Faculty

Nastassja Riley (School Director, Flute) Ms. Riley relocated back to the northwest Arkansas area in 2010. She has a B.M. and M.M. in flute performance from the University of Arkansas and a M.M. in music theory from Florida State University. Before leaving Fayetteville in 2008, she taught at the Suzuki Music School of Arkansas for 5 years. Her primary teachers have included Dr. Ronda Mains, Dr. Kristin Delia Hayes, Jessica Sherer, and Elizabeth Shuhan. She has performed in masterclasses with Katherine Hoover, Jim Walker, Clare Southworth, Michel Debost, Kathleen Chastain, Ruth Ann McClain, and Rhonda Larson in Casperia, Italy.

She is certified in the Suzuki Flute School Books 1 through 4. Her Suzuki teacher trainers were David Gerry and Kenichi Ueda; she has also performed in a masterclass with Toshio Takahashi, founder of the Suzuki Flute School. At Florida State she became enthusiastic about body awareness in her playing and teaching through her lessons with Jessica Sherer and a Feldenkrais Method class with Prof. Eva Amsler. Recently she has started taking Alexander Technique lessons with Kate Frank at the University of Arkansas. Nastassja has completed the TAGteach Primary Certification and Training Seminar with Theresa McKeon, and has her primary certification in TAGteach. She is committed to teaching using positive reinforcement, and is working toward her level 1 certification.

John Finch (Cello, Double Bass) Mr. Finch received a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance and a Master of Music Degree in Cello Performance from Louisiana State University where he was a student of Thadeaus Brys.    He has completed most of his Doctoral work at North Texas State University where he was a student of Adolfo Odnoposoff   Mr. Finch has taught in both private and public schools.  He has been teaching cello for over 25 years, performs with the Arkansas Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, and has taught lower strings at the University of Arkansas. John is SAA certified in Cello Books 1-6 and has studied with Rick Mooney, Jean Dexter, Nancy Hair, and Pam Davenport. In addition to teaching cello private lessons and group classes at SMSA, John frequently offers programs featuring cello demonstrations to regional children through area libraries, and public and private schools.

William Reyes (Guitar) Mr. Reyes holds a Bachelor’s degree in classical guitar performance and a Master’s degree in music composition from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He is SAA certified, and has been teaching at the Suzuki Music School of Arkansas since 2001. He also teaches at the Academy of the Arts in Ft. Smith and heads the guitar department at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Miho Oda Sakon is Principal Second Violin with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.

She has been an enthusiastic participant, since its inception, in SoNA’s ImagiMusic education program, a member of the Artosphere Festival Orchestra,

and Artist-in-Residence at the Suzuki Music School of Arkansas (SMSA). In addition, she frequently performs with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ms. Sakon has performed with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra. As a soloist, she performed

J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.5 with the Ensemble Endless in Tokyo, and Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic. She has also performed over 500 educational outreach concerts in Japan. On her own initiative, she plans and executes recitals and concerts for children.

Ms. Sakon grew up in Japan and moved to the United States in 2008. She holds both a Bachelors degree and a Master of Arts degree in Violin Performance from the Tokyo College of Music. Her master teacher was Yoko Kubo, recipient of the 2nd prize in the Paganini Competition and 1st prize in the Alberto Curci International Violin Competition. At Indiana University, Ms. Sakon pursued additional study with Yuval Yaron, a student of Jascha Heifetz. She has extensive performing and recording experience as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.

As an educator, Ms. Sakon specializes in teaching by example. Her students learn how to create impressive performances, how to perfect colorful tones, and how to master various violin techniques. Under her guidance, many violin students are inspired to commit to music careers. Previous and current students at SMSA have been awarded first chair at All-Region and All-State Orchestra auditions held by the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association (ASBOA). Many students who have musically matured in her violin studio have received music scholarships for advanced study at various universities.

Cristian Martinez Vega is a classical music performer, instructor, and scholar who enjoys introducing new audiences to classical music. He has a Master in Musicology and Violin Performance from the University of Oklahoma and works for Naxos of America, one of North America’s leading classical music companies.

Cristian Martinez Vega has performed as a violinist in North and South America, the Middle East, and Europe. He studied chamber music at Wichita State University under Dr. Leonid Shukaev, cellist of the Grammy-nominated St. Petersburg String Quartet, as a member of the Bloomfield String Quartet. He has performed with the Valley Symphony Orchestra in Texas, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and the Northwest Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared with the Armenian Symphony Orchestra, the Internationale Junge Orchesterakademie (Bavaria, Germany), the Rheintalische Musikschule Symphonie (Lustenau, Austria), the Mediterranean Opera Workshop and Festival (Sicily), and the Vienna Summer Music Festival. His chamber music training has led him to play at Music in the Mountains, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and British Isles Music Festival. He was also invited to perform with the World Orchestra during the 2019 World Congress on Information and Technology, which included compositions generated with artificial intelligence that included world music combined with Armenian and classical music repertoire.

Cristian Martinez Vega was recently named the winner of the OCC Artist Competition in Edmond, Oklahoma, as well as the 2020 Little Rock Musical Coterie Award. Cristian studied violin as part of Dr. Gregory Lee’s violin studio. The University of Oklahoma awarded him a Robertson Research and Travel grant for his master’s thesis, which was supervised by Dr. Sanna Pederson. Martinez is also a Ph.D. student at the University of Auckland, where he is mentored by Dr. Nancy November online.