PIANO

We offer piano lessons for Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, and beyond. Our approach to piano instruction is unique in that we want our students not just sight reading and learning the classics but also improvising and composing. We call this our “two-lung” approach: we want our students “breathing with both musical lungs,” playing by sight and by ear. Though all of our students actively engage with and assimilate the classics, we also seek to help them to be well-rounded, like being  able to write music of their own or play their favorite popular song by ear, without sheet music in front of them. We believe this will ensure a life-long relationship with the instrument. 

In any one of our bi-annual recitals, you are bound to hear anything from Bach to Brubeck to Beck, and many of our piano recitals feature an original student composition. A number of our students have participated in (and excelled) in Illinois’ Achievement in Music program (through our local ISMTA chapter). We have a faculty of seven professional, Conservatory-trained piano instructors who are all active musicians, performing around Chicagoland, serving in their churches, and here at Bellas Artes committed to sharing that joy with their students.

FACULTY

JUSTIN JACOBSON, piano
Founder and Director of Bellas Artes

Justin Jacobson (Wheaton College, ‘03, ‘08) earned his Music Composition degree at the Wheaton Conservatory of Music, where he studied piano with William Phemister and Joe Cisar, as well composition with Howard Whitaker and John Lane. Justin is an active church musician, songwriter, composer, recording artist, recording engineer, music instructor.  He is happily married to Victoria, who is also head of the strings department here at Bellas Artes.  They are blessed with four beautiful daughters (also musicians) and a little 3 yo boy who sings/screams at the top of his lungs. 

Justin grew up in Argentina, where he first began his study of classical piano, along with tango and Argentine folk music. After college, he spent a year in East Jerusalem, Israel teaching high school - his first formal experience as an educator.  He has been teaching private music lessons for over 18 years now and absolutely loves interacting with his students, seeing them progress and achieve things they never could have imagined themselves achieving before. His aim is not so much to turn his students into virtuosos but to cultivate in them a love for music that will last a lifetime.

He seeks to teach all of his students not just how to read music, but also how to improvise and create their own music. He believes that the classical music  education paradigm has been too heavily weighted toward replication and not enough toward re-creation.  In other words, far too many pianists know how to play Bach and Chopin from memory but are at a loss if requested to compose their own music or play “Happy Birthday.” 

Therefore, Justin’s desire is to bring musical education into a more holistic equilibrium by complementing the traditional model of instruction. He requires all of his students to learn how to read music and to do so proficiently, but he also encourages and teaches them how to improvise, how to compose their own music, and how to play “by ear,” reproducing their favorite song in a piano reduction. This paradigm of instruction does not take place to the neglect of the classics; on the contrary, it seeks to build upon their foundation.  It is for this reason that a number of his students have played original compositions in their recitals and have received awards at the Illinois state level for their original composition. Several of his students have gone to excel in music at the college level, in programs around the country.  

As director of the school, his primary role is that of providing vision and executive leadership.  He has hired a team of over 25 professional musicians from diverse backgrounds but who all share a similar vision for building a holistic and versatile education upon the Western classical tradition.  He is committed to hiring educators who themselves embody the values that Bellas Artes has become known for - goodness, truth, and beauty.

NATALIA DIEHL, piano

Natalia Diehl is professional music educator, with over 30 years of experience as a piano instructor, teaching both in the United States and in Russia. Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, her parents had music playing in the home all the time, even though they were not musicians themselves. She began piano at the age of 6 and eventually received her Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from Rostov State Music Institute, Russia. In Taganrog, Russia, she taught piano for 11 years at the School of Fine Arts, where she held a position as accompanist for voice students at concerts, competitions, and regular exams.

Since immigrating to the U.S. in 2000, Natalia has been teaching at various public and private schools around the Chicagoland area. Additionally, she has served as the pianist at her church for many years, where she accompanies the choir and other vocal ensembles. She is also a member of the choir. When she is not teaching or accompanying, she enjoys spending her time with her loving husband and three daughters.

Music is her life-long passion, and she loves sharing it with her students. Her expertise is exceptional, and her students love that she is equally interested in popular styles along with the classics.

CHRIS GU, piano

Chris Gu is a committed performer and music educator based in the Chicagoland area.

He earned his Master of Music in Piano at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and continues to study under Gregory Sioles, a graduate of the Jacobs School and a student of the late György Sebők. In addition, Chris has also studied with Evelyne Brancart and Manami Kawamura. In 2016, he gave his first solo piano recital at Westerbeck Recital Hall in Pasadena and has since performed in venues including Lansing Recital Hall, Twitchell Auditorium, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Chris is the winner of the 2017 Biola PRISM Competition, 2017 Biola Piano Jury Competition, 2018 MasterWorks Concerto Competition, the Second Place winner of the 2017-2018 California Association of Professional Music Teachers Concerto Competition Regional South, the First Place winner of the 2018 American Fine Arts Festival Concerto Competition, and the First Place winner of 2018 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, Division V: Ages 21-35. Chris has performed in masterclasses under world renowned pianists and pedagogues, including Boris Slutsky, Angela Cheng, Alan Chow, William Nabore, Stephen Cook, Stewart Gordon, and Christopher Harding. 

