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.

Casey K. is a lifelong musician specializing in trombone. After completing his graduate studies at the University of Maryland, Casey joined the long standing touring brass ensemble Tim Zimmerman and the King’s Brass for a 450 concert 3 year appointment. His musical endeavors have brought him coast to coast playing concerts for audiences all across the United States. Casey enjoys creating and recording unique trombone ensemble arrangements at his home studio, PC tinkering, and cooking BBQ on the weekends. Casey has joined the Bach to Rock team to teach beginning guitar and piano and Brass lessons of all levels. Casey is passionate about cultivating the next generation of music appreciators and performers through teaching.

David L. has a passion for sharing the joy of music through teaching guitar, bass, piano and audio engineering to aspiring musicians of all ages. He received his B.A. in music, focusing on theory, composition, and guitar performance. His educational background contributed to years of playing, performing and recording in various projects of diverse genres. David is excited to continue his teaching career at Bach to Rock, helping students achieve their musical goals and become skilled players. He is a firm believer that anyone can excel at learning to play, and is honored to help share the gift of music with musicians of any ability.

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.

Matthew has had a passion for music since he was a young child. He has worked at specialized music schools and taught private instruction throughout the Valley. He shares his passion of music by teaching technique and theory with students on instruments such as ukulele, guitar, piano.

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.

Rachel B. is a musician and educator who works with children and adults to foster their innate love of music. She knows the broad and limitless reach music possess and the joys it can bring. Rachel has been a musician for 30 years and has performed as a violinist in symphonies, quartets, musicals, operas, dances, recordings, other small ensembles, and various special and holiday events.  Over the last 17 years, Rachel has also worked as music educator in public schools, private studios, and cultural centers. Rachel’s most recent work experience is as a music therapist, in the field of mental health, using music to transform and empower. Rachel holds two degrees from Arizona State University, a bachelor of music in music education and a master of music in clinical music therapy.

Thomas J. is a graduate of both the University of Glasgow and Western Connecticut State University, is a multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and performer with over twenty years experience playing and teaching a wide variety of musical genres and styles. His specialties include jazz piano, electronic music production, rock guitar and drums, and orchestral low brass. He has performed in hundreds of concerts and has shared the stage with such musical giants as Maynard Ferguson, Chick Corea, Trombones de Costa Rica, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Greene, and many others. He also composes original electronic music under the alias Lunar Cambridge, and routinely performs at Open Mics around the Tempe, AZ area. “When teaching music, my goals are to unlock a student’s full creative potential, to challenge them intellectually, and to most of all make music FUN. Expressing oneself through the language of music is one of life’s greatest joys, and I am passionate about sharing my enthusiasm and knowledge with others.”