Stephen Varney
Stephen Varney is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a B.M. in Piano Performance. He holds a M.M. from Holy Names University in Piano Pedagogy and Choral and Orchestral Conducting. His primary coaches have been Dr. Dorothy Brandwein, Nathan Schwartz, and Betty Woo. Mr. Varney is the co-director and founder of the Berkeley Academy of Music where he teaches with his duo piano partner Naomi Sanchez. He has been the music director of over a dozen musicals, and has taught at the Palo Alto Children's Theater. Currently, he is the conductor of the San Francisco Jewish Folk Chorus and the California Choristers. In addition, Mr. Varney directs the music activities at the Berkeley Methodist United Church. He is on the piano faculty at Holy Names University (HNU) and is the director of the HNU Suzuki Teacher Training Institute. He is originally from Kansas City, Kansas.

Naomi Sanchez
Naomi Sanchez, a native of Sacramento, California, received both bachelors and masters degrees in piano at Indiana University. Her principle teachers were Evelyne Brancart and Emile Naoumoff. Based in San Francisco, she is active as a teacher, recitalist, and vocal coach. She is on the faculty of the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco, where she is an instructor and accompanist in the musical theatre program. Some of her engagements at ACT include arranging and composing music for several original music theatre pieces featuring the works of pop icons such as Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell. In 2003, she performed her arrangements of the production Forever Young: the Music of Bob Dylan at the Royal National Theatre in London. Her work has been heard on the San Francisco rock and roll radio station, KFOG. In addition, Ms. Sanchez is on the music staff at the Berkeley Methodist United Church.

Bryan Smith
Bryan Smith is an accomplished musician and a bit of a renaissance man having worked in theatre and film as well as oil painting and drawing. As a songwriter he is a member of ASCAP and runs his own record company, South Paradise Records, which he formed in 2006. He produced his first album, a self-titled release by his band Wailing Dog. Mr. Smith recently completed a second album with fellow band member John Simpson that is due to be released in 2007. Bryan is a self-taught musician, playing a multitude of instruments including guitar, bass guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica, and drums. As an actor, Mr. Smith trained at the Dallas Theater Center and has been featured in film and television. Mr. Smith attended Hawaii Pacific University, The University of Hawaii, the Aegean Center for The Fine Arts in Florence, Italy and Greece, the Academy of Art University and the American Conservatory Theatre. Mr. Smith now calls San Francisco home and enjoys surfing in his free time while taking advantage of all the cultural aspects of the Bay Area.