Ukrainian Pianist Igor Akselrud graduated summa cum laude from Sumy Music College (Ukraine) and from Voronezh State Institute of Art (Russia). Upon graduation, he immediately joined the faculty of the Sumy Pedagogical University where he had charge of students majoring in piano. In 1994 He was named Chairman of the Piano Department and held that position until he moved to New York in 2005. In 1996 Akselrud was granted the rank of Associate Professor by the Ministry of Education of the Ukraine.

Among his students he counts prizewinners of piano competitions such as the Samara International Piano Competition (Russia, 1991), Konzerteum (Greece, 1999), All-Ukrainian Piano Competition for students (2001), and Citta di Ostra (Italy, 2003).

He is author of “Theoretical and Practical Fundamentals of Expressive Piano Performance” (1996, Mriya Press). For more than fifteen years he coached and accompanied vocalists and instrumentalists throughout the Ukraine and Russia in concerts and recitals with the Sumy Regional Philharmonic.

From 2001 to 2005 he judged various piano competitions and festivals for students and young people including the 5th International Festival of Slavic Piano Music. (Melitopol, Ukraine).

Awards: Special Awards, Ukrainian Ministry of Education (2001, 2003) Educational Medal of Honor, the Ukraine, 2005

Currently he works at the Special Music School and Lucy Moses School of Music and Dance at Kaufman Center as an accompanist for instrumental students. He coaches and accompanies singers and instrumentalists privately. He is a member of the advisory board of www.vocalimages.com, and music editor of The Voice and Singing, a Practical Manual, by J. Faure, 1886, translated and expanded by Francis Keeping and Roberta Prada, Vox Mentor, New York, 2005.

Sheila Allen is an occupational therapist with a board certification in pediatrics and a MA in psychology from Teachers’ College, Columbia University.

She is a co-founder and co-director of Pediatric Therapeutics, LLC, a children’s therapy center, and Integrated Soundwork, LLC, a practice specializing in sound-based interventions, bothlocated in Chatham, NJ. Currently on both the faculty and devlopment team of Advanced Brain Technolgies, Sheila served as a founding board member of The Darcy School, a private school educating children from preschool through sixth grade.

She has taught graduate coursesas an adjunct instructor at The Bank Street School in NYC. Sheila brings to Vocal Images over twenty-five years of practice specializing in sensory processing, an evergrowing appreciation for sound and music, and a passion for promoting awareness and understanding of the value of listening.