Claudine Elzey is currently a Teaching Artist at BRAVO Youth Orchestras, teaching beginning brass and keyboard. She is also a part time, private piano teacher with more than 15 years teaching experience, and is an active member of the Oregon Music Teachers Association. In her prior professional life, Claudine was a professional fundraiser in the non-profit sector.

Claudine received her B.A. from Marian College in Indianapolis with dual majors of Music and Biology, and has a Master’s degree in Intercultural Relations from Antioch University.

Phillis Whitmore is a 1968 graduate of Western Business University.  Her professional career was in the banking industry, where she worked for more than 40 years before retiring at the end of 2014.

Phillis has also been a professional musician, with more than 50 years of experience working with choirs and bands, and teaching piano.  She also serves as the Minister of Music at her church.

Davina Doby has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona.  She obtained her MBA at Portland State University in 1995. She has worked with information systems, focusing on reporting and database development for her entire career.  Davina also volunteers with SMART, reading to preschoolers every week and does the high school directory and other publications every year for the parent club. 

Her lifelong love of classical music might have influenced her son to become a Piano Santa Foundation Grand Scholarship winner, and she treasures his many musical accomplishments along with the skills of her vocally talented daughter.

Rachel Brashear grew up in Oklahoma City and Branson, Missouri, surrounded by a family of musicians. She was raised playing fiddle, guitar, and piano with her grandfather (a member of the Western Swing Hall of Fame) and with her parents, who performed professionally throughout the midwest. She was exposed to a variety of genres and musical experiences at a young age and was performing on stage by the age of 6.

Rachel received a Bachelor’s Degree in Commercial Music from the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma, and has been an active performer and teacher throughout her adult life. She has a passion for writing and performing original material, as well as taking on exciting projects like The Music of Twin Peaks, an all-female Dolly Parton cover band, and performing standards and other varied covers with her bassist and partner in the Portland area.

Ben Graves has studied and shared the stage with national and internationally known artists including Rick Zunigar (Stevie Wonder), Tony Dumas, John Stowell, Leon Russell, Dick Berk, and Charles McPherson. While living in Los Angeles, he studied classical guitar with Scott Tennant (of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet), Evan Hirschelman, and Robert Mayeur. Ben has performed in music festivals all over the U.S., including the Reno Jazz Festival, Jazz In The Valley (Ellensberg, WA), and Portland Jazz Festival.  He has performed with local jazz greats including Ron Steen, Andre St. James, George Colligan, John Stowell, Dave Captein, and Darrell Grant. 

Ben currently resides in Portland, Oregon where he performs regularly in jazz, chamber music and Latin ensembles such as the Ben Graves Trio, Bossa PDX, Big New Band, Brazilian Guitar Duo, and the Eddie Parente Quartet. 

John Jaqua has been a featured vocal soloist with the Oregon and Seattle Symphonies, and has experience in Opera and Music Theater throughout the Northwest, where his leading tenor roles in La Boheme, Carmen, Don Giovanni, West Side Story and Student Prince have been met with critical acclaim.  he was also a select member of the Robert Shaw Chamber Choir in France and Carnegie Hall.  In addition to performing, recording, and composing with local artists, John taught music at the Pacific Hills School in Beverly Hills.

John graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a BA in Music, and first began teaching music at The Catlin Gabel School in Portland and directing choirs at the Milwaukie Presbyterian Church.  A nationally licensed soccer coach, John also plays with the Corinthians Soccer Club.  John is the founder of CHORDination, a program which provides music lessons, music educational materials, instruments, and performing opportunities for students.

Sam Krulewitch is a Portland, OR native since 1992. He plays piano, guitar, bass, sings, writes music, and has toured with various bands. He has worked as a HVAC Contractor and a Piano Teacher, and is now a licensed therapist working with at-risk teenagers. He enjoys ultimate frisbee, science fiction, local restaurants, and finding a nice quiet place to sit down and have a cup of coffee. 

He has a Bachelors in Creative Writing and Environmental Studies from Oberlin College (2007), and a Masters in Social Work from Portland State University (2019). 

Ajit Phadke, a Manager in Thomson Reuters (Westlaw), oversees content development for products such as Westlaw Legal Calendaring, KeyRules and Drafting Assistant (print and online products which primarily focus on rules of practice and procedure in state, federal, and international jurisdictions) as well as publication of the California Code of Regulations. 

Prior to coming to Portland, Ajit received Bachelors degrees in Music Composition and Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University.  Ajit graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in 1998, and has since worked in government, corporations, and private practice, specializing in Estate Planning and Intellectual Property.