Bennett Academy has some of the best teachers in music education. Our teachers are graduates of Purchase College, The Juilliard School, Berklee School of Music, and other distinguished institutions. 

FILM & THEATRE TEACHERS

Jonathan Gordon: Actor of Stage and Screen, Graduate of Brown University. Most recent role as Scorpius, in Harry Potter And The Cursed Child on Broadway. Mr. Gordon’s teaching style is holistic, and allows the student to not only realize their acting potential, but their human potential as an aspiring actor.

Pete was born in Eugene, OR and raised in Wyoming. Growing up around music and theater (occasionally taking part in productions produced/directed by his parents' own company). Simpson later received his B.A. from the University of Wyoming and an M.F.A. from the National Theater Conservatory. Simpson has since celebrated 25-years as a New York-based actor, having performed a wide span of principle roles with over 20 award-winning theater directors/companies on Broadway and off in NYC, as well as venues all over the world . Along with his many acting credits, he also performed modern dance, musical compositions, has supplied choreography/music for several productions, has performed stand up (Caroline's on Broadway, etc.) and served in host/MC roles (most recently for the popular storytelling podcast, "The Moth"). Simpson is also a long-time performer of the title character in Blue Man Group, a role he's performed over 5,000 times in four different countries. Simpson is a 2017 recipient of an Obie for Sustained Excellence of Performance. Pete is the husband of Naama Greenfield-Simpson (professional milliner and owner of the hat/clothing design label, "Nami") and the proud father of Annah and Benjamin Simpson

Raised in Yonkers, NY, Mr. Esparza has created his own amazing film content on Social Media.  He is an accomplished Dance and Fight Choreographer. He has worked with Bennett Academy for the past 3 years as director of choreography for our stage show, King Of The Rodeo,  he will be the teacher of the Stage Combat Class

INSTRUMENT & VOICE TEACHERS

Justin Witwick: Bennett Academy would like to welcome the Super talented Justin Witwick-In Person Voice Coach, Theory Class, and Beginners Piano Class and Private Lessons.

Mr. Witwick also has prepared Theory Class modules for ages 13 to adult. (Will be available September 30th)

Kat Spina (Contemporary Voice, Intermediate Piano, and Guitar (online only)

As a singer-songwriter, the siren sound of Kat Spina’s silky, heartfelt, expressive vocals have the power to captivate any audience.

She has recorded two studio albums, Engaging the Muse and Chasing Shadows. Kat’s new songs have come from a collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Brian Forbes in Brooklyn, NY. These are songs of transformation, power, love and loss. Her latest single is entitled Hold On.

Kat has been interviewed on national radio, and her songs featured on WHUD NY 100.7, BBC radio, and other international outlets. She performs at a variety of venues in New York including The Bitter End (New York Songwriter’s Circle showcase) and won best music video at Gorilla River’s Music Video Film Festival for her single Play It Loud.

She holds a B.S. in Music Therapy from SUNY New Paltz & M.A. in Communications from Pace University. She currently teaches public speaking, communications theory and diction.

Zev Burrows-Guitar and Composition (online only)

Zev Burrows (Guitar-all levels, composition) (online only)- is a composer and lyricist for stage and screen. With his original compositions featured on major network and cable television channels including PBS, Netflix, NBC, BBC, and ABC, he received his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music, and has composed the scores for many award-winning projects, including the animated short film “Fox Tale” (finalist for 2015 CG Student Awards Best Film of the Year), and the Directors Guild of America award-winning short film “Absent” directed by Sudarshan Suresh. A graduate of many acclaimed industry workshops and programs (ASCAP, BMI, Dramatists Guild, SCL), his recent credits include scores to the Gallery Players’ feature film production of “Macbeth”, and additional music/orchestrations for the feature documentary “Sky Blossom“, directed by MSNBC news anchor Richard Lui. In 2018, Zev also composed original music for Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Online Course Development.

For his work in musical theatre, Zev is an inaugural member of Theatre Now‘s National Musical Writers Group and is currently developing a new musical with lyricist/librettist Makena Metz. His musical “The Pledge” was selected for the Madison New Works Lab at James Madison University for 2019, where it received a two-week workshop and two performances. Most recently, his 10-minute musical “J & Dot” tied for Best Play at the 2020 Woodside Players Summer Festival, and his musical “A Broken Play” was featured as part of the Dramatists Guild’s Friday Night Footlights Reading Series in February 2021. A member of ASCAP, ASMAC, SCL, and the Dramatists Guild, Zev resides in New York City.

In addition to his film and musical theatre work, Zev is also a busy composer of production library music, and regularly writes for MPATH Music Library, 4 Elements Music, Mibe Music, Atomica Music Library,  Amadea Music Productions, and Velvet Green Music, where he was the featured artist for May 2017 and May 2019.

“When I’m scoring a scene in a film or crafting a new song for the musical theatre, I’m underlying the inner psychology and insecurities of the characters, something that music achieves what no other element of the creative process can do. At the end of the day, I’m doing all I can to be the best storyteller through music for every project I work on.”

Andrea Bennett-Advanced Piano and Advanced Voice, Theater (advanced)

Andrea Bennett is the founder and Artistic Director at Bennett Academy Of The Performing Arts. Ms. Bennett started her piano studies at 5 years old with Elfrieda Brown. Her work with Ms. Brown allowed her to earn high honors and prizes in Youth Music Festivals which granted her solo performances in Carnegie Hall, from ages 8 to 16. A classical singer for 20 years, Ms. Bennett earned two degrees (Music and Broadcast Communications) from The State University of New York at Oswego, where she studied piano with the Music Department President, Dr. Jerry Exline. Andrea has also studied voice with the historic Opera Ebony’s Musical Director, Gregory Sheppard, Amanda Carnie, and Dr. David Fairchild, vocal coach to stage and film actors. Ms. Bennett opened Bennett Academy in 1996, and shortly thereafter, her student, was the first Afro Caribbean pianist to win the Cultural Heritage Competition in 1998. Currently Ms. Bennett has recital performances, in piano and voice.

As a playwright, Andrea has written many off Broadway comedies and musicals for kids from the Odella Williams Show, to What She Deserves- A Murder Mystery and the most recent King Of The Rodeo. Her legacy of students past and present, are a roster of highly accomplished singers, actors, playwrights, and filmmakers.

Some of Ms. Bennett’s Piano, Theater, and Voice Students: