Instructors
Meet Some of Our Instructors!
Anjj Lee
Instruments She Teaches
- guitar
- ukulele
- voice
Instruction Schedule and Locations
- Wahiawa on Fridays
- Waipahu on Wednesdays and Saturdays
Colleen Gustafson
Instruments She Teaches
- piano
Instruction Schedule and Locations
- Stadium Mall on Tuesdays and Saturdays
- Waipahu on Wednesdays and Fridays
Joni Llamedo
Instruments She Teaches
- guitar
- ukulele
- voice
- piano
Instruction Schedule and Locations
- Stadium Mall on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
- Waipahu on Mondays
Shivani Kumar
Instruments She Teaches
- piano
- voice
Instruction Schedule and Locations
- Wahiawa on Sundays
- Waipahu on Saturdays
James Mares
Instruments He Teaches
- voice
- piano
- guitar
- drums
- trumpet
Instruction Schedule and Locations
- Stadium Mall on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
Instructor Bios
Aaron Aranita
Instruments
piano, flute, sax, clarinet
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Stadium Mall on Wednesdays
Waipahu on Mondays, Saturdays, and Sundays
Bio
Aaron Aranita has been a professional working musician for over 25 years. He has worked as a sideman and leader throughout the U.S. and Japan backing up some of the top names in the business, Bob Hope, Andy Williams, Natalie Cole, the Temptations, and Boy Katindig just to name a few. But that is only one aspect of his musicianship. He started in music young, playing the clarinet then switching to bass in high school, went back to playing woodwinds in college, and then picking up keyboards along the way. He honed his craft in colleges such as Leeward Community College near his hometown of Waipahu, Hawaii and Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, California, and at dedicated establishments of musical learning such as the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. The Berklee School of Music was where Aaron decided to reach out even more and really learn from the best teachers available, Joe Viola for saxophone, Greg Hopkins, Phil Wilson and Andy Jaffe for arranging and composition. Evidently, he learned his lessons well because the people at Berklee to nominated him to the Dean’s List in 1980. Now, as an accomplished musician, he composes both music and lyrics, owns and runs his own commercial studio, Sugartown Records, where he produces and records his own and other artists’ albums, and even serves as musical director for the annual Great Hawaiian Jazz Blowout. He is also a well sought after accompanist among Hawaii’s finest.
Christian Bautista
Instrument
drums
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Wahiawa on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays
Waipahu on Sundays
Renee Cavaco
Instructor & Part-time Receptionist
Instrument
violion
Friolan Fabro
Instrument
guitar, bass, ukulele, piano
Jegaan Faye
Instrument
guitar, bass, ukulele, voice
Rachel Gonzales
Instruments
guitar, voice
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Stadium Mall on Saturdays
Waipahu on Sundays
Bio
Hawaii-born (Hilo) Rachel Gonzales is the complete singer-musician. She began performance at age 4 (e.g., singing, ukulele, hula); continued her musical growth during intermediate and high school years (e.g., clarinet, guitar, and more singing); graduated with a Bachelor of Music (studied classical singing) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and has been performing professionally to date. Her formal study and professional experience (e.g., clubs, concerts, recording/studio work) provides much knowledge to share with students. Each student is given his/her own unique lesson plan, because no two students are the same. Her role as instructor is to bring out the best of each student at their own pace and talents and nurture their passion and interest in music. Rachel performs weekly as a soloist (vocal/guitar) at the Ilima award-winning Duc’s Bistro in Chinatown and covers a wide range of styles from contemporary, jazz, folk, blues, Broadway, Latin, and originals. She and jazz pianist Les Peetz have been featured jazz artists at the Hawaii Public Radio Atherton Studio, the Doris Duke Theatre (Honolulu Art Academy) and Ward’s Rafters Sunday Jazz. She has toured Washington (e.g., Seattle, Spokane) with Mr. Peetz and has performed in both the Hawaii Jazz Festivals and Jazz Blowouts in Honolulu, and the 14th duMaurier Jazz Festival of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Rachel, in a review of her CD “Live at the Atherton” by John Berger of the Star-Bulletin, was called “the best unknown jazz singer in Honolulu.” Referring to her versatility and musicianship, he added that no one else here was doing what she does. She has performed with various artists in Hawaii and the mainland that include Les Peetz, Betty Loo Taylor, Chuck James, Nueva Vida, the Honolulu Symphony, Martin Nivera, Jeff Linsky, James Ingram, Bob Albanese, Abe Weinstein, Russell Malone, Kealii Reichel, Michael Paulo, Loyal Garner, the Krush, and many more.
