Brian Cook - Violin

Mr. Cook is an accomplished performer who teaches violin from a blend of traditional and Suzuki methods. He has been violinist with the New Art Trio since 2003 and with the Chattanooga Symphony for 17 years. Mr. Cook has taught on the faculty of UTC-Cadek Conservatory, the Montessori School (Chattanooga), and in the private studio. He has performed with the Rome (Georgia) Symphony, the Huntsville (Alabama) Symphony, in solo recital, and participated in the Sewanee Music Festival for several seasons. He is the 1991 winner of the Chattanooga Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, and has studied with Harvey Thurmer, Gabriel Pegis, and Jay Christy. Mr. Cook earned the BA degree from the University of Chattanooga in 2007.

Dan Hanson - Trumpet

Mr. Hanson has taught 26 years of chorus and band in public schools and 27 years in church music. He performs with Jericho Brass of Chattanooga, Rome Festival Brass and Rome Festival Jazz Band, and the Chattanooga Concert Band. Presently, he is the interim music director at Signal Mountain Baptist Church and handbell instructor at Lee University. He has performed with the Chattanooga Choral Arts Society, Chattanooga Symphony, Chattanooga Bach Society, Rome Symphony, Gainesville/Hall County Symphony, Lexington Singers and the Division Army Band, Fort Dix, New Jersey. Mr. Hanson has studied conducting with Vakhtang Jordania and Elaine Brown, and has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music Education degrees from Eastern Kentucky University. He has been a member of the International Trumpet Guild (20 yrs), Music Education National Conference (35 yrs), and of Local 80 Musician’s Union. He has served on the adjunct faculties of Brewton Parker College, Tennessee Temple and Covenant College; Cadek Conservatory’s “Music for Little Folks”; and Young Singers of Callenwalde (Atlanta) summer training camps.

Tom Johnson - Guitar

Ms. Johnson has taught guitar 25 years. He attended Texas Tech University, graduate from Audio Engineering School and is a member of the Baconian Institute in Oxford, England. He has earned several gold records, has worked with Chuck Barry, Tanya Tucker, Greg Allman, Tommy Tutone, to name a few. He has played guitar for the Impressions, Confederate Railroad, Kat Family, Humble Pie and many others. He played and sang the 1979 “Mountain Dew” national commercial, toured Europe Asia, Australia, Hong Kong and the U.S. with “Humble Pie”, has received the “Booker T. Jones” MVP award from Warner Bros., has been mentioned in the Encyclopedia of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. He has been composing music since 1981. His songs are recorded on movie sound tracks, Motown Records, R&B, and Contemporary Christian. He currently plays with “Love, Peace, and Happiness”. He uses his sound technician skills for other major artist and occasional Chattanooga’s Riverbend Festival. 

David Kammerdiener - Piano

A charter member of the SFA faculty (1997), Mr. Kammerdiener has a Master of Music in Education-Kodály Emphasis from Holy Names College, Oakland, CA; Master of Church Music from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, CA, and a Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, OK. He has taught piano and directed choirs for more than 30 years in the U.S. and four Latin American countries, served as an International Baptist Music Missionary and Minister of Music. Fluent in Spanish , he teaches Spanish and Choral Music, is the pianist for Bella Voce Choir of the Chattanooga Girls Choir, The Sweet Georgia Sound Big Band, the Uptown Big Band and the Morgan Five Jazz Combo. He is the director of the Chattanooga Girls Choir Community Choir and also directs music in a local church.

David Long - Trumpet

Mr. Long is a former member of the Durham North Carolina Symphony and played with the Cobb Georgia Symphony Orchestra and the Hendersonville North Carolina Symphony. He has taught trumpet in the high schools of Hamilton County and in Northwest Georgia. He is a former member of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus where he performed at Carnegie Hall and recorded contemporary composer’s works. Mr. Long has developed an equal reputation as a choral and symphonic conductor. Since 2005, he has been the Music Director and Conductor of the Chattanooga Bach Choir. He has directed church choirs in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He has been a guest conductor the Bach Festival in Rome GA., and the Rome Symphony and Three Rivers Chorus Christmas Concert. Mr. Long has participated in the Conductors’ Institute of the University of South Carolina, the Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition, the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians, the Oregon Bach Festival, and was a prize winner at the Symphonic Conducting Workshop and Competition at the Academia dell’Arte of Florence/Arezzo, Italy. 

