Faculty
Maia Cook, Director
Cellist Maia Cook performs regularly as a soloist, orchestral, and chamber musician. She began her studies at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts where she studied with professor emeritus Olive Shaw and Ifan Williams. Summers were spent studying under Pinchas Zukerman, Patinka Kopec, Amanda Forsyth, Hans Jorgen Jensen, and Margaret Munro Tobolowska at the National Arts Center of Canada. She continued her education in cello performance at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Maia has a passion for teaching music to children both young and old. She has studied string pedagogy and the Suzuki Method extensively with David Evenchick, Pam Devenport, and Wan Tsai Chen. In recent years she has worked to develop a Suzuki cello program at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts as well as the Scotia Suzuki School of Music. Since moving to Midland she has started her own studio, the West Texas Suzuki Society, while touring all over Canada, the United States, and Mexico as a performer, Suzuki clinician, and university teacher and lecturer. Maia performed as a section cellist in the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Choral for their 2019-2020 season.
Natalie Sledge, Dean of School of Dance, Ballet Instructor
Natalie attended Texas Tech University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies and a minor of Dance with a concentration in ballet. During her time at Tech, Natalie trained in multiple genres of dance including ballet, jazz and modern and supplemented her technique classes with courses in production activities, choreography, dance aesthetics, and Pilates. Natalie attended the American College Dance Festival and performed and showcased choreography at the Texas Tech School of Dance Spring Concert. A native Midlander, Natalie began her dance education at Bingham Dance Center where she trained for 16 years under Joy Swift, Julie Swift, and Diane Vargas. Dance classes occupied much of her free time, where she enjoyed training in tap, ballet, jazz, and pointe and served as a student teacher for many years. Miss Joy was a wonderful instructor, striving to develop each student's abilities and bringing in top notch guest teachers. One visitor of particular significance was the late William Martin Viscount who was brought in to teach classes and choreography for the Nutcracker ballet. Attending adult classes at multiple studios has added to Natalie's professional development, including several classes at Midland Festival Ballet and the Margot Dean School of Dance in Fort Worth. Previously, Natalie taught classes at Absolute Dance of Midland. She enjoys sharing her love of dance with children and hopes to help each child develop a love for the arts. Natalie is grateful to her parents who went above and beyond to ensure that she and her sisters could participate in dance education as long as they desired. Dance has been a source of great joy in Natalie’s life, and she is thrilled to have the opportunity to share that joy with others. Being a wife and a mother and teacher to her four children is her life's greatest accomplishment. She is excited to be a part of the WTC team and looks forward to the future of the WTC School of Dance and its students.
Alex Reiff, Music School Faculty, Violin
Alex Reiff is a violinist and music educator who grew up in Abilene, Texas. She attended Hardin-Simmons University and received the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Business. Alex started her professional career with Abilene ISD at Clack Middle School where she served as the Head Orchestra Director and Fine Arts Chair. As an international performance artist, she has played with groups such as Barrage, Kansas, the Tokens Radio Show (on NPR), The Gettys, and Revolution Strings, touring here in the USA as well as China. Her major work credits include musicals and operas such as Parade (2012), Bonnie and Clyde (2014), Sweeny Todd (2014), Quilters (2016), Cosi fan Tutte (2018), Big Fish (2019) and Oklahoma (2020). She also regularly plays for many local churches. In 2020, Alex and her husband, moved to Midland, Texas where they currently reside with their daughter and their three dogs. Alex believes in the pursuit of excellence, and she has a passion for teaching students, middle-schoolers especially. She believes that everyone has unrealized potential and can benefit from the discipline that the pursuit of excellence in music demands.
Jean Gomez,
Music School Faculty, Collaborative Pianist
With an international career, Jean Gómez is a conductor and educator known for bringing enthusiasm, musicianship, and energy to the stage. His passion has brought him to step on stages in Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Italy, and the United States. His early steps at the Escuela Municipal de Música de Paraíso and the Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical in Costa Rica opened the doors to continue with further education in the U.S. He holds a master’s degree in conducting and viola performance from Truman State University in Missouri and a doctoral degree in conducting with a piano minor from the University of Georgia.
As a conductor, he has been honored to work with Gabriela Mora, Diego Piedra, Sam McClure, Mark Cedel, Carl St. Clair, Robert Gifford, Mario Lamberto, Vittorio Parisi, Paulo Ferrara, Osmo Vänskä, Benjamin Zander and others. Between his awards, he won first place in the International Conductors Workshop and Competition in Atlanta, GA, in 2019, and consecutively, in 2020 and 2021, he was appointed a finalist for the American Prize Award in Orchestral Conducting, college division.
Jean Gómez serves as the director of orchestral activities and mariachi director at the University of Texas Permian Basin, where he has dramatically impacted the musical community through his work as an educator. Additionally, he performs actively with the West Texas Symphony Orchestra and the Big Spring Symphony Orchestra.
Casey Cooper, Music School Faculty, Cello
Casey started Suzuki cello lessons in 2nd grade at Parker Elementary in her hometown of Houston, Texas. During her childhood she participated in many Suzuki Institutes and school-hosted workshops. In middle and high school she had the opportunity to solo with her school orchestras, and made All-State orchestra all four years of high school. After graduating from The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, she continued her studies at the University of Texas with the late Phyllis Young, where she received her BA in Cello Performance.
After moving to New Orleans with her husband, Casey gained her Suzuki Certification and taught for the New Orleans String Project. In 2008, she and her husband moved to Midland and began their family. Shortly thereafter, Casey’s children joined West Texas Suzuki Society under the direction of Maia Cook, and she became a Suzuki mom. In 2018, she began teaching weekly music classes at Midland Classical Academy. Casey’s love for music, talent for teaching, and knowledge as a Suzuki parent has propelled her to join West Texas Conservatory’s School of Music.
