Music Instructors | Music House | Overland Park, Lenexa, & Olathe School of Music

Every aspiring musician needs mentors

Our well-trained teachers are highly experienced and work together as a team to help students reach their individuals goals. At Music House, you'll have access to some of the best musicians and instructors in Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe and the Kansas City metro. Our entire team of educators works together to bring a diverse range of perspectives to each and every student.

Little-known fact: Our teachers are full-fledged employees of Music House, not just independent contractors like at every other music school in the Kansas City area. What does that mean? It means consistent instruction across the board, fully vetted music teachers, and an incredibly strong music community. We can't wait to meet you!

Administrators

Aaron Sizemore Co-Founder, Executive Director — **Aaron Sizemore**
*Co-Founder, Executive Director*

Music House Co-founder, Aaron Sizemore grew up in the Quad Cities, a hotbed of blues and jazz along the Mississippi River on the Illinois/Iowa border. He started out on the trumpet when he was nine...
Read More

Becca Kephart Director of Band Workshops — **Becca Kephart**
*Director of Band Workshops*

As a popular independent music lesson teacher, Becca brought a whole fleet of students with her when she began teaching at Music House in 2014. It was the focus on community that had attracted her ...
Read More

Rachel Vandivier Director of Classes — **Rachel Vandivier**
*Director of Classes*

Rachel Vandivier is a midwest based singer, actor, harpist, voice teacher, and musical director and is excited to join the Music House team! She holds an MM in CCM Voice Pedagogy and Speech Science...
Read More

Rachel Loewen Director of Outreach — **Rachel Loewen**
*Director of Outreach*

Rachel comes to Music House from Wichita, KS where she was born and raised. She brings extensive knowledge of the music retail industry having worked 5 ½ years for one of the state’s largest music ...
Read More

Kinsey Belgeri Director of Community Culture — **Kinsey Belgeri**
*Director of Community Culture*

Born in Overland Park, Kansas, Kinsey’s love for music came out of her early experiences as a dancer. Her parents influenced her love for classic rock, and she is now the self-proclaimed number one...
Read More

Brian Kephart Director of Technology — **Brian Kephart**
*Director of Technology*

A veteran of many rock, funk & jazz bands from southern Illinois to the Colorado front range, Brian has a diversity of musical experiences that he loves to share with students and fans of all t...
Read More

Jon Self Program Coordinator / Guitar / Bass / Ukulele — **Jon Self**
*Program Coordinator / Guitar / Bass / Ukulele*

Jon Self is a guitarist, trombonist, educator, and composer from Kirksville, MO. Having started as a self-taught guitarist, Jon understands a wide variety of musical perspectives. Recently graduate...
Read More

Jake Schubert Program Coordinator / Drums / Piano — **Jake Schubert**
*Program Coordinator / Drums / Piano*

Jake Schubert is a percussionist from Milwaukee, where he completed his degree in classical percussion performance from UW Milwaukee. He has toured throughout Wisconsin playing jazz fusion and musi...
Read More

Taylor Blake Community Assistant — **Taylor Blake**
*Community Assistant*

Taylor Blake grew up just outside of the KC area. She has had a love and passion for music for most of her life, playing various instruments and singing in different groups. Her experience in corpo...
Read More

Emily Palmer Community Assistant — **Emily Palmer**
*Community Assistant*

Emily grew up in Kansas City and has enjoyed music and dancing since a very young age. She graduated from Turner High in 2019 and went off to Johnson County Community College where she took a music...
Read More

Brass & Woodwinds

Alex Dergal Winds / Piano — **Alex Dergal**
*Winds / Piano*

For the past year Alex Dergal has been living in Overland Park while teaching in the Blue Springs school district. Directing most of his energy at Brittany Hill and Paul Kinder Middle Schools, Alex...
Read More

Jen Hoover Voice / Piano / Flute — **Jen Hoover**
*Voice / Piano / Flute*

Originally from Topeka, KS, Miss Hoover has spent the past 14 years living & teaching in the New Orleans metro. After graduating from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with double master...
Read More

Daphne Hootman Piano / Flute — **Daphne Hootman**
*Piano / Flute*

Daphne Hootman is a Kansas City native who has been teaching in the area since 1995. “My teaching philosophy is to give students the important tools they need to learn,” says Daphne, “while also gi...
Read More

Drums

Dodi Wiemuth Drums/Guitar/Bass/Ukulele — **Dodi Wiemuth**
*Drums/Guitar/Bass/Ukulele*

