Meet Our Music Instructors

Beatrice Hilado is a specialist at working with young beginners and intermediate level piano students. Having studied through the Yamaha Method, which cultivates musicality from a young age, Beatrice began her own musical studies at the age of 5. Throughout her musical career, she has won awards and superior ratings in both performance and composition. In addition to teaching, Beatrice enjoys improving her instrumental skills and practicing guitar, ukulele, violin, and percussion. She has also performed as a dancer and percussionist with El Alma Espanola, a professional Spanish dance company based in the metro-Detroit area. Beatrice believes that everyone deserves the privilege to enjoy music. She aims to use her passion for teaching to tailor each lesson to the individual student and strives to bring the joy, satisfaction, and knowledge of playing music to all of her students so that they can ultimately share their inspiration and gifts with others.

John Dolph has a unique gift as a piano instructor. Young or old, committed or indifferent, John’s students emerge from each one-hour session wanting to learn more and play better. Now in his twelfth year as an instructor, John has long been known for his ability to engage his students with patience, humor, empathy and his insights into how to make playing the piano fun. “I couldn’t play the piano at all when I started with John, now I am a proficient piano player and sight reader,” is a common refrain. “John has mastered the psychology of how kids and adults learn.”

Brandy Nicole Adams is a classical singer from Detroit. She studied in the heart of the city at Wayne State University, where she earned a degree in Voice Performance. She has been performing and teaching for some time now and thoroughly enjoys both experiences.

Mareena gained a unique appreciation of music at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Pennsylvania. She is focused on teaching music in a way that is sustainable and healthy so that music may be enjoyed long into life (inspired by the Alexander and Taubman approaches). In addition to piano, voice, and guitar, she dabbles in lesser known and practiced instruments such as the singing saw and the lute. She believes in a well-rounded music education, providing a full understanding of the inner workings of music early on. This includes light theory and history. She is currently studying Music Therapy at Eastern Michigan University.

V is a classically trained violinist and fiddler who also plays piano, mandolin and ukulele. They grew up in Dearborn and earned their bachelor's in music performance at WMU and their master's at FSU. They love playing Irish fiddle tunes.

Gina Aula is a vocalist from the Metro Detroit Area. She started studying voice at the age of 15 here at Music Authority. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Music from Wayne State University concentrating in Music Business with minors in Music Technology and Vocal Music Education.

In addition to teaching voice, Gina performs as a soloist at several places of worship, is an in-house soloist for various funeral homes, and is a ceremonial wedding singer around Metro Detroit. When Gina is not performing she is either teaching Yoga or running audio for different music events around Michigan. Gina is excited to be a part of the Music Authority staff and looks forward to sharing her love of music with you

John began his music career learning accordion in 2003 at the Music Centre under Lana Gore learning and soon after with Mr. Pavel until the end of high school. Currently studying at WSU, John is finishing up his degree in music and has been a member of their Wind Symphony and Orchestra playing clarinet. One of his favorite musical memories is getting to play at the Tigers game and meeting fellow-musician Jack White and Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline. He plans on continuing his career by going into grad school for conducting.  John is excited to teach at Music Authority and be able to share his musical knowledge.

Aya is a musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Music from Cleveland State University. Before that, she studied performing arts at Lebanese American University and received musicianship training abroad in her home country.

With 15 years of guitar experience, proficiency in keyboard, vocal skills, and over 5 years of teaching, Aya has a broad knowledge of various music genres. Aya is happy to guide you on your musical journey and teach you how to play/sing your favorite songs!

Lena Pennington is a pianist and a vocalist pursuing a music degree at Schoolcraft Community College. She has been studying music since the age of 5, taking part in various choirs and achieving high ratings in several competitions such as The American Guild of Music and Solo Ensemble. As a former student of many years at Music Authority, Lena is so excited to be teaching where she was once learning. She hopes to help others become just as passionate about music as she became while taking lessons.