FAnTEE JONES

Piano

Taiwanese-American pianist and violinist, Fantee Jones of Roseville, California gave her first solo recital at the age of seven and made her concerto debut performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488 at age ten. She has continued her noteworthy accomplishments winning many awards in various international competitions. Most recently, she was a semi-finalist at the 1st Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition (2023) in Slovenia, 1st prize winner, and awarded the “Best Execution of a Classical Piece” in the 2022 Città di San Donà di Piave International Piano Competition and 5th prize winner of the 2022 XII Darmstadt International Chopin Piano Competition in Germany. She was a semi-finalist at the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition, winner of the 2019 Eastman School Concerto Competition, finalist at the 2018 Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards, prizewinner at the 2018 Los Angeles International Piano Competition, and a winner of the Piano Texas International Young Artists Concerto Competition, among others. As a result, she performed the Prokofiev 3rd Piano Concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Lio Kuokman.

Miss Jones made her first Carnegie Weill Hall appearance in May 2005 and has also performed at Benaroya Hall and Lied Center of Kansas in the United States, National Recital Hall in Taiwan, Sendai City Cultural Center in Japan, Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, Temppeliaukion Kirkko “Rock Church” in Finland and Verbrugghen Hall in Australia, as well as on Cunard and Princess Cruise Lines.

In addition to the piano, she also plays violin and flute. Miss Jones was a member of the Sacramento Youth Symphony (SYS) Premier Orchestra first violin section for five seasons. She went on the European tour with the SYS in 2007, performing on both piano and violin. Miss Jones has also served as one of the Evening Division piano accompanists at the Juilliard School, playing piano concerti and violin sonatas with various pianists.

Miss Jones began piano training with her mother, Tiffany Jones, at the age of three. Her past teachers include Tien Hsieh, John McCarthy, and Dr. Marc Silverman.

She received her Bachelor of Music as the recipient of the distinguished Roy M. Rubinstein prize at the Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School in 2016. She was a recipient of the Elizabeth Parisot Prize and graduated with a Master of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music in 2018, studying under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen. She was the recipient of the Excellence in Accompanying Awards at the Eastman School of Music, where she continued her studies with Alexander Kobrin, and received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature and a minor in Piano Pedagogy in May 2022.

Mimi nehse

Piano, Music Theory (Classical)

Mimi Nehse graduated from the prestigious Japanese Music University, Musashino Music Academy, with an MM in piano performance and teacher credentials. She was a teacher for more than 30 years in the both the U.S. and Japan. She taught private lessons in Japan and at the Yamaha Music School. She moved to San Jose in 1982, because of her husband’s job transfer, where she taught both native and foreign Japanese students. She took a break from teaching a few years ago in order to pursue another career, but she plans to resume teaching this year. She is a very experienced teacher who nurtures her students and fully stimulates their musical potential.

Yuchu (Celeste) liang

Piano, Music Theory

Yuchu (Celeste) Liang is an experienced music educator and composer with over 15 years of teaching experience. She holds an MA in Music Composition and Piano, a certificate in Film Scoring from UCLA, and a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition and Education. Her expertise spans music theory, musicianship, composition, piano, and music technology. Ms. Liang has taught students of all ages, from young learners to university-level musicians.

She previously served as a lecturer at a renowned university in Taiwan and now teaches at Stratford School. Her students have achieved success in competitions such as the US Open Music Competition and the National Student Competition of Music, with many gaining admission to prestigious institutions, including Harvard, Eastman, and NYU.

Beyond teaching, Ms. Liang is an accomplished composer whose works include orchestral music, video game scores, theater productions, and film soundtracks. She is dedicated to fostering a strong musical foundation while inspiring creativity and a lifelong appreciation for music in her students.

Sascha Sound

Piano, Composition, Voice

Dr. Sasha Sound teaches piano, composition, and voice at Legato Music School, drawing on more than fifteen years of teaching experience. He is also the founder and CEO of School For Creators. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Iowa and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Bowling Green State University.

A Russian-born pianist, Dr. Sound has built a performing career that keeps widening in style and geography, seeking new repertoire and collaborators across borders. That artistry lives on two recordings devoted to Nikolai Medtner — a solo piano album and a collaborative recital with soprano Rachel Joselson — and equally in his own compositions, among them the piano pieces “In the Middle of Nowhere,” “Breach,” “Reflection in C# Minor,” and “Aspects of Ma.”

Dr. Sound is the author of Integrated Musicianship, an original teaching framework built on one conviction: piano, composition, and voice are expressions of one musical instinct, not separate subjects. Rather than drilling technique in isolation, he helps students discover how playing, creating, and singing reinforce each other, so pianists learn to compose the melodies they play and singers learn to feel resonance as a natural instrument.

Every student’s path is individualized: lessons follow each student’s own pace, curiosity, and goals rather than a fixed syllabus, so a first-time beginner and a teen preparing for conservatory auditions both find lessons that fit them. Central to his approach is helping students find authentic expression — activating the voice, sensing resonance in the body, and learning to trust the instrument they already carry within.

For parents, this means lessons built on real musical understanding, not repertoire memorized for a recital. For students of every age, it means a teacher who treats creativity as a skill to be practiced and grown, not a gift reserved for the few. At Legato Music School, Dr. Sound continues to shape that vision, one student and one original idea at a time.