Our Instructors:

Tony DeMarco
Guitar

Anthony has extensive experience with all styles of guitar including Classical, Flamenco, Rock, and Jazz and have played all of these styles professionally.  Anthony started to play the guitar in 1960 at the age of 5 with his father who also played guitar and mandolin. He began formal lessons at age 6 with Lou Melia on classical guitar and continued for 9 years.  Tony began playing professionally in 1972 in restaurants and clubs. He attended Middlesex County College from 1973-1975 while playing professionally in restaurants, plays, wedding ceremonies, and cocktail hours as a solo guitarist.
Tony continues to play full time and has been in the business for 40+ years. He also studied with Ron Parker and jazz great Harry Leahy. Tony has opened for legends such as Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich and plays in the Matty Dice Band. He has also played in various local rock bands and has played in theater productions like Promises, Promises at the Paper Mill Playhouse, On the 20th Century at the Minetta Theater, and The Music Man in various community theaters.

Tony Scardaci
Guitar, Bass

Tony is a multi-instrumentalist with over 30 years experience. He has toured the country as both a musician and Tour Manager for Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bernie Worrell. He has over 10 years experience in music instrument retail and can help with finding the right fit for each student. A regular on the NJ club circuit, Tony has played all types of music in many different bands in his 20 years of professional playing experience. He has taught music privately since the 1980s and is now accepting beginning students at Music Forever.

Neil Nemetz
Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin

Neil Nemetz teaches guitar, mandolin and banjo. Neil graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston MA. Neil acted as musical director for a Las Vegas show band and has toured with Bowser of Sha na na. He has played for the King of Spain at the Rainbow Room in New York City.
Neil is currently the house guitarist for The Bristol Riverside Theater in Philadelphia, PA. He is currently the lead guitarist in the musical “Rent” and has been performing as well as teaching privately for 40 years.

Chris Klaus
Strings/Piano

A graduate of Rutgers University with a B.A. in Music under the instruction of world renowned violinist Lenuta Ciulei, Christopher has over 12 years teaching experience. He is proficient on the piano, violin, viola and cello and has performed in various orchestras including the Rutgers symphony, Rutgers philharmonic, New Sussex Symphony and Pocono youth orchestra. His musical interests include classical, bluegrass, celtic and rock which are incorporated into his lessons. Each one of his lessons is tailored to fit the student’s individual needs and musical tastes. Many of his students play in community and state orchestras and have gone on to obtain degrees in music.

Steven Clark
Brass/Piano/Violin/Viola/Voice

Steven Clark is a professional musician and the music director at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in New Brunswick.  Steven has studied various brass instruments for over 15 years and has taught music during the past 12 years.  Steven graduated from the University of Montana School of Music with a bachelor's degree in organ performance.  A part from music, Steven studies clinical psychology at Rutgers University.  Steven's teaching style in warm and collaborative and he values tailoring lessons to the student's goals.  Steven also teaches all levels of voice and piano, as well as beginner and intermediate strings.

Kevin Ayres
Brass, Piano

Kevin Ayres is a freelance musician as well as a music educator throughout New York and New Jersey. Kevin is originally from Wyckoff, NJ, located in Bergen county. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in both Music Education and French Horn Performance from Rutgers University, and he is currently attending New York University for a Master of Music degree in French Horn Performance. His primary private Horn instructors have been Dr. Christian Wilhjelm, Mr. Jerry Peel, and Ms. Leelanee Sterrett.
As an educator, Kevin has experience in a variety of settings. He has been teaching private brass lessons for the past six years and has had his private students accepted into various honor band and orchestra programs throughout New Jersey. In addition to his private teaching, Kevin also has experience teaching large ensembles as well as chamber groups. He especially enjoys working with smaller ensembles and has often done so through the Rutgers Extension Division where he worked as a horn specialist, and chamber music intern. Kevin has also been a guest lecturer in the Brass Instrument Techniques course at Rutgers University where he taught other music majors the history and basic fundamentals of the French horn.
Kevin has various performing experience playing in orchestras, bands, standard chamber groups, and other unconventional groups. Some of these ensembles include the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, Rutgers Wind Ensemble, New York University Orchestra 1, Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, Bravura Philharmonic, Sinfonietta Nova, Ridgewood Concert Band, and more. While attending Rutgers, Kevin’s woodwind quintet made the finals in the chamber music competition and performed a concert with the other selected finalists. Kevin has also attended various summer music festivals including the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute where he spent time growing as a musician. Kevin has also done work in recording studios both in Philadelphia and New Jersey where he has recorded contemporary music with other freelance musicians. He is also a co-founder of Quartado, a Horn Quartet based in NYC that performs various styles of music at many different venues that are outside the standard classical circle.
Overall, Kevin is very passionate about both teaching and performing. He believes that the best teachers also strive to improve their own craft. Kevin is open-minded and appreciates many different styles of music, therefore he enjoys working with students that have various interests and backgrounds. He is dedicated to his students, and pushes them to reach their full potential.

