Faculty - Music History and Theory

RUFINA GORIN
Director
MA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, Nezin Gogol Music Teachers' Training Institute, Ukraine. B.A. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, Music College, Kiev, Ukraine. Currently, Ms. Gorin is a faculty member at National Guild Performance Auditions, an adjudicator of CM and National Guild Performance Auditions, Sound of Music Festival, U.S. Open Piano Competition, and others. Mrs. Gorin has been an active member of the Music Teachers' Association of California (MTAC) since 1981, serving on the Board of Palo Alto Branch since 1988 and as branch president 1993-1995. She was elected to the State Board of MTAC in 1996 and served for four years, completing her tenure there as a Vice President. Previously, Ms. Gorin was piano faculty chair and piano teacher at Special Children's Music School, Kiev, Ukraine; Accompanist for Children's Ballet Group, Kiev Ballet Company, Ukraine; and a piano teacher at Junior Music Academy and Conejo Valley Conservatory, Thousand Oaks, CA.

YUKIKO MATSUMOTO
Flute
B.M. in Flute Performance, San Jose State University. A.A. in Music, Independence Community College, KS. Currently, Ms. Matsumoto teaches flute at GSM, Cupertino High School, and The Music Place, CA. In addition, Ms. Matsumoto is the first chair flute/piccolo at First Baptist Church,substitute piccolo/flute at Saratoga Symphony and Cupertino Symphonic Band. Previously, Ms. Matsumoto taught flute at St. Stephen's Episcopal Elementary School and performed with the Peninsula Youth Theater and San Hose State University.

PATRIC NIKOLAS
Piano with emphasis on improvisation, jazz, and composition
BA in Music Performance, California State University, Chico. Mr. Nikolas is a virtuoso pianist, a distinguished composer and piano teacher. He serves as a board member of the International Russian Music Competition and the Steinway Society, and is rapidly rising through the ranks of modern recording and performance artists. His unique approach to the piano seamlessly blends the spirit of Romanticism with the style of Jazz, and his playing draws to mind an eclectic fusion of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Art Tatum, and Ramsay Lewis. The Founding Artist of 1122 Music, his Composition Practice, Patric is not to be missed.