piano

Billy Blair • PIANO

Billy Blair is a multi hyphenate artist who has lived in Astoria for six years now. With over 15 years as a collaborative pianist and a BFA in Musical Theatre from SUNY Fredonia, Billy is excited to teach at Art House and continue to keep the love of the arts alive and well with our young people in Astoria!

From Newburgh, New York originally, Billy has always had a love of sharing music and theatre with young minds. Teaching came naturally when in high school, they found themselves a new member of a local theatre troupe after joining their Pit Band as Keys 1 a night before they opened their inaugural production. From there, they taught summer sessions, music directed full musicals, and found a way to balance performing and teaching.

Billy now resides in Astoria where they coach and teach from their own private studio as well as with Art House. They regularly perform with their band The Law Offices and can sometimes be found on a Monday night in Brooklyn as their drag persona: Ms. Bambles.

From Carnegie Hall to drag clubs in the middle of Maryland, Billy has performed in many venues but they will always feel at home teaching.

Luc Cianfarani • PIANO, Composition

Luc Cianfarani is a pianist and composer based in New York City.

Originally from upstate New York, Luc received his Bachelor’s in Music with a concentration in Piano Performance from the University of Virginia in 2018. After graduating, Luc went on to receive his Master’s in Music Composition & Theory from Boston University in 2020 where he studied under Joshua Fineberg. While in graduate school, Luc taught both group and private keyboard lessons to undergraduate students of all skill levels.

As a pianist, Luc has performed both as a soloist and as a collaborative musician across the United States, including a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Luc is committed to performing works by living artists, and he performed the world premiere of Tak Cheung Hui’s “Water Album #1” with the new music ensemble TimeArt Studio in 2019. As a composer, Luc writes both acoustic and electronic music, and ensembles such as the Tak Ensemble and Splinter Reeds have performed his works. Active in the film music scene, Luc has scored numerous shorts and orchestrated both film and video game music for L.A.-based composer Chad Cannon. Currently, Luc is working on releasing his debut EP and playing keyboards with the Brooklyn-based electro band Late Guest at the Party.  

Norman Pors • Piano, Jazz Workshop

Norman Pors grew up in Charlottesville, VA, and began playing piano at age 10.

He studied classical music for many years and while in high school, started playing in local rock and dance bands. In 1979, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts graduating in 1982 with a B.M. in Performance and Arranging. The following year, he attended New York University where he earned his M.A. in Jazz Composition. While there, he studied with Jim McNeely, Hilton Ruiz, and Joanne Brackeen. Over the years, Mr. Pors has proven his versatility by performing not only with jazz groups but also rock, R&B, blues, and fusion bands. Some of the performers he has played with include Brian Torff (bassist with George Shearing), Vernell Fournier (drummer with Ahmad Jamal), Marcus Mclaurine (bassist with Clark Terry) Bob James, David Sanborn, the Gil Parris Band, the Dave Matthews Band, and Marsha Heydt and the Project of Love.

In addition, Mr. Pors has had many of his compositions and arrangements recorded by various artists including Marsha Heydt (“One Night” & “Diggin’ the Day”) and jazz vocalist Donna Cumberbatch (“Daughters of the Nile” and “Seasoned Elegance”). He has also written/arranged music for documentaries (“Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood”) and other independent film projects. He has performed in many musical theater productions including “Cabaret”, “Once Upon a Mattress” and “American Fantasy 1,2 & 3”. Also, he was the musical director for the off-Broadway shows, “Five Guys Named Moe” and “Smokey Joe’s Café”. As a teaching artist, Mr. Pors has been on staff at the Brooklyn Queens Conservatory of Music, helped co-found CenterStage: the Queens Center for the Performing Arts, and currently coaches the New Jazz Vocal Workshop at Art House Astoria.

JESSY TOMSKO • PIANO, SONGWRITING, GUITAR, VOICE

Jessy Tomsko is a composer, music teacher, and vocal coach in New York City.

As a songwriter, Jessy has shared the stage with such esteemed artists as Loudon Wainwright, Dar Williams, Edwin McCain, and Joan Osborne, and has performed at such festivals as Musikfest, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and NJ Folk Fest. She was twice a featured performer in Sesame Street’s Leslie Carrara-Rudolph’s Halloween Cabaret "Moonlight Madness", and in 2019 she was assistant vocal director on Sesame Street and Apple TV's "Helpsters".  Jessy is a co-founder of NYC semi-professional a cappella group The Lost Keys, and she is now developing two of her original musicals with director Mia Walker (Jagged Little Pill, Waitress).  Jessy is also a contributing writer for the musical production of "Ramona" (now in development), which made its stage debut in 2019 at the NYC Furnace Festival. Also in 2019, Jessy released a new record, titled "Wild and Good."

Rheanna Zotto • PIANO, VOICE

Rheanna Zotto is a Queens-based vocalist, NYS certified music educator, and master’s degree candidate in music therapy. She has performed in many concerts as well as musical theatre and operatic productions across New York City and abroad in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Salzburg, Austria. She is experienced in teaching private lessons as well as in classroom settings and has worked with students who range in age from 3 to 18 using a teaching philosophy that centers around creating hands-on, tactical learning experiences infused with social-emotional development in a culturally responsive environment. She is beginning her clinical internship in music therapy in the fall of 2022 at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel.