-Tacoma's Pacific Youth Rock Orchestra, held at the Federal Way School of Music studio location.
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When he is not practicing, teaching, listening to, or performing music, Willow enjoys traveling to new destinations, crosswords, cooking, music psychology, and coffee. 

David Sloan, trumpet, was born in San Antonio and raised in Pasadena, a suburb of southeast Houston. Upon graduation from South Houston High School, David went on to the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Music Education degree with Instrumental Emphasis. He also has earned Texas' EC-12 Teaching Certification following his undergraduate study. David has also earned a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Tx. He has also pursued doctoral studies (DMA) at the University of Washington in Seattle, studying trumpet with David Gordon and conducting with Tim Salzman. His primary instructors have included Roman Jakubas, James Austin, and Tom Booth and David Gordon. He has also had additional studies with Jim Vassallo, Robert Walp, and Mark Hughes.
He has also earned the residency teaching certificate in Washington State, where he is endorsed in General Music and Instrumental Music and has been teaching elementary band and general music in the Lake Washington School District since 2016. 

Gene Nastri Community School of the Arts does not discriminate against any student, teacher, or job applicant
on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation,
gender identity or gender expression.