Meet Our Faculty

Hope Bowling – Cello Instructor. Ms. Bowling has a Bachelor of Music in Education from Susquehanna University. She has performed with the Harrisburg Symphony, Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Allentown Symphony and the Pennsylvania Sinfonia. She currently plays for Theatre Harrisburg, local musical theater productions, weddings, and other events. Ms. Bowling currently works at Paxtang Elementary School as a learning support paraprofessional, and previously taught music at the Silver Academy, Infinity Charter School, Holy Name of Jesus School and Palisades School District. She currently teaches all levels of cello, plus beginning/intermediate violin and viola at State Street Academy and her home studio.

Dvon Cruse - Piano/Jazz Piano Instructor. Dvon Cruse is a versatile jazz keyboardist/pianist from the Washington, D.C. Area. He started his music career at 4 years old playing drums at Jericho City of Praise, the area’s largest place of worship. He then ventured off to more melodic instruments such as the saxophone and the piano. At 11 years old he played organ for the Jericho City of Praise Men’s Choir. At 14 he earned a spot in the statewide classical band playing saxophone. At 17 he won first place in the Alpha Psi Phi Omega fraternity Annual Teen Hunt competition. At 18 he opened for Marvin Sapp. At 19 he began touring on Carnival and Holland America cruise ships where he opened for artists such as Lionel Richie and Little Big Town. Today, Dvon plays with a variety of different bands. He is listed as a performer with the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz, is a private instructor, and also produces his own original music.

Erica Ickes - Piano Instructor. Erica Ickes has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Carroll College in Waukesha, WI. She has taught piano for over 20 years in Wisconsin, New York, and Pennsylvania. She enjoys working with students of all ages. Erica is also the organist at Silver Spring Presbyterian Church in Mechanicsburg.

Vicki Jacobi - Piano & Vocal Instructor. Vicki Jacobi’s love of music began as a young child, she touched a piano key and was amazed by the beautiful sound. At five years old, after begging to get a piano for two year, she began taking weekly lessons. Vicki accompanied a large concert choir in elementary school and did gigs at churches, as well as, other social events. During high school, she joined a traveling gospel group, The Joyful Noise. She also performed dinner music at the Hotel Hershey. She attended Lancaster Bible College for four years with a major in Bible and a minor in Church Music. Then Vicki attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and graduated with a master’s degree majoring in piano pedagogy and piano performance. Her experience at Northwestern changed her life. She had such outstanding mentors, world-renowned piano pedagogist, Elvina Truman Pearce, and Dr. Donald Isaak, an expert in piano technique and artistry. Upon graduation, she was hired by Elvina to teach at her school in Naperville, IL. After two years, she began a studio of her own and developed a dinner music business. With the assistance of a private investor, Vicki went to Clinton Studios in New York City and created a CD of original music designed for film. Vicki’s general music education career began full-time in Hampton, SC at Hampton School District 1, where she taught general music to kindergarten through third grade and, alternately, to grades fourth through twelfth for fourteen years. She also served at the University of South Carolina, as an adjunct professor of music, teaching music history evening courses for fifteen years. In 2017, she return to the area where she grew up in PA, to assist her mother after the death of her father. She continue to teach general music in schools, and private vocal and piano lessons to students of all ages, including, adults.

Joseph M. McAnulty – Violin Instructor, String Ensemble Conductor. Joseph McAnulty holds a Bachelor of Arts in music from Penn State University where he studied violin with James Lyon and orchestral conducting with Gerardo Edelstein. Prior to college he was a student of Brandon Christensen. Joe has been a member of the faculty at State Street Academy since 2007. Along with teaching over 30 private students, Joe also conducts three levels of string ensemble. As a professional violinist, he is a member of the York Symphony and performs with various chamber orchestras around the region. He has also adjudicated orchestra festivals for several years in the central Pennsylvania area, and was recently named the concertmaster of the Central Pennsylvania Symphony.

