WHO’S WHO: MUSICIANS & ARTISTS

Lesley Barovick

Owner/Director

Lesley discovered Music for Aardvarks in Brooklyn with her son Jesse in 1996. Inspired by the program’s spirit and originality, Lesley launched Music for Aardvarks in Westchester County in 2004 after her family relocated to the burbs. The very next year, her classes were named "Best New Kids’ Music Class" by Westchester Magazine. Lesley has a BMA in voice performance from the University of Michigan School of Music and a MFA in arts management from CUNY/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.

Janet Casson

Janet is a drama person! She plays many roles including storyteller and yogini, and she is best known for her role as Music for Aardvarks class leader in the colorful cast of characters at Groove! She brings a theatrical flare and playful energy to all of her classes, and she’s thrilled to share her loves of drama, yoga, and music with young people and their grown-ups.  Janet has a BA in performance studies from the University of Northern Iowa, her home state, and a graduate certificate in youth theatre from the City University of New York. She completed her 200-hour and her prenatal yoga teacher certifications at Om Yoga Center in NYC.  She is also a certified children’s yoga instructor through Karma Kids Yoga.  For more information and links to some of Janet’s favorite things, visit www.janetcasson.com.

Peter Tascio

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 is a freelance musician and plays gigs around the tri-state area. He plays jazz, rock, folk and blues.

Luke  Montgomery

Luke is a lifelong musician. His band, Strangefolk, is a nationally recognized rock and roll outfit that has traveled coast to coast across the country countless times playing music live, and recorded many cds and dvds as well. He is also a dad of two funky Groove-aged kids.  Follow Luke’s band at www.strangefolk.com.

Lisa Ammon

Lisa recently launched Long Island Aardvarks.  She 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.  Lisa has directed several shows for The Youth Theatre Program at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, and has taught musical theater and acting for the Play Group Theatre.  See what Lisa is up to at www.liaardvarks.com.

Bill Mead

Originally from New Hampshire, Bill started playing the drums at age three. He has a BA in music performance from Plymouth State College.  Bill has worked for Ethos Inc. (a non-profit music center that caters to underprivileged youth in Portland Oregon) teaching hundreds of kids how to create music with 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.

Annie Lynch

We are thrilled to welcome Annie Lynch to Groove April 2010.  After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Annie moved to Brooklyn with her band, Annie and the Beekeepers. She is multi-talented musician who sings and plays acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, kick and assorted percussion. Check back for more super cool Annie information soon! 
 

Johnny Butler

A native of Seattle, Washington, Johnny has been a member of the NYC 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, The Oberlin Review and Earshot Jazz Magazine. Johnny also loves to teach music, and has been a faculty member at the French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts, the Seattle Public Schools Summer Jazz Program, and was a teacher/composer in Residence at the UC Davis Summer Arts Program.  Catch Johnny at in action at www.johnnybutlerjazz.com.

Joe Choroszewski

Joe Choroszewski is a professional drummer and educator. Hailing from Queens, Joe began receiving private instruction on drums and percussion at the age of eight.  In 2002 he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies Performance from the University of North Texas in Denton, TX.  Joe is currently the lead percussionist for Avenue Q.  His other Broadway/Off-Broadway credits include: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, and Monty Python’s Spamalot and Altar Boyz. Joe can also be heard performing in a variety of New York area rock and jazz ensembles, playing for club dates and weddings, backing singer/songwriters and cabaret concerts.  Visit www.drummingjoe.com

Jesse Barovick

Jesse Barovick is a 7th 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 a year old. Jesse plays acoustic and electric guitar, upright and electric bass and drums. Jesse attends the Paul Green School of Rock in Manhattan, Westchester Rocks Music Camp and Buck’s Rock Creative and Performing Arts Camp.  Jesse is the lead guitarist of SELL THE CHILDREN, a punk metal band.  

Don Keene

Don is a long-standing member of the art faculty of Mamaroneck High School.  He has taught painting, illustration and photography to adults and kids locally at Iona Prep in New Rochelle and the Pelham Art Center. Don maintains a private studio in Connecticut where he continues to paint and teach.  His illustrations, painting and photographs can be viewed at www.donkeene.com

Nicole Doherty

Leaving the corporate world to follow her passion for yoga, Nicole completed her 200 hour teaching certification at Yoga Works in NYC. She is certified in teaching pre- and post-natal yoga through the New York Open Center, and trained to teach yoga to children at Karma Kids NYC. Nicole is a groovy new mama and teaches her classes with teeny yogini, Henry, in tow.