Faculty
The teachers are the school. Every WTC instructor is a working professional in their discipline, formally trained in the methods they teach, and committed to the slow work of training children. Meet them below.
School of Music
Our music faculty are the best classical musicians in the Permian Basin. Our string and piano teachers are formally Suzuki-trained. Our general music teacher is Orff-trained. Our voice teachers are credentialed in vocal pedagogy and music education. Most “lesson teachers” in the region have one or the other. Ours have both.
Maia Cook, Founder and Director
Cellist Maia Cook performs as a soloist, orchestral, and chamber musician. She trained at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts under Olive Shaw and Ifan Williams, with summers at Canada’s National Arts Centre studying with Pinchas Zukerman, Amanda Forsyth, and Hans Jorgen Jensen. She studied cello performance at Brigham Young University and Dalhousie University, and studied Suzuki pedagogy with David Evenchick, Pam Devenport, and Wan Tsai Chen. Maia tours Canada, the United States, and Mexico as a performer, Suzuki clinician, and university lecturer. She performed as a section cellist with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale in 2019–20 and founded WTC that same year.
Gabriella St. James, Violin
Gabriella St. James has taught Suzuki violin for over fifteen years, including at the State College Suzuki program, Ithaca Talent Education, and the Music Settlement. She currently teaches Suzuki Pedagogy at Milam Elementary (K–5) alongside her work at WTC. Gabriella is principal of 2nd violin for the West Texas Symphony and the Permian Basin String Quartet, and has previously performed with the Newark, Williamsport, Altoona, and Mansfield Symphonies. Her performance career has taken her to Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Jamestown 400th Anniversary. She holds a BA from the University of Delaware and two Masters, one from Penn State and one from Ithaca College with a double concentration in Suzuki Pedagogy and music performance.
Alex Reiff, Violin
Alex Reiff is a violinist and music educator originally from Abilene, Texas. She holds a BA in Music and Business from Hardin-Simmons University and began her career as Head Orchestra Director and Fine Arts Chair at Clack Middle School in Abilene ISD. As a touring performance artist, she has played with Barrage, Kansas, the Tokens Radio Show on NPR, The Gettys, and Revolution Strings in the U.S. and China. Her theatrical credits include Parade, Sweeney Todd, Cosi fan Tutte, Big Fish, and Oklahoma. Alex is Suzuki-trained and has a particular passion for teaching middle-school students. She moved to Midland in 2020 with her husband, their daughter, and three dogs.
Casey Cooper, Cello
Casey Cooper began Suzuki cello in 2nd grade at Parker Elementary in Houston, participating in Suzuki Institutes throughout her childhood. She made All-State orchestra all four years of high school at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, then earned her BA in Cello Performance from the University of Texas with the late Phyllis Young. After moving to New Orleans, Casey earned her Suzuki Certification and taught for the New Orleans String Project. She and her family moved to Midland in 2008, where her children joined the West Texas Suzuki Society as students. She has taught weekly music classes at Midland Classical Academy since 2018.
Nick Pascucci, Cello
Nicholas Pascucci began cello at age 6 in Oyster Bay, NY, and made his solo debut at 15 with the Island Symphony Orchestra. He studied with André Emelianoff at Juilliard Pre-College before earning a BA from Harvard College and his Master of Music in Cello Performance from the Peabody Institute under Amit Peled. Nick is principal cellist of both the West Texas Symphony and the Amarillo Symphony, and cellist of the Permian Basin String Quartet. He is Suzuki-trained in Cello Book 1. A dedicated philanthropist, he has organized benefit recitals raising over $50,000 for causes including Education Through Music and Catholic Relief Services. He performs on an English cello made by Thomas Kennedy, ca. 1820.
Sybella Underwood, Baby Music
Sybella Underwood began training in the Suzuki Piano Method at age five, then found violin after seven years of piano. She has been studying violin at West Texas Conservatory under Alex Reiff and Gabriella St. James for several years and plays with the UTPB orchestra. Sybella holds Suzuki Book 1 Teacher Certification and is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. She teaches WTC’s Baby Classes and is pursuing a Music Degree at Midland College.
