School of Fine Arts - St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church - Buffalo Speedway, Houston, TX 77042

Faculty and Staff

Mandy Kung (Director, Piano Instructor, Group Piano Class)
Mandy began playing the piano at a very young age, and has always enjoyed sharing her love of music with children and adults alike. She is the founder and current director of St. Andrew’s SOFA and feels blessed to be a part of the St. Andrew’s church family. She received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a Masters of Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Houston under the instruction of Nancy Weems and Betty Shaw. Mandy is an active church musician, accompanist, and pedagogue in the greater Houston music community. Prior to starting the program at St. Andrew’s, she taught for many years at West University Methodist and the Preparatory and Continuing Studies Program at the University of Houston. Mandy teaches part-time at Houston’s High School for Performing and Visual Arts and directs the St. Andrew’s Children’s Choir. Professional affiliations include membership in Pi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honor Society, and Forum Music Teachers Association, the local chapter of the Music Teacher's National Association. When she is not working, Mandy enjoys playing with her nieces and exploring new ways to grow artistically.

Doris Sing, Music Readiness Instructor
Doris was born and grew up in Houston and has been a member of St Andrew’s, where she has sung in the choir and been a frequent soloist for 30 years. She and her husband have two grown daughters. She enjoys gardening, walking, and playing with her four young grandchildren. Doris has a Bachelor of Science in Special Education, a Bachelor of Music, and a Masters of Music in Music Literature. She has extensive training in Early Childhood Music and has taught Kindermusik, Music Together, and Musikgarten curriculums for the past 15 years. From 1993 to 2003 she was a Director of Arts a la Carte, which she co-founded with Judy Meier Farley. Together they taught music from Prenatal to age 8 and supervised art and drama classes for young children. She loves teaching at SOFA because it gives her a chance to combine her love of children with her love of serving God through St Andrew’s ministries.

Lisa McCarroll, Piano Instructor
Northern-Irish pianist Lisa McCarroll began her studies in her home town of Derry at the age of six. It was not long before she started performing locally in Derry, Donegal as well as other parts of Northern Ireland. Before she reached her teens a chance meeting at a music summer school, led her to study in Dublin with world renowned piano pedagogue Dr Frank Heneghan. This proved to be an extremely successful partnership resulting in performances at the R.D.S. in Dubin and the John Field Room in the National Concert Hall, as well as annual first prizes in piano competitions throughout England and Ireland. She most recently won the Betty Clarke medal in 2009 at Ireland's prestigious Feis Ceoil (founded in 1896), where noted piano scholar and critic Bryce Morrison described her playing as "a technique that disguises technique, and an art that disguises art."
Throughout her career Lisa has worked with distinguished artists such as Jan Cap, Reamonn Keary, Martin Jones, Fanny Watermann (founder of the Leeds International Piano Competition), Colin Stone, Aaron Shorr, Petras Geniusas, Patsy Toh, Daniel Sher and Anne Epperson. She holds a Bachelors degree and LRAM (Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music) from The Royal Academy of Music in London where she worked with Diana Ketler, Michael Young, Michael Dussek, and Andrew West. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate degree in piano performance under the tutelage of renowned piano Professor Nancy Weems as a Fellow of the University of Houston where she also holds a Masters degree.

Rasa Kalesnykaite, Violin Instructor
Lithuanian violinist Rasa Kalesnykaite holds degrees from the Lithuanian Academy of Music (Bachelor and Master of Music) and the University of Houston (Master of Music) where she studied with prof. Emanuel Borok. She has extensively performed throughout Europe as a solo, chamber music recitalist and as a member of the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra (Vilnius, Lithuania), acting as concertmaster occasionally. She is also a prize winner of the National V. Motiekaitis Violin Competition in Vilnius. Since her arrival in Houston, Ms. Kalesnykaite has served as Concertmaster of the Symphony of Southeast Texas as well as a contracted player for the Houston Symphony which she frequently continues to play with to this day. She also was selected as guest artist to participate in arts-in education performance program for the Young Audiences of Houston. Currently, she is a member of the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet Orchestras. During her summers, Ms. Kalesnykaite holds the Assistant Principal position at the Britt Festivals in Southern Oregon.

Vicki Gorman (Voice Instructor)
Originally from Mansfield, Pennsylvania, Vicki received a Bachelor of Music in Voice from Ohio University and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where she studied with Helen Hodam. As a post-graduate student at the Boston Conservatory of Music, she studied opera under the direction of John Moriarty. Vicki is excited to join the faculty of St. Andrew’s SOFA having recently relocated to Texas with her husband and two sons after twenty years of teaching and performing in the beautiful islands of Hawaii. As a member of the voice faculty of the Punahou Music School in Honolulu she offered group instruction for students in grades 4 through 8 and private instruction for high school students and adults who were active in the island's choirs, community musical theatre companies, and the Hawaii Opera Theatre apprentice program. Other teaching experiences include adjunct professor of voice at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, choral director at St. Andrew's Priory School for Girls in Honolulu, and voice instructor for the Performing Arts Center at Miami-Dade Community College in Florida. Vicki appeared as soprano soloist with the Honolulu Symphony, Hawaii Opera Theatre, California Symphony, Maui Symphony, and Chamber Music Hawaii. This year she performed Bach's St. Matthew Passion and Mozart's Requiem with the Bach Society Houston and appeared in Opera Vista's Opera 101 evenings. Vicki is currently the vocal coach for the Houston Children's Chorus directed by Stephen Roddy. Listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers (2005), she is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Honor Society of Pi Kappa Lambda.

Joanna Cheung (Violin and Piano Instructor) (Registrar)
Born and raised in Houston, TX, Joanna started piano lessons with her mother at the age of 3. At the age of 5, she began learning violin and continued in earnest, graduating from the High School of Performing and Visual Arts in 1999 and the Moores School of Music at University of Houston in 2003, where she received her Bachelor of Music in violin performance under the instruction of Fredell Lack. After completing a two-year Bible truth church service training in California, Joanna returned to Houston where she mentored college age students through small-group Bible studies and began teaching violin and piano lessons part-time. She is currently pursuing a career in music education and enjoys teaching children of all ages. In her spare time, Joanna likes to bake scones, crochet, and read about everything related to design.

Joshua Sheiman (Electric and Acoustic Guitar Instructor)
Josh Sheiman’s musical journey began overseas in Holland. While being exposed to various cultures at the American School of the Hague, Josh also developed an interest in guitar and began lessons at age 12. When returning to Houston, Josh attended Episcopal High School where he would win numerous awards including “Excellence in the Study of Music” and “Louis Armstrong Jazz Award.” While starting as a rock/blues based guitarist, interest in Jazz would lead him to performing in the Summer Jazz Workshop where he won the “Duke Ellington Award.” Josh received a BA in music (Jazz Guitar) from the University of Miami. During his studies there, he participated in downbeat award winning ensembles as well as performing in original and cover acts all across Miami. His performances and recordings with local groups helped shape him as an eclectic guitar player. In addition to teaching at various studios around Houston, Josh keeps an active performing schedule around town including the Hobby Center and Stages Repertory Theatre, as well as playing with local singer songwriters, jazz bands, and cover bands. When not doing music Josh enjoys spending time with his good friends, and following and watching local Houston sport teams.

Brittany Conkel (Piano Instructor)
Brittany Conkel has been playing the piano since the age of 5, and loves sharing her love of music, particularly classical music, with others. Born into a musical family, Brittany has been submersed in piano music since birth, and has had the privilege of working with many talented pianists, including: Abbey Simon, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and Anton Nel. In addition, she has competed in numerous competitions, and was a state finalist in the Texas Music Teachers Association Solo Performance Contest 6 years in a row. She was also the featured pianist on NBC’s “The Why Guy” in 2006. Brittany is currently getting her Bachelor’s of Music in Piano Performance with Nancy Weems at the University of Houston.

School of Fine Arts Board of Directors
Lindsey Fifer
Larry Gelbaugh
Sara Hilkemann
Doris Sing
Mike McGlothlin

School of Fine Arts Advisory Board
Martha Bergin
Paul Elgin
Carole Nelson
Richard Robbins
Betty Shaw
Jim Smith
Nancy Weems
Karen Matlock