We love helping youth and adults discover the wonder of music.

Now at TWO Locations!

OUR SATELLITE CAMPUS
Bethel Baptist Church
4261 Bethel Overlook Drive
Ellicott City, 21043

We currently offer private lessons for:

Private Lesson Highlights

2 Recitals per year
Studio Classes & Workshops
Access to Professional Collaborative Pianists/Accompanists
Set Teacher (no substitutes except during extended absence such as maternity leave)
Community
Comprehensive Offerings

BMC Fall 2024 Lesson Policies (PDF)

Now Accepting New Students!

Register now to secure your spot for the 2024 – 2025 school year. Several of our studios have a waiting list based on our excellent teaching staff, their care for students, and student placement into top tier ensembles/roles in their school, county, and community music programs. We anticipate all studios reaching capacity this fall.

Our Teachers

Mercy Calhoun-Dion

Voice and Piano Teacher / BMC Private Lesson Coordinator

Soprano Mercy Calhoun is active as a performer and an educator throughout the DMV region. Mercy regularly performs with the Annapolis Chorale and maintains a private lesson studio alongside classroom teaching for K-12 students. During her time at Peabody, some highlights of her solo performances include Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide, Laetitia in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, the Soprano 2 solo in Mendessohn’s Lobegsange, and Giunone in Cavalli’s La Calisto. In 2016, she performed Susanna from Le nozze di Figaro at the Narni Arts Festival. She is a member of an all-female a cappella octet specializing in contemporary compositions. Mercy has also been a guest artist with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and has attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Brevard Music Center, and the Wintergreen Vocal Intensive. She is a recent graduate of the Peabody Conservatory with three degrees: a MM in Voice, a BM in Music Education, and a BM in Voice. 

As a choral conductor, she has conducted ensembles at Bethany Church, the Bethany Music Center, and the Appalachian Children’s Chorus. Throughout her teaching career, Mercy has taught general music for K-8 students in the public and private education settings. No matter the setting, she is passionate about helping every student, regardless of age and labels, find their creative and musical voice.

Noah Dion

Voice and Piano

Noah Dion is a pianist, vocalist, teacher, and composer/arranger in the Baltimore-DC Area.He currently holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Piano Performance from the Peabody Institute and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University. Noah has served as Accompanist for the Annapolis Chorale, as well as Collaborative Pianist at Bethany Church since 2015. An experienced pianist of 20 years, Noah has run the gamut of musical genres from the classical to the modern – the traditional to the unorthodox. He has experience in jazz, funk, bebop, pop, worship music, modern music, Baroque selections, and the Romantic Era. At Peabody Institute, he studied under Tim Murphy in private instruction, as well as in the Peabody Latin Jazz Ensemble. Additionally, he has worked with several notable artists, including Michael Formanek, Gary Thomas, Marty Ehrlich, Billy Hart, Mark Feldman, and Mary Halvorson.

He also has extensive accompaniment background, playing as a Staff Pianist for the Peabody Institute’s Preparatory Program since 2015. Noah also spent two years in residency at the internationally acclaimed New York Summer Music Festival from 2014 to 2015, working as a Staff Jazz Pianist alongside musical experts like Jesse Stacken, Randy Ingram, Jason Rigby, Brenda Earle Stokes, and Sherrie Maricle. He also has extensive experience in vocal performance, singing as a Tenor in statewide ensembles and professional environments alike.

Noah has been engaged in the art of the piano for most of his life – since the age of five. After having spent almost two decades seated at the keyboard, he cannot think of anything he would rather do than play piano and make music for the world. Noah has been engaged in the art of the piano for most of his life – since the age of five. After having spent almost two decades seated at the keyboard, he cannot think of anything he would rather do than play piano and make music for the world.

Bronwyn Kure

Violin and Viola

Violist Bronwyn Kure is an active soloist and chamber musician in Baltimore. Originally from rural Canada, she attended the Victoria Conservatory and received her Diploma in Music Performance. She is now pursuing a Master of Music Performance degree at the Peabody Conservatory.

Bronwyn has played as a soloist with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, and the Sydney Classical Orchestra as well as solo performances with the Victoria Conservatory’s Thursday Recital Series, the Cheminais Prodigious Talent Concert Series, and Peabody Pop-Ups.

An avid chamber music lover, Bronwyn has performed and is a member of the Mount Vernon Virtuosi chamber ensemble, and the Vernon String Quartet. She has performed with the Bonis Piano Quartet in their performance for the Amadeus Concert Series in Great Falls, Virginia as well as concerts with the Heifetz Institute in Staunton, Virginia, the Canadian National Art Center Chamber Music Series in Ottawa and the Morningside Music Bridge Chamber Series in Calgary, Alberta. She along with her colleagues, won first place in British Columbia’s Provincial Chamber Music Competition two consecutive years in a row as well as first place in the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Music Competition.

Bronwyn has a passion for teaching and has taught for many years with Baltimore Symphony’s OrchKids Program, the Bridges after school program, the Waldorf School of Baltimore and the Bethany Music Center in Ellicott City.

Hindemith Viola Sonata Op. 11, No. 4 in F Major

Brahms Viola Sonata in F minor

John DeCesare

Guitar

John is a classically trained guitarist with over 20 years of performance experience and over a decade of instructing. He studied music with a focus on classical guitar performance at McDaniel College. He has studied privately and taken master classes with guitar greats such as Marija Temo, David Russell, Paco Peña, Manuel Barruecos and others. He has performed extensively throughout the Baltimore and Washington DC area, and sporadically in Europe and Central America. John has provided instruction for guitarists in the United States and in Costa Rica. Growing up in an Italian family, music was at the center of daily life. The turntable was always playing swing, jazz, opera, classical music, and occasionally country or rock. At 13, John picked up his brother’s abandoned guitar and never looked back. He enjoys playing and teaching many genres of guitar including Classical, Spanish, Flamenco, Brazilian, Folk, Pop, Rock, and Reggae. He has a unique ability to simplify the music learning process for all ages, making it fluid and fun. 

