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The following is a list of current teachers at the Academy and a list of the instruments and/or subjects that they teach.  Phone or email the school for more information.  Contact information for each instructor is listed if you would prefer to reach a particular teacher directly.
(Teachers' Act 33/151 and Act 34 clearances are available on file at the school.)

Private & Group Music Instruction

  

Creative Writing & Private Tutoring

Fine Arts

Music

Creative Writing, Fine Arts, Piano and Flute
Director, Westland Academy For The Arts
Alyssa Wells (724) 850-WAFA

       
   

Piano, Composition, Theory, and Beginning Drumming
Marianne Lewis (724) 433-8901

       
   

Piano, Flute, and Voice
Rebecca Johnston (724) 244-4643

       
   

Saxophone, Recorder, Flute and Theory
Valerie Uschock (724) 217-8800

       
   

All Woodwind and Brass Band Instruments, Drums and Percussion
Tom Murphy (724) 989-7161

       
   

Voice, Clarinet, and Piano
Natalie Williams (724) 834-2118

       
   

Violin and Viola
David Sinclair (412) 527-0310

       
   

Trumpet
Denise Frisko (724) 787-9480

       
   

Guitar and Bass Guitar
Joshua Carns (724) 261-9347

       
   

Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Trumpet, and Beginning Piano
Jesse Bush (724) 205-1113

       
   

Fine Arts

Fine Art and Illustration
Jeffrey Donato

       
   

Fine Arts

Fine Art, all media
Mary DePalma (724) 832-2593
       
    Fine Arts

Collage and 2-Dimensional Design
Joel Brown (724) 516-7969

Music Classes
 
     

 Meet The Teachers:






Alyssa Wells graduated from Seton Hill University with a B.A. in English Education and Art Education.    She founded the Westland Academy For The Arts in 2002, and currently oversees operations at the school.  In addition, Alyssa teaches piano, flute, creative writing, and fine art classes and directs The Westland Flute Choir.  She believes that the humanities are an essential element of life and a vital bridge to successful learning in any field. 
 

Marianne Lewis teaches piano, composition, theory, and beginning drumming.  She believes that every student is different and adapts her teaching to accommodate the needs of each student individually.  She teaches them the way that fits best with the way they learn, and helps them to reach their personal goals. She encourages them to enjoy performing and to be knowledgeable in music theory. Most of all, after over twelve years of teaching experience, she has learned that making it fun is the best path to success.  Marianne is also a member of The Friday Evening Music Club.

Natalie Williams teaches voice, clarinet, and piano.  She believes that education is a very individual experience and recognizes that each one of her students have different methods of learning.  She teaches them accordingly in the way that will benefit them and help them grow the most as musicians. It is a goal for all of her students to be complete musicians. This means that developing musicianship, including but not limited to musical interpretation, ear-training, theory and history, is as important as learning to use the voice properly.  Natalie has had five years of experience teaching private lessons and four years of experience teaching in a classroom. Her classroom experience includes chorus, band and general music at both middle school and elementary levels. All of her students are expected to practice regularly and are encouraged to participate in performance opportunities, especially those provided through the Community Music Program. She is an active member of Music Teachers National Association, Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association and the Westmoreland local chapter.


Tom Murphy
began his musical journey by banging on pots and pans at a very young age.  He was born and raised in Latrobe and now resides in North Huntingdon with his lovely wife and their young son.  Tom has a B.S. in Fine Arts with a concentration in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  He is a music educator with the Ligonier Valley School District and teaches general music K-5, Band, and Chorus.  Tom has been teaching privately for 12 years and enjoys teaching young and old alike.  In addition, Tom has been actively involved with numerous marching bands in Western Pennsylvania, including: Norwin, Greater Latrobe, Indiana, Yough, and Elizabeth Forward just to name a few.  He has toured extensively with Drum and Bugle Corps and entertainment bands.  Mr. Murphy has performed with various community groups including Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra, Mountain Playhouse, St. Vincent College, Ligonier Valley Players, area high school musicals and church services/productions.  As a percussionist, he gives master classes and clinics throughout the music community, as well as volunteering time and talents for such benefits as Relay for Life, Rock for Life, and March of Dimes.  Mr. Murphy currently offers private instruction in percussion/drums and all band instruments, such as flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, etc.

