Miranda has eight years of experience working with children and teens to help them reach their goals! She is currently involved in Chicago's vibrant music scene and was awarded Outstanding Soloist at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in 2015. Most recently, she was named the Luminarts Jazz Fellow for 2017. She has been featured in "Down Beat Magazine" as well as on WBEZ radio. She has also featured as a background vocalist for local Chicago bands including Zoo, Elle Casazza, Dashtone and songwriter Zoie Moser. She possesses a tremendous amount of musical insight, knowledge and passion to share with her students to help them sing and play their best!

Maxx started piano lessons at the age of four (thanks to his mom), studying classical music until his teen years when he discovered rock n' roll. Rock led to blues, blues led to jazz, jazz led to funk and so on, giving Maxx a fascination with a wide array of musical traditions. As the leader, main composer and keyboardist for the band Gramps The Vamp, Maxx brings his eclectic interests together into a project which has headlined Chicago venues like Lincoln Hall and Metro, has toured the country from coast to coast, and has gained Best New Band recognitions from "The Chicago Reader" and "Deli-Mag Chicago." Maxx has also performed or recorded with the Chicago groups Secret Colours, Divino Niño and Maxx’s own Pip Pip. His festival appearances include SXSW, Austin Psych Fest and Ruido Fest, and his film composer credits include Demonoid (1971), a short horror film released in 2016. Maxx believes music is an adventure and wants to pass that excitement along to his students!

As a third generation musician, Jeff Smith began his love for music at a very young age, starting drums in fourth grade. As a teenager he picked up the bass and spent all of his free time in his room learning to play songs from his favorite bands. Since then he has played in countless rock bands. He has since studied formally at Northeastern Illinois University and under Greg Sarchet of the Chicago Lyric Opera, deepening his musical understanding theoretically and practically. Although always a primal rocker at heart, as a bass player Jeff is fluent in many styles of music including rock, metal, funk, soul/r&b, jazz, classical and the sub-genres related to these styles. Jeff loves to teach students not only fundamental theories and concepts, but also how to really have fun playing! Jeff continues to perform all over Chicago in settings ranging from live rock performances, musical theatre, or his college jazz band and orchestra.