Brandon Smith

Upright Bass, Bass Guitar

Brandon Smith began playing double bass at the age of ten. In high school he was a member of the Boston Youth Symphony where he was enchanted with classical music and has pursued a career in performance ever since. Brandon studied at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore for his Bachelors under the tutelage of Paul John-son and his Masters degree under Ira Gold and Jefferey Weisner. Outside of school Brandon has studied with teachers such as Ali Yazdanfar, Matthew McDonald and Fran-co Petracchi. Festivals that Brandon has attended include the American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Eastern Music Festival and Orford Music. Brandon is an active freelance musician in the Baltimore/DC area, performing with groups such as the Occa-sional Symphony, Washington Chamber Orchestra and the York Symphony Orchestra. The 2019-2020 season marks Brandons first season as a member of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. Brandon is a founding member of The Mount Vernon Virtuosi. 

Erwin James

Violin

Mr. James recently moved to Howard County from South Windsor, CT. He is originally from Brooklyn New York where he studied violin at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Mannes prep school, and with Ms. Hanna Tennan. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Hartford’s, Hart School of Music.  Mr. James holds a Master of Music in Music Education from Central Connecticut State University.

Mr. James has performed as a violinist with the Hanson Place S.D.A. Church Orchestra in Brooklyn, N.Y, Twinn Cities Symphony in MI., Bedford Springs Festival Orchestra in PA., Manchester Symphony in Manchester CT., and as a freelance violinist with various chamber ensembles in Connecticut.

As a music educator, Mr. James comes with a record of 32+ years of achievement in teaching in the East Hartford and Manchester Public Schools, and Co-conductor All-Town String Orchestra and Co-conductor Inter-El String Orchestra. Mr. James also led student orchestra performances at area nursing homes, and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in Hartford CT. 

Jinhee Lim

Piano

Born and raised in South Korea.  Jinhee Lim started playing piano at the early age of five. Graduating from Kyung Hee University of Seoul with a Bachelor of Music, Jinhee continued her piano studies in Europe. She received her Master of Music from Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik,Stuttgart, Germany. She also received her Cycle de Specialization of Piano in Conservatoire de Strasbourg, France. She then moved to the United States to obtain her master’s degree in Christian Counseling from Washington University of Virginia. She is currently pursuing her Doctors Degree at George Mason University under the study of Dr. Linda Monson. 

Jinhee Lim has performed and taught in various countries around the world such as South Korea, Germany, France, Italy, and United States. In 2013, Jinhee performed in Concert with choir <Frattola> in Anduze, France.

Among her awards are 3rd Prize 20th International Competition per Giobani Musiciti in Barletta, Italy 2011, 1^st Prize International Concours de piano de Brest in Brest, France 2012, 2nd Prize International Concours Musical de France in Paris France 2012, and 3rd Prize Baltimore International Festival Competition in Baltimore 2017. With a passion for piano teaching, Jinhee enjoys working with students of all ages of all levels. She is also very fluent in many languages such as Korean, French, German, and English.

Lindsay Espinosa

Voice (Soprano)

Lindsay Espinosa (Soprano) hails from Annapolis Maryland. She grew up performing musical theatre with Children’s Theatre of Annapolis and studied voice with Mary Anne Barcellona. Upon her high school graduation, Ms. Espinosa traveled to Ohio where she received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Baldwin-Wallace College and then received her Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from Colorado State University. Ms. Espinosa has performed operatic roles of Adele (Die Fledermaus), Adina (Elixir of Love), and Musetta (La Boheme) during her professional career and has appeared as a soloist for performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, and Dvorak’s Te Deum. Ms. Espinosa enjoys performing classical music, but has not forgotten her love for musical theatre. She has performed the title role inAmelie, Luisa (The Fantastiks), and Lily (The Secret Garden) in theaters in and around Annapolis. Ms. Espinosa has taught for many years since her return to Maryland with her own private studio, at Naptown Sings and Plays, and as a music teacher at Preschool for the Arts at St. Anne’s and at Bay Country Learning Center. Now living in Catonsville, Ms. Espinosa is thrilled to be a part of the Bethany musical team teaching students to build their vocal technique and love of music. 

Imam Hamdani

Guitar

Hasan Imam Hamdani is a composer, educator, and dedicated guitar player. A master’s in music production and performance from Berklee College of Music, Imam brings a decade of experience in an array of guitar styles and an accumulated eight years experience as a music educator.

Imam’s expertise lies in improvisation techniques that capture the world of diverse musical traditions (World music) and delivering specialized courses in all levels of guitar playing, music theory, (encompassing harmony, composition, and ear training) and music production.

As band leader, Imam composes, and arranges for his ensemble “Imam Collective,” a diverse community of musicians from around the world. Notable collaborations include performances at prestigious institutions such as the Reina Sofia Conservatory in Madrid, Les Arts in Valencia, and Qalandar Arts in London.

Jill Thomassen

Flute

Jill Thomassen is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.  With over thirty years of teaching and performing experience in the Baltimore and Washington areas, Ms. Thomassen’s students have held positions in upper level ensembles such as GT Band, All State, and the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Thomassen has performed at the National Flute Association Convention, in New York City at the Julliard School of Music, and has won the prestigious New York Flute Club Competition. Ms. Thomassen’s teaching style is enthusiastic, supportive, and tailored to each student’s goals and needs.