Meet our team.
Violin & Viola
Jacob Olbrot
Jacob Olbrot is the Executive Director of the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo as well as an instructor. He attended Western Michigan University's School of Music, and was brought up in the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra and the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo before becoming part of its staff in the early 2000s.
Additionally, Jacob is the Director of Strings at Kalamazoo Kids in Tune, and he is a core member of the Traverse City Symphony Orchestra.
Jacob enjoys klezmer music, improvisation, and collecting records. He has a wife, Sheri, and two daughters, Mayim and Zoe, who keep him on his toes.
Josh Holcomb
Josh teaches violin, viola, ukulele, and mandolin at the Suzuki Academy. He earned a bachelor’s degree in viola at the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in viola at Western Michigan University. Josh has completed Book 1 Suzuki training under David Strom and the Creative Strings Academy online course. He began music lessons at the age of 5 as a student at what is now known as the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo. He has been on the staff as a teacher for 8 years, and is a source of creativity and collaboration within the Suzuki Academy.
Stella Branch
Stella teaches group lessons at the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo. She has a BS in Chemistry from Purdue University and was a violinist in their Philharmonic Orchestra throughout her time there. She started learning violin with the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo in 2005 and later studied in Germany with the Blue Lake International Orchestra, St. Cecilia Music Society, Debbie Crosser, and Diane Helle. In addition to teaching group lessons at Suzuki, she teaches 5th through 8th grade Math at Kazoo School. In her spare time, she enjoys going for hikes with her dog, doing puzzles, and traveling.
Piano
Michael Zutis
Michael Zutis is a pianist, composer/arranger, and educator, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He currently teaches at the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo, holds the position of Director of Music at St. Thomas More Student Parish, and serves as the Arts Advocacy and Awareness Chair for the Michigan Music Teachers Association. A recent graduate from Western Michigan University’s composition program, he has dedicated much of his time to collaborating with other musicians with the end goal of creating and developing exciting new works for various instruments. A pianist and conductor himself, Michael is also very grateful for the opportunity to perform his own work alongside his colleagues.
Sadam A. Rabadan Trejo
Born in Mexico City in 1995, Sadam began his musical education at the age of 10. In 2009, he began his professional studies at the National Conservatory of Music of Mexico. After studying with several pianists such as Farizat Tchibirova and Alexander Pashkov; he graduated in 2019. He entered a graduate program in the College of Chinese and ASEAN Arts, in Chengdu, China. There, he studied with Patrick Lechner. Sadam won 2nd place on the "Bienal de Piano de Mexicali", 2016; and received an Honorable Mention Award on the 6th category of the National Parnassos Contest, Mexico.
One of his greatest interests is Piano Pedagogy, which has led him to teach at several schools, such as the School of Music and Performing Arts in Mexico City, and as a Graduate Assistant in Western Michigan University, where he currently studies a Master’s in Music and Piano Performance under Lori Sims’s guidance.
Sara Araujo Gutiérrez
Born and raised in Mexico, Sara began her musical education when she was 7 years old. In 2011 she entered the National Conservatory of Music. Her mentors are Marta Garcia Renart and Alexander Pashkov, whom she studied with since 2014 and 2017. She has participated in piano and chamber music masterclasses with Peter Donohoe, Jorge Federico Osorio, Alexander Pashkov, Naoya Seino, Anastasia Markina, the “Cuarteto Latinoamericano”, Jose White Quartet, and the Janacek Quartet among others.
She is passionate about chamber music; she developed a piano-violin duet that led to participation in the Encuentro Nacional de Música de Cámara de Aguascalientes (2018, 2019), and the Festival Internacional de Música de Naolinco (2019).
She graduated from the National Conservatory in 2019.
She held a private piano studio since 2016 and in 2019 she entered the Inclusive Arts Program (PRAI) as a piano and music teacher for children and young students with disabilities. She also holds diplomas in English and French (First Certificate in English, DELF B1), and an English-Spanish Translation Diploma from the Intercontinental University.
Currently she is working on her master’s degree in Piano Performance at Western Michigan University, where she also holds a Graduate Assistantship, teaching Class Piano to music majors and non-music major students.
Cello
Grace Field
Grace holds a BA in cello performance from Michigan State University, where she studied with Louis Potter, Jr. She also attended the New School of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Orlando Cole, cellist of Curtis String Quartet and professor of cello at Curtis. She received her Suzuki certification at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, and at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
In the past, Grace has been a member of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (1959-1989), a member of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra String Quartet (1963-1989), the Bach Festival Orchestra, the Arion Trio and Quartet, and the Four Seasons String Quartet.
In addition to teaching at the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo, Grace has also taught at Kalamazoo College, and has served as a Suzuki Association of the Americas teacher and trainer in Brazil, Australia, and Calgary. She continues to be a clinician at many US workshops.
Grace is the director of the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo cello program, and is also a director of the Chamber Music Workshop here in Kalamazoo, MI. She has also served as the president of the Michiana Cello Society, the Stulberg International String Competition, and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra Women's League. She is a current member of SAA, ISA, and ASTA. She was the 2000 recipient of the Community Medal of Arts Award and the 2002 recipient of the PRISM award given by Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity.
She has two grown sons and four grandchildren.
Guitar
Mike Savina
Mike is a guitarist and percussionist with over 20 years of performing experience. He began taking guitar lessons at the age of 9 after playing the air guitar in his bedroom window for the better part of two years. It was a sense of finality, of attaining the key to unlock a lifetime of exploration. When guitar was not an offering for concert band in school, he joined the percussion section instead. Intent on being immersed in music as much as possible, he was a member of concert band, the symphonic wind ensemble and the marching band in high school, and for his final two years joined the choir. He joined his first "rock" group at 13, has played extensively in a recording studio collective that encompassed half a dozen projects, and is currently a member of Kalamazoo-based band The Go Rounds. Music is fun, elevating, and a wonderful tool for processing the relationship between the world around us and our inner selves.
Percussion
Dede Alder
From humble beginnings, Dede has paved her way on her own experimental, alternative, off the grid musician journey. Dede has been studying, performing, recording and writing music for over 15 years. She has studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, Northwestern Michigan College, National Frame Drum Association, and in Ireland and Italy. She has worked with world renowned percussionists including Gwen Burgett: MSU Percussion Instructor, Roger Kashou: Percussionist in the National Arab Orchestra, Alessandra Belloni: World renowned Italian Tambourine Performer and many more. Dede has a fun and supportive teaching style that is backed by a deep passion for music. She loves to teach group and private lessons.
Operations Manager
Sabrina Stempek
Sabrina has been active in the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo since 2016. She is a parent of two daughters who started at Suzuki in Little Stars, and who currently study violin. She served on the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo Board of Directors from 2018-2022, serving as board chair for the 2021-22 school year until assuming the operations manager position at the end of that school year. Sabrina holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree from Western Michigan University. She is a licensed occupational therapist who has served children in public education since 2008. She has a background in collaborating on educational teams, facilitating and leading professional development, performing department head and office management duties, grant writing, and developing and implementing therapeutic programs for children. Sabrina has experienced first-hand what it takes to fully participate in a Suzuki education as a parent, and she has seen how that hard work by students and their families culminates in incredible growth and development of skill and self-confidence. She is committed to the mission of Suzuki. She will often be your first point of contact at the Suzuki Academy, and can be reached at suzukiacademykalamazoo@gmail.com.