Meet the Little Bears Teachers

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Rachel Hoiem, a San Francisco native, has worked with children for more than 15 years in multiple settings, from being a nanny and camp counselor to directing school musicals and volunteering in local classrooms. She studied piano for more than 20 years and earned her B.A. in music from SF State. Rachel is excited to join the Blue Bear family and looks forward to sharing her love of blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll with both children and their parents. She continues to record and perform with local artists and is currently working on two albums with her bands Bellavista and Madelia.

Claire Plumb has been teaching music to children in many capacities since graduating from Peabody Conservatory with her BM in vocal performance in 2006. She got her start by teaching violin at inner city schools in Baltimore and then moved on to create lesson plans that incorporated music for her autistic students at the Fairmount School. Claire feels very strongly and passionately about bringing good music education to young minds, while making it fun and interesting to learn.

Barbara Murphy has been singing and writing her own music for more than 10 years. Her powerful voice, positive energy and diverse repertoire will keep you singing long after class is over. Parents and children will learn songs ranging from old spirituals to folk classics, jazz standards, Spanish songs, original numbers and, of course, good ol' rock 'n' roll! Barbara plays guitar and piano and emphasizes voice, tone, movement, rhythm and basic musical concepts in her classes.

Bethany Mitchell was raised in Mission Viejo, CA where she began studying music and dance at a very young age. After training at the Ballet Pacifica Conservatory, she began her professional dance career with Ballet Pacifica in Irvine, and continued on to dance professionally with the State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara and the City Ballet of San Diego. Since moving to San Francisco in 2007, Bethany has worked with Liss Fain Dance, ODC/Dance and Garrett + Moulton Productions, as well as teach Little Bears music and creative dance for ODC's Youth Program. She is excited to fuse her love for music and dance in the Little Bears Bouncy Bears classes.

Andrew Skewes-Cox (Mr. Andrew) is a native of San Francisco. In 2006 he received his B.A. in Music from the University of California Santa Cruz, where he studied classical and folk guitar with William Coulter. Since earning his degree he has taught music exclusively to young people in the Bay Area. He is currently employed as musical director at Calvary Presbyterian Nursery School and Lone Mountain Children's Center. In addition to teaching, Andrew is a singer-songwriter as well as a drummer for the local group Rin Tin Tiger. In his spare time he enjoys listening to records and walking his dog Charlie.