Edoardo (Dodi) Wiemuth has been playing guitar, drums, and bass for over twenty-five years. He is originally from Tuscany, Italy and graduated from the Music Conservatory of Perugia in percussion. ...
Read More

Joel Shipley Drums — **Joel Shipley**
*Drums*

Joel Shipley has been teaching drums for years, but what brings him to Music House is his passion for playing music with others. “My goal is to share the joy of drums and music with every student.”...
Read More

Steve Thomas Drums — **Steve Thomas**
*Drums*

Throughout his over 20 years of teaching experience, Steve has enjoyed sharing his passion for music with students of all ages. His teaching style is often described as “inspirational” and we’ve be...
Read More

Kevin McAfoos Drums — **Kevin McAfoos**
*Drums*

Kevin McAfoos is a drummer, educator, and audio/video technician in Kansas City. Originally hailing from small town Cleveland, MO, Kevin was given ample opportunity to try his hand at music educati...
Read More

Early Childhood Music

Zakara York Voice — **Zakara York**
*Voice*

Zakara’s musical journey began at home, with musician parents and siblings. She started writing songs soon after picking up the guitar at age 11, singing in her school choir throughout childhood. A...
Read More

Guitar & Bass

Jerad Tomasino Guitar — **Jerad Tomasino**
*Guitar*

Jerad Tomasino is an American born composer, producer, and teaching artist from K.I. Sawyer, Michigan, living and working in Kansas City, MO. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas Cit...
Read More

Matt Elton Guitar / Bass — **Matt Elton**
*Guitar / Bass*

Hailing from Kansas City, Kansas, Matt began playing string instruments at the age of 10, and was playing professionally by the age of 12. After graduating from Turner High School, he pursued a deg...
Read More

Lilah Cottrell Guitar / Bass / Ukulele — **Lilah Cottrell**
*Guitar / Bass / Ukulele*

Lilah Cottrell is a multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer from Kansas City. Lilah got her start in education at Kansas City Young Audiences, first as a student, then going on to lead their "...
Read More

Aiden Jensen Guitar / Bass — **Aiden Jensen**
*Guitar / Bass*

Aiden Jensen is a working guitarist and bassist born and raised in KC. He was first introduced to music at age 13 in a school guitar class, then moved on to private lessons and gigs shortly after. ...
Read More

Logan Contino Guitar/Bass/Ukulele — **Logan Contino**
*Guitar/Bass/Ukulele*

Logan Contino, a Johnson County native, graduated from Selkirk College in British Columbia with degrees in music composition, music production, and guitar. As a Music House alum, he spent multiple ...
Read More

Piano

Yuli Almonte Piano — **Yuli Almonte**
*Piano*

Yuli is a passionate music educator with over 16 years of teaching experience. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Education, and is certified in both the Kodaly method and Orff process. Over th...
Read More

David Olson Piano — **David Olson**
*Piano*

David has been a professional musician for over 20 years, with vast experience teaching piano/keyboard, bass, guitar and voice. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, David was surrounded by music a...
Read More

Audrey Lena Baughman Piano / Voice — **Audrey Lena Baughman**
*Piano / Voice*

Music is Audrey's number one love language. With over 15 years of teaching experience, Audrey finds great joy when she inspires her students and helps shape them to become the artist they desire to...
Read More

Ernest Douglas Piano — **Ernest Douglas**
*Piano*

Ernest Douglas is a Kansas City based multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, producer, composer and teacher specializing in Rock, Soul, Blues, and film scores. As a second generation musician, Erne...
Read More

Stas Heaney Piano — **Stas Heaney**
*Piano*

While growing up in the Midwest, Staś had a knack for chancing upon world-class musical experiences as he studied piano, voice, violin, and percussion. He picked up a number of other instruments al...
Read More

Andrew Ouellette Piano — **Andrew Ouellette**
*Piano*

Andrew Ouellette is a Kansas City pianist, composer, and educator. Originally from Hannibal, MO, Andrew has taught piano lessons for over 6 years. He had the privilege to study under the world-reno...
Read More

Charles Hoeft Piano — **Charles Hoeft**
*Piano*

Charles Hoeft is a versatile pianist and a devoted educator. Originally from Minnesota, he moved to Kansas City in 2014 and has enjoyed teaching at Music House since 2015. He loves to teach people ...
Read More

Voice

Evelyn Wouters Voice — **Evelyn Wouters**
*Voice*

Evelyn Wouters grew up in the small town of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, and was raised with a deep appreciation for music. Most evenings her families house was filled with the sound of her dad jamming...
Read More