Colleen Gustavson
Instrument
piano
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Stadium Mall on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Waipahu on Wednesdays, Fridays
Jeffrey James
Instruments
drums, guitar, bass, ukulele
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Stadium Mall on Fridays
Waipahu on Saturdays
Bio
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jeffrey James, 19, is a well-rounded musician always looking for a new challenge musically. He is a proficient Drumset, Percussion, Bass, Guitar, Mallet percussion player that has been playing for numerous years even before his intermediate school days. Currently, Jeffrey James attends Hawaii Pacific University on a 100% music scholarship, and participates in various groups on the island, playing reggae, jazz, latin, R&B, and rock.
Megan Kami
Instrument
violin
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Stadium Mall on Wednesdays
Waipahu on Sundays
Bio
Having been exposed to the violin at an early age Megan expressed a desire to play the violin before she was two years old. Starting private lessons at the age of three, Megan continued her classical training for seventeen years. Megan’s interest in music expanded during her middle and high school years where she played the violin, cello, oboe and percussion in the school orchestras, bands and marching band. She was the Mililani High School Marching Band Drumline Front Ensemble Captain in 2005 and Drumline Co-Captain in 2006. Megan is in her second year as Advisor to the Mililani High School Drumline Front Ensemble (mallets). Additionally, she has performed with several string quartets at weddings, parties, and grand openings in Honolulu and recently, at a convention in Las Vegas. Megan is a 2007 graduate of Mililani High School and is currently attending Hawaii Pacific University on a full orchestra scholarship.
Roshan Kumar
Instruments
guitar, bass
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Wahiawa on Saturdays
Stadium Mall on Mondays
Bio
Guitarist, songwriter, and teacher Roshan Kumar has played in Jazz, Blues, Big Band, Latin, Free Form, Rock, Country, New Age and Show Groups in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Japan. Roshan has B.A. in Music Theory & Composition from the University of Minnesota his postgraduate studies at Grove Music School, L.A.- and studied jazz with Howard Roberts, founder of G.I.T. Musician’s Institute, Hollywood. A few of his accomplishments are; Featured in premier performance of Hawaii TV show First Edition, Composed and played guitar for ” Tuesday ” film score – lead film in Filmex Animation Festival, Winner of the Hawaii KPOI SUPERJAM Contest – performance at Blaisdell Arena with – Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Jeff Baxter of the Doobie Brothers, John Entwistle & Simon Phillips of the Who, and Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, has written over 150 compositions copywritten in diverse styles, has compositions and guitar playing featured on International and Hawaii television and radio, and has co-founded recording company Cosmic Cat Music.
Barry Leaman
Bio
Originally from Santa Cruz, CA, Barry Leaman studied music at the University of Oregon and received a Masters Degree in Music from the New England Conservatory of Music. He moved to Hawaii to take on the position of Music Director for the American Hawaii Cruise Lines and has recorded with numerous musicians in Calfornia, the Boston area, and Hawaii. His musical influence is broad with performances in classical, 20th century, Broadway, rock, pop, jazz, and rhythm & blues. A performer and private teacher for more than thirty years, he shares practical experience and refined technique with students of all levels.
Shay Marcello
Instruments
guitar, ukulele, bass, drums
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Stadium Mall on Sundays
Waipahu on Wednesdays
Bio
Guitar and bass instructor Shay learned to play music at 8 years old and never stopped since. His first instrument was the clarinet and from there learned to play every band instrument. Later he took orcestrah and learned to play the upright double bass. From this he switched to electric bass which is his main and favorite instrument. Marching was not an issue because in the Kamehameha marching band he was jamming on the sidelines in the pit. From here he was given a full music scholarship to attend Hawaii Pacific University and play his bass. Now currently in 4 bands he has fun gigging and doing what he loves best, playing music.
Whitney Shimabukuro
Staff/Receptionist
Charmaine Willis
Instrument
piano, voice
David Yamasaki
Instruments
guitar, bass
Schedule (See the whole Studio schedule)
Waipahu on Tuesday, Saturdays
Bio
David Yamasaki studied ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, Seattle, and guitar at Berklee College of Music, Boston, before receiving a BA and MA from California State University, Hayward. He has recorded with Tito Puente, Sheila E., Pete Escovedo Orchestra, John Santos and the Machete Ensemble, Deems, and Nikita Germaine and has performed in music videos and film including Bill Cosby’s Leonard, Part Six. Additional performances include Lou Rawls, Louie Bellson, Dianne Schuur, Eddie Fisher, Faye Carol, Little Anthony and the Imperials, the Forty Niner Band, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, Wayne Wallace and Rhythm and Rhyme, and Fred Berry as well as accompaniment for Frederica Von Stade. He has written scores for two PBS productions and charts for Ramsey Lewis. Since moving to Honolulu he has performed with several local artists including, Keahi Conjugation, The New Jass Quartet, DeShannon Higa and The Groove Improv Artists, Rock and Soul Band, PBS Big Band, and Amber Ricci. CDs and a listing of current public performances are available at: yamasongs.com
Anjj Lee
Colleen Gustafson
Joni Llamedo
Shivani Kumar
James Mares