Aspiring to share the joys of music-making through comprehensive teaching methods, Chris believes in piano lessons that focus not only on results but also on the transformative journey between each artistic milestone.

Besides piano, Chris also enjoys playing the carillon and has a lifelong interest in percussion. Chris has over six years of experience in the marching band and indoor marching scene. He has performed as part of world-class percussion ensembles such as POW Percussion and Pulse Percussion and is a WGI 2017 Bronze Medalist.

Chris was born in China but grew up in Los Angeles and speaks both English and Mandarin. Outside of music, he spends a lot of time cooking and enjoying cuisines from around the world. He enjoys taking time to try ramen restaurants in the cities that he visits. Chris has set foot in six countries on three continents and looks forward to traveling more.  He is a pcmasterrace, mechanical keyboards, and hydrohomie enthusiast.

EUNHEE HAN, piano

Eunhee Han earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in piano performance at the Young Nam University in South Korea. She then came to the United States and earned another Master’s Degree in piano performance from Georgia State University and continued to a doctoral program at the University of North Texas.

Mrs. Han has been teaching piano for over thirty years in her private studio and has sent students to pursue music in college. She has played as an accompanist at the Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College since 2018 and has accompanied students from a variety of local middle and high schools for competitions, auditions, performances and the IGSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival for decades. She has also been a church pianist for over thirty years.

Mrs. Han believes music is a vital tool to express the experiences of life and to enrich the people in her community. Her vision is to continue providing learning opportunities to those who wish to explore music and performance.

She loves to travel and has been to over 40 states. She is married to Kwon, a pastor, and thankful to be a mother of five children.

JASON LEE, piano

Korean-American pianist JASON LEE brings a unique blend of raw musicality and exceptional versatility to audiences in the United States and beyond. Throughout his ongoing 18 year musical journey, Jason has performed, competed, and shared music with audiences across the world, landing in prestigious venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center, and historic concert venues in Italy. Making his radio debut at the age of 9 on Chicago’s WFMT, Jason has carried his musical success all throughout college and beyond, recently winning the 2023 Thursday Musical Scholarship Competition, claiming 2nd Prize at the 2023 Chicago International Piano Competition, and earning the Iowa State Representative in the 2021 MTNA Piano Competition.

In May, Jason will be a proud graduate of the University of Iowa School of Music, earning his B.M. in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Rene Lecuona. His time at Iowa has provided unparalleled access to amazing musical experiences, such as 3 yearly performances for the University of Iowa Key Change Piano Festivals, numerous occasions of Piano Sundays in partnership with the Old Capitol Museum in Iowa City, 3 solo piano recitals, more than fifteen chamber music recitals, and a vast array of masterclasses with prestigious visiting artists during his time at Iowa. Aside from classical piano, Jason also served one semester as the pianist for the Jazz Repertory Ensemble, under the direction of Grammy-Award winning trumpeter, Curtis Taylor, and most recently held the chair of pianist for the Black Pop Music Ensemble, led by renowned jazz pianist Dr. William Menefield. Furthermore, Jason served as a private piano instructor through the Iowa Community Music School, a staff accompanist for the University of Iowa Dance Department, and a House Manager for School of Music concerts. Whether on stage or backstage, Jason found every way to get involved with music during his 4 years at Iowa.

Jason's teaching style and philosophy is centered around his core belief that the love of music is the center of one’s musical journey. He believes that the main job of a piano teacher is to nurture that excitement, joy, and love for music in healthy, understandable ways. Each student will respond differently, and it is the teacher’s job to learn what works for each student. Jason enjoys teaching in a dynamic, high-energy style, with the belief that “Laughter Makes a Great Lesson." This way, a student is more likely to  leave a lesson excited and ready to begin their practice and assignments for the week. 

Jason has built prominent and strong connections with music businesses and individuals in the bustling downtown music scene; he is also a partner and artist with the beautiful downtown venue Epiphany Center For the Arts. During his time away from the piano, he greatly enjoys sports, golf, and hanging out with his dog, Simba.