Jenny Parker - Piano

Mrs. Parker received her Bachelor of Music degrees in Piano Pedagogy and Piano Performance, and her Masters of Music degree in Accompanying from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. She has taught private piano lessons for 13 years in various locations in North Carolina and Tennessee. She taught Kindermusik for 10 years and directed her own program for two years. She has also directed children’s choirs in various churches for 14 years. Mrs. Parker has served as an accompanist for churches, school, community choirs, and individual performers for the last 16 years. She is currently serving as a children’s choir director and accompanist at First Baptist Church in Chattanooga as well as an accompanist at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She currently is the Director of the First Baptist Church Kindermusik Program.

Sarah Pearson - Flute

Mrs. Pearson holds the Bachelor of Science degree in Music Performance, with a concentration in flute, from Tennessee Temple University. While there, she studied with Janet Hale, principal flutist in the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Association. She has taught privately for over 12 years all over the tri-state area in both public and private schools. She has been the principal flute player since 2002 with L’Abri Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Pearson has performed for more than 18 years in many different venues. Currently, she teaches wind and percussion classes as well as the different wind ensemble groups at Girls’ Preparatory School here in Chattanooga, TN.

Carole Santaquilani - Art

Mrs. Santaquilani received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Northeastern University, and then earned an Art Education Certificate from the world renowned Art Institute of Chicago. She taught Art in the Chicago Public Schools and organized workshops in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. She now is a working artist in Chattanooga.

Joan Tonkinson - Voice and Piano

Mrs. Tonkinson, soprano, brings a wealth of experiences as both teacher and performer to the School of Fine Arts. She has taught private voice, vocal pedagogy, music education methods and directed choirs for many years at colleges in Missouri, Tennessee and Georgia, including: Covenant College, Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Tennessee Temple University, and Baptist Bible College (Springfield, Missouri). She is currently the Director of the Bella Voce Choir of the Chattanooga Girls Choir, and also teaches music at McConnell Elementary School. She is a member of NATS and MTNA, and has sung with the Mid-America Singers (Springfield, MO), the Springfield Regional Opera, and Choral Arts of Chattanooga. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Midwestern State University (Wichita Falls, TX), and a Master of Science degree in Music Education from Southwest Missouri State University. She also studied voice and art song at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria, and earned certification as a Kodály Instructor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. 

Steve Tonkinson - Clarinet

Dr. Tonkinson received his Bachelor of Music degree (Clarinet) from Midwestern University (Wichita Falls, TX), the Master of Music degree (Clarinet) from the University of Oklahoma, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree (Conducting) from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. His clarinet teachers have included Stephen Girko, Lee Gibson and Patricia Kostek. He has taught music in schools for more than 20 years in Texas, Missouri and Tennessee, and has performed on clarinet with the Wichita Falls (TX) Symphony Orchestra (1969-72; 1975-79), the Springfield (MO) Symphony Orchestra (1987-91), and the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Orchestra (1991 -). He is currently Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Association.

Penny Downs Tullock - Voice and Piano

Ms. Tullock, a lyric contralto, earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Carson-Newman College. She is a winner of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Auditions. A frequent guest artist and recitalist, Ms. Tullock can be heard on Choral Arts of Chattanooga recordings of “Days of Blue and Gray”, a CD of Civil War era music, and “Dave Brubeck in Chattanooga”. She has performed as guest soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Carson-Newman College, Mozart’s Requiem with Orchestra Atlanta and also with the Huntsville Symphony, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Bach’s Magnificat with Southern Adventist University Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Rome (GA) Symphony. An accompanist/coach for over 30 years, has played at the University of Louisville, Southern Seminary, Carson-Newman and Covenant Colleges, and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga the Linz Austria Choral Festival and the Savannah Georgia American Traditions Vocal Competition. She is currently the staff accompanist at Baylor School and with the Chattanooga Girls Choir. accompanist at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and The Baylor School. Her students regularly win local and regional music and scholarship competitions.

Rob Hudson - Percussion

Mr. Hudson performs as Principal Timpanist for both the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera and the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. He received a Master of Music Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Bachelor of the Arts from the Boston University School of Music. He also performs regularly as a percussion substitute with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in Birmingham, and has performed with the Nashville Symphony, Richmond Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, and Fort Wayne Philharmonic. In addition to his private studio at First Baptist, he serves as a percussion instructor for Southern Adventist University and Covenant College. His state-of-the-art studio at the First Baptist School of Fine Arts is equipped with everything necessary to master all areas of percussion: snare drums, practice pads, a drum set, marimba, bell kit, timpani, accessory instruments (tambourine, triangle, etc.), and a stereo for playing along with recordings or a metronome. Please note that one-hour lessons are strongly encouraged for High School and older students, as well as for more advanced younger students, in order to allow adequate time for each major area of percussion (i.e. snare, mallets, timpani, drum set, and accessories).