Elana Segal
Woodwinds

Elana Segal studied the clarinet and music education at Mason Gross School of the Arts. An instructor at Music Forever, she teaches clarinet, saxophone, flute, oboe, bassoon and piano to students of all ages. Beginning music lessons at the age of 7, Elana has worked as a music teacher both privately and in K-12 educational music programs. As a classically trained musician Elana’s performance highlights include the Rutgers Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, and various chamber ensembles. Elana has experience performing in jazz ensembles, working as a studio musician and playing in musical theatre orchestras as a woodwind doubler.

Carter Vames
Saxophone/Piano

Carter Vames is currently an undergrad student at Mason Gross in the jazz studies program. He is a student of saxophone legend Gary Smulyan. He previously studied with Matt Janiszewski at Music Forever and Lou Rose. He primarily performs on tenor sax but also plays alto and the piano. You can hear him perform with his band Rugburn in the New Brunswick area. Their music is a spicy blend of funk, rock, and jazz fusion. He also often sits in with other bands in the local scene, including Galactus Cactus and Marsoupial.

Evan Tsioni
Drums

Evan Tsioni is a Drummer/ Composer from Livingston, New Jersey. He is a recent graduate of Mason Gross School of The Arts at Rutgers University. During his time there he concentrated in Jazz Performance and minored in Music Technology.  Through college and various gigs over the years Evan has performed in a broad range of musical situations and styles including Jazz (Big Band and Small Ensemble), Rock, Musical Theatre, Folk and Latin.
In his time at Mason Gross Evan studied closely with legendary Drummer/Composer, Victor Lewis. He also worked closely with musicians such as Robby Ameen, Mark Gross, Vic Juris and Kenny Davis who all gave him a greater understanding of performing and teaching as a whole.
Evan has been teaching private lessons since 2012 for all ages. He also regularly performs at various venues and bars around New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia with a large range of groups.

Linda Garcia
Voice/Piano/Ukulele

Linda Garcia was appointed to the Music Forever faculty in the summer of 2018. Her duties include instructing young children and teens piano, voice, and ukulele lessons. Her musical training came from Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts where she learned vocal technique with Susan Quittmeyer, how to play piano and accompany an ensemble, and how to teach music effectively under the direction of Dr. Berz, Dr. Stephanie Cronenberg, and Dr. Brandon Williams. Before joining the faculty at Music Forever, Ms. Garcia has taught as a substitute teacher for two years at Music Forever, and at Bridgewater School of Music in Bridgewater, NJ. At both schools, she was a private voice and piano teacher for students 5 to 42 years of age.
    Her extensive performance experience began when she started singing with the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera as a chorus member at age 16 in their productions of Madama Butterfly as one of the geishas, Il Pagliacci, Cavelleria Rusticana, and La Traviata. She debutted in her first three roles with Opera at Rutgers as “Le Libellule” in their production of the Le Enfant et le Sortileges by Ravel, “Mere Jeane” in their stunning production of The Dialogues of the Carmelites by Poulenc, and “Marcellina” in their production of The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. In the spring of 2018, she was the featured soloist for Rutgers University Choir’s spring concert.
    She also enjoys composing music for solo piano, and for voice and ukulele. Her latest classical voice performances, coffee house performances, and piano songs can be found in her YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIADRVrhSoaNXCWuP5GXxhA?view_as=subscriber

Lily Marie Duane
Violin/Piano/Guitar

Lily Marie Duane teaches piano, violin, and guitar.  She started the piano at the age of 6, the guitar at the age of 9, and the violin at the age of 13.  Lily Marie has played with the orchestra, 5L2F, and the performed with them since 2015. She will be graduating from Mother Seton High School in May 2019.

Megan Lako
Voice/Piano

Megan is a senior vocal performance major at Rutgers, Mason Gross school of the arts. She started singing as a young girl through musical theatre, past favorite shows include Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods and Footloose. She also sings in church choir at the Peapack reform church. At Rutgers, Megan studies classical voice with Judith Nicosia. She is also the Artistic Director of The Livingston Theatre Company and Secretary of the Kirkpatrick Choir. She very much enjoys teaching here at Music Forever!