Meet The Team

Antonia Kitsopoulos-Graziano is a music teacher and performer from Scotch Plains, New Jersey. She founded KG Music Studio (formerly Rubato Music Studio) in 2016 with her husband, Dan Graziano, with the goal of providing a completely customizable music education to students of all ages and experience levels. Antonia believes that music is for everyone, and strives to make KG Music Studio a place where all students can find their own unique voice and sound. 

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In addition to teaching, Antonia has performed in theaters across the United States. Some credits include: Temple (ImaGEN at Michigan State University), Die Zauberflöte (OK Mozart International Music Festival) The Merry Widow (Indiana University Jacobs School of Music), Gauchito and the Pony (Queens Symphony Orchestra), Camille Claudel (Goodspeed Opera House), and Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award and Ovation Award winning production of Puccini’s La Bohème (Broadway, San Francisco, and Los Angeles). Antonia has also had the opportunity to direct at the Festival of the Arts Boca (La Bohème and Die Zauberflöte) as well as the OK Mozart International Music Festival (Don Giovanni).

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Antonia is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Kean University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education with a concentration in voice. In her time at Kean, she served as the President of Kean’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) as well as President and Secretary of the Lambda Phi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi National Band Honor Society. She was also fortunate enough to have researched the impact of popular music pedagogy on the quality of life of adults with special needs alongside Dr. Lyn Schraer-Joiner for two years. 

When she isn’t teaching or performing, Antonia enjoys reading, yoga, and spending time with her wonderful daughter, husband, and three dogs.

Spencer was born and raised in East Lyme, CT; the son of a musician and actress. He was fortunate enough to grow up learning a multitude of different skills that have shaped him into the multi-hyphenate artist he is today. Spencer holds a degree in Musical Theater from the University of Cincinnati’s, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Though he considers himself a triple-threat performer, he took classes in Composition, Conducting, and Piano to round out his education. In Spencer's four years, he has written multiple musicals, Music directed and played in multiple pit-orchestras, and developed proficiency in playing the piano, drums, and guitar. Spencer's proudest accomplishments include performing at Carnegie Hall, the Goodspeed Opera House, and 54 below. Some of his favorite roles are Chad in All Shook Up (Mac-Haydn Theater) Anthony in Sweeney Todd (Black Rock Theater) and Nostradamus in Something Rotten (CCM). Spencer was also fortunate enough to be featured as a finalist in Taylor Louderman’s “Write Out Loud” contest, where his original song was sung by a Broadway performer at 54 Below. When not performing, Spencer can be found writing music, playing basketball, or watching his favorite Boston sports teams.

Leo Brandt is a guitarist, composer, and arranger hailing from Summit, New Jersey. He has a wealth of experience across all forms of music, including but not limited to rock, jazz, pop, heavy metal, avant-garde, shoegaze, and more. Leo has performed across the country, on stages of all sizes and has also played on video game soundtracks, and multiple albums as a composer and sideman. In addition to performing, he’s passionate about music education and works with students of all ages and backgrounds. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami, where he studied with renowned guitarist John Hart.

Hi, I'm Vincent Merola. And I have been playing piano since I was 5 years old. I started teaching in Brooklyn, where I am originally from, at the age of 15. Later on I taught pre-k through 8th grade at St Francis in Bushwick. I enjoy the piano, but also play guitar, sing and tinker with other instruments. 

Emily Niemeyer is a vocalist and theatre artist from New Jersey. She holds Bachelor degrees in both Theatre and Music from Kean University and and a Masters in Classical Vocal Performance from New Jersey City University. She has worked all over New Jersey and New York as an actor, singer, director stage manager in musical theatre and opera. Most recently she has worked with Opera Magnifico, NJ Lyric Opera, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Manhattan School of Music, and Crossroads Theatre Company. Currently Emily is a full-time drama and music teacher for middle and high school students, but has worked with students from ages four all the way to adulthood helping them find their voices.

American flutist, Juan Carlos Narváez values and strives for a freedom of artistic expression through the integration of body and instrument, creativity and disciplined practice. Narváez, is passionate about chamber music, having organized and participated in various chamber ensembles including the Protestra Wind Quintet, Cincopation Wind Quintet and the Aether Flute Quartet, the latter of which competed in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition as quarter finalists. Juan Carlos also has a special interest in contemporary music, deepening his knowledge of contemporary practices such as extended techniques for flute, piccolo and auxiliary flutes through works by contemporary composers such as Ian Clarke, Wil Offermans, Toru Takemistu, and Luciano Berio among others. This special interest has led him Narváez to work on a commissioning and recording project made up of contemporary works by living composers. Narvaez earned his B.A. in Music Performance at West Virginia University studying with Nina Assimakopoulos before traveling to Barcelona, Spain to continue his studies and complete two Master’s degrees at Centro Superior Katarina Gurska and ESMuC studying with Susana Recio and Vicens Prats. Currently, Narvaez works as a freelance performer and teacher in New York City and the surrounding area. He is dedicated to Community Activism and Outreach as a board member with the Carter-Glennon Center for Arts and Nature and the New Jersey Flute Club. Narvaez also works closely with other non-profit organizations like Protestra as an organizer and performer to create activism through the music-making process.

Alex Sumas has been part of the KG Music Studio family since 2021 when she started taking bass lessons. Previously resigned to the belief that she was better as a music appreciator than a musician, her time at KG has allowed her to break through those thoughts and enjoy playing bass (and singing occasionally) without self-criticism. 

Alex is a recent graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, where she majored in journalism. During college, she interned for Cornerscape Artist Management and spent time working in Philadelphia politics. She currently lives in New York City and works for Ampersand Strategies, a messaging, media, and mail firm. In her free time, you can find her at concerts, taking photos, and making French onion soup from scratch.

Dan is a videographer and digital marketer with a passion for visual storytelling, music production, photography, and exploring the worlds of digital creative mediums. He is the Digital Media Content Manager for the New Jersey Symphony and shares his knowledge of content creation and marketing to assist our students in recording projects, audition filming, and teaching our KG Studio interns music marketing and social media content creation. He is also a drummer, video game fanatic, and opens the door for students before lessons! Say hi if you see him around the studio!