SOOJEONG CRYSTAL LEE, piano

Soojeong Lee is a pianist, composer, and music educator from Seoul, South Korea. She began studying classical piano at the age of five and embarked on the study of pop/jazz piano in high school. Soojeong earned an AA degree in Music Composition in Korea (2012). Later that year she moved to Los Angeles where she continued her studies at the Musicians Institute and later earned her Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from California State University, Los Angeles (2017).

All the while Soojeong was performing as a jazz pianist and accompanist. In 2018, Soojeong returned to Seoul and earned her master’s degree in Cultural Contents Planning from Dongguk University (2023). Upon finishing her degree, she moved to Chicagoland to join her husband (a local bassist and music educator).

Currently, Soojeong is working to develop her career as a musician and educator in the greater Chicagoland area. She loves teaching and helping young musicians develop a passion for music, especially with beginning students to inspire in them a love of music! She focuses on making each lesson exciting and fun.  Students build technique, repertoire & theory by utilizing the Piano Adventures method book, their favorite songs & their ears. Each lesson is tailored to the individual student's needs and desires to build a lifetime love of learning.

MARJERIE LUCAS, piano and special education

With over 20 years of experience as a music educator, Marjerie Lucas has a proven background of motivating students to reach their hightest potential in piano.  She completed her doctoral degree in Special Education in May, 2015 from Indiana University, with emphases in Brain Science, Neurology, Music, and Autism.  She studied with internationally known piano pedagogue Dr. Maurice Hinson and finished her masters and undergraduate degrees in Piano Pedagogy at Butler University.

For the past ten years, she has served as an Advisor To The Faculty for the Young Pianist Program at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University.  She also served as a Program Developer/Piano Instructor at Butler University, where she advised the piano faculty for the Butler Community Arts School and lectured for the piano pedagogy classes at the School of Music. She also laid the plans for an upcoming piano camp (summer 2019) for children with developmental  disorders.

For over twenty years, her methods have been tailored toward the individual learning style and personality of every child.  In large part due to her unique specialization for children with special needs, she has seen great success with students of all ages and abilities, with a student recently debuting at Carnegie Hall.  Regarding children with disabilities (especially those with autism), she believes that music instruction through piano can be highly successful in developing neural circuits for cognitive processing.  Toward this end, she developed a method of music instruction based on the natural harmonic progressions of scale degrees. She is coauthoring a book on the brain and music through piano with brain scientist, Dr. Xioaming JIn, at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, IN.

MATT PETERSON, piano and jazz piano

Originally from Seattle, WA, Matt Peterson is a jazz and classical pianist and composer. He has composed for film, theatre, and Internet productions, and has performed as a soloist and in a variety of groups around the country. 

Matt holds a Bachelor’s in Piano Performance and Composition from Wheaton College, where studied with Daniel Horn and Howard Whitaker. He also holds a Master’s in Jazz Studies from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. In 2010, he was invited as the overall winner of the Ben Heppner Concerto Competition to perform Gershwin’s Concerto in F with the Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2013, he worked as a pianist and percussionist with the Disneyland All-American College Band at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. He was an invited performer at the 2013 Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival with the Indiana University Quartet.   

Matt has studied jazz under Luke Gillespie, Nicole Mitchell, Bradley Williams, Steve Houghton, and David Baker and has had the privilege of sharing the stage with Curtis Fuller, Peter Erskine, Gordon Goodwin, Gregg Field, and Wycliffe Gordon. Matt performs in a number of jazz groups around the Chicago area.

He is passionate about music education and believes in the art of simultaneously encouraging students’ self-confidence and self-worth and challenging them enough to stretch their abilities and broaden their horizons.  

DR. DEVIN STARR, clarinet and piano

Devin Starr is a professional clarinetist and collaborative pianist who currently works in the Chicagoland area. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in May 2016 from the University of Oklahoma where he studied with Dr. Suzanne Tirk and taught as an adjunct professor at the same institution. During his four years in Oklahoma, Dr. Starr also served as the woodwind department accompanist and opera accompanist at OU while simultaneously teaching clarinet and serving as a maternity leave replacement. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance from Grand Valley State University where he studied with Dr. Arthur Campbell and his Master’s Degree in Music Performance from Bowling Green State University where he studied with Mr. Kevin Schempf.

Starr has competed in several competitions, most recently as a finalist in the 2015 NAFTZGER Young Artist Competition. He has performed several solos with the Wheaton Municipal Band and played principal with the West Wind Chamber Players of Oklahoma City. Starr was also a Finalist at OU’s 2013/14 Concerto Competitions and BGSU’s Chamber Music Competition. He has presented masterclasses and sectionals at the University of Central Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa Youth Orchestra, and several high schools. Alongside performing on clarinet, he has spent much time on the piano, solo and collaborative. Most recently, Starr premiered Kenn McSperitt’s triple concerto for Saxophone, Piano, and Strings in 2015. He was on staff with OU as the opera accompanist, performed piano with the orchestra on Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, and toured around accompanying for John Davies’ “Three Little Pigs” opera (based off several Mozart operas). Starr has also performed for many venues including solo recitals at BGSU and UofM with the Principal Clarinetist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, recitals with the Principal Bassoonist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and dozens of other student recitals, chamber ensembles, orchestras, bands, and new music ensembles.