Cheyenne Flores, Ballet Instructor
Cheyanne is originally from Woodsboro, TX. She began her training at the age of 7 under Melissa Hamilton in Refugio, TX. By the time she was 9, she decided she wanted to spend as much time in the studio focusing on her ballet technique. This is where she enrolled at ‘Munro Ballet Studios’ under Cristina Munro. She spent a semester splitting her time between Refugio and Corpus before being invited to join ‘Corpus Christi Ballet’ as a part of the pre-professional company. She danced with the company through two seasons where she performed ‘Graduation Ball’ ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘The Nutcracker’
After turning 13 in 2016, she found out her family was moving to Midland, TX. That summer, she spent her hours in the studio attending her first summer intensive with ‘Midland Festival Ballet’ under Susan Clark. She quickly became a part of their pre-professional company and performed with them from 2016-2020. Some of her favorite performances include ‘The Nutcracker’ ‘Giselle’ and ‘Cinderella’. She also attended ‘Ballet Austin’ ‘Oklahoma City Ballet’ and ‘Milwaukee Ballet’ for summer intensives. During this time, she also got to help assist younger rehearsals and her love for teaching began. She taught for one semester before covid ended up canceling their end of year recital.
At this point with everything online, she graduated high-school, built an in-home studio, and spent her summer attending ‘Oklahoma City Ballet’ virtually. By the grace of God, she was accepted to join ‘Oklahoma City Ballet as a trainee for the 2020-21 season! She moved away from family and friends and stayed with their company as a trainee until 2022. During those two seasons she trained under both Robert Mills and Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye.
Cheyanne moved back to Midland for the summer of 2022 to plan for next season, but little did she know she was being proposed to! She and her husband got married in August in Big Spring, TX! They moved to Columbus, OH just 10 days later for her to attend ‘BalletMet’ as a trainee for the 2022-23 season. By the time the first week of the season came around, she knew her heart was no longer to do ballet, but rather to teach it. She stepped away from the trainee program, but stayed in Ohio until that next May. She and her husband moved back to Midland to be closer to family and have resided here since 2023.
Kristina Daigle, Visual Arts, Teacher
Kristina Daigle, a native West Texas, graduated from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 2014 with a Bachelor’s of Art with an emphasis in Art History. She held an internship at the Museum of the Southwest where she acquired skills and knowledge of museum operations, exhibit set up, and care for museum collections. Born in Fort Stockton, Texas, Kristina has not always called west Texas home, but seems to find her way back. As a child, Kristina’s father served in the United States Army. Her father took an opportunity to take his young family to see the world, and lived in Wiesbaden, Germany. During this time, Kristina was able to learn about the German culture. This began Kristina’s love for cultural experiences and traveling. Kristina graduated high school and began her college career in Orlando, and graduated from University of Texas in the Permian Basin. Kristina and her husband have four children and reside in Odessa where they have lived for nearly 12 years.
Andrew Ellis,
Music School Faculty, Collaborative Pianist
Dr. Andrew Ellis is a singer, voice teacher, and researcher committed to serving the educational and artistic needs of local communities. He received his B.M. (2013) from Liberty University, and his M.M. (2020) and D.M.A. (2023) from the University of Georgia where he was a Carl. S. Hoveland fellow. Andrew has performed internationally as an operatic tenor with performing credits in the United States, Italy, Brazil, and Ecuador. He has sung much of the lyric tenor repertoire including the Duke in Rigoletto, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte, and Faust, among many others. He also has experience performing 20th century opera with performances of Wargo’s A Visit to the Country, and Argento’s Postcard from Morocco. Dr. Ellis teaches students of all ages from amateurs to professionals in a variety of styles. He is passionate about combining the latest scientific discoveries in the field of acoustics with the traditions of Italian bel canto to show a clear pathway to students so that they can achieve artistic expression in any genre. Andrew is a proud husband and father of two. He was born in Dallas, TX, grew up as a missionary kid in Brazil, and loves being part of a multi-generational family of ministry. He is fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Gwendolyn Matias-Ryan,
Music School Faculty, Violist
Gwendolyn is a Mexican-American violist who obtained her Undergraduate and Graduate degrees in viola performance from Baylor University, a post-graduate viola performance degree at the University of Michigan, and a Doctoral in Musical Arts Degree from Texas Tech University. She acted as principal violist in the Oaxacan Symphony in 2015-2016 and has participated in prestigious chamber music festivals including Bowdin International Music Festival and Center Stage Strings. She was also the concerto competition winner in the Mid-Texas Symphony Concerto Competition 2013 and was invited to take part in the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy, summer of 2018. Gwendolyn was also invited as a guest artist on the Rutenberg Chamber Music Series in Tampa, Florida. She is also the concerto competition winner of the string area division in Texas Tech, fall of 2021. In addition to her performance experience, she is a certified Suzuki violin/viola teacher and has taught in both Mexico and the U.S. In 2021, she won a prestigious Mexican cultural grant, (FONCA) for SA'OAXACA which was recently also awarded the PROFEST Federal Grant for the festival's fifth iteration. She was awarded the prestigious CH Foundation Graduate Fellowship to study a Doctoral in Musical Arts degree at the University of Texas Tech under the tutelage of Philippe Chao, which she concluded May of 2024. She currently holds the position of Principal of the viola section of the Lubbock Symphony and will be joining the West Texas Conservatory as violin and viola teacher starting in the fall of 2024.