Chris Soll
Piano, Flute, Theory

Chris has been teaching at Linton-Milano Music since 1991 and maintains over 70 weekly students of all ages and levels. She has been playing music for over 30 years and she has a Master of Music - Theory and Composition, from ASU and a Bachelor of Science in Music - Scoring & Arranging, from the University of Colorado at Denver. She graduated with honors from CU Denver and was nominated as a member of the National Music Honor Society, Pi Kappa Lambda, while at ASU.

Chris holds two recitals per year and encourages students to participate in Linton-Milano Music's Annual Awards Music Festival. Her goal is to teach students to become "musically literate" so that they understand theory, technique, and musical interpretation and are, ultimately, able to read music fluently and expressively. Several of her students have gone on to become professional music teachers themselves.

In addition to teaching, Chris plays professionally at church and private engagements.

Richard Wall
Piano, Voice, Violin, Viola, Theory and Composition

Richard has a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Music Theory and Composition, with a theory emphasis, from ASU. He studied piano with Dr. John Metz, Dr. Hamilton Tescalaro, group piano with Dr. Caio Pagano, and theory with Dr. Ellon Carpenter. His undergraduate thesis was entitled: “Tonal progression and retrogression in Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von Der Erde, “Der Abschied.” Richard is also a DJ with a former residency with La Rogue at Barcelonas in Scottsdale. He has maintained over 60 students for the past 5 years.

Richard is now doing professional recordings - a great idea for the holidays or for keepsake recordings!

Melinda Pekrul
Voice, Piano

Melinda Pekrul has a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University. She has studied voice for 10 years and has been teaching since 2003. Her instructors include Linda Spevecek (Choral Composer), Darlene Kliewer-Britton (ASU Faculty, and Claudia Kennedy (current vocal teacher).

Melinda has been a part of many local choral ensembles. She has performed as a soloist in these ensembles and continues to perform in local churches for such events as weddings, funerals and holiday concerts.

Melinda has an enthusiasm for teaching, and loves to see her students progress in vocal quality and performance.

Emily Williams has a Bachelor’s of Music Degree in Vocal performance from Arizona State University and a Master’s of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from Brigham Young University. Performance credits include Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief and The Duchess in The Gondoliers.

She has been teaching voice lessons since 2002 and more recently has begun teaching piano and guitar students.

Emily enjoys teaching healthy vocal techniques in any style (classical, jazz, pop, musical theatre) and loves helping students of all ages progress with their vocal goals. She hopes all of her students learn to enjoy and appreciate music as she has.

Tony has been an accordion instructor since 1969. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Composition from California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. He was an active member of the Accordion Federation of North America and is currently a member of the Arizona Accordion Club.

Tony has written, arranged and performed music since childhood. His accordion arrangements have been used in schools across the U.S. One of his many compositions was included as a required competition piece at the annual AFNA Music Festival. As a performer, he has traveled from coast to coast. He has performed with various nationally known recording artists and in prestigious venues in New York and Los Angeles.

As a teacher, his goal is to facilitate musical excellence and honesty. Tony has taught at Linton-Milano Music since 1992.

Diana Noble
Piano, Voice, Violin

Diana has been teaching for over 18 years. She teaches, voice, violin, and piano. She is well-versed and has performed in many venues. Her experience includes opera, broadway musicals, live bands, studio recording, orchestras, ensembles, etc.

Patience and precision are her strengths in teaching. She works exceptionally well with youth and enjoys the creative learning process of teaching one-on-one. She is currently finishing her BA in music education.

Christy Porter is excited to be joining the Milano team! She is currently accepting violin and beginning piano and viola students. Miss Porter grew up in Arizona and attended college at ASU where she graduated with a degree in Music Education. She also received a Master's Degree from NAU. Christy taught music for Mesa Public Schools from 1994-1998 and is currently the Instrumental Music teacher at Heritage Academy in Mesa. She was a member of the Mesa Symphony for 10 years and has played with many orchestras around the valley. Miss Porter has been teaching privately for many years now and enjoys sharing her love of music with her students.