OUR TEACHERS

​

Sanaa Finley  [She/Her]

 

Amanda Gripe  (They/Them)

​

Amanda is a classically trained Mezzo-Soprano and multi-instrumentalist. They teach voice, piano, ukulele, guitar, and flute to all ages, focusing on a friendly and supportive environment. Their goal is to encourage expression and joy through excellent technique.

Amanda attended the College of Saint Rose for Music Education, with a focus on voice and choral studies. Amanda was Alto Section Leader for two choral groups, and created the first jazz choral group at Saint Rose.

They continued to participate in Rochester's music education programs by working as head counselor for Hochstein's Arts in Action music camp, and as a band coach and group lesson teacher at Girls Rock! Rochester. Most recently, they directed Rock Band Camp at The Harley School.

Amanda has been teaching in an official studio setting since 2017, coaching bands, directing choirs, and teaching group lessons and private lessons. 

​

​

 

Julia Larson (She/Her)

​

Julia is a graduate of McGill University where she studied jazz voice performance and music technology. She grew up in Brighton singing in local children’s choirs. Over the past few years Julia has sung in a local party band and taught at Hochstein’s Arts in Action camp, as well as Guitar Center and Rochester Academy of Music and Arts. While living in Canada, she wrote original music and gigged with her band Lucy’s Mirror. She now performs with her jazz group, the Julia Larson Quartet. Outside of music, Julia is the assistant manager of the Brighton Farmers’ Market and she is working on a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling at St. John Fisher University. She teaches voice, piano, guitar, and ukulele. Although she loves all genres, she has a special passion for jazz, R&B, and pop. 

​

​

 

Dan Lynch (He/Him)

 

Dan is an active Rochester-area songwriter, performer, teacher, and audio engineer.  Growing up in a musical family, he learned to play guitar, banjo and mandolin from his grandparents and went on to study Music Recording at FLCC, along with Ethnomusicology at SUNY Geneseo. In addition to recording and performing his own music for over a decade, he has also produced and engineered projects for artists from a wide range of genres including Rock, Folk, Funk and Hip Hop to name a few. Dan also has a passion for preserving New York State folk and traditional music. He has been teaching private lessons professionally for over 7 years and is enthusiastic to share his knowledge with students of all ages and experience levels.

​

​

 

Ben Morey (He/Him)



Ben has been a full time musician for the past 7 years. He studied Audio Engineering and Ethnomusicology in college and is a graduate of Geneseo. He plays in bands and owns a recording studio called Submarine Sound Studio. He has been working with kids and teaching music since his time in college in 2008. He has a passion for songwriting and audio recording that has lead him to some incredible opportunities, which include touring the United States and Europe playing his music.

 

 

 

 

Katie Morey (She/Her)

​

Katie started teaching herself music from a young age as a way to deal with and express the ups and downs of life. She has worked in schools since 2008, has directed several musical theater productions and has written and directed a choral works for children called The Snowy Suite. She is a full time musician and songwriter, playing solo and in several bands. Her biggest passion is for songwriting and loves to record, play shows and go on tour. Music has gotten her through all the seasons of life and she hopes to pass that special connection to music on to the students she teaches.

​

​

​

​

​

Careers

Interested in joining our faculty?

​

At The Submarine School of Music, we want our strongest asset to be our outstanding teachers. We are looking for some of the finest, most compassionate and talented music teachers that Rochester has to offer.

​

If you think you might be a good fit at The Submarine School of Music, please submit your resume and a brief letter of intent to our email: submarineschoolofmusic@gmail.com