Thomas Fitzpatrick
cello
Thomas Fitzpatrick is an experienced music educator with a passion for making music education accessible and personalized. As the founder and director of West Chester String Collaboration, he has led chamber music rehearsals and developed innovative instructional methods that focus on student collaboration and individual growth. With years of experience teaching private lessons, Thomas excels at creating tailored lesson plans, guiding students in mastering their instruments, and relating the important lessons learned through music to everyday life.
Lumen Guthrie
Bassoon, oboe, brass, audio engineering
Lumen Guthrie (They/Them) is a graduate of West Chester University's program for Masters in Music Education. For years, Guthrie has been an emerging performer in classical music for the Philadelphia and Baltimore area, after years of classical training on the bassoon. Guthrie is also an alumni of Drum Corps International, and has applied brass pedagogy to hundreds of high-school aged brass musicians. In addition to classical training, Guthrie also has experience in popular music, having self-produced an album and performed original music in Chester County. Guthrie teaches woodwinds, brass, rock band instruments, songwriting, composition, and music production.
Gina Perrigrino
voice
Gina is an opera singer, and a passionate teaching artist. She performs internationally with houses that include the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, The Atlanta Opera, and Opera Philadelphia. Due to her notable work in the field, she has collaborated alongside authors such as Salmon Rushdie and Khaled Hosseini to bring their literary works to the stage.
Gina is a published writer and speaker. Her innovative lectures and workshops on creativity, artistry and vulnerability have been presented to graduating students at conservatories like New England Conservatory. She is a featured writer in the Huffington Post in a poignant article about her own struggles with the pursuit of a music career and the concept that there is no arrival point.
As a teaching artist, she accepts students with all ranges of experience, finding joy in watching the discoveries of complete beginners to growing the mastery of professional musicians.
She loves animals as much as she loves humans, and Gina is an artist-in-residence at Chenoa Manor Animal Sanctuary in Avondale, PA, where she teaches workshops on site alongside it's residents. She has teamed up with veterinarian Dr. Rob Teti to create an innovative therapy program that brings a combination of breath work, classical music, and animals to local detention centers for those who need it most.
Outside of classical music, she sings mariachi and ranchera in a group that has collaborated with local Latinx organizations like Wilmington's Latin American Community Center and Kennett Square's very own The Garage. Her favorite artist is Chavela Vargas.
Liz Hodgson
piano/organ/harpsichord
Elizabeth Hodgson is a graduate of Temple University with a Master’s in Music History. She is classically trained in piano at West Chester University from Dr. Terry Klinefelter and Dr. Igor Resnianski where she earned a B.M. Elizabeth has experience teaching piano privately and leading music courses at the collegiate level, such as teaching music history and music theory courses at Temple University.
Elizabeth has been an active early music performer through WCU and Temple’s early music ensembles, where she has performed on harpsichord, organ, lute, and recorder. Elizabeth has had private organ instruction from Anita Greenlee at WCU, harpsichord from Dr. Silvanio Reis at Temple, and has received lessons in lute by Dr. Mark Rimple and Richard Stone.
Elizabeth enjoys working with archives and non-profits to promote classical music, such as handling newly acquired archival materials for Temple University and WCU libraries, conducting surveys of historical Philadelphia organs for Partners for Sacred Places playing and preserving initiative, and promoting women and minority composers through WCU Music in the Margins blog.
Louise Howard
Viola
Louise Howard started playing the violin at the age of 10 in Ballarat Australia. She continued her studies when she moved to the United States with Corey Worley. In her junior year of high school at Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts she switched to the viola, placing in the regional East Tennessee All State Orchestra and in the following year placing in the Tennessee All State Orchestra. She also served as principal of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony, also performing with their string quartet. Louise has a strong passion for chamber music having been to summer intensives such as: Credo and Rocky Ridge College Intensive. Louise now studies at the University of Delaware under Elias Goldstein where she has fostered a strong passion for pedagogy. She continues to be an active member of the UD symphony orchestra and chamber music program. Louise also is a current board member for the American Viola Society Youth Council. Louise often goes back to her high school to provide lessons, tutoring and sectionals to the violin and viola students. She is looking forward to continuing her teaching journey at the Mattocks School of Music.
