Who We Are
Our Admin Staff
Brian Vaccaro
Executive Director
Brian Vaccaro graduated from Webster University in St. Louis in 1996 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music with an emphasis in Jazz Studies. He continued his education at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where he earned a Master's Degree in Music in Guitar Performance in 2000. Since completing his studies, Brian has been active as an educator as well as a performer. He has taught a variety of jazz and general music courses including Jazz History, Jazz Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Rock History, Private Guitar Study and numerous others at Lindenwood University, Southwestern Illinois College, St. Louis Community College, Grand Center Arts Academy and St. Charles Community College.
In 2010, Brian received the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty award from St. Louis Community College at Meramec. Brian is now Executive Director of the 501c3 organization "St. Louis Classical Guitar". He has also performed and recorded with many of the top musicians in the St. Louis area. "Going Through the Motions", the debut album by the Brian Vaccaro Trio, was honored to be included in the "Notable Releases of 2011" list by noted critic and author W. Royal Stokes. Brian currently performs in and around the St. Louis area.
Hannah Rainey
Operations & Communications
Other roles: Teaching Artist
Hannah Rainey is the Operations and Communications Manager for St. Louis Classical Guitar as well as a valued teaching artist for the past 8 years. Her managerial role began in fall of 2021, where she works closely with the concert series, education programming, and communications.
In 2015, Rainey began teaching with St. Louis Classical Guitar’s education program Guitar Horizons in area schools. Since then, Hannah has taught school programs in Ferguson-Florissant, Jennings, Normandy, and SLPS schools. She is now the advanced guitar instructor at McCluer North High School in Ferg-Flor, SLCG’s most successful high school program.
Hannah began her classical guitar education at age 10 through the Childbloom Guitar program in Saint Louis. She has a Bachelors of Music in guitar performance from the University of Missouri - Columbia, studying under Anthony Glise. Photo on the left above shows Hannah at her senior recital at Mizzou in 2015.
Outside of her classical-based performance, Hannah plays in a few bands and enjoys writing music.
W. Mark Akin
‘Inside Classical Guitar’
Other roles: SLCG Guitar Orchestra, & Teaching Artist
Award-winning classical guitarist W. Mark Akin is a St. Louis based musician who has engaged audiences across the country with his dynamic on-stage presence and musicality.
Mark has won prizes in numerous competitions such as the Wilson Center Guitar Competition in Wisconsin, Beethoven Club Competition in Memphis, the University of Arizona's Beeston Competition and Sholin Competition, and was most recently selected as a winner of the Artist Presentation Society of St Louis Competition.
Originally from Tennessee Mark started his guitar studies by learning to play electric hard rock, idolizing guitarists such as Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Eddie Van Halen. After discovering the classical guitar in high school, he then decided to study the instrument full-time and subsequently received his bachelor's and master's degrees in guitar performance from Belmont University in Nashville, and the University of Arizona in Tucson. He has performed in master classes and taken lessons with some of the greatest guitarists in the world, namely Sergio and Odair Assad, Manuel Barrueco, David Russell, and Jason Vieaux, Olivier Chassain, Marcin Dylla, and Adam Holzman. Recently, W. Mark had the honor of being chosen as one of four Missouri Featured Artists by the Missouri Arts Council in June 2022.
An active teacher, Mark has taught innumerable private lessons and classes, working with SLCG as a teaching artist since 2015. In addition to being the radio host of ‘Inside Classical Guitar’ on Classic 107.3 FM, Mark is a faculty member at Washington University’s music department and he directs the SLCG Guitar Orchestra.
Guitar Horizons Teaching Artists
Shuqing Ma
Shuqing Ma, born in the Liaoning province of China, is a musician and instructor. She moved to various places throughout the United States, eventually landing in St. Louis where she received her Bachelor’s of Arts in music at Webster University in 2020. During her time as a student, she tutored children and English language learners for the Student Literacy Corps. Currently, she is a Teaching Artist at St. Louis Classical Guitar, hoping to share her passion for music throughout the community.
Shu’s various hobbies include audio engineering, motorcycling, parkour, puzzles, wood working/tinkering, skateboarding, and video games.
