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Our staff

Please click on the name to read more about each member of our team below.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Tala Badri

Founder and Executive Director

Tala Badri is the Founder and Executive Director of Centre for Musical Arts. Born and educated in Dubai, at the age of seventeen Tala was awarded a full scholarship by the Government of Dubai to study music at Royal Holloway, University of London and…  Read more

Brian Cunningham

Director of Teaching and Learning

Born in Scotland; Brian has been working at Centre for Musical Arts since 2008. He started playing the clarinet at the age of 11 at school. Through his experiences at school he was given the opportunity to perform with various ensembles throughout the…  Read more

Timothy Lucas

Manager - Operations

Tim was born in the North West of England (UK). He has held various managerial roles in both the UK and Dubai. He has worked in the Security Industry as an area manager and eventually went on to set up up his own security company. He has supplied security…  Read more

Sara Ingham

Manager - Schools Music Service

Sara was born in the UK and at the age of 10 auditioned for Elmhurst Ballet School in Camberley, Surrey to study Classical Ballet. She trained there for 6 intensive years, but unfortunately she had to give up dance, due to injury. After gaining qualifications…  Read more

Joanna Hermo

Manager - Accounts

Born in the Philippines, Joanna holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy. She has more than 18 years of experience most of which was from a retail and leasing background in the Philippines.  In her spare time she likes singing, reading…  Read more

TEACHING TEAM

Dinara Tchomoeva

Piano Specialist

Dinara, a native of Kyrgyzstan, is a pianist and a piano pedagogue. She has degrees both from the Faculty of Philology of Kyrgyz Osh National University as well as the Faculty of Music, majoring in piano, from the National Conservatory of Music, Bishkek,…  Read more

Simon Lam

Piano Specialist

Simon Lam was born in Hong Kong and he started his musical education at the age of four. In 2000 he moved to the UK and studied at Eastbourne College. He graduated with an honours degree at the University of Manchester in 2005 and continued his studies…  Read more

Aiana Kenzhesova

Piano Specialist

Aiana is from the Kyrgyz Republic, she started her music education at a National Republic Music Boarding school when she was 7. At the age of 13, she decided to dedicate her life to music after being  inspired during a piano masterclass with a professor…  Read more

Polina Khachkova

Piano Specialist

Polina was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, and started studying piano at the age of 7. After graduating from the Mussorgsky Music College, she started working as an accompanist and a piano teacher in a Music school for children. Later on, Polina gained…  Read more

Mikhail Pavlenko

Piano Specialist

Mikhail describes himself as a passionate pianist and teacher.   Originally from the city of Krasnodar in Russia, his journey in music has been marked by dedication and a deep love for the piano under the guidance of Professor Nelli Mezhlumova.…  Read more

Sebastian Spulber

Piano Specialist

Born in Romania, Sebastian started playing the piano at the age of 4, inspired and guided by his mother, a classical music lover and a paintress. Soon after embarking on his musical journey, he started to get involved in solo and chamber music performances…  Read more

Zia Sutton

Piano Specialist

Zia Sutton is a singer songwriter from Paris who studied classical piano at the Conservatoire de Nanterre, Paris.   She moved to London as a teenager, inspired by the eccentricity and unique creative energy of the capital. She started performing…  Read more

Carmen Tsang

Voice and Piano Specialist

Originally from Hong Kong, Carmen studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with James Baillieu and Michael Dussek. She was awarded the Professional Diploma specialising as a Repetiteur and went on further to complete a Master of Arts in Chamber…  Read more

Nineesha Kumar

Voice and Piano Specialist

Nineesha graduated in Music Education from The Bangalore Conservatory in India. She specializes in vocals and is our inhouse music theory expert. Nineesha also teaches piano and guitar to beginners.  Nineesha has been studying western vocal music…  Read more

Isidora Vesic

Voice and Piano Specialist

Isidora hails from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and comes from a family of artists but discovered her love of music from a very young age inspired by her mother who is a composer. She started her musical education at age five learning piano. At the same time…  Read more

Maria Garcia

Voice, Piano and Flute Specialist

Maria Fernanda Garcia is a musician and educator from Colombia. She studied voice technique piano and the flute from a young age and went on to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Musical Pedagogy at the National Pedagogic University in Colombia. Maria also…  Read more

Stewart Mclean

Guitar Specialist

Stewart is from the UK and has over 8 years of music industry experience as a professional musician and music teacher both in the UK and the UAE. This work covered music teaching, live performances and session work.   Stewart attained his BA Honours…  Read more

Evan Mamba

Guitar Specialist

Evan Mamba graduated in 2010 from St. Paul University Manila, Philippines with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and concentration in Guitar. He was 14 when he started playing the guitar and he has been teaching guitar since 2003.   Evan studied…  Read more

Gregory Rominque

Guitar and Drums Specialist

Greg is a graduate of Bachelor of Music Major in Guitar in the University of Sto. Tomas in the Philippines. During this time, he trained under the tutelage of Maestro Ruben F. Reyes.   Greg is a highly-skilled performer and experienced teacher.…  Read more

