The music strong team
Angela McCuiston is a NASM-CPT, CES, SFS and CETI-CES (Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist, Senior Fitness Specialist and Cancer Exercise Specialist) and owner of Music Strong, a business that specializes in personal fitness training for musicians.
Winner of the 2007 NFA Piccolo Master class, Angela received her Master of Music in Flute Performance from Florida State University and her Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from Tennessee Technological University. An avid performer, Angela is Assistant Principal/Piccolo of Sinfonia Gulf Coast of Destin, Nashville Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony and Nashville Flute Choir. Joining the military soon after 9/11 she recently became a member of the 313th Army Band in Huntsville, AL, after completing a 16-year tenure in the 129th Army Band in Nashville, TN. In addition to her solo performances, she has performed with such celebrities as Kristen Chenowith, Pink Martini, Jamie Bernstein, Morgan James, Katherine Jolley, Nancy Griffith and Mary Wilson of the Supremes.
As a trainer, Angela maintains several training locations in Nashville and also travels to give her workshops and presentations, most notably presenting at the National Flute Association Conventions in Salt Lake City, UT; Las Vegas, NV, Washington, D.C. and Orlando, FL. Among her recent workshops, she has travelled to present at Arizona State University, Florida State University, Stephen F. Austin University, Ft. Lewis University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga among others.
Recently she was sought out by the Old Guard, Army Fife and Drum Corps as a special consultant to prevent playing related injuries. She has since taken up residence on the faculty of the Stetson University flute camp and has been sought out for numerous other positions including her recent appointment Fall of 2018 as Chair of the National Flute Association Performance Health Committee.
When she is not performing or training, Angela can be found teaching private flute lessons in the middle Tennessee area or riding her Trek road bike as many hours as there are sunshine. She recently completed her 4th century ride (100+ miles) and has a goal to ride between 5-12 centuries in 2019 and log 5,000 miles.
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BETHANY GEAN (GRAPHICS)
Bethany joined the team in the Fall of 2019 as chief graphics designer.
Bethany is a Visual Arts Student at MTSU, specializing in figure drawing and graphic design. After studying flute under Angela McCuiston, Bethany is now working on graphic design at Music Strong and is currently accepting commissions.
Contact:
IG: @bessy_cloverz
PH: 931-981-4548
BRAND AMBASSADORS
JOHN PADDIE
John Paddie holds a master’s degree in composition from Sam Houston State University. He studied under Drs. Kyle Kindred and Brian Herrington. He is an active composer, arranger, percussionist, vocalist, and educator in the Houston, Texas area.
He graduated from the Woodlands High School as a four-time participant in the Woodlands High School Marching band and was a national finalist twice in the Bands of America Grand National competition. He served as section leader in the Sam Houston State University Bearkat Marching Band for two years. He also sang with the Statesmen Chorus competing in the Barbershop Harmony Society competitions. He plays in the Houston-based rock-fusion band Zero Detail on drums and backup vocals. He performs on auxiliary percussion for Joe Burlison’s Uptown Jazz in addition to arranging for that group. He was a founding member of the Rock-It Rocket Band, a group that performs for Woodlands area children. He performed for and has writing contributions for Jack Nelson’s americana album Let‘er Buck and played aux percussion on Joe Burlison’s Uptown Jazz Christmas Album in 2016. Zero Detail released their second EP, Make It Through in December 2019.
His music has been performed by marching and concert ensembles alike all over the United States. He was awarded the Fisher Tull Composition award in 2019 for his percussion trio Shakr Hmn. He has written for and taught for scholastic marching ensembles in Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland, and Virginia. In 2019, Morris High School in Morris, Oklahoma won the 2A state championship with a custom show designed by John.
He currently serves on the board of the Houston-based non-profit Avanzare Vocal Ensemble and is an active advocate for music, education, music therapy, LGBT+ rights and equality, and mental health awareness. His musician’s collective,
the Ornith Collective, serves composers in the greater Houston area. John hosts a podcast, Music In Our World, which can be found on any podcast platform.
Jessica Brizuela
Jessica Brizuela, MT-BC is a harpist, music therapist, and educator with a passion for blending art and healing. From global stages to local classrooms, Jessica’s versatile musical journey spans Berklee College of Music to collaborations with artists like JMSN, Journey, and Sarah Brightman. She performs as a freelance harpist and orchestral harpist having performed with Synesthesia Sinfonietta, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, and Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra. She is also currently a harpist in the 2x Grammy winning group, Mariachi Divas. A champion of music therapy, she specializes in pediatric, psychiatric, and geriatric care, bringing music’s transformative power to hospitals and memory care centers. She’s a certified neurologic music therapist and a certified hospice and palliative care music therapist. As an educator, she inspires students of all abilities, fostering creativity in schools across Los Angeles. Outside the studio, Jessica is a triathlete and Latin dancer, embracing movement in every form.
