NEMPAC Welcomes New Music Faculty Instructors

NEMPAC is pleased to announce three new faculty members that have joined us for the start of the fall, 2014 session. Please welcome Joannah Ball- Piano, Jack Byrne- Guitar and “meet the instruments” and Miguel Vasquez, Cello!

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Joannah Ball is an active soprano soloist and teacher of voice and piano in the Boston area. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and a Master of Music in Voice Performance from The Boston Conservatory.

Her music teaching experience extends to students of all ages: children through adults in her private studio (2009 – present), college students (Willamette University, 2009 -2011), high school (Music –Art – Drama – Dance Camp 2009-2012), and middle school (Willamette Girlchoir 2009 – 2011).   She is passionate about designing music lessons to suit each unique student and equips them with the technique, skills, repertoire and experience they need to be successful.

Piano and music theory lessons with her mother from childhood sparked Joannah’s early passion for

music and created the foundation for serious studies in vocal performance and piano through college. Following the completion of her undergraduate degree, Joannah served as pianist for the Opera Workshop program at Willamette University in their productions of Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck, and Ned Rorem’s Our Town.

Joannah’s singing performance experience includes operatic roles of Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Despina (Così fan tutte) and scenes from The Mikado, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Carmen, and Hansel and Gretel. Recent solo oratorio performances include Bach Cantata “Nun komm der heiden Heiland,” Vivaldi’s Gloria, and the Fauré Requiem. Joannah has also appeared in chamber works such as Schubert’s “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen” and André Previn’s “Four Songs.” Her passion for collaboration and innovation has led her to perform several new works by composers in Boston and Oregon, and in 2014 she premiered a chamber work for soprano, cello, percussion and dancers by composer Kevin Joest with choreography by Inés Beaumonte Cosín.

Joannah is delighted to be joining the NEMPAC community and looks forward to helping you explore your musical curiosities and dreams!

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Massachusetts native, Jack Byrne, began studying the guitar at the age of ten under the instruction of his father, who attended Berklee College of Music.  Jack enjoys playing a variety of styles including rock, pop, metal, folk, jazz, and classical.  Having a passion for singing and songwriting from a young age, Jack has done a number of recordings of his own music, and performs his songs in Boston and New York.  In the summer of 2009, Jack toured the Northeast as the guitarist for Indie-Rock band, “The Narrative,” and in 2013 he released his first full length solo album, “Complications.”  Jack received his Bachelors in Music from UMass Amherst, and his Masters in Voice Performance from Longy School of Music of Bard College.  While working towards his Masters, he appeared in a number of Operas with groups such as the Harvard Early Music Society, Boston Opera Collaborative, and in 2012 sang with NEMPAC in their production of “Carmen.”  Since finishing his Masters, Jack has been teaching Guitar, Voice, Banjo, and Ukulele in the South Shore, singing in the Old North Church choir, and working on his next solo album.

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Miguel Vasquez: born in Panama City, Miguel began his violin studies at the age of 8, at the ‘Escuela Juvenil de Musica’, and later cello.

Miguel has participated in the ‘Orquesta Juvenil Centroamericana’ (2008-2009). In 2008, he worked with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas during the ‘Festival Alfredo De Saint-Malo’ in Panama City, under Carlos Miguel Prieto and guest soloist Paquito D’Rivera. Miguel has performed in several master classes, including Paul Katz, Terry King, DaXun Zhang, Pacifica String Quartet, Christoph Ingelbrink (Berlin Philharmonic), Keith Robinson (Miami String Quartet), Andres Diaz, Sergey Antonov, Ronald Thomas, and Martin Rummel. Participated on the Youth Orchestra of the Americas Tours of 2009 (US, Canada), 2010 (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil) 2011 (Mexico), 2013 (all Central America) and in the concert by the Forum of Young Global Leaders in Carnegie Hall, with Joshua Bell and Julian Rachlin as solists, and Valery Gergiev as conductor (2010). Miguel was selected to participate with the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard Conservatory Orchestra on the 10th Anniversary of the Fisher Center of Performing Arts at Bard, presenting Mahler’s 2nd Symphony (2013). Miguel studied with Mihail Jojatu (Boston Symphony Orchestra) at Longy School of Music of Bard and is currently getting a Masters of Music in Cello Performance at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Miguel is a student of Boromeo String Quartet cellist Yeesun Kim.

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Interested in taking a private lesson at NEMPAC? Please email Rebecca Rapoport-Cole at rrc@nempacboston.org and get started with an instrument of your choice today!