Rob Smith
drums, band instruments
Rob Smith is a musician, educator, and curriculum designer whose career spans more than three decades at the intersection of performance, pedagogy, and innovation. Trained as both a drummer and percussionist, Rob holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in American History and Jazz Performance, a Master of Arts in Jazz History, and a Master of Arts in Educational Technology. This combination gives him a rare ability to teach music not just as a skill, but as a living cultural practice.
Rob has spent 20 years teaching at the university level, including 25 years of private instruction in piano, drums, guitar, music theory, and music history. His students range from absolute beginners discovering their first instrument to advanced performers preparing for conservatory auditions and professional careers. Whether working one-on-one with students or designing curriculum for large ensembles, Rob brings the same commitment: meet students where they are, and build the habits that take them where they want to go.
His experience extends into the band room as well. As a trained band director (licensed music teacher), Rob has taught beginning and intermediate students across the full range of concert band instruments - woodwinds, brass, and percussion - giving him a comprehensive understanding of how young players develop across every section of the ensemble. That cross-instrument knowledge makes him an unusually versatile private instructor.
His performance background is equally wide-ranging. As a working drummer and percussionist, Rob has performed extensively in jazz, pop, and experimental contexts, and brings real-world experience in improvisation, ensemble playing, and professional musicianship directly into his teaching. From playing the steel drum on the beaches of the Florida Keys to 10 years of playing experience in New Orleans, his experience is as wide-ranging as his style. Rob is also an active writer and researcher on music pedagogy, with ongoing work exploring how technology and social-emotional learning can transform the way students experience music education.
At the Mattock School of Music, Rob offers private instruction in drums, all band instruments, as well as music theory, music history, and the business of music for students of all ages and levels. His lessons are grounded in craft, curiosity, and a genuine belief that every student has something musical to say. They just need the right program to help them say it.
Matti Beresin
guitar, music production, song writing
Matti Beresin is a professional music producer, composer and musician born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa. He began his music studies at Philadelphia's Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts. Matti studied guitar at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, and received his Bachelors from Temple University in Media Studies and Production. He has played guitar for over a decade, produced for over 8 years, and recently received a RIAA Gold Certification in March of 2021.
To hear some of the music he has been a part of you can visit: https://genius.com/artists/Matti-free
Adrianna McCaw: Piano & Voice
Adrianna McCaw is an accomplished pianist, vocalist, composer, and songwriter based in Chester County, PA. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from West Virginia University’s College of Creative Arts with a Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies degree with emphases in Music, Music Industry, Theatre, Religious Studies, and History. During her time at WVU she studied Music Composition under Dr. Matthew Heap, writing original chamber, choral, and solo pieces, as well as an original album of Contemporary Christian songs entitled Enough, which was released in July 2022.
On piano, she has accompanied both vocal and instrumental soloists, as well as numerous church, school, and university choirs, performing in places such as the Pennsylvania Capital Building and Hershey Park. Vocally, Adrianna has performed with the West Virginia University Women’s Choir, Community Choir, and auditioned Chamber Singers, as well as been featured as a vocalist in bands across eastern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Her original choral pieces have been performed by multiple school and church choirs in the area, as well as by the West Virginia University Community Choir. Adrianna also has experience with the music and recording industry, working in a studio setting as a musician, vocalist, and producer.
Adrianna has taught many music students of varying ages and skill levels on a variety of instruments and believes in fostering a passion for music and performing from a young age. She has experience performing, composing, and teaching many styles and genres of music, including Musical Theatre, Pop, Rock, Classical, Christian/Gospel, and Jazz. She focuses on individualized learning and creating an environment where students can reach their full musical potential.
Listen to Adrianna’s debut album Enough on YouTube here.