Instrumental Teachers Bios
Kenji Higashihama
Piano Instructor
Kenji is a native of Detroit, MI where he grew up singing and playing gospel music. Throughout his career he has had the privilege of music directing a number of shows and groups in Michigan, Illinois, Hawai’i, and California, Hope Galas for the American Cancer Society, assistant music directing for a national tour of The Music Man, and working with wonderful talent from Broadway’s Wicked, Newsies, and Phantom of the Opera. He did his undergraduate studies in music at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and holds certification in Chinese-Mandarin from the Defense Language Institute. He has been at TRIS since 2014.
Emanuela Nikiforova
Violin Instructor
Emanuela was born in Varna, Bulgaria. She graduated from music middle and high schools in Varna and Sofia, Bulgaria. She has a Pedagogy diploma from the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland, a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Music Performance from LSU, Baton Rouge, and The San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Emanuela is a member of the Oakland, Berkeley, Marin, Santa Rosa and Silicon Valley Symphony orchestras, and a music director of the formation Antika Slavic Strings. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors, do yoga, and, teach violin! Emanuela started teaching at TRIS in January of 2014.
György Vass
Guitar Instructor
George (György) has been teaching classical guitar at TRIS since 1998. He received his Pedagogy diploma from the Zoltan Kodály Conservatory of Music and his Masters in Music Performance at the acclaimed Franz Lizst Music Academy in Hungary. In addition to learning the classical repertoire, he also performed in rock and folk bands and has a deep appreciation for all kinds of music. György feels that classical training frees the students to explore their own musical path. He loves to find the spark that brings out the special talent of his students. His guitar students have followed their dreams to Berkeley College of Music, Yale, and beyond, and have the tools to enjoy playing music their entire lives.
Cathy DeVos
Flute Instructor
A native of St. Louis, MO, Cathy DeVos received a Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Missouri at St. Louis and a Master’s in Flute Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She taught instrumental music for 35 years in the Piedmont Unified School District and over 20 years as a flute instructor at Holy Names University..