Brian Highsmith Studio Manager Brian Highsmith is our Vienna Studio Manager where he handles the day-to-day operations of this busy studio. Brian is a DC area native and began playing drums at age 11. His first drum set was actually a stack of Encyclopedia Britannica volumes. Brian has performed in various orchestras, jazz ensembles, marching bands and competitive drum corps throughout high school and college. He has also toured and recorded with several original rock bands, and currently plays with several local acts on the weekends. To this day, he can still attribute his life's successes, confidence, and many friendships to his study and love of music.

Travis Adams Regional Music Director As Music Director, Travis is in charge of all student programs, lessons, live performances, and both student and teacher development here in Vienna. Using his skills as a multi-instrumentalist and experienced teacher, Travis strives to build our students' confidence not just in music but in their every day lives. He holds degrees in both Entertainment Business and Recording Arts from Full Sail University (Orlando, FL). Travis's experiences and endless desire to become a better musician allows him to dig deep to bring a high level of energy and fun to all our lessons and groups at School of Rock.



Travis's journey through music started on the piano at age three, and by nine he had moved on to teaching himself guitar while taking private drum lessons from Bill Richards (Section Leader for The United States Army Band). Throughout high school, Travis marched in the snare line as well as sitting in on various instruments with his friend's bands as much as possible. He has since written, performed and recorded with a number of artists and has held various positions within indie record labels, radio, booking agencies and studios around the US.

Dante Dalton Music Director Dante Dalton started playing guitar in 2002 at the age of 15. It wasn't long before he was performing with various bands around the MD/DC/VA area. In 2011, he traveled to Hollywood, CA to attend Musician Institute's GIT program. While there he was taught by some of the top touring and studio musicians in Los Angeles. Trained in many different styles of music, he is an accomplished session player and IMDb-credited film composer. Currently he tours with critically acclaimed DC metal act Gloom.

Julian Berkowitz Drum Teacher Julian Berkowitz is a drum instructor at School of Rock Vienna. He was born in the small town of Easton, CT but moved to Washington, DC. in 2013 to attend George Washington University. During his time at GWU, Julian studied under one of DC’s top Brazilian and Latin jazz drummers, Alejandro Lucini. He's also had the opportunity to learn from several other top drummers in the DMV, including Grammy-winning jazz drummer Quincy Phillips. Julian graduated from GWU in 2017 with a B.A. in political science and sociology with a minor in music.



Upon graduation, Julian has stayed in DC, where he is quickly making a name for himself. He has performed at many of the DMV's top music venues, including The John F. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, The Smithsonian Museum of American History, The Arts Club of Washington, Twins Jazz Club, Jojo, 49 West, DC9 and Velvet Lounge.



Julian frequently performs with the Julian Berkowitz Organ Trio, JB Quartet, Michel Nirenberg Brazilian Jazz Quartet, The Peter Edelman Trio and The Landon Paddock Group. However, he also plays a number of funk, rock and R&B gigs in the DMV area.

Johnnie Cristaldi Piano Teacher Johnnie began his study of classical music at age seven. He eventually became a piano student at American University at age 14 and upon finishing high school at Duke Ellington School for the Arts Johnnie studied piano, theory and voice at Peabody Conservatory of Music. His training in keyboards originated at the Georgetown Theatre company with courses of the basics of synthesis and programming of Moog synthesizers.



Johnie's began his professional experience as a session pianist/keyboardist musician for Malaco Studios, laying down keyboard tracks for various recording artists. He then began playing keyboards for and writing for recording group Natural High. Later on he toured with blues artist ZZ Hill and R&B artist Johnny Taylor. Upon completion of tours, Johnnie put together the funk/rock/prince tribute band Starz based out of the Gulf Coast. They released a local area hit called "My Secret World" and had the opportunity to open for The Deele, Bar Kays and Mothers Finest. Upon relocating to the DC area, he performed as a solo, duo and trio, as well as various cover bands in the area such as Clay Hunt, N2N, Framewerk, Jerx and his own band Flipside. Currently Johnnie is a hired gun for various cover bands in the area in a variety of styles such as rock, big band, funk, dance, top 40 and as household keyboardist for the Spirit of Washington Cruise line.

Kelton Norris Drum Teacher Kelton Norris is a passionate and goal-driven musician and educator who strives to inspire and motivate students of all ages through music. With a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master’s in Jazz Studies, Kelton has years of experience teaching in public schools and as a private and ensemble instructor. Having served as a drummer for the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, not to mention his accomplishment of being names DC’s Top Jazz Drummer of 2016, he can be seen performing regularly at major venues around town. He is a drum teacher at School of Rock Vienna.

Ricardo "PNut" Johnson Bass Guitar Teacher A DC native, Ricardo "PNut" Johnson began his musical journey on the bass in the fifth grade when he received his first instrument, a Sears electric guitar. He enjoyed the guitar but then he heard the bass in Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" and from that point on he knew he wanted to be a bass player. Hearing of his new obsession, his uncle, a bass player in his own right, loaned him a bass and challenged him to see what he could learn by the time he got back from the road and the rest is history. During his years in the D.C. area, he played with various groups in a variety of styles. He played with the sensational vocal group Prim Degree, the cutting edge gospel group God's Creation, vocalist Gloria Brown and blues great Memphis Gold. In the 90's he toured Europe with the blues legend Memphis Gold. After years of playing on stage he decided to go get his music degree and attended the Music Tech College of Music, now called McNalley Smith, in Minneapolis, MN. After graduation he stayed in Minnesota for 10 years, where he was very active in the music scene and where he taught many aspiring musicians. He played with the blues group The HooDoo Kings, the 12-piece group Arayastone, the reggae mainstay Dred I Dred, the funk band Down with Gravity, jazz guitarist John Penny and a host of others. He is a consummate bass player and works at his craft continuously. In 2007 he attended Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey's Bass at the Beach and later that year he also attended Victor Wooten's Bass Nature Camp. He learned many things at these camps and has integrated them into his playing and teaching. Tired of the cold of Minnesota and homesick for the sights and sounds of D.C., he moved back in the area in 2011. He has played with a number of groups since being back and is happy to be a part of the School of Rock family.

Chris Horton Guitar Teacher Chris Horton began playing guitar at age 13, and trained in all things rock and metal with highly respected guitarist Matt Aub. Chris was also formally trained in jazz studies and performed with the academically acclaimed West Springfield Jazz Combo in Fairfax County, VA.



As of 2018, Chris is a touring guitarist for the metal band Alukah, in which he toured around the U.S. playing some of the most prominent metal festivals in the country. In addition to touring, he has recently completed his first EP with Baltimore-based metal band Apex. Chris also has experience as both an audio technician and live sound engineer for numerous local acts and theatre companies In the DC area. Having performed in such well-known venues as The Whisky a Go Go, Jammin' Java, Baltimore Soundstage and Power Plant Live, Chris has an extensive range of experience in knowing what’s expected of any School of Rock student who’s hoping to perform and take their musical journey seriously. Chris is also a former House Band member and student of School of Rock, and can provide each student with unique insight and a clear vision for the musical aspirations they wish to achieve. He is a guitar teacher at School of Rock Vienna.

Keith Butler Drum Teacher Keith Butler, a Winston-Salem, NC native, is a drummer motivated by the tradition and future of the drum set. While at university in Wilmington, North Carolina he studied privately with Thomas Taylor and Michael D'Angelo. Prior to relocating to D.C., Keith was a member of several North Carolina bands including Onward, Soldiers, Mike Blair and The Stonewalls, Justin Lacy and The Swimming Machine, and Temple5. He has performed extensively as well as recorded several albums/projects with each group. In D.C. Keith is a member of two groups, Fiasco and The New World, and works regularly as a sideman for area jazz musicians. With influences such as Art Taylor, Joe Chambers, Tony Reedus and Billy Higgins, he seeks to support the band in any style and push the music forward. He is a drum teacher at School of Rock Vienna.

