Meet the BFX Music School Colleagues

Trina Basu, Violin/Viola/Cello

Trina is a violinist, teacher, and music therapist who brings a lifelong love of learning and cross-cultural music-making into the classroom. She is the middle school strings teacher at Brooklyn Friends School and the music coordinator for the BFX afterschool music program. Trina holds a degree in Music Therapy from Florida State University and completed her Suzuki teacher training at the School For Strings in Manhattan. Her teaching combines strong technical fundamentals with a curriculum that welcomes improvisation, composition, and various musical styles. She is passionate about helping students cultivate their own musical voice, build repertoire, and grow comfortable performing and sharing their music with others. With over 25 years of teaching experience, Trina has taught in NYC public schools with City Lore, Harlem School of the Arts, and the Noel Pointer Foundation; is a teaching artist with Musicambia at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility; and runs her own private violin studio, Brooklyn Violin House. As a music therapist, she has worked with children, the elderly, and patients in hospital and hospice settings. All experiences that have shaped her belief that music is, above all, a healing and connecting force for students of every age. Alongside her teaching, Trina maintains an active career as a performer and composer, blending Western classical and Indian classical raga traditions with folk, jazz, and creative improvisation. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Newport Jazz Festival, subs on the award winning musical Hadestown and is a co-founder of Brooklyn Raga Massive. Her work has been recognized with the Indo-Shastri Canadian Institute Artist Fellowship, Brooklyn Arts Council, and Jubilation Foundation awards. She brings a spirit of curiosity, creativity and rigor into her studio and classroom every day.  Trina is available…

Melanie Closs, Vocals and Ukulele

Melanie has been teaching private voice and ukulele lessons for 20+ years. After earning a BA in Theatre Education/Musical Theatre from Emerson College, and Orff-Shuelwerk Level 1 Certification (Music Education) she has been devoted to supporting young people in their creative expression. Her private music lesson teaching approach develops confidence and a love of music in children and beginners by creating lessons around their particular music interests and skill levels, with a particular focus on musical theatre, folk, and pop music. She works with students to hone skills in ear training, pitch, breathing, harmony, and finding authentic expression. 

Melanie cultivates natural expression, joy, and confidence through the voice with an emphasis on storytelling and drama. In addition to pitch, range, and breath control, she uses playful imaginative movement exercises to set the voice free, allowing expression to flow. She allows students to choose songs they love, and fosters an emergent and creative curriculum. For example, students may want to create music videos for the songs they sing, or write their own songs. Melanie creates the space and support to bring any creative idea to life. Students feel confident, open, and inspired as singers, in addition to improvements around pitch, harmony, and singing technique.

Her Ukulele approach is gentle and accessible for young musicians and small fingers. Being only 4 strings and with a small neck, it is much easier to play than a guitar, and recommended for children under 8 years old. She plays songs that her students love and allows a lot of space for songwriting and creativity, fostering a love and ownership of the instrument.

Melanie is available Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 – 6pm; Tuesdays from 4:30 – 6:00; and Fridays from 4 – 6pm

Maya Keren, Beginner/Intermediate Piano and Guitar

Maya is a pianist, guitarist, vocalist, and music educator with eight years of teaching experience across conservatory programs, independent and public schools, and community-based music initiatives. She specializes in songwriting and jazz; equally at home in one-on-one lessons, ensemble coaching, and accompaniment. Maya is Princeton-trained with deep roots in Brooklyn’s independent music scene. She is also a familiar face to the community, having served as an accompanist in numerous BFS musicals since 2022.

Maya tailors her lessons to meet individual learning styles and goals. In instructing students in songwriting, music theory, technique, and repertoire, she fosters a comprehensive understanding of piano playing/composition and preparing them for recitals while cultivating a love and appreciation for music. 

Maya is available Mondays and Tuesdays from 4 – 6pm.

Ben Tyree, Guitar

Ben is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and educator who has spent nearly 30 years teaching students of all ages and experience levels. His own music moves freely between jazz, funk, rock, blues, classical, pop, and folk, with a particular love of groove, improvisation, and exploring the guitar’s potential. In his lessons, Ben takes an organic, engaged approach, adapting to each student’s interests while building strong foundations in technique, chords, harmony, melody, and rhythm. He places a special emphasis on learning by ear and learning the music students love because developing a musical ear and a sense of feel can be just as important as learning the notes. Whether a student is drawn to a great rock riff, a funky groove, a jazz melody, or creating music of their own, Ben’s goal is to help them become more confident, curious musicians and, ultimately, to find their own sound.

Ben is available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 4 – 6pm.

Amelia Jenison, Vocals and Beginner Piano

Amelia is in her sixth year as the ECLS Music Teacher at Brooklyn Friends School. Prior to joining Brooklyn Friends, she taught classroom music in both public and independent schools in Massachusetts, in addition to teaching private piano and voice lessons. Amelia’s musical background is rooted in classical voice and musical theater. She holds degrees and professional training in vocal performance and music education, including training in Kodály, Orff, and Conversational Solfege.

In her private teaching, Amelia takes an individualized approach that responds to each student’s interests and goals, while providing a solid foundation in music literacy, technique, and musicianship.

Amelia is available Mondays from 4 – 5pm and Wednesdays from 4 – 5:30pm.

