Piano Instructors
Jaclyn Kurtz
Jaclyn has earned three college degrees in music, including a B.A. in Music Education form Mount Union, a MM in Vocal Performance and a MA in Music Theory from Kent State University. She has taught piano and voice to students from Kindergarten to High School in area Public and Private Schools for six years, as well as the college level. In addition, Jaclyn has maintained a private studio in the area for a number of years. She is a personable and patient teacher who is comfortable with students of all age levels and experience.
Kayle Gorenflo
Kayle earned her Bachelors Degree in Music Education at Ohio Northern University. She has been a music instructor in the Bluffton , Ohio schools as well as Marysville, Saint Henry, and Ohio Northern. She is currently teaching at Kent State where she is also working on her Masters Degree in Performance. She has performed in groups of many musical genres including Concert and Marching Bands, Pit Orchestras, and Jazz Ensembles. Kayle has taught privately for many years and brings a extensive background of experience to her students both in woodwinds and piano.
Sally Kish
Sally Kish earned her Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Akron. She has been teaching music lessons for over 10 years for clarinet and piano. Since graduating college, she has played in numerous community bands and festival orchestras including the Canfield Community Concert Band, Three Rivers Community Band, and the Symphonic Anime Orchestra. For the past 5 years, Sally has been teaching music to students in grades K-8 in youngstown area charter schools for band, choir, strings, and general music. Sally started her Master's of Music Performance in Clarinet at Kent State University.
Stuart Popagain
Stuart has been a teacher at Woodsy's Medina since 2012, and has studied piano for 30 years. He studied Piano at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music under Robert Mayerovitch, has studied additionally with Brian Dykstra (College of Wooster), and Elizabeth Pastor (Ashland University), and has had opportunity to Masterclass under Joseph Satava, Sungeon Kim, and Spencer Meyer. Stuart also spends time as an accompanist locally, working collaboratively with students throughout Northeast Ohio.
Stuart has a love and affinity for music, teaching students of all ages and abilities to continue to foster a love of piano, and working in all styles of music from classical to jazz to pop.
Mila Nicklow
Mila comes to us with a bachelor’s degree in piano from the Music College in Novgorod, Russia. She has been teaching piano in the United State since 2001 and taught Zoom piano lessons through Covid. Mila ran her own piano lesson program in the early 2000s called Music For Young Children off the Medina Square. She offered group instruction on piano, music theory and composition while also running an additional program designed for babies and toddlers called The Music Pups.
Mila has been active with the Medina Chorus as a soprano singer for the past three years. We are thrilled to have her join our teaching staff! Her teaching philosophy encompasses developing an appreciation for music and piano playing using a professional approach to teaching piano techniques, music theory, composition, sight reading, and accompaniment.