Our Tremendous Staff
Jeff - Piano, Advanced Piano, Brass, Theater
Music Director, INSTRUCTOR - 4S RANCH
Jeff was born into a musical family. Both parents played and sang, and Jeff picked it up immediately. He began formal piano lessons at age five and never looked back. He loves all types of music but his piano teacher in high school made the mistake of introducing him to “The Maple Leaf Rag” by Scott Joplin. Ragtime immediately became his music of choice, and he still loves it today. In sixth grade he began playing the trombone and in high school he taught himself bass guitar to complete his first rock band with two of his friends.
Jeff began arranging and composing in high school. He continued his musical education and earned his BA in Music from California Lutheran University. He studied arranging and composition under Elmer Ramsey and conducting under C. Robert Zimmerman. He composed several scores for CLU Drama productions and arranged several orchestra and choir pieces for the annual CLU Music Department tours. Jeff majored on trombone in college and played in the Concert Band, Pep Band, Orchestra, Dixieland Band, Brass Quintet and was a member of the Conejo Symphony Orchestra from 1980 until the symphony ceased operation in 1994.
Jeff has taught beginning through advanced band and spent six years teaching music at his alma mater of Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. There he taught Concert Band, Pep Band, Choir and Jazz Band. He also formed the Santa Ynez Valley Musical Theatre which brought both students and adults together for musical theatre productions.
Jeff believes that everyone should develop their love for music. He loves teaching and watching a student progress and improve their skills. He teaches that music does not come from the page but from the soul.
Sean Mulvihill - Classroom, Improv, Theatre, Piano, Vocals, Guitar
INSTRUCTOR - 4S RANCH
Sean is originally from Illinois and has lived in Los Angeles, New York City, and Torino, Italy. He is a member of the Actors Equity Association and has an MFA in Physical Theatre. He sung as a cast member at the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas and Macau, China and performed on musical theater stages from Kansas and Utah to Venice and Milan, Italy. he is an accomplished guitarist and songwriter and composed the score for the feature film Act Social.
Amanda - Vocal, Piano
Instructor - 4S Ranch
A San Diego native, Amanda, grew up in a musical family and started singing at the early age of 7 years old! She began her formal training in high school and continued her education at San Diego State University. After graduating with her Bachelor's degree she went on to continue her studies at the University of Cincinnati - College Conservatory of Music. During her time there, Amanda was a prize winner in the prestigious Corbett Opera Competition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, receiving the John Alexander Memorial Award two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020. Further success in competitions include, First place and a special award for the Best Performance of a Contemporary Piece in the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus competition, second place in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, and has been a Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego protégé since 2016. She has sung with opera companies across the United States and abroad. Her most notable roles include, Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Flora (The Turn of the Screw), Ms. Lightfoot (Fellow Travelers), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Adina (L'elisir d'amore).
Amanda is passionate about sharing her love of music with her students and helping each one find their own unique voice.
Tristan - Guitar, Ukulele, Classroom
Instructor - 4S Ranch
Tristan was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and raised in Pueblo, Colorado. He moved back to Albuquerque to study music, theatre, and dance at the University of New Mexico. Throughout college and beyond his graduation in 2017, Tristan stayed busy performing in many musical theatre productions around Albuquerque including West Side Story, Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors, and Hair to name a few. In 2020 he music-directed Big Fish the Musical at Musical Theatre Southwest.
In August of 2020 Tristan moved to Maastricht, Netherlands. It was there that he started teaching ukulele and guitar to the local community. Continuing his journey as an educator, Tristan moved to San Diego in 2021 where he has worked in music schools and as a private music teacher.
Megan - Choreographer
INSTRUCTOR - 4S RANCH
Megan Alves caught the dancing bug when she was 3 years old & has loved it ever since. She was born & raised in Connecticut & was grateful for her close proximity to New York City, where she spent much of her time dancing & training. Megan received her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Dance & Dance Pedagogy from Point Park University with concentrations in both jazz and modern dance.
For well over a decade, Megan has been teaching dance & theater to students from age 3 up to adults! She has taught a range of dance styles from ballet, to tap, jazz, tap, modern, contemporary, theater, hip-hop, & more. While Megan enjoys teaching all styles of dance, she particularly loves getting to work within the world of musical theater. It is exciting to help her students learn how to use movement to effectively express & tell a story. Megan has had a wide range of teaching opportunities, from youth theater programs, to numerous dance studios & she was even asked to create her own course for undergraduate business students to teach and demonstrate leadership skills through the lens of dance.