Stephen Buck, Vocals and Beginner Piano

Stephen is a vocalist, pianist, and music educator with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Ithaca College and a Master of Music from Boston University. He also holds a Kodály Music Certificate from the New England Conservatory and an Advanced Diploma in Choral Conducting from the Kodály Pedagogical Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary, and is currently a doctoral student in music at Rutgers University. Stephen has placed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions, performed as a soloist at Boston Symphony Hall, and sung throughout the United States and Europe. As a pianist, he has accompanied numerous choral ensembles and has served as a NYSSMA adjudicator for vocal and piano students. He enjoys teaching and performing across a wide range of styles, including classical, musical theatre, jazz, rock, folk, and popular music.

Stephen Boegehold, Drums

Stephen’s first priority as a teacher is to establish a sense of safety and trust with each student, working collaboratively with them to get a sense of their interests and goals for lessons. He enjoys developing and discussing lesson plans with each student, integrating fundamentals like technique, reading, and listening throughout lessons.

As a largely self-taught musician with 20 years of experience, Stephen’s teaching is designed to both guide learning and practicing an instrument and facilitate each student’s capacity to teach themselves. 

As a multi-instrumentalist, he enjoys playing various instruments with his students as they learn songs, rhythms, and musical concepts. While the drums are his primary instrument and means of teaching, Stephen’s ultimate goal is to impart to his students the joy of discovery, a belief in themselves that they can learn new things, and the knowledge that music is a wonderful way to connect with other people.

Stephen is available Sundays from 9am – 12noon.

Noel Brennan, Drums

Noel is a drummer, percussionist, turntablist, electronic musician, and music educator with over a decade of experience teaching and mentoring young musicians in New York City. Beginning his musical journey at the age of six, Noel has developed a wide-ranging practice encompassing drum set, percussion, turntablism, electronic music, sabar, and Indian classical music, including more than a decade of dedicated study of tabla with Pandit Anindo Chatterjee. As an active performer and recording artist, he works across jazz, experimental, electronic, and improvised music and performs electronic music under the alias Arktureye. Most recently, as Arktureye, he contributed electronics to Patricia Brennan’s Of the Near and Far, which was named Album of the Year in the 2026 DownBeat Critics Poll. Noel is also an award-winning turntablist, winning the 2021 Community Scratch Games Experimental Battle and the 2019 Swifstyle Keep Scratching Battle.

As an educator, he maintains a long-running private teaching studio and has helped students gain admission to competitive programs and schools including Mark Twain Middle School, Special Music School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Program, with students also performing with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. His teaching experience also includes ensemble direction, group percussion, electronic music education, and curriculum development. Noel’s teaching approach focuses on building strong technical foundations while encouraging creativity, confidence, listening skills, improvisation, and each student’s individual artistic voice.

Noel is available Tuesdays from 4-6pm.

Tyler Bauer

Tyler is a New York–based performing woodwinds musician, composer, and educator whose work spans jazz, contemporary music, and collaborative performance. Since 2021, he has been an instrumental music teacher at Brooklyn Friends School, where he is committed to fostering curiosity, creativity, and confidence in young musicians. Tyler holds a BM in Jazz Performance from Arizona State University and an MM in Jazz Performance from Indiana University. As an active performer and collaborator, he has worked with acclaimed musicians including Lewis Nash and Cory Wong, and has performed and presented in a multitude of venues including the Jazz Education Network Conference, Monterey Next Generation, and the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festivals. Tyler brings this breadth of professional experience into his teaching, helping students develop strong musicianship while encouraging them to discover and express their own unique musical voices through musically based and student centered practices. Tyler enjoys working with students of all levels, and is excited to work with students passionate about learning and playing music!           

Emiel De Jaegher

Emiel brings an impressive background in both teaching and performance, with a Master of Music from Berklee College of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music. Before joining Brooklyn Friends School, Emiel led music programs for students in Queens and Boston, directed award-winning jazz ensembles, and taught music technology to high schoolers. As a performer, Emiel has played at prestigious venues like The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Theater, and the Panama Jazz Festival. Now, he’s excited to share his passion for music with our students, helping them discover their own love for playing and performing. When he’s not teaching or performing, you might find Emiel playing or watching basketball (he’s a loyal Chicago fan!), traveling, or hanging out with his cat.

Sonya Belaya, Piano

Sonya is a first generation Russian-American pianist, vocalist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist. Sonya’s awards include 2024 Civitella Ranieri Fellow, 2024 New Music USA Creator Fund,  2022 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, 2021 American Composers Forum Create Award, the 2020-2021 Resident Artist & 2021-2022 Commissioned Artist at Roulette Intermedium, made possible by the Jerome Foundation. Her work has been additionally supported by Foundation for the Contemporary Arts. Belaya has also collaborated with Amir ElSaffar, Half Waif, Babehoven, and Tanner Porter. They were also a part of the original Broadway pit as part of the Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinoise” dance musical. Most recently, they performed as the substitute music director on Broadway’s “Hadestown”. Belaya has extensive experience as an educator. They have been an artist-in-residence at University of Michigan Center For World Performance Studies, taught masterclasses at University of Michigan Department of Jazz, and previously taught at Adelphi University’s Department of Dance.  They are currently on faculty at The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.  Sonya is a Yamaha Artist. As a teacher, Sonya creates an environment in which students can achieve artistic excellence, while developing positive habits and a genuine, life-long appreciation for music. Sonya is able to teach across many genres through holistic approaches including Western classical music, songwriting, composition, pop music, beginner jazz, beginner voice, music theory, and ear-training.