The Groove Staff

The Groove Staff is a groovy bunch. We are professional musicians, educators, students, theater directors, artists and parents. We sing, we dance, we play and we know how to have a good time!

Owner/Director,Groove
Class Leader, Aardvarks
Guitar

Lesley discovered Music for Aardvarks with her baby boy, Jesse, in 1996. Inspired by the program's spirit and originality, Lesley gave Aardvarks its Westchester debut when her family relocated to Larchmont, NY in 2003. Her classes quickly developed a loyal following and were named "Best New Kids' Music Class" by Westchester Magazine in 2005. Lesley has a BMA in voice performance from the University of Michigan School of Music and a MFA in arts management from Brooklyn College. From 1988 to 2004, Lesley served as Director of Development for several New York City arts organizations including Jazz at Lincoln Center (under Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis), Playwrights Horizons and Celebrate Brooklyn. Lesley and her husband Andrew are the proud parents of two musical kids.

Class Leader, Aardvarks
Creator, Play Me A Tale/Yoga Tales
Guitar

Janet is a drama person! She has played many roles including children's book connoisseur, yogini and youth theatre director. Her current favorite role is Music for Aardvarks teacher at Groove Performing Arts! Janet has a BA in performance studies from the University of Northern Iowa, her home state, and earned a graduate certificate in youth theatre from the City University of New York. She also completed the Children's Yoga Teacher Training Program at Karma Kids Yoga in NYC. This drama lady created the very popular "Play Me a Tale" in which she offers her own unique brand of drama, storytelling, and creative movement. For more information on PMAT and links to some of Janet's favorite things, visit www.PlayMeATale.com.

Class Leader
Aardvarks & Sing Out

Lisa Ammon loves teaching at Groove! She has recently directed "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Oliver" for the Youth Theatre Program at Temple Israel Center in White Plains. She has taught musical theater and acting for the Play Group Theatre in White Plains, and at Central and Mamaroneck Ave schools in Larchmont. Lisa received her MFA in acting from Case Western Reserve University and was pursing a career as an actress and singer in New York when her own little Aardvark, Juliette, came along. She has toured the west coast performing in A Christmas Carol, the east coast performing children's theater, and has performed Off Broadway at the York Theatre.

Class Leader, Aardvarks
Group Guitar for Grown-ups
Guitar Teacher

Inspired by Jimi Hendrix and his own father, Peter Tascio began playing the guitar at the age of twelve. Despite complaints from his neighbors he continued to study the electric guitar on his own until age 15 when he began to study classical guitar. It was then that he learned to make consonant music, thus ending his neighbor's discontent. In 2005, Peter graduated with honors from the City College of New York with a BFA in Jazz. Peter currently divides his time rocking out at Groove Performing Arts and playing gigs around the tri-state area. Peter created Group Guitar for Grown-ups for all of the aspiring rock stars out there! He plays jazz, rock, folk and blues.

Salsa Babies

Melissa Ortiz has always been a mover and shaker! Her first real dance steps were taken at the age of 15, when she attended The Dillard Center for the Arts Magnet School in Fort Lauderdale. Here she was classically trained in ballet and modern dance, and later concentrated in afro-modern, Limon technique and Latin Ballroom dance. Currently, Melissa is a double major in English and Communications with a minor in dance at Manhattanville College in Purchase. She is the instructor and coordinator of Manhattanville's The Art of Dancing, a community service program that offers hip-hop, African and Latin dance classes to teens. There’s no better way to start the day than with a little salsa!

Percussion

Originally from New Hampshire, Bill started playing the drums at age three. He was primarily self taught until his sophomore year in high school when he began taking drumset lessons at Plymouth State College. He went on to study music and art at this school and graduated with a BA in music performance in 2002. From there, Bill ventured out to Portland, Oregon where he worked as a professional musician and teacher for three years. Most notably he worked for Ethos Inc. (a non-profit music center that caters to underprivileged youth)teaching hundreds of kids how to create music with nothing more than a pair of sticks and a plastic bucket. In 2006 Bill relocated to New York City. He attended the famed Drummers Collective in Manhattan throughout the fall of 2006 and has since been working as a session musician in and around the New York area.

Founder & Teacher, Kids for Drums

Brian Carter is a professional percussionist, drummer, composer, bandleader, session musician, educator and private music teacher based in Westchester. He is the founder and director of Westchester Rocks Music Camp and School, a highly focused, artistically supportive summer program, which teaches young musicians how to rock! Brian also created “Kids for Drums” which introduces elementary school kids to drumming and the art of the ensemble. Brian holds a BS in music composition, theory and percussion from SUNY New Paltz, and an MFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. The Brian Carter Quartet, established in 1998, is well known through Westchester and New York City. “Cultivate the talents in every child and they will shine.”

guitar, percussion, bass

Jesse Barovick is a sixth grader at The Hommocks Middle School in Larchmont. His mom and dad started taking him to David Weinstone's Music for Aardvarks classes when he was less than a year old. Jesse plays acoustic and electric guitar, upright and electric bass and drums. Jesse is a student at the Paul Green School of Rock in Manhattan and has attended Westchester Rocks Music Camp since 2006.

Electric Bass/Guitar
Guitar Teacher

Classically-trained from the time he could walk, Davey quickly lost interest in piano studies when his brother's rock band started rehearsing in his family's basement. It wasn't long before his parents bought him an electric bass and Davey started participating in the after-school sessions. Inspired by the "jams," he taught himself to play electric guitar, performing with school ensembles and local bands. While attending Berklee College of Music, Davey majored in composition/arranging and minored in vocal/instrumental performance. He also began teaching privately, where he adopted the motto: "teach the hands, tune the ears, enrich the mind." Davey has performed and recorded extensively throughout North America and is an active New York City musician.

Studio Manager

As studio manager, Stacey is Groove's liaison to the outside world. She has an extensive background in early childhood development and a PhD in developmental psychology. Although Stacey has been a resident of Larchmont for over a decade, she did not fully explore all of the town's wonders until her daughter Melody came along in 2004. Stacey sang enthusiastically in all of Melody’s Music for Aardvark classes and, on occasion, sings in the shower.

Piano

Born in Cleveland, Ohio and based in New York City, pianist Jessica Stewart is a renowned performer and a prodigious talent. A former Berklee College of Music student, Jessica's broad repertoire spans both classical and modern styles. She is active throughout the city as a soloist, an accompanist, an educator, and a member of many diverse ensembles.

Saxophone

A native of Seattle, Washington, Johnny Butler has been a member of the New York City music community since graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 2006. Johnny has received numerous awards and his groups have been featured in publications such as the Boston Globe, Jazziz Magazine, FreeNYC, the Washington City Paper, and Earshot Jazz Magazine. The Oberlin Review writes: "Such possibility fortifies fellow musicians with the courage to create small, beautiful things, and to perform sincere and wonderful music." In addition to playing, Johnny also loves to teach music, and had been a faculty member at the French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts, the Seattle Public Schools Summer Jazz Program, and was a teacher and Composer in Residence at the UC Davis Summer Arts Program.

Salsa Babies

Artist, Creator, Teacher
Art Wide Open

Lisa was born and raised in California and made the move to New York 6 years ago with her director husband and son. She has been involved in some form of art for the past 25 years. Lisa graduated from the Fashion Institute with a degree in design and went on receive a BA in psychology and business. Upon graduation Lisa went to work in the film and television industry producing commercials, film titles and documentaries for the likes of CBS and NBC. After the birth her daughter in 2006, lisa started her now thriving jewelery business. Lisa believes that art education should start young. She spends time in the schools teaching her children and their classmates where art comes from and that everyone has the ability to create.