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IG: @jjthebrizplane
Inna Langerman
Belarusian-American violinist Inna Langerman is a freelance chamber and orchestral musician from the New York metropolitan area, performing across the five boroughs and the tri-state region with various ensembles, including New Amsterdam Opera, Manhattan Opera Studio, Binghamton Philharmonic, and Orchestra 914. She comes from a musical family and began studies at home at age five, leading to a pursuit of violin at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. Inna holds two Master’s degrees (Violin Performance and Arts Entrepreneurship) along with an Artist Diploma from SUNY Purchase College, and a Bachelor’s degree from Queens College’s Aaron Copland School of Music. Notable teachers include Daniel Phillips, Joey Corpus, Cal Wiersma, and Deborah Buck.
Inna’s passion for pedagogy grew while teaching students of the Interschool Orchestras of New York (ISO). In 2011, she joined the faculty of the Harmony Program (an organization inspired by El Sistema) with roles as an upper strings coach, assistant conductor, theory teacher, and music arranger. In 2014, she appeared as a guest on CUNY TV with the Harmony Program to advocate for public music education. Inna is currently on the violin and chamber music faculty of Third Street Music School Settlement. Since 2020, she also holds a private online studio and produces weekly educational content on her YouTube channel Violinna and through her blog and bi-monthly newsletter titled A Musician’s Pursuit of Excellence and Well-Being. Inna is a recipient of the Discimus Ut Serviamus award and the Miranda Arts Project grant for serving the local community through music.
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Paul Chambers
I’m a percussionist and educator from upstate New York. I currently teach music theory, percussion, and world music at the State University of New York at Ulster and State University of New York at New Paltz. Outside my music career, I am a CPT, certified Corrective Exercise Specialist, and enthusiast for competing in hybrid fitness racing. My fitness journey was sparked by a bout with Lyme disease that left me with too much joint pain to play my instruments. The more I dove into various forms of fitness, especially corrective exercise, the more I realized how helpful this could also be for my colleagues. Not only those who are consistently in pain, which I personally spent far too long thinking must have been normal, but for every musician who seeks to perform at their best.
I currently perform as principal percussionist of the Woodstock Symphony and as a section player with the Greater Newburgh Symphony and Northern Dutchess Symphony. I also perform regularly as a pit musician for theaters such as the Woodstock Playhouse, as the drummer for numerous jazz combos/big bands, and as a contemporary soloist/chamber musician. Recent highlights include a contemporary opera performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center and a position in the International Marimba Orchestra at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention 2022.
DAVID MARGULIS
Opera singer and Crossfit athlete/coach with a passion for heavy lifts and high notes.
IG: @dmtenor25
Website: davidmargulistenor.com
VALERI SPEIGHT
Valeri is a violinist and music educator based in southeast Texas with a passion for musician’s wellness and historically informed performance practices.
Having recovered from being over 70% disabled due to playing-induced chronic pain, I’m passionate about injury prevention, conditioning, and passing on what I’ve learned to others.
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Cindy Deane
Follow Me:
IG: @cindydeanemusic
FB: @CindyDeaneMusic
Website: http://cindydeane.com
Twitter: @CDcorno
Clubhouse: @CindyDeane
Cindy L. (Henderson) Deane is a professional hornist with over 25 years of performing, teaching and coaching experience. Her primary instrument is French Horn, but she is also a lyrical soprano.
Some of her first horn students have become successful professional musicians and music teachers, and have attended schools such as Eastman, UCLA, USC, CSUN, Cal Lutheran University, U-W and so on. Many students play in their All-State Bands in California and Washington state, perform at Superior and Command Performance rating levels for their local Solo/Ensemble festivals and are members of their local Youth Symphonies, such as San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Seattle Youth Symphony, and were members of their All-State Bands. Teaching has included kids in 4th grade all the way up to adults. Adult students starting after a 20 year or more hiatus have come to perform with local community groups. She also teaches other beginning brass instruments, and coaches brass and chamber ensemble sectionals.
Cindy is a freelancer in the SF Bay Area, formerly in the Seattle area, Ann Arbor area and now in the LA area. She has coached numerous youth orchestra sections in most areas she’s resided as well as local school sections. She performs a variety of music including educational chamber shows, orchestra, big band, jazz ensembles, shows, musicals, operas, chamber ensembles in a variety of forms. She’s performed in various chamber music series previously, as well as run and managed one previously in the Seattle area.
Cindy has a Master’s of Music degree in Horn Performance from the University of Michigan where she studied with Lowell Greer and a Bachelor of Music cum laude, in Horn Performance from the University of the Pacific, Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Dr. George Nemeth and Dr. Jim Winters. She has also studied with Dave Krehbiel, Sue Carroll, Scott Wilson, Mark Robbins, Brian O’Conner, Jim Atkinson, Francis Orval and Andrew Bain. She’s had Masterclasses and coaching with Philip Farkas, Gail Williams, Phillip Myers and more. She has recorded at Capitol Records in Hollywood, and various small studios, and Lucas Studios in San Rafael, CA.
Cindy’s goal as a music educator is always to cater to the individuals needs and give everyone the most help possible. Everyone has different goals and is a different place and so individualized teaching is important. She works with all level students and students 4h grade age through adults. Cindy’s students successfully apply to music schools in all parts of the country. Some chose to major in music and others are able to get stipends to continue their music studies on the side while pursuing degrees in other areas of interest. Since the start of the pandemic, Cindy has begun teaching online lessons and now has students in many other areas of the country.