In addition to teaching and choreographing, Megan has had a fruitful career performing in musical theater across the country! Some of her favorite show’s she has had the opportunity to perform in are: Cats, A Chorus Line, An American in Paris, 42nd Street, Bye Bye Birdie, Mamma Mia, Hairspray & Evita, among many others. Megan also spent over a half a year in Hawaii performing for Norwegian Cruise Line as their ship’s dance captain.
Randy Lindquist - UAV Pilot, Media, Photography, Videography
INSTRUCTOR, PHOTOGRAPHER, VIDEOGRAPHER, MEDIA
Randy Lindquist has owned and operated his media business (R3 Services) for over 20 years. What started out as a fun hobby, developed into a passion and later into a career.
A 3rd generation San Diego native, Randy has studied film locally and abroad. Working with Global Industries such as Google, 3M, YKK, Point Blank Industries, Panda Express, 5.11 Tactical and more – he grew to love video more and more. Locally Randy has worked with the San Diego Symphony, Rady’s Children Hospital, The Cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, La Mesa, El Cajon.
In High School Randy started a successful wedding and special event company which to this day still provides ALL-INCLUSIVE wedding and event packages (Catering, Flowers, Photo, Video, DJ, Cake, Tables, Chairs, Linens etc.). It was also during High School that Randy was hired provide video-only services for the Soupplantation Corporation. That experience started him off on his video journey.
Randy and his company R3 Services now work closely with a variety of First Responder teams all over California including the Navy Seals, Special Forces, FBI, Police Departments, Fire Departments, SWAT, Search & Rescue as well as other agencies. With a strong desire to give back to his community, Randy and R3 Services have provided media services for the PATH organization, San Diego City College’s unsheltered program as well as the HOME program for San Diegans who are having a hard time in life.
For many years, one of Randy’s focuses on media has been LIVESTREAMING and LIVE Camera switching for Musical Groups, Theaters, Bands and other performances. Randy was fortunate enough to develop these skills years ago before covid made it cool to livestream.
As a licensed UAV Pilot, Randy also enjoys aerial photography and videography.
He is a fierce entrepreneur who loves a good idea and advocates for its success (Randy acknowledges that he probably gets this from his mother who believes she has a million dollar idea come into her head several times a week).
A graduate of UCSD, Randy lives in the San Diego area with his wife and two kids.
Melissa Spurgiesz - Founder, Coordinator, Accounting, Classroom, Theater Director
A little over 10 years ago, Melissa and her husband, Scott, decided to sell their business and leave their jobs to create a music school dedicated to developing musicians. That school is Music Pillars. With over 12 teachers, 7 schools, and 300+ students, Melissa operates and coordinates all schedules and events for Music Pillars. She also is the head of our accounting department.
When she isn’t busy with administrative portion of Music Pillars, Melissa teaches elementary and secondary music education to children ages 3 to 15. For over a decade, she has been teaching music and creating music curriculum in various environments. From large theater groups to small private school classrooms, she loves seeing the personal growth of her students.
In her spare time, Melissa can be found either on the beach, on a run, or cheering on the sidelines of one of kid’s sporting events with her husband, Scott and 4 kids.
Scott Spurgiesz - Founder, Interim Music Director
Scott is committed to giving students and parents a world-class music teaching environment. He constructed and developed the "Pillars" of Music Pillars. This was developed by both experiencing the various schools of thought regarding music pedagogy, and then also working as a paid musician. Pillars is a fusion of Suzuki, Classical, Kodaly, and Jazz. He made a wonderful living as a pianist from the age of 15 until 25. Totaling over 3,000+ actual hours performing live (for all you math-scholars, that is the equivalent of being on stage 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 18 months). He was a Merit-based Buck Family Music Scholar from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music.
Because of that dual background in a formal classical conservatory, and also as a paid musician, Scott set out to establish music studios in the U.S. to teach "musicianship" rather than simply technical mastery on the piano (classical training) or cheapening music education by just learning a few "cool rock songs" and having that somehow equate to a musical education. He has a patent in Molecular Epidemiology for his pioneering work on VNTRs in M. Tuberculosis (patent link). Prior to founding Music Pillars, Scott founded Forte Commercial Cleaning and franchised the business through over 100 franchises in California, Utah, and Nevada. Scott received his MBA from UC Berkeley. He lives in San Diego with his wife Melissa, and their four children. When he isn’t working, Scott enjoys soccer, reading, running, boating, fly-fishing, market investing, and chess.
To read more about our teaching philosophy, please click here.
