Meet Our Teachers

Allison Wang

Teacher & Founder

Born in Taiwan, Allison Wang is a professional pianist who’s won numerous awards and honors including: Silver Prize Winners of Paris Music Competition 2019, 1st Prize Winners of American Protege International Competition 2018, chosen participant for Gilmore Keyboard Festival 2018, first prize winner of Cremona International Music Academy String & Piano Competition, winner of the 2017 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship, winner of the 2016 Jerome and Elaine Nerenberg Foundation Scholarships. Allison has performed internationally including Carnegie Hall in NYC, Chicago, Finland, Italy, Austria and Taiwan. As a collaborative pianist, she is the co-founder of Bowery Trio and the W. 4th Duo, a staff repetiteur at AIMS intensive summer program in Graz, Austria, collaborative pianist at MSU-Denver, pianist at Loveland Opera Theatre. Equally recognized as a teacher, she has been teaching for 6 years. Allison is on the piano faculty at MSU-Denver and the founder of Fun with Keys Piano Studio in Boulder, CO. She advocates for the importance of music education in all levels of schools through her passion and expertise on the subject. Allison has studied with Inesa Sinkevych, Ludmila Lazar, Yi-Fang Chiang, and Judith Jaimes. She received her Bachelor’s Degrees in Piano Performance and Music Education at Roosevelt University- Chicago College of Performing Arts, and her Master’s Degree in Piano Performance at Manhattan School of Music.

Kayla Schoeny

Piano Teacher

Kayla Schoeny started her music education at the age of three with piano lessons and found a love for cello at the age of ten. Since then, she has earned a Bachelors of Music in Cello Performance and a Masters of Music in Cello Performance and Literature, under the teachings of Dmitry Kouzov at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In her undergraduate studies, Kayla won the 2016 Smith Competition and was awarded performance residencies with the Texas Music Festival Orchestra, Ohio Light Opera, and Ad Astra Chamber Festival. Kayla discovered her passion for teaching at the beginning of her master’s program, when she received her Suzuki Pedagogy certifications from the Music Institute of Chicago, under master-teacher Barbara Wampner. Inspired by the findings of Dr. Suzuki and his teaching philosophy, Kayla spent the research and literature portions of her master’s compiling neuropsychological and physiological findings to defend and expound on Dr. Suzuki’s pedagogical method. Previously, Kayla taught cello, piano, and violin in her own studios and in conjunction with Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras in Springfield, Champaign, and Peoria, IL. Kayla also performed regularly with groups such as the Champaign Urbana Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, Heartland Festival Orchestra, Vine Street Ensemble, and others. In summer of 2023, Kayla has been very excited to begin her performing and teaching careers in Colorado!

Mario Barbosa

Piano Teacher

Brazilian pianist Mario Barbosa graduated from Baylor University with his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Piano Performance and a Master’s Degree in Collaborative Piano under Dr. Bradley Bolen. He is an active soloist, teacher and collaborator in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East. He has recently served as staff pianist for the Voice Area of the Texas Tech University School of Music and will continue to serve in the Music in the Marche program in Mondavio, Italy for a fifth. Recent engagements include teaching masterclasses in Damascus, Syria, as soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Central Texas Choral Society, pianist with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra in Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” as a regular guest with the Beeville Concert Association, guest-artist chamber recitals at colleges and universities throughout New Mexico and Oklahoma, and masterclass collaboration for Tony Award winner William Jermaine Heredia. Barbosa has played in masterclasses by Anton Nel, Frederic Chiu, John Owings, and has won the Baylor University Summer Piano Institute Student Recital competition as well as the “Audience Favorite” award. He was invited to play a solo recital in the “Série Jovens Pianistas” (Young Pianists Series, July 2021) in Cabo Frio, Brazil. Mario Barbosa has recently won the Third Prize in the Gloria Artis International Piano Competition of Vienna, Austria. In addition to yearly performances in Italy, Barbosa has recently made his solo debut in Beirut, Lebanon, appeared as soloist with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, and is scheduled to make appearances in a tour of Mexico next year. Mario believes it is never too early to instill good technique and musicianship, as these are integral for the cultivation and love of any work at the piano. He enjoys utilizing strengths from different schools of piano playing in order to bring the best out of his students in any age and level, no matter the style of repertoire. Mario has extensive experience teaching students of all ages: He currently teaches piano as an instructor for the Continuing Education Program at CU Boulder and undergraduate courses in group piano for the College of Music at CU; in his pursuit of bringing musical joy and instruction to children Mario has conducted both private piano lessons and engaged large ensembles. This extensive experience with younger students includes his work as a middle school head choir director, high school musical theater director, and vocal coach. Mario Barbosa is currently pursuing a doctorate in Piano Performance at the University of Colorado Boulder under Dr. David Korevaar with a teaching assistantship in piano.

Jacob Gunter

Piano Teacher

Jacob Gunter was born in New York, moving to Colorado at the age of 7. He was exposed to piano early on in life through his grandmother, however it wasn’t until the age of 17 that he began his own piano journey by teaching himself on the pianos in his high school’s practice rooms. In the short years since then, he has begun to pursue a bachelor’s in Piano Performance at Metropolitan State University of Denver under the tutelage of Peter Friesen and Dr. Jooeun Pak. Throughout his studies, Jacob has had numerous performance opportunities both as a collaborator and as a soloist, performing pieces such as Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude and Fantasie Impromptu, Schubert’s Fantasie in F minor for 4 hands, Franz Liszt’s transcription of Schubert’s Ständchen, and Debussy’s preludes Des pas sur la neige and La cathédrale engloutie. While pursuing his education in piano performance, Jacob discovered an underlying passion for teaching and composing. He believes that sharing knowledge with one another is an important part of the human experience, and is very excited for the opportunity to teach and inspire students to pursue the magical world of piano artistry.