Starr has also worked with dance, combining clarinet playing and modern dance in hopes of expanding the boundaries of standard performance to add a more visual aspect. He has travelled throughout the United States, Germany, and France playing with orchestras, bands, new music ensembles and chamber ensembles, as well as going to help teach young musicians in youth orchestras, middle schools, and high schools in the Midwest and Texas. Some of the musical ensembles he has worked with have included the Blue Lake Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Wheaton Municipal Band, and GVSU New Music Ensemble.

When not working in the music industry, Starr is a huge fan of the outdoors and is perfectly content to be out in the middle of nowhere with a bonfire and a tent. He likes spending time away from technology and loves, despites his profession and extroversion, peace and quiet. Aside from classical music, Starr loves movie soundtracks.

RACHEL THOMPSON, clarinet and piano

Rachel Thompson is a clarinetist and pianist originally from Rochester, NY. Rachel was exposed to music at a young age, starting piano lessons at the age of 5 and clarinet in the third grade. She found her love for music partly because of her musical family that fostered her interest and sang four-part harmony in the car with her.

In addition to Bb and A clarinet, she has experience playing both Eb and bass clarinet as auxiliary instruments. She has performed in venues from the Chicago Symphony Center to Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theater to the Crystal Cathedral in California to Carnegie Hall. She attended Wheaton College for her undergraduate studies, where she studied under Trevor O'Riordan of the Elgin Symphony and Illinois Philharmonic. She is a graduate from Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts with a Master’s in Music Performance, and has studied privately with John Bruce Yeh of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Charlene Zimmerman of the Lyric Opera Orchestra. She studied classical piano for 10 years primarily under the chair of the Piano, Keyboard, and Organ program at Eastman Community School of Music, Alla Kuznetsov, but she also studied with Donna Lascell (beginning piano) and Paul Hofmann (jazz and classical piano).

Passionate about sharing her knowledge with others, she enjoys encouraging students to reach their full potential through development of both critical thinking and personal musical expression. Her studio is a relaxed environment where it is okay to make mistakes and a safe place for technical exploration. She hopes to share not only the instruction and experience she has received in her studies and performances, but also the enthusiasm and joy that comes from music-making.

In her spare time, she enjoys water-coloring, crocheting, and spending lots of time with her husband and rambunctious gray cat.

KEVIN WONG, piano

Kevin Wong holds a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Roosevelt University where he studied with Winston Choi. Kevin also attended Elmhurst College where he earned Bachelor’s degrees in both Music and German. Kevin has also performed piano with many groups in the Chicagoland area. He has been a member of the DuPage Symphony Orchestra since 2010 and accompanies the Elmhurst Choral Union, the Village Voices, the Pullman Community Choir, and the Greater Chicago Opera Guild.

Kevin has also performed Mendelssohn’s piano concerto in D-minor with the Fox Valley Philharmonic and has also played the second movement of Beethoven’s third piano concerto with Sinfonietta Bel Canto in Downers Grove.

Kevin is a native of Glen Ellyn and has been playing piano since the age of six. Through high school, he studied with Marilyn Andersen at Wheaton College’s CSA program. During college he studied classical piano with Linda Camp and Jazz piano with Frank Caruso and Skip Green. He also spent a year abroad in Vienna where he continued developing his piano skills with Gerald Stofsky.

After college, Kevin began teaching private piano lessons through DePaul University’s Community Music Division. Additionally, he taught Music Appreciation and American Music at Moraine Valley Community College. He helped direct an operetta at the Lutheran School of St. Luke in Itasca. Kevin also led the middle school choir at Immanuel Lutheran School in Elmhurst. He currently accompanies the choirs in Lisle District 202 schools.

Kevin studied organ briefly in college and continues to gain further experience working in local churches. He is currently the organist at First Presbyterian Church in Glen Ellyn where he accompanies, sings in the choir, provides preludes and postludes, leads hymns, and improvises. He has also served as organist for First Methodist at LaGrange, Immanuel Lutheran in Elmhurst, Kingswood Methodist in Buffalo Grove, St. Luke Lutheran in Itasca, and Morgan Park Methodist in Chicago. He served on the board of the American Guild of Organists for three years. Kevin organized a Concerto Marathon with local organists and the Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra, in which he performed Bach’s D-minor Keyboard Concerto.