Samuel Jennings
Sam Jennings is a local musician and educator in the St. Louis-area. He is a graduate of the Masters Program in guitar performance at the University of Missouri-Columbia, studying under Anthony Glise.
In his spare time, Sam records and performs as Other Suns.
Ben Osborne
Ben Osborne is a multi-instrumentalist and St. Louis native. He was a self-taught musician in high school and continued his education in music, receiving an associates in music from STLCC Florissant Valley and a Bachelor of Arts in music from Webster University in 2011 with a Jazz Tech degree.
Ben has an expansive history as a performing musician, playing both jazz and rock music and touring almost the entirety of the US, as well as two European tours and one Australian tour.
Along with touring, he has also taught music lessons throughout the years. Ben began the music program at the Gene Slays Girls and Boys Club in St. Louis and helped facilitate the transition from bucket drumming to a classical guitar program with SLCG.
Ben continues to play gigs around town and enjoys getting the opportunity to teach new and emerging musicians.
Board of Directors
Andrea LeVan
President
Andrea LeVan has worked in various roles with with AT&T over the last 26 years with the latest being the role of Data Manager for their production test teams. She joined the board at St Louis Classical Guitar in 2020, and just recently stepped into the role of Board Chair with the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Andrea graduated with an MIS degree from UM-St Louis in 2001 and later went on to achieve her MBA from Webster University.
Andrea has been involved with music from the young age of 5 when she began taking piano lessons with her mother and continued on with piano instruction through college and beyond. She also had a long-standing desire to learn how to play the guitar and began her journey with learning to play classical guitar starting in 2018. She has always been passionate about music and the personal benefits of a music education on childhood development and strives to bring this enthusiasm to to the SLCG board.
Other personal enjoyments include reading, traveling, learning to craft jewelry, and cuddling with her two dogs.
Paula Carey-Moore
Vice-President
Urban League of
Metropolitan St. Louis
Paula E. W. Carey-Moore serves as Regional Vice President of Housing and Economic Empowerment for the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis for the Housing Division serving St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Clair County, IL. She is a HUD Certified Counselor, a Mediator, a Notary, and a Real Estate Broker/Owner of Real Estate Connections. Paula also serves on the Leadership and Intercessory Prayer Team of her church, Fresh Start Bible Church where she has volunteered and served the community with many organizations. She was the Recording Secretary for her Business Sorority from 2020-2022 and is the current Soror Of The Year (SOTY) 2023-2025 of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. Alpha Zeta Chapter, and she serves as Trustee for her subdivision where she serves as President.
Paula has received several awards and recognitions from various organizations and received the Business Month Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business from Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. Alpha Zeta Phi Chapter in 2018, was the Keynote Speaker for the IL’s 50 years of Fair Housing Ceremony at the Jackie Joyner Kersee Center, received Urban League’s Woman of the Year in Leadership Award in 2019 and National Urban League Housing & Community Development’s 2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Excellence in Housing Counseling Management Award.
Paula is the Vice President on the Executive Board of Directors for the St. Louis Classical Guitar, she is a member of the Board for Loaves and Fishes, the oldest St. Louis County Family, she was recently elected to the Board of Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition, and the Board of I Am My Sister.
Paula E. W. Carey-Moore is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a master’s degree in Non-Profit Management and is working on her MBA from WGU. She also received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Maryville University and a Mediation Certificate from Saint Louis University. She is a Credit as an Asset Master Trainer and received this Certification from Credit Builders Alliance (CBA). Paula is the wife of Bennie Moore, the mother of six adult children, two “Bonus” adult daughters, and a Nana of eighteen fabulous grandchildren.
Leon Chiang
Treasurer
Washington University
Leon brings over seven years of experience in investment and financial analysis to SLCG. His professional expertise lies in conducting thorough financial research, risk assessment, and modeling. In his career, he has worked for several international businesses in various industries as an investment portfolio analyst or corporate finance analyst.
Outside the world of finance, Leon is an avid learner of the guitar, dedicating his time to teaching himself focusing on fundamental technique and music theory. His goal is to be able to perform various music styles ranging from classical music to contemporary fingerstyle. Biking is another passion of Leon's, allowing him to embrace an active lifestyle and explore the outdoors.
Mary Outten
Secretary
Mary returned to her St Louis roots in 2011, after living in Santa Fe, New Mexico for many years. She was Resident Composer for 14 seasons at Shakespeare in Santa Fe. As an artist- in-residence for the Education Outreach Program at The Santa Fe Opera, she witnessed the impact of arts outreach programs in public schools. From 2003-2011, she played the accordion with Trio de los Bailes, a folk trio devoted to playing the traditional dance tunes of Northern New Mexico.
Mary's CD, recorded in 2011, features renaissance and original music, as well as three of her own settings of Shakespearean sonnets. The CD is titled "Songs + Sonnets from the Time of Mary Sidney ". She is currently working on another renaissance-tinged CD.
Board Members
William Ash
Executive Director Emeritus
William Ash was Executive Director of St. Louis Classical Guitar from 1980 - 2017. He is passionate about the classical guitar and its role in reaching out to underserved communities.
One of the founding members to reincorporate the George C. Krick Classic Guitar Guild as the St. Louis Classical Guitar Society in 1980, he and his (now deceased) wife Kathy helped grow the organization into one of the leading guitar-support organizations in the United States. With financial assistance from the Augustine Foundation of New York after the shooting of Michael Brown, he initiated the Guitar Horizons school program in 2014 with 2 schools in Ferguson, Missouri. Bill is happy to continue to serve the SLCG mission of supporting performance, education, and building community as a member of the Board, with particular interest in organizational development.
Carolyn Cunningham
Community Volunteer
Carolyn Cunningham has a long-standing relationship with St. Louis Classical Guitar (since 1998). From playing in various guitar ensembles to volunteering with many SLCG programs, she has found it to be a very rewarding and gratifying experience.
Carolyn has served as a board member since 2020 and deeply believes in the power of music to enrich and inspire. She has a particular interest in reaching young populations to help them thrive in their own communities, in music, and in life.
Carolyn is a busy community volunteer with the public schools of Jackson, Tennessee. She continues her active hobbies of playing guitar and piano. ❤️
Paul D. Kreter
The Boeing Company (ret.)
Paul Kreter is a member of the SLCG Board of Directors where he has served for over 10 years. He is a past president of the organization and has served on multiple committees. After a career in engineering Paul is now enjoying retirement.
A lifelong guitarist, Paul enjoys performing with the St. Louis Classical Guitar Orchestra and the Gateway Guitar Quartet.
Hasmukh Patel
Thalden Emery Architects (ret.)
Hasmukh Patel is an architect by profession. Although not trained in western music, he has a keen interest in Indian classical music. Hasmukh is fond of playing Tabla, the Indian classical drums.
Hasmukh has been a Board Member of St Louis Classical Guitar for over 9 years and has served on various committees. He appreciates St Louis Classical Guitar’s Education Programs such as Guitar Horizons that teaches classical guitar to underprivileged students in the public schools in St Louis. Hasmukh is proud of being a part of the outstanding community service provided by the St Louis Classical Guitar which is one of the oldest Classical Guitar organizations in the USA.
Ann Reis Quigley
Kumon Center of Kirkwood
Ann is a 40+ year veteran teacher. She taught high school and middle school math for 12 years in public schools in Indianapolis and Kirkwood, MO before taking leave to homeschool her children and open the Kumon Math and Reading Center of Kirkwood. She has owned and directed the Kumon Center since 1994. Ann and her spouse, Gaylerd, have worked as ushers, house managers, and run the box office for SLCG concerts since 1992 and served on the board for over 20 years.
Gaylerd Quigley
Christian Brothers College High School
Nerinx Hall High School
In my 42nd year of teaching and currently my 2nd year teaching at Nerinx Hall. (38 years at Christian Brothers College High School before Nerinx).
I have also been a cross country and track coach for 40 years (23 at CBC and 15 at Nerinx).
My wife Ann and I have 3 children ages 35 (Daniel), 31 (Colleen) and 28 (Erin).
Favorite activities: biking, hiking, golf, classical guitar