Caitlin Vaughn Carlos, Ph.D

Founder

Caitlin is a musicologist and performer with over 10 years of experience in the Preschool-8th grade music classroom. She has taught music history and music industry courses at UCLA and Chapman University and is currently as visiting assistant professor of music at the University of Redlands. Teaching across such a wide range of ages and levels inspired Caitlin to design a music curriculum that works across the disciplines, teaching valuable and transferable academic and life skills through the study and performance of music. She designed the Music Universe curriculum programming, including writing all the materials for Music in Our World – our 5th through 8th grade general music curriculum. 

Caitlin completed her PhD in musicology from UCLA. She holds a Masters in historical musicology from USC, as well as both a Masters (University of Redlands) and a Bachelor degree (Chapman University) in music performance.

Our Teachers

Daniel Curran

Voice

Daniel Curran has gained a reputation as a soloist in opera, theatre and concert stages throughout the United States and internationally, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City Center, New York City Opera, The New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. A graduate of The Juilliard School of Music and Chapman Conservatory of Music, Daniel is a master teacher in classical opera and concert music, as well as musical theatre and studio work.

Thomas Hanslowe

Violin, Guitar, Piano, Ukulele

Thomas Hanslowe is a music educator living in Los Angeles. He received a BM in music education from the College of New Jersey and an MA in musicology from Tufts University. He is a multi-instrumentalist with over 10 years of experience in private lessons and the classroom. His teaching experience ranges from working with young children to teaching at the University level. His is currently enrolled in the musicology PhD program at UCLA and continues to play and teach violin, guitar, piano and ukulele. 

Kenedea Lee

Piano

Kenedea Lee is a pianist, composer and educator. She received her B.A. at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. She also served as the pianist for the UCLA contemporary jazz ensemble and the UCLA global jazz improvisation ensemble. She has a commissioned composer, arranging pieces for hte UCLA jazz orchestra, the UCLA Spring Sing competition, and has been feature in the UCLA winter showcase. She brings all of this experience to her teaching, where she has experience teaching students of all ages.  

Samantha Dominguez

Voice, Piano, General Music

Samantha began singing in choirs at the age of 10 and has been singing ever since. Her passion for music grew as she pursued opportunities to sing in honor choirs, theater productions, and advanced ensembles. Samantha holds a B.M. in Music Education with a vocal emphasis from Chapman University, where she performed in several ensembles which included a wide array of pieces in different languages, exploring different cultures. She has also musically directed ensembles such as a collegiate all-treble a capella group, community choirs and children and youth choirs. She continues to sing professionally in the Orange County area, as well as teach music in the classroom and privately.  

Ava Alexiades

Musical Theater

Growing up, Ava was a musical theater nerd – her specialty in dance. She has now grown up to be a graduate of the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. There, she majored in theatre with an emphasis in directing. Her other passions have extended to video production, editing, puppetry, dancing and more. Ava loves sharing her passion for musical theater and dance with children, having experience teaching summer musical theater camps, as well as directing school productions such as Cinderella, and It’s a Show – the Musical. She is also a dance teacher with Music Universe.  

Jordan Hugh Sam

Piano, Choir, General Music 

Jordan Hugh Sam is a Ph.D. student in Musicology at UCLA, having previously earned an M.M. degree in Choral Conducting (CU Boulder, 2018) and a B.A. degree in Music (Amherst College, 2014). Jordan has worked as a choral director of the Madrigal Ensemble and Early Music Ensemble at CU Boulder, and the Assistant Choral director at Amherst College. He has also worked as a director of community, church, and youth choirs in Colorado, Florida, and Massachusetts. His research interests include practice based research, the phenomology of community and protest singing, video game music, and early music.

Music Teachers that inspire, challenge and develop the whole student

Our Music Universe instructors are all passionate teachers with a background and education in music. Many maintain active profiles in music performance, composition, or scholarship, and all are dedicated to the ideals of music education.

Community

We believe that happy teachers are better teachers, so we actively promote community and support for our Music Universe team. We believe in lifelong learning and are committed to learning together

Support

We provide our teachers with all the resources and curriculum they need so they can focus on their students, but we still allow for the creativity and personalization that makes them so good at what they do.

Consistency

Our program is structured to allow new teachers to pick up where a previous instructor left off. No more fear of teacher turnover! Our  students experience consistency and stability in their music education.  

Bring a Music Universe Instructor to Your School!