vocal Instructors

Stephen Sikorski  

Acoustic Guitar, Composition, Electric Guitar, Piano, Voice; Music 101 instructor since 2005

For more than 10 years, Stephen has been an active freelance musician throughout the Boston area. He has earned his BM in Classical Composition and continued graduate study from the New England Conservatory. Stephen has a diverse musical background ranging from classical, jazz/improvisation, to rock. Performing solo, or on stage with modern bands, Stephen is comfortable teaching various types of music. He has been tenor section leader/soloist at various churches in the greater Boston area, and is currently organist and choir director of St. John's Episcopal Church in Saugus.

Brian Church
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Piano, Ukulele, Voice; Music 101 instructor since 2008
Brian Church holds a BM in Music Education from The College of New Jersey, an MM in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory, and is also an accomplished bassist with the avant-noise post-punk group Tristan da Cunha with whom he has toured the midwest and released several recordings.  Brian has a busy and varied career in the Boston performing arts scene.  A longtime member of the Choir at King's Chapel and the Cantata Singers as well as a frequent guest performer with Callithumpian Consort, Brian has been a strong proponent of contemporary music.  Performances have included SoundIcon, Boston Musica Viva, Dinosaur Annex, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Firebird Ensemble, NEC Shivaree and many others.  Brian is also a member of Renaissance Men, New England's professional male vocal chamber ensemble. Brian has been an elementary music educator in the Melrose Public School System teaching at the Roosevelt, Hoover and Horace Mann Schools, and has used his skills to help create almost 30 original songs with his students under his curriculum.​​

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Joan Contarino

Piano, Voice; Music 101 instructor since 2013

Joan has a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from UMASS Lowell and two subsequent Master's degrees.  She is a licensed Music and Performing Arts teacher in Massachusetts and New Mexico.  She has been teaching piano, voice, and music theory for over 40 years in public, private, and home school environments, plus private lessons in music and drama coaching.  She has written and produced plays and musicals for audience entertainment and competition.​ 

          Joan has directed youth, adult, and ecumenical choirs in both Massachusetts and New Mexico.  She has been accompanist for the Billerica Men's Choir, supply organist for St, Anne's Episcopal Church, and had the privilege of playing the pipe organ at the St. Francis Auditorium at the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe.  She sang with the All New England College Choir on tour in Europe.  Joan has been a singer/soloist with a variety of church denominations and community choruses including the Los Alamos Choral Society, the Santa Fe Community Orchestra Chorus at the St. Francis Basilica and the auditioned chamber group Coro de Camara of Northern New Mexico, and most recently at St. John's Episcopal Church in Saugus.  Joan has filled in as a substitute for Music 101 instructors for several years.

Rose Whitcomb
Piano, Voice, Guitar;  Music 101 instructor Fall 2024
Rose Whitcomb (A.B. '16, M.M. '23) is a multi-instrumentalist and passionate student-centered music educator.  Her dreams of teaching music started with her upbringing in the Hudson Valley (upstate NY), and have actualized as she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University and Boston University, respectively.  She has been teaching music for over 6 years, primarily for the Everett Public Schools, and is always developing new ways to bring music to her community, including special performances, after school programs, and holiday events.  You may see her performing classical clarinet music as a member of the MetroWest Chamber Players, singing alto in a church chorus, playing and singing pop covers, or creating and facilitating new performances for pop, jazz, classical, and more genres.  Rose is an extremely collaborative musician, and her favorite part of teaching is helping her students realize their dreams, just as her teachers have shown her over the years.  She looks forward to joining the Music 101 Studio and community.

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