Nikolai Sokolov

Guitar, Drums and Theory Specialist

Nikolai graduated from the Institute of Culture and Arts in the Ukraine majoring in "Music Arts" also gaining a qualification of Ensemble Artist, Teacher. Although classical guitar is his primary instrument,  Nikolai also plays and in…  Read more

Roland Deiparine

Drums and Guitar Specialist

Having lived in Dubai since 2012, Roland is a well known Drum and Guitar teacher. A specialist in the ‘Rockschool’ programme, Roland has a wealth of experience in inspiring excellence in young musicians. He was the music Director at the Benedict…  Read more

Jorge Chinchilla Dannenberger

Brass Specialist

Jorge Chinchilla Dannenberger graduated in 2012 from Universidad de Costa Rica with a Licenciate Degree in Music Performance specialized in Trombone. During this process he has been part of several classical, latin, jazz and rock music projects as well…  Read more

Renna Mae Zetha

Woodwind, Piano and Voice Specialist

Renna Zetha graduated with a Bachelor of Music, major in Composition from Silliman University, Philippines, and later in Music Production and Sound Engineering from Berklee College of Music, USA. She is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist on Clarinet,…  Read more

Michael Rex Bacarra

Woodwind Specialist

Woodwind Instrumentalist Michael Rex Bacarra studied Clarinet Performance at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music where he became the principal clarinetist of the UST Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2002. He joined the Manila Philharmonic…  Read more

Thivanthi Perara

Upper Strings, Piano and Voice Specialist

Thivanthi is Sri Lankan and comes from a musical family. She began learning the piano at the age of two. After completing a series of exams in both the ABRSM and Trinity Guildhall as well as from a locally based examination board (the IWMS), Thivanthi…  Read more

Zhanyl Duishekeeva

Violin and Piano Specialst

Zhanyl was born and raised in the Kyrgyz Republic. She started her music journey at the National Music Boarding School at the age of 7 and in 2019 she graduated from the National Conservatory as a Violin Teacher and Orchestra Performer.  During…  Read more

Sebastian Lee

Upper Strings Specialist

Sebastian Lee started playing violin at the age of 6 on instruments made by his grandfather and at 13 years old he switched to learning the viola. In 2006 he began his studies with soloist Rivka Golani at Birmingham Conservatoire and Trinity Laban before…  Read more

Danilo Oliveiro

Violin Specialist

Danilo completed his Bachelor of Music in Bern, Switzerland with Honors and his Master's Degree at the Haute Ecole de Musique du Lausanne with Maestro Pavel Vernikov. He currently plays on a J.Steiner violin from around 1690.   He has taken part…  Read more

ADMINISTRATION TEAM

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Ralph Fabella

Administration and Accounts Assistant

Born in the Philippines, Ralph has lived in the Middle East since 2012 working both in Qatar and the UAE in various administrative and procurement roles.   Ralph is also a keen, self-taught musician who plays guitar, bass guitar, and cajon drum.…  Read more

Antonette Fernando

Schools Music Services Coordinator

  Antonette has a diverse background in healthcare administration, medical billing & coding, digital marketing, and event management, she initially pursued a career in healthcare administration and medical coding. She gained valuable experience…  Read more

Jeiselle Hermo

Schools Music Services Coordinator

Jeisselle was born in Manila, Philippines. After completing her studies, she worked as Customer Service Representative for UPS (United Parcel Service)    Jeiselle got her first job here in Dubai as an Office Administrator at Omniyat - Real…  Read more

Jo Cathrine

Education and Community Engagement Coordinator

Jo Cathrine is a bassoonist and woodwind player from the north of England. Jo has been a performer and woodwind teacher since graduating from the UK’s Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 1996. After nearly 20 years of freelance performing and teaching/management…  Read more

Bethany Wright

Events and Music Activities Coordinator

  Bethany was born in the UK but grew up in Africa and the Middle East, and it was here in Dubai (back in 2003) that she developed a love for all things musical. A talented clarinettist, Bethany was awarded an instrumental scholarship to read Music…  Read more

Ozren Crncevic

Office and Exams Adminstrator

Born in Split, Croatia, Ozren has over 15 years of experience in hospitality and real estate business. He joined CMA in 2012 and he manages the registration and co-ordination of the ABRSM, Trinity and Rock School examinations.  He also maintains…  Read more

Nicholas Webster

Front Desk Coordinator

Nicholas hails from Melbourne, Australia. Prior to joining CMA he had 5 years of experience in medical administration, as well as being an avid event and concert photographer.   He played the oboe for 7 years during his schooling, as well as being…  Read more

Sukumaran Bayalappuram

PRO & Administration Support

Born in born in Kerala, India, Sukumar originally came to Dubai in 1998 to work at Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre. He has a Degree in Art and Commerce.  He has been with us at CMA for over 16 years now as the Operations Team Assistant &…  Read more

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