Mike Ruby Bass Guitar Teacher Mike Ruby is a professional bassist and educator. Having recently moved to the DC area, Mike played and taught in Chicago for 10 years, after graduating Columbia College with a BA in Music. While in Chicago, Mike recorded with and co-produced hip-hop project House Of Whales. He also played in numerous bands that played genres ranging from indie rock to blues. Mike has had the pleasure of opening for B.B. King and studying with musicians such as Joan Osborne, Christian McBride, Nicholas Tremulis and Chuck Webb. Mike is excited to share his expertise with the students at School of Rock Vienna as a bass guitar teacher. He also hopes to learn more from the talented staff here.

Laura Bollettino Owner After running three schools for over 12 years, Laura Bollettino has seen the transformative power of School of Rock programs literally manifest in the thousands of students who have crossed our threshold. Not only the owner, Laura has been a School of Rock parent and knows that feeling of amazement as you see your child blossom on stage. She also saw her girls grow in confidence, leadership and teamwork skills as they developed into amazing musicians throughout their School of Rock years and is so grateful they got to have this experience. In college she studied International Relations and Business and spent over 20 years in the corporate world until she and her husband Jeff heard the call of School of Rock. Now she gets to say her job is inspiring the next generation of musicians to find their voice and express themselves on stage and in life. To know Laura is to see her energy and passion for helping her students and staff grow not only as musicians, but as people too. She adores her "kids” and finds each of them to have their own special sparkle.

Matt Picard Drum Teacher Matt began his musical studies at the age of 5 on piano with Dr. Theodora Coob of Berkley. In the ensuing years, Matt dabbled with other instruments before finally being allowed to take his first drum lesson in the fifth grade. Within two months Matt was first chair percussion in the all city symphonic band and played his first paying gig that same year. After attaining early acceptance, Matt skipped his senior year of high school to attend Bard College. While at Bard, Matt split his academic focus between musical studies and sociology, as well as serving as house band leader for a sketch comedy group and performing throughout New England.



Matt has recorded and gigged with numerous groups He lived in central Florida, where he played as many as nine gigs a week in Tampa, Orlando and Daytona Beach, and played for a group twice named Tampa’s Best of the Bay area live musical act. After this Matt found himself in England. Though he continued to perform and record with different outfits his main gig was as house percussionist for a Leeds-based EDM production studio under an international distribution label. In this capacity Matt recorded and performed with various DJs. Since leaving England Matt has called the DMV home. He is currently a full-time drummer in two groups and sub for three others, all performing throughout the DMV and beyond. Matt is excited to be a drum teacher at School of Rock Vienna.

Will Conway guitar and bass guiotar teacher Will is a guitar/bass instructor who began playing at age 11. He studied with teachers such as Dan Trainer (DC) & Jim Henry (MA), while filling in gaps himself and drawing from his extensive music taste. While The Stooges, Kiss & The Hellacopters are among his favorite bands, he also loves Guitar Wolf, MC5, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, New York Dolls & The D4. He currently serves as the frontman and principal songwriter for his group 'The SuperChargers' in the DC area (who played over 45 shows in the past year in the DC & up the East Coast), in addition to playing in the NYC based band 'French Kiss'.

Manuel Medina keyboard teacher Manuel is a Peruvian artist that has been living in the Washington D.C. area for the last 15 years. He began taking piano lessons in Peru at the age of 11 and majored in Music and Music Technology with a minor in Jazz Studies from George Mason University. He has been teaching music for the last 12 years. Besides composing and teaching music, he also writes short stories in Spanish and practices creative drawing.

Sam Whetzel Guitar Teacher Sam has played guitar with local bands for over 9 years. He was also a member of the School of Rock Vienna House Band, School of Rock Allstars Program, and a special “Zappanale” tour in Germany. School of Rock provided Sam countless opportunities to grow as a young musician and to shine on stage. Sam attributes the combination of exploring different music genres and performing them, as the cornerstone of what made his School of Rock experience so unique and fulfilling. "School of Rock has also allowed me to form lifelong friendships with other students, through doing what we love, together."

