MusicFirst Staff

Robin comes from a musical family; his Grandfather founded a Symphony Orchestra and Music Conservatory in Zimbabwe, and his Mother taught music for 50 years. An accomplished composer and performer, working in a variety of differing genres, he is also a recording engineer, songwriter and arranger. Robin received a Masters Degree at Magdalen College, Oxford, specializing in choral music. He moved to the US in 1999 and is now a US citizen.

He was with Sibelius/Avid for thirteen years, followed by three years with SoundTree. During that time, he became a well-known clinician, trainer and salesman for a wide variety of world class music software and technology products. He joined Jim Frankel and an accomplished team of people to start MusicFirst in 2012, bringing cloud-based music software to schools around the world.

He has authored many free guides/videos on how to use and learn all kinds of music software, and he has created a curriculum (published by Hal Leonard) for using Pro Tools in Music Education. He was also a joint author for the book/DVD/curriculum entitled Making Music with GarageBand & Mixcraft.

Mike Olander joined the MusicFirst team in August 2017 as an Education Manager. For two decades, he has partnered with schools across the country as a trusted advisor for music programs and technology implementations, working for Wenger Corporation, MakeMusic, Music Prodigy, JAMF Software, and Edmentum.

As he leads the New Orleans-style Jack Brass Band, plays in his community band, and volunteers as truck driver and “pit crew” for the High School Marching Band, music is clearly his passion.

Jason is the National Sales Manager for MusicFirst. With over a decade of music technology experience, Jason has served the educational market as a consultant and trainer for schools wishing to integrate technology into their music programs. Jason earned his degree in Music Business from State University of New York, College at Oneonta.

"What inspires me are the teachers in the music classroom, working very hard to cultivate a classroom filled with music lovers - and not necessarily musicians. This alone drives my passion to educate teachers and help support their mission to offer the most engaging classroom experience possible."

Dr. Keith Dye is Associate Dean of Undergraduate and Curricular Issues for the College of Visual & Performing Arts and Professor of Music Education in the School of Music at Texas Tech University. He holds the Doctor of Education in College Teaching of Music from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, a Master of Arts in Music Education from West Texas State University, Canyon, TX and the Bachelor of Music Education from Morningside College, Sioux City, IA. Dr. Dye's primary areas of research interest are music educator preparation and best practices and the effective use of desktop videoconferencing in delivery of music instruction. He has been published in leading journals and regularly presents nationally on these topics.

Dr. Dye is the current President of the Texas Music Education Association (TMEA), the world’s largest music education organization with over 12,000 members. In this capacity he serves on the Executive Board of TMEA and contributes a monthly column to Southwestern Musician.

At Texas Tech University, Dr. Dye teaches undergraduate classes in Band Techniques of Instruction and Brass Instructional Methods. On the graduate level, Dr. Dye teaches the Band Director Workshops, Applications of Technology in Music Education, Psychology in Music, Instrumental Rehearsal Analysis, and Teaching Music in College. Formerly, Dr. Dye was Assistant Director of Bands working with all aspects of the athletic and concert band activities at TTU.

Dr. Dye serves as an instructional consultant to school districts across Texas. Formerly a public school band director, he has more than 35 years of successful experience with groups on all levels of instruction. Dr. Dye's ensembles have earned numerous awards and a reputation for a consistently high level of musical excellence. He has presented clinics on instrumental music education techniques and strategies at state and national conventions and served as conductor of various regional and all-state ensembles.

Hailing from right outside Baltimore, music has always been a part of Tori's life, whether singing, playing the saxophone or being a proud member of a Marching Band for 8 years.

Tori moved up to New York to pursue her Bachelor's Degree in Arts Administration and Spanish at Wagner College in Staten Island. She is thrilled to join the MusicFirst team and provide a service she wished was available when she was an upcoming musician!

In high school, Tori worked on integrating music online for beginner musicians to give them motivation and easy access to practice materials. Before finding her home at MusicFirst, she has worked with arts organizations ranging from acting studios to the Metropolitan Opera.

Rachel L’Heureux is the Director of Marketing for MusicFirst. Prior to joining the MusicFirst team in 2018, her background was in sales and marketing in the educational music arena. She has worked for Carl Fischer Music/ Theodore Presser Company in sales and project management, as well as marketing for Manhattan Concert Productions, an organization specializing in providing performance opportunities for bands, orchestras, and choirs. She has extensive knowledge of educational music repertoire and is deeply interested in the changing landscape of music education.

