Our Team — Forte Music School

Jonathan Haidle

**Director**
Jonathan has a long history with education. After completing a bachelor’s degree in performance and composition from Portland State University, where he studied with Harold Gray and Tom Svaboda, he spent the next several years directing youth music programs for high school students. He later went back to school to get a Masters in Education from Lewis and Clark College. After teaching music, art, math, science and language arts in the public school system, he once again returned to music instruction with a fresh perspective on the learning process. It was primarily Jonathan’s breadth of experience and education that shaped and developed Forte Music Studio’s unique pedagogical approach.

Screenshot 2019-11-08 16.15.56.png — Andy McElhatton

**Assistant Director**
**Instructor - Guitar, Bass**
Andy McElhatton started out his younger years heavily involved in sports and competition. Though he didn't begin playing guitar until college, he took lessons he learned in athletics and applied them to his study of music. He quickly realized music was more than a hobby; it was his passion. Andy began studying music formally at Portland Community College. Upon receiving his associate's degree in music through PCC he transferred to Portland State University where he continued his musical education and earned his bachelor's degree. Andy has been teaching students of all ages since. He loves sharing his musical knowledge and passing along the joy one can achieve from learning to play music. Andy's long term goal with each of his students is to prepare them for the ability to teach themselves how to analyze and approach a new song or musical style. When he is not playing guitar, Andy enjoys reading, exercise, and visiting with family and friends.

Averey Scoccia

**Instructor - Piano, Violin, Guitar, Voice**
Averey was born in Buffalo, New York where he grew up learning to play the violin and guitar. He studied Music Composition at SUNY Fredonia’s School of Music with Jamie Leigh Sampson, Andrew Martin Smith, Robert Clay Deemer and Paul Coleman. At SUNY Fredonia there were performances of his string quartet, his art song *Mirrors* for soprano and piano and his solo electric guitar piece *Days Passing By*. After receiving his degree, Averey performed with numerous groups in Buffalo, including the Buffalo Tango Orkestra, and he formed a trio to perform his own original music, singing the lead vocals and playing electric guitar under the name “Waverey”.
He moved from Western New York to Portland just this past summer with his wife and brought all of his music with him. As a musician, Averey tries to remain well rounded and has experience working in numerous styles on all his instruments. He mostly loves the blues, but studied classical, jazz, rock and tango as well.

Belinda MacDougal

**Instructor - Violin, Piano**
Belinda has been teaching the violin and viola since being awarded a Bachelor of Music, Pedagogy from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia in 2001. In 2000 she was also awarded an Associate of Music with Honors from the Australian Music Examinations Board on the viola. She has previously taught a full studio of young violinists and violists in Australia at Tamworth Regional Conservatorium of Music in group and solo lessons. She has also performed as a violist of many different orchestras and in chamber music recitals. Most recently she is an assistant instructor at Metropolitan Youth Symphony.

Aber Miller

**Instructor - Piano, Drums**
Aber Miller grew up in Lawrence, Kansas where he studied piano and drums from a young age. He attended college as a music major at Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) in Arcata, California, earning a BA in music. Many of his compositions were performed by groups at Humboldt, including the Humboldt Jazz Orchestra’s arrangement of his composition “Meditation.” Simultaneously, Aber began performing around Humboldt County in a variety of genres and settings, in time becoming one of the area’s most prominent jazz musicians before moving to Portland in 2018. When not teaching, Aber tours with local notables Shook Twins.
Aber’s teaching approach emphasizes musicianship, theory, and improvisation, in order to set students up for a lifetime of music in a variety of settings.

Colin Frey

Instructor - Piano/Voice/Drums

Colin Frey is a composer, conductor, and teacher, playing both drums and keyboards in the Portland area. He has taught piano, voice, and drum lessons since 2010. His most notable performances include playing organ on the album "Rotations" by Golden Retriever, improvising on keyboard for live shows at ComedySportz Portland, recording and competing internationally with the Portland State Chamber, and singing in the Seattle and Portland "Game of Thrones" Live Concert Experience shows (2017 and 2018). He holds the position of music director for Meridian United Church of Christ in Wilsonville, Oregon. As a choral composer and arranger, his works have been performed in Portland, Oregon and Nashville, Tennessee. Colin also co-founded the youth chorus Bridging Voices, and served as their first Artistic Director.