Staff & Music Teachers

Pete Mello, Site Director, has been playing guitar for over 30 years, and has been performing professionally for 16 years in a variety of genres including Rock, Blues, Jazz, and R&B. He has toured in the U.S. and Europe, and performs regularly in the greater Phoenix area. A self-taught Rock and Blues player, Pete also studied Jazz and classical guitar and is an experienced audio engineer with a degree in Audio Production Technologies. Pete’s favorite artists and influences include Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Pink Floyd, and Randy Rhoads. Pete is passionate about inspiring students young and old to pursue and achieve their musical goals and dreams.

Joshua, Assistant Site Director, has a passion for music that drives his desire to teach and share his love and joy of it with people of all ages. He has been studying music for the majority of his lifetime and graduated with a B.A. in Vocal Performance from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA. He has studied performance, composition, ethnomusicology, and music education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. For almost a decade Joshua has been teaching voice, guitar, and piano and also has experience teaching a variety of instruments including ukulele, electric bass, flute, cello, and banjo as well as music theory and composition. He is an eclectic and varied musician with influences such as Freddy Mercury, Bela Bartok, Bob Marley Alexandre Desplat, Robert Johnson, Stevie Wonder, Mike Patton, and many, many more. Joshua is committed to the success of each of his students and his teaching style ensures that his students not only learn the musicality of the instrument, but have fun while playing. His greatest desire is to instill an appreciation for music that will last a lifetime.

Alex T. is a guitar and piano instructor who is also an award winning music composer for film. Alex became fascinated with music when he began taking guitar lessons as a young teenager. By the time he was eighteen years old he had also picked up piano and began practicing vocal music. It wasn’t much longer before he developed an interest in writing music. In 2012, Alex scored his first feature length film Howard & Loki for Director/Cinematographer/Writer David Lewis (Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Winning London), and has since scored several dozen other film and commercial projects. He has been awarded two regional EMMYs and a College Television award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation for his composition work.

Alex also has a passion for inspiring others and finding ways to help people succeed. Prior to working at Bach 2 Rock, he was an independent guitar and piano instructor and has also worked as a habilitation and respite care provider for children with special needs. He knows the importance of setting concrete short and long term goals to help people succeed and make their dreams come true. 

His favorite composers are J.S. Bach, Gustav Holst, Frederic Chopin, Jean Sibelius, Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, John Williams, Thomas Newman, Danny Elfman, John Adams and Eric Whitacre. Other musical influences include Radiohead, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and Lana Del Rey.

Andrew L. has been playing music as long as he can remember, but he settled on percussion when he joined his school band in the 6th grade. Shortly thereafter he began taking private drum lessons at Amy K Music. During high school he performed in the Apollo High School marching band, jazz band and symphonic band. In the jazz band he played piano as well as drum set. He is currently seeking his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Music Education at Arizona State University. Over the course of his career he has played with multiple rock bands, jazz bands, marching bands, symphonic bands and percussion ensembles. He currently performs with the ASU Wind Ensemble, the ASU Percussion Jazz Ensemble and his band, Sisura. Andrew hopes provide meaningful and effectual instruction to those looking to play and enjoy music.

Jack S. is excited to join the teaching staff as Woodwind Instructor at Bach to Rock, North Scottsdale. He began playing at an early age, and currently specializes in teaching saxophone, clarinet and flute. He studied music at Northern Arizona University, receiving his Bachelor of Music Education, and Master of Music degrees. He has a wide range of performance experience from classic to jazz. Jack has been playing professionally over the past 40 years, and is currently performing with a variety of bands around the valley. He has a passion for jazz and is a skilled improviser and composer. A few of his favorite artists include Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and David Sanborn. He enjoys all styles of music, and has experience in a variety of musical genres. He looks forward to sharing his musical knowledge with his students, and help bring their skills to a higher level.

Kelsey M. is a voice teacher and early childhood teacher at Bach to Rock, North Scottsdale. She is a born and raised New Yorker, and is truly gifted as a vocalist, with a deep love and passion for music. Kelsey's talent took her to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she perfected her voice, and earned a degree in Music Business. She recently moved to Arizona in early 2017, and is currently using her musical expertise to teach and inspire a younger generation of talented musicians.

McKenzie is a trained vocalist who has been singing in choirs since the age of three and has played piano since she was 14. She was a member of various high school show choirs around the state and continues to choreograph for high schools in the valley. McKenzie graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelors in Music Therapy and expanded her vocal training as well as training in piano, guitar, and ukulele. McKenzie hopes she can share her love of music while providing a fun and effective learning experience for all her students.

Morgan W. is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist/lyricist, audio engineer, composer, and improvisor. A guitarist with over 19 years of experience, he studied in Santa Fe, NM with New York Times acclaimed jazz virtuoso Bruce Dunlap and in Los Angeles, CA with heavy metal shred master Greg Harrison (PDP, Hed PE). As a vocalist, he earned a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Musicians Institute, studying heavily in school with Carol Rodgers (Sergio Mendes, Mama O) and outside of school with Kalen Chase (KoЯn, Vimic) while also performing regularly in the Los Angeles area at venues including the world-famous Whisky a Go Go and the Viper Room. His studies at Musicians Institute also allowed him the opportunity to earn a minor in Audio Engineering and become a skilled operator of music software programs such as Logic Pro X and Sibelius 7. He has also studied composition with Haim Mazar (The Iceman, Legion) and Daniel Levin, and has collaborated on projects with video game composer Cody M. Johnson (Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil 2) and film composer Sandesh Nagaraj. Morgan’s musical taste is host to an eclectic range of influences from heavy metal to jazz to hip hop, and his experience as a rock vocalist and interest in hip hop have driven him to become a skilled lyricist. His first single and debut EP are currently in production and are set to release in 2020.

Reuben G. has been enamored with music since his childhood days via his parents love for Motown and doo-wop music. By the time he discovered the Beach Boys and The Beatles in 5th grade his fate had been set in music. He self-taught himself the guitar he received in 7th grade and went on to bass, piano, harmonica and drums by his sophomore year. Reuben is originally from Mesa, AZ where he found his passion for writing and arranging music while performing in his own band, The Corduroys. After finishing school at The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences Reuben interned at Cascade Record Pressing Plant and various sound recording studios, later going to work for Pacific Soundtracks Studios as a sound engineer for indie movies, television series, live performances and music compilations. Reuben specializes in drum lessons, guitar lessons, bass lessons, audio engineering, ukulele/ mandolin, voice, and Rock Band instruction.

Taariq N. has always been a lover of music, “even since before I can remember”. When Taariq was young, he would sing around the house to ANYTHING his parents listened to. At 10 years old he began formal music training as a violinist, and over the course of the next 13 years, he honed his music theory skills. Taariq learned how to play the cello before high school and majored in Voice Performance with a minor in Dance and is now pursuing his Bachelor's in Liberal Arts. Taariq has toured the USA and France in ensembles (choir and orchestra) and as a solo performer, specializing in orchestral strings, mainly cello, and voice, as a tenor. His love for teaching has led him to utilize those musical skills as a music teacher, “I can't help but be excited with the choice I’ve made to bring that love to B2R.