THE FACULTY

Click any image to MEET the faculty members.

The STAFF

MICAH BURGESS • executive DIRECTOR

Originally from West Virginia, Micah Burgess began playing guitar at age 9 and by age 15 he was playing professionally at local nightclubs and for corporate events. Micah credits his early professional experiences with broadening his musical taste and skill set. “When I started playing guitar I listened mostly to classic rock players and modern shredders,”, recalls Micah, “but once I started working regularly I found myself playing a lot of R&B, funk, blues, and jazz. We had to have a lot of varied material because our typical gig was four hours long!”

Upon graduating high school, Micah moved to Pittsburgh, PA to earn a Bachelor’s in jazz studies from Duquesne University. After graduating he settled into the Pittsburgh scene where he found regular work as a guitarist and guitar teacher. Several years after finishing his degree, Micah and his wife made the difficult decision to move to New York City so Micah could pursue a Master’s degree in jazz studies at New York University. Micah recalls, “I loved living in Pittsburgh, but the problem was that I was too comfortable. I wanted to go somewhere bigger to test my potential.”
Since moving to New York City in 2004, Micah has developed a varied career which includes performances with such artists as Lea Michele (Carnegie Hall), Tituss Burgess (Kennedy Center), Petula Clark (US tour), John Oliver, Matthew Broderick, Sir Ian McKellan, Bebe Neuwirth, Leslie Odom Jr., Rachel Dratch, Chris Meloni, Stephen Schwartz, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Megan Hiltey, Jeremy Jordan, Chuck Cooper, Richard Kind, Danielle Hope, Charlotte Jaconelli, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Seth Rudetsky, Harriet Harris, Katie Rose Clarke, Tracie Thoms, Shoshana Bean, Constantine Maroulis, Krysta Rodriguez, Joe Iconis, Fabian, Bobby Rydell, and Danny and the Juniors among others. His playing has been heard on television and radio including the 2014 Winter Olympics, ABC Family’s “Becoming Us”, and National Public Radio.

A staple on the NYC theater scene, Micah’s theater credits include School of Rock (Broadway), Scotland, PA (off-Broadway), Banana Shpeel (Cirque du Soleil), Soul Doctor (off-Broadway), Storyville (off-Broadway), and Tomorrow Morning (off-Broadway). He has also lended his talents as a sub guitarist on “MJ, the Michael Jackson Musical” (Broadway), “Kimberly Akimbo” (Broadway), “The Lightning Thief” (Broadway), “Be More Chill” (Broadway), “Beautiful, the Carole King Show” (Broadway), “Newsies” (Broadway), and “Soul Doctor” (Broadway).

As a composer, Micah co-wrote the score for “In The Magic of the Green Mountains”, a feature length documentary with Rob Cookman featuring Tony Trischka on banjo. Other composing credits include the Off-Broadway production of “The Hat Left Behind” as well as a documentary entitled “I Am Bombay”, a featured selection at the 2006 Indo American Arts Council Film Festival in New York City and the 2007 Stuttgart Film Festival Germany. In 2008, Micah released his first CD as a bandleader, “We Do Know You”.

As a guitar instructor, Micah has over twenty years of experience including adjunct positions at New York University, The New School, Duquesne University and the Queens Conservatory. He is a co-founder and Executive Director of Art House Astoria, a nonprofit conservatory for music and art in Queens, NY.

Joni Michelle Grommesh • front office coordinator

Joni Michelle Grommesh is a NY based actress/artist, originally from Houston, TX, although she has lived all over (Kansas, Ecuador, Peru, Boston, and Los Angeles). Joni is an avid lover of comedy, writing, drawing, and collecting stuffed sharks and whales! She got her undergraduate degree in Entrepreneurship and Literary & Visual Arts from Babson College in 2016 and is a 2022 graduate from the Atlantic Acting School. Joni has been performing since she was in kindergarten, her first role being the iconic Humpty Dumpty. At Babson, Joni was a member of the Empty Space Theater where she performed in Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Jean), Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park (Bev/Kathy), Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Love of the Nightingale (Narrator), and Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Adele). During her time at Babson, Joni also wrote and starred in an original one act production called A Name Other Than My Own, a story about finding yourself through the arts, and was a part of Babson’s improv troupe, Student’s Against Gravity. Recently, Joni has performed at the off-broadway Atlantic Stage 2 theater in Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses (Woman by the Water, Alcyone, Ceres, Atalanta, Narrator in Baucis and Philemon), co-founded the Root 22 Collective, a theater collective started by her graduating class at AAS, led the set design team for their very first production of Kate Hamill’s Little Women, and is now assistant directing, stage managing, and understudying in an original play written by Rachel Collignon, Earth to Venus.

Trisha Lynn • Receptionist

Trisha Lynn is originally from Stone Mountain, Georgia. She attended the United States Naval Academy for 3 years as a physics major. After 3 years, Trisha felt her true calling was to pursue a career in modeling and she is now a published model. Trisha is also a designer, and creates clothing on the side. She is multi-lingual and plays three instruments- clarinet, trombone, and music mixer (the machine). Trisha was a part of the United States Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corp and their gospel choir as a soprano. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 SPONSORS

• AND VIP MEMBERS •

Lila & Steve Edelkind • Lynda Kennedy & Thomas Staggs • Sean & Jordana Williams