Chris Purcell – Piano, Voice & Composition Instructor. Chris Purcell is a graduate of Trinity High School, Berklee College of Music B.M. Duquesne University M.S. and Boston University (Doctoral). She is a published award-winning composer, was recognized by Harrisburg Magazine as a Mover and Shaper in Creativity for Central PA, is the founder of Anevon Music Productions and also, instructs music at Harrisburg Area Community College. You’ll find Chris performing throughout the region, cantoring at mass, golfing, teaching her music students and bicycling along the Susquehanna River. A dedicated music instructor with 20+ years teaching college level courses and piano, vocal & composition students from children through adult. Chris strives to create an opportunity for learning that assists students to reach their goals in a joyful, affirming, and positive environment. Chris Instructional Video- Intro to World Music Study of the Blues Music https://youtu.be/Lz5h9x_YsmE

Elyse Rinehart - Viola Instructor & Chimes Ensemble Director. Elyse Rinehart earned a B.S. Ed. In Music from Millersville University where she studied violin and viola. Elyse has taught strings, orchestra, and general music in public and private schools in the Central PA area and continues to play in various orchestras in the region. She began teaching at SSA in 2009 as faculty of the summer camp and became a private instructor in 2011. She directs the SSA chimes choir and also directs a children’s choir at St. Matthews Catholic Church in Dauphin, PA.

John Tuzza - Percussion Instructor. John Tuzza is a freelance musician and composer/arranger in the Harrisburg Areas and studied Music Performance and Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music. John has performed and recorded with many local, regional, and national artists as well as with numerous local and regional theater companies. He has taught (both privately and in local high schools) for over 20 years.

Maria Wilson - Guitar, ukulele & mandolin Instructor. Maria Wilson started her amazing musical journey in her hometown Brooklyn, New York in 1977. Her lifelong dream was to become a professional guitarist and percussionist and she has followed this passion for the past thirty five years. Maria is a graduate of Harrisburg Area Community College where she earned both a Music Industry/ Marketing Diploma and Audio / Music Technology Diploma. She is a graduate of Duquesne University Guitar and Bass School where she earned a performance certificate. She has studied privately for years with Marcia Englar-Millersville /Peabody Conservatory/ Troy King -Towson University and seven guitar /bass professors at Duquesne University. She is a six-time scholarship winner from numerous guitar companies including Martin , Fender and GSFA-Pittsburgh. During her musical career, she has toured and opened for such rock legends Roger McGuinn, Michael McDonald and John Sebastian. Maria was accorded a publishing deal with RDSD Publishing where her original music compositions have been featured on a national and international levels. Maria's music has been featured on NPR - WHYY affiliate in Philadelphia. Since 1992, she has instructed thousands of students in guitar, electric bass, ukulele, music technology-audio, mandolin and percussion. Many of her students have graduated from schools for music and music programs such as Berklee College of Music, Lebanon Valley College, Belmont University, Mansfield University and Manhattan School of Music and Towson University. Maria’s passion is private music teaching and she enjoys every minute of it!
For more information, visit www.mariawilsonmusic.com.

Amy Yovanovich - Voice Instructor.  Ms. Yovanovich started singing as a child. She is a 1989 graduate of Elizabethtown Area High School, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.  After high school she served as lead soloist at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Amy has studied voice/opera extensively at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music in Lancaster, PA. Ms. Yovanovich studied under Mr. John Darrenkamp, a well-known veteran of the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City and currently studies with Ms. Kyle C. Engler, Mezzo-Soprano, Baltimore, Maryland. She has performed with the Pennsylvania Academy of Music Opera Theatre Workshop, Lancaster and Harrisburg Opera Companies, Reading Pops Orchestra & Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in a number of operas, including, Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte as Dorabella, Bizet’s Carmen as Carmen and Mennotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors as the Mother. Ms. Yovanovich has also performed many oratorios, including Verdi & Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabeus, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. She has also performed in several productions at the Fulton Opera House including The Sound of Music as Mother Abbess, in Rags as Rosa, in Ragtime as Sarah’s Friend, in Carousel as Netty Fowler and Oliver as Widow Corney. In March of 1998, Ms. Yovanovich was the recipient of the prestigious Oxnard Gold Medal, First Place Award in the American Traditions Competition in Savannah, Georgia, sponsored by Savannah On Stage.  She also was Honorable Mention at the 1998 Metropolitan Opera District Auditions, finalist in the 1999 National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, and a winner in the 2000 Connecticut Opera Guild Competition.  In February of 2003, she made her non-musical debut with Ephrata ACT as Berenice Sadie Brown in Carson McCullers’ “The Member of the Wedding.” She is a frequent guest artist and soloist throughout the Central Pennsylvania region. Amy is currently on the faculty at The Lancaster Conservatory of Music and is the Director of Music for the Westgate Baptist Church in Lancaster, PA.