Nikki Bellini Singing Teacher Nikki Bellini began her musical training at age six and has studied music ever since. She is currently finishing up a B.A. as a double major in both Music Business and Songwriting at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. She is also a School of Rock Vienna alumni, and was a student for nine years and a House Band vocalist for five.



Nikki has professionally trained on multiple instruments across all genres of music, and has studied both classical voice for 15 years and contemporary voice for 11. During her time at Berklee, she has focused on studying vocal performance, songwriting, and music production. She has performed in multiple award-winning choirs and is currently a lead vocalist for Berklee’s a cappella group, On The Vox.



She has also gained experience in the music industry through her multiple internships at companies such as Sofar Sounds, Persistent Management, and Rolls-Royce Music Box. As she continues to forge her career in the music industry, she hopes to support and inspire young musicians to always pursue their dreams.

Emma Whitney Singing Teacher Emma Whitney started singing formally in 2012 and playing guitar in 2016. She is a student at the Berklee College of Music majoring in music business and her principal instrument is vocals. She has trained in many different genres including rock, pop, classical, and musical theater.



Formerly, Emma was a student at and a member of the School of Rock Vienna’s House Band. As a SOR alumnus, she enjoys helping current students to grow as musicians. As the lead vocalist for her band, Sunhead, Emma was nominated for two 2020 WAMMIE Awards.

Grayson Boatwright Guitar Teacher Grayson Boatwright has shown a deep love for art and music since a young age and has been profoundly influenced by Jazz and Improvised Music. Grayson is currently pursuing a degree in Jazz Studies at George Mason University.



Grayson was selected to be the only guitarist of North Carolina’s High School All-State Jazz Ensemble for his Junior and Senior year as well as North Carolina’s High School Western Region Jazz Ensemble four years in a row. He has been mentored by Charlotte greats Bill Hanna, L.H. Dickert, Troy Conn, Lovell Bradford, Ocie Davis, and many more.



Following High School, Boatwright went on to complete his first year of his Undergraduate at Utah State University studying with world-renowned guitarist Corey Christiansen. During his time in Utah, Boatwright had the opportunity to perform with the Utah State University Jazz Ensemble in the globally famous Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz de Vienne, and Umbria Jazz Festivals during the summer of 2019.



After touring in parts of Europe, Grayson transferred to George Mason University in an effort to gain more experience performing in one of the premiere music scenes of the United States: Washington, DC. Since relocating, Boatwright has been mentored by legendary musicians in and outside of the DC area including Shawn Purcell, Wade Beach, Steve Herberman, Darden Purcell, Wayne Wilkinson, Bobby Broom, Bruce Forman, and John Pizzarelli. In September of 2019, Boatwright traveled to Denver, CO and performed solo guitar at the inaugural Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival.



Grayson's ultimate goal of being a musician is to enhance lives and share the gift of music with his listeners, no matter how small or large the crowd, and connecting with people through music.



Emily Nesbitt Singing Teacher Emily Nesbitt is a classically trained singer with a degree in Vocal Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. Emily has performed as a soloist in the United States and Europe. She has sung Countess Almaviva in Marriage of Figaro, Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Mimi in La Boheme, The Abbess and The Maestra in Suor Angelica, Edith in Pirates of Penzance, and Mrs. Gobineau in The Medium. She has also performed the partial roles of Magda Sorel in The Consul, Nedda in Paglicci, Lakme in Lakme, Ruth in Pirates of Penzance, and Mrs. Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Emily's ensemble work includes The Gondoliers, Little Women, La Boheme, Suor Angelica, Children of Eden, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell, and Beauty and the Beast. Although her professional endeavors have been primarily classical, Emily is very passionate about rock as well.



Emily's favorite thing about working at School of Rock is getting to teach other young vocalists who are passionate about Rock how to express themselves to the fullest while taking care of their voices. She has taught voice lessons for three years and loves teaching students of all ages and ability levels using her classical background and pedagogical studies to establish a strong technical foundation for her students. In her free time she enjoys playing piano, bass, drums, and guitar for fun and is always looking to learn new things.