Ann Brandstadter is a classically trained vocalist and guitarist who studied at the University of Arizona. She has played in rock bands in the D.C. area since 2001 in the groups Los Hermanos Rodriguez, Grandma's Mini, Mimi Loco and the Drama Queens, and more recently Midnight Snax. Ann leads Rookies and Rock 101 classes and will teach private guitar lessons. She is looking forward to sharing her band knowledge with the kids at School of Rock.

Gia Ashe graduated Berklee College of Music in 2007. In 2008 she packed up her life and moved back to Denver. Here, Gia began teaching private lessons in guitar, bass, vocals and piano. Gia interned after college to work for Music Together as an early childhood education music instructor. She taught group guitar classes to adult students at a local folk music school. In 2009 Gia joined School of Rock Denver as a guitar substitute instructor. Gia soon recognized her passion in life was music education within rock n' roll. Gia soon evolved into a show director teaching each instrument. In March 2012, Gia became the Assistant General Manger for the Littleton school, eight miles south of the Denver location. A year later she accepted the position of General Manager. After seven years in Colorado working at School of Rock, Gia felt the shift to head back east. To her delight, Gia found a new home at School of Rock Silver Spring as their Studio Manager. Gia enjoys playing music with anyone and everyone, nature, cooking, dancing, jokes, a good cry and most importantly bringing rock n' roll to the world.

Garrett Gleason graduated from the University of Maryland in 2013 for Jazz Studies for guitar performance and has been teaching for several years. Since graduation, Garrett has performed and recorded with various DC and MD-based artists as well as with his own groups, experimental rock Cartoon Weapons and improv ensembles Gentle Men and Hashima Machine. He aims to help people embrace music through developing an understanding of the musical language, personalizing learned music through intuition and creativity, and helping others experience the magic of making music with others.

Chris Volkstorf has been a musician and guitarist since 1985 when he first started messing around on a friend's cheap Strat copy, and over the years he has developed a versatile and entertaining style of guitar playing. He has been in several bands (Hot Buttered Elvis, Bloody Meri, SUPERFAMOUS) and has extensive experience both on stage and in the recording studio. He loves all kinds of music, from blues and blues-based styles like rock and jazz, to more esoteric and atmospheric genres. These days he devotes much of his time to writing songs and instrumental music. He lives on the west end of Alexandria, VA, inside the DC beltway, with his cat Dolphy.

Born and raised in Takoma Park, Joey Jenkins is a musician in the DMV who has found his way to School of Rock in his search for a way to spread confidence and enthusiasm through music. Joey believes that nurturing the artist in each of us from an early age is crucial for development of communication and other interpersonal life skills, whether or not they become a professional musician. Joey started playing music in a rock band in high school and continued studying music until his competency and consistency led him to a place of joy and stability. Today, Joey plays in several local groups and encourages people of all ages to play music through public and private meet-ups where they can perform and jam with musicians of any caliber. His understanding of music theory, fluid adaptation to numerous styles and patience with others can be readily observed both in the classroom and on stage. Joey is primarily a drummer, but also plays and teaches guitar, bass and vocal performance.

Jaime Moffett is a guitarist and bassist from Baltimore, MD, and is excited to share his musical knowledge with School of Rock Silver Spring students. Jaime did his formal musical training at Towson University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 2006 with a focus on jazz guitar performance. He has also been an active teacher since 2004, and has experience teaching students as young as five years old to adults in retirement. In addition to his time spent at Towson and as a teacher, Jaime has been performing music in a variety of ensembles as both a leader and sideman in the greater Baltimore/DC area since the late 1990s.

Mike Schleibaum is a Washington, DC-based accomplished guitarist, musician, composer, music/management consultant and producer. He has toured for two decades as the guitarist and co-founder of the European influenced thrash/punk/melodic death metal band Darkest Hour (1995-present). With Darkest Hour he has played over 45 countries and five continents, and released nine full-length records worldwide via 11 different record labels. Mike has worked with legendary metal uber-producers Fredrick Nordstrom (Studio Friedmen, Gothenburg Sweden), Devin Townsend (Greenhouse Studios, Vancouver, BC) and Brian Mcternan (Salad Days Studios, Baltimore, MD). While spearheading Darkest Hour he has released nine full-length records and two EPs. Additionally, he interned and later recorded and produced several albums while working at Baltimore, Maryland’s Salad Days Studios, under the supervision and guidance of producer Brian McTernan. In 2001 Mike graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor Degree in Social Work and he is beyond excited to join the School of Rock family and inspire the next generation of DMV area musicians!

Kirby Jayes is a prolific guitarist and songwriter who has been playing guitar for 14 years and has been writing and playing original music in bands of all varieties since he was 15. He has has been an actively touring musician since 2013. His most recent musical enterprises are the surrealist Americana band Birthrates and music/poetry project Bread Internet, which he records at home and releases in monthly EP installments. Kirby solidified his songwriting chops at Beloit College, where he received a grant to travel and study DIY music across America, earned his BA in American Literature and Creative Writing and performed in jazz, folk, rock and punk bands. After graduation he began teaching at a School of Rock location in Wexford, PA, and now can be found at any of the School of Rock DC locations. Kirby is passionate about bringing the joy of musical expression to his School of Rock students and believes that there’s never been a more accessible or exciting time to be making music. He believes in the transformative power of learning to work together as a band and enjoys working with beginner and intermediate students to illustrate the musical potential within every student, no matter who they are.

Neel Madan is a vocal teacher and the singer and guitarist of Hide Your Fires from Silver Spring. He started his music career in musical theater during high school and college, which is where he received his formal training. He began learning guitar around this time as well and has recently taken up audio engineering. Aside from music, he is currently a substitute teacher with Montgomery County Public Schools and runs sound for various venues in the area.

Chris Bloskey, a multi-instrumentalist, is primarily a drummer with over 20 years of experience in live performance, composing and producing. Chris found his love for drumming through big band drummers, such as Buddy Rich and Max Roach, but enjoys playing funk, blues and rock. Chris has an interesting background in that he spent some time in the business world as a Director of Finance for a DC-based healthcare group, but left because he knew that in his heart being a full-time musician was his calling. Currently, Chris is the drummer of the Baltimore-based rock band Crashing Atlas. Before finding his way to School of Rock, he spent time in various areas of the music industry. Along with teaching drum students, Chris has worked in marketing for music labels, done video/audio production, and dabbled in music event and festival planning. His business experience, coupled with his passion and experience, made coming into School of Rock as our Music Director for the Silver Spring location a simple transition.

Ryan Taylor is a composer, improviser, author, music theorist, pianist, music producer and teacher. He has won awards for his original music, such as his first place award for Best Original Film Score in the Montgomery County Film Festival in 2011. He also has performed in prestigious venues like the Takoma Park Jazz Festival and the Siemens Competition Awards Ceremony hosted in the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. Ryan writes and performs in a variety of styles ranging from classical to jazz to electronic. He has experience writing music for large ensembles such as orchestras and jazz big bands. As a music producer, he has worked with big and small groups of musicians alike in professional-level recording studio environments. His expertise also extends to the mixing, mastering and synthesis applications of music technology that have become so central to the modern music industry.

Ryan holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music in Contemporary Writing and Production. He was accepted in 2013 with a scholarship and finished the four-year program only two and a half years later. He has studied with great teachers such as the amazing composer and concert pianist Jeffrey Chappell. He has also studied guitar performance on the side and experiments with different instruments whenever he can. In recent years, Ryan has focused on teaching workshops, classes for small groups, private lessons and on creating his new book, "The Theory and Creation of Music."