Jen Waller, Piano
Jen Waller studied piano from age five through high school and continued playing while attending Baylor University. She completed her Suzuki Piano Book 1 training in Spring 2025. Before moving to Midland, Jen taught piano lessons briefly before stepping back to raise her six children, nurturing each child’s musical education along the way. She has also trained extensively in trauma-informed care while opening her home to foster children, and she and her husband teach parenting and trauma training classes in the Midland area. Jen brings together her love for music, her teaching experience, and her heart for children in every lesson.
Emily Baker, Voice, Piano, Choir, Homeschool Music
Emily Baker holds a B.M. in Music Education from the University of Texas at Arlington and is certified in Orff Schulwerk Level I. She teaches General Music at WTC using the Orff approach. Emily taught general music and choir full-time for five years before stepping into motherhood in 2009. Her vocal credits include performing with the Grammy-winning gospel group “God’s Property” and beating pop star Kelly Clarkson in All-State Choir auditions in high school. A viral video of Emily and her husband Eric singing “Love is an Open Door” from Disney’s Frozen has over 1.6 million views on YouTube. She also teaches at Midland Classical Academy, directs the West Texas Symphony’s Voices of the Permian Basin Children’s Choir, and performs with Current Nine.
Courtnee Simmonds, Voice
Courtnee Simonds is a vocal instructor with over a decade of music education and performance experience. A 2007 TMEA All-State Choir member, she earned her Associate’s Degree in Music from Odessa College and a Bachelor’s Degree in EC-12 Music Education from UTPB, where she received the Outstanding Student Performance of the Year for her senior recital. Courtnee has more than 13 years of teaching experience across West Texas, including Ira ISD, Rankin ISD, Compass Academy Charter School, and Nimitz Middle School, working with students from early childhood through high school. She is known for her high-energy teaching style and her focus on healthy vocal technique and genuine confidence in performance.
School of Dance
Our ballet faculty are Cecchetti-certified and have danced with professional ballet companies. That combination is rare. A teacher with company experience knows what a trained body can actually do. A teacher with formal Cecchetti certification knows how to build that body in a child, year over year. Ours have done both.
Cheyanne Flores, Ballet
Cheyanne Flores began dancing at age seven and dedicated herself to serious ballet training by nine, studying at Munro Ballet Studios in Corpus Christi before joining the Corpus Christi Ballet Company’s pre-professional company. She moved to Midland at thirteen and joined Midland Festival Ballet’s pre-professional company from 2016 to 2020, performing in Giselle, Cinderella, and The Nutcracker. She trained in summer intensives with Ballet Austin, Oklahoma City Ballet, and Milwaukee Ballet. Cheyanne accepted a trainee position with Oklahoma City Ballet in 2020, dancing with the professional company until 2022 under Robert Mills and Ryan Jolicouer-Nye. She then trained with BalletMet in Columbus, OH, before returning to Midland in 2023 to teach. Cheyanne is certified in the Cecchetti Method.
School of Art
Our art faculty are working, exhibiting artists with formal training in Montessori-informed pedagogies. Most art teachers have neither. Ours have both.
Kristina Daigle, Art
Kristina Daigle is a native West Texan who graduated from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts, with an emphasis in Art History. She held an internship at the Museum of the Southwest, where she gained experience in museum operations, exhibit setup, and care for collections. Kristina is CGS-certified (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd), a Montessori-informed pedagogy that shapes her approach to teaching children. She lived in Wiesbaden, Germany, as a child while her father served in the U.S. Army, sparking a lifelong love of cultural experiences and travel. Kristina and her husband have four children and have called Odessa home for nearly twelve years.
Sara DaVilla, Art
Sara Davilla is a working, exhibiting artist with formal training in Montessori-informed pedagogies. She teaches all three weekly visual art classes for the 2025–26 school year. Full bio coming soon.