Rachel hails from Augusta, Georgia, where she began her music education at a young age. She attended a GRAMMY Signature fine arts magnet school from 5th- 12th grade, studying piano and voice. She pursued her bachelor’s degree in music and philosophy at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta and went on to complete her graduate studies in vocal performance at the University of Missouri.

In addition to her work at MusicFirst, Rachel currently sings with one of Trinity Wall Street’s ensembles, Downtown Voices.

Marjorie LoPresti is Digital Content Manager for MusicFirst. She has over twenty-five years experience teaching elementary and secondary general/vocal music, piano, music technology, theory, and composition.

Marj was a pioneer in the use of technology to support music instruction, assessment, and creativity in the nationally recognized East Brunswick Public Schools. A frequent workshop presenter, Marj leads technology sessions for musicians and for the wider educational community. She has extensive experience in curriculum development, instructional design, and standards-based assessment.

Marj holds a Bachelor of Music and an M.S. in Educational Technology, serves as NJMEA Technology Chair, and is honored to have been named NJMEA Master Music Teacher and TI:ME Music Technology Teacher of the Year.

Richard Payne has worked in the Music Education Industry for 13 years with experience including music technology training, software product management, music technology reselling into education, and music publishing.

His previous roles working for Sibelius & latterly Avid Technology involved running inset days for both classroom and instrumental teachers as well as presenting regularly at shows such as BETT and other educational music conferences introducing Sibelius and other Primary and Secondary music software products to promote best practice use of music technology in schools.

Richard studied at Bristol University gaining a BA (Hons) in Music specialising in composition. He is now a published composer, pianist and trumpet player, involved in local orchestras and groups around London.

Matt Allen is the Digital Content Manager for MusicFirst UK. He has 25 years’ experience teaching in Secondary Schools in London and the South East of England. He has taught children and young people from year 3 to year 13, as well as trained teachers from Primary and Secondary schools. Matt has taught GCSE, AS-, A-Level Music, Music Technology, and BTEC Music (Levels 2 and 3).

Matt has always been a passionate supporter of bringing technology into the classroom to support and expand learning opportunities. He has installed computer systems and recording studios in a number of schools, and developed schemes of work designed to fully engage young people in Music, no matter what their musical training or experience. He also works as a music education and technology consultant. Matt has written articles and reviews published in Music Teacher Magazine as well as numerous blogs and review articles.

Matt graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, where he also gained his Post-Graduate Certificate in Education. Matt plays Trombone, various other instruments, sings Tenor, and has been lucky enough to play or sing across Europe and in some of London’s iconic music venues, including the Royal Albert Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Michael Avery has 20 years experience as designer and producer of Education software. His work has received awards in many countries, including New Zealand, the USA, Switzerland and the UK, where has been a winner of the prestigious BETT award for best Educational software, content and tools.

Originally from New Zealand, Michael’s academic background is in Composition, Music Education and English Literature.

While lecturing in Audio and Music technology in Asia in the mid-nineties, he began creating electronic resources for his own teaching and for his students. Fellow educators were soon asking for software to enrich their music learning programmes. “I always did my best to listen to what music educators were asking for,” says Michael, “and that’s why I believe the software became so popular.”

Michael has since worked throughout North America and Europe, creating a suite of music education software titles. These included Sibelius Starclass, Instruments, Compass and Groovy Music, the latter of which he redeveloped as a Cloud based product for MusicFirst. More recently, he has driven the development of numerous Apps for MusicFirst, including MusicFirst Junior, several iOS Apps, and numerous integrations with external software tools and MusicFirst platforms.

Based in Berlin, Germany, Michael is a father, a producer of jazz and contemporary music. He loves travelling to exotic places with his family to enjoy the food, outdoor pursuits, music and arts of other cultures.

Steven Foti is a Junior music education and clarinet performance major at Ithaca College. He was part of the Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble playing Tenor Saxophone, the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, and most recently served as the principal clarinetist of the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra. He is currently working as the woodwind player for the Hangar Theater in Ithaca, New York. In his free time he enjoys reading and hiking.

Allison is a recent graduate of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. She graduated with a bachelors of music in Music Education with concentrations in choir and music in special education. Starting in September, Allison will be begin in her first teaching position at the Patchogue-Medford School District on Long Island, where she will be teaching elementary general music and middle school special education music. One of her most rewarding teaching experiences has been teaching music in the rural countryside of Jamaica. In addition to her love for music, Allison is a plant lover, traveller, and amateur watercolorist. 

Ian Mast is a rising third-year music education major at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He is a percussionist and composer, and is a member of the University of Arizona percussion studio.