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.
Gabriella St. James, Music School Faculty, Violin
For the past 15 years, Gabriella St. James has taught Suzuki violin. She has taught several Suzuki schools including the State College Suzuki program, Ithaca Talent Education, and the Music Settlement. She currently teaches at Milam Elementary where she teaches Suzuki Pedagogy from Kindergarten to 5th grade and at the West Texas Conservatory. Gabriella is also a principle member of the West Texas Symphony and the Permian Basin String quartet, as their principle of 2nd violin.
Performing with orchestra’s, Mrs. St. James was a member of several orchestras including Newark Symphony, Williamsport Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Binghamton Symphony, Firelands Symphony and Mansfield Symphony where she also was the principle of 2nd violin.
Mrs. St. James has toured throughout the United States and abroad, performing in several well-known locations and dignitaries including 400th Anniversary of Jamestown with President Bush attending, President Donald Trumps home in Mar-a-Lago for his butterfly ball, Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center and also in Columbia performing in Columbia ‘jewel of architecture’, the Salt Cathedral.
Mrs. St. James holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Delaware where she studied with Xiang Gao. She also holds two Masters; the first from Pennsylvania State University, majoring in music performance, and studied under Max Zorin and James Lyon, and the second masters at Ithaca College, with a double concentration in Suzuki Pedagogy and music performance under Carrie Reuning-Hummel and Calvin Wiersma.
In Mrs. St. James spare time, she loves cooking and trying out new recipes, hiking, reading, spending time with her family and traveling. She currently has a toddler who keeps her very busy, and one day excited for him to learn how to play the violin.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.