Joshua Carns' guitar program offers guitar and bass students a wide-ranging curriculum that covers all musical bases.  Beginners learn to play with an emphasis on technique, developing rhythm, basic music theory, and reading.  The program then shifts to intermediate music theory, intermediate reading, and beginning composition and performance.  All students are developed in a manner that they will be able to pass an audition to any musical college of their choosing.


Valerie "Val" F. Uschock, LCAT, MT-BC, NMT
, Fellow, Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy

Valerie has worked in the healthcare field for 16 years with an emphasis on Neurological Rehabilitation for the last 10 years. Val is a Board Certified Music Therapist and is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist in the State of New York. She is the owner of Music Therapy Progressions, a private contractual company serving clients throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. Additionally, Val teaches saxophone, flute, and recorder. She is an active member of The Pennsylvania Music Teacher’s Association, an affiliate of the Music Teachers National Association, where she serves as Recital Chair on a local level and Local Associations Chair on the state level.  She performs locally with the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds, Pastime Consort, and the Friday Evening Music Club. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Therapy from Duquesne University as well as her Fellow in Neurologic Music Therapy from the Center for Biomedical Research in Music at Colorado State University.

Rebecca Johnston
graduated from Northland College with a major in Music and minor in Sacred Music.  Rebecca teaches private piano, flute, clarinet, saxophone, voice, and band/group instruction at the Academy.

Denise Frisko
is currently working toward her B.M. in Music Education at Seton Hill University. She is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association, and the International Trumpet Guild. In the Greensburg area, she is involved with the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds and the Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra. Denise is a strong believer that musicality should always be the center of trumpet playing. She teaches her students to concentrate on producing the most beautiful tone possible, at all times.  Contact Information:
fri5558@setonhill.edu  

Jesse Bush is a graduate of Seton Hill University with a B.M. in music education. He is currently a substitute teacher in the Norwin school district and lives in Irwin. Jesse also assists the McKeesport Area High School marching band. He is a freelance jazz and classical saxophonist. He has performed with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, high school musical ensembles, and local big bands. Jesse offers private lessons at WAFA to woodwinds, brass, and beginning piano players in addition to a variety of music workshops. Contact:
jesselbush@gmail.com


Jeffrey Maybury Donato
grew up in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, surrounded by the magic of nature, which influenced him and fueled his already over-active imagination.  A cartoonist at heart, Jeffrey is in love with cartoons, comic books, and fantasy art, as well as the Proto-Renaissance and the movements of the Expresssionists and Fauvists.  He began his art education at the Westmoreland County Community College, earning his Associate’s Degree in Commercial Art and Graphic Design.  He then continued his fine art training at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he achieved his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Illustration.  Jeffrey is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Art at the Goddard College of Vermont.  He does freelance artwork for local clients, draws caricatures at special events, and is currently working on a tarot deck, a children’s book and a graphic novel.  Jeffrey's first published work was a double-page spread in the October 2010 issue of Faces magazine.  A variety of Jeffrey’s work can be viewed at:  www.jeffdonatoillustration.com

Mary DePalma currently teaches workshops and private lessons in visual art. She is a graduate of Seton Hill University where she earned a B.A. in Art Education. She holds Pennsylvania teaching certification in Art K-12. Mary loves teaching art as well as creating her own artwork. She is a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and both the National Art Education Association and Pennsylvania Art Education Association. To be an artist is to be curious about life; all art is a response to that curiosity. It is her goal as a teacher to foster that curiosity in her students. Her curriculum embodies a comprehensive approach to visual art including in-depth study of art historical styles and movements, aesthetics, art criticism and of course, the production of artwork utilizing a variety of media and techniques.
 

 
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