Meet The Team
Antonia Kitsopoulos-Graziano
Owner
Teacher: Voice & Piano
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 gardening, sewing, and spending time with her wonderful husband and three fabulous dogs.
Nick Kitsopoulos
Teacher: Piano & Guitar
Nick Kitsopoulos is a songwriter, producer, audio engineer, and music teacher from Madison, New Jersey. He strongly believes that music is within all of us and is passionate about helping students of all ages and backgrounds discover how they can use music to become more confident, expressive, and true to themselves.
Nick, a recent Berklee College of Music graduate, studied classical/jazz piano and guitar from a young age until college where he pivoted to studying contemporary music. He double majored in Music Production & Engineering as well as Songwriting with a minor in Commercial Record Production. During his time in college, Nick became an expert in the modern music making process and worked in all styles with hundreds of students from America and abroad. As a songwriter and producer, he used his skills as a pianist and guitarist on a daily basis to create music for classes, clients, and himself which gave him a knowledge of the instruments that go beyond the typical session player.
Nick recognizes that learning an instrument is not about playing notes on a page but about tapping into the emotion behind those notes and assigning structure and meaning to them. Music theory is often something young musicians fear and avoid but Nick has been able to foster a love of it in his students by applying it to their favorite songs and allowing his students to see why they love the songs that they do.
When Nick isn’t doing something involved in music (which is rare) he loves watching/playing basketball, baseball, and football with his family and friends as well as learning about history which he has a passion for.
Tiffany Starks
Teacher: Voice & Piano
Tiffany Starks is a performer and teacher from East Orange, NJ. She is a lover of all styles of music, with experience in classical, jazz, gospel, musical theater and more. She believes that everyone should have access to a quality music education and is committed to helping students become the best musicians they can.
Tiffany holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Kean University in Elizabeth, New Jersey as well as a Master of Music degree in Voice from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She has covered the role of the Countess in in NJVAC’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as Hindemith’s Hin und Zurück, Poulenc’s Le Mamelles de TireÌ€sias, and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. She has travelled all around the world to perform, including all over the United States, Spain, Italy, and Kenya. She currently teaches at the Whitney Houston School of Performing Arts in East Orange, NJ.
A homebody at heart, Tiffany enjoys spending time at home with her family. She also loves bowling, going to escape rooms, and trying out new restaurants.
Dan Graziano
Administrator
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!