Jacob Warne
Email: warne.jacob@gmail.com | (414) 934-7141
 instructor's page

Dept.Chair Raymond Roberts
Email: robertrj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us | (414) 934-7141
Raymond Roberts is the Music Department Chair and Director of Vocal Music at the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, where he has taught since 1991. Mr. Roberts is a graduate of the Booker T. Washington High School of the Arts in Dallas, TX and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Cardinal Stritch University.
He is also active in the Milwaukee music community, having held the position of Assistant Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, Director of the Plymouth Concert Chorale, and Tenor soloist at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. He currently co-directs the Music Ministry at First United Methodist Church- West Allis with his wife, Alyssa. He has also performed as Tenor soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Bel Canto Chorus, and the Bach Chamber Chorus. Roberts was also seen in the role of Normanno in the Skylight Opera Theater production of Lucia di Lammermoor. He has also served as the national staff accompanist for the NAACP ACT-SO competition and the WSMA Honors Choirs.
Mr. Roberts' students have been recognized nationally by such institutions as
the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, the Classical Singer
Competition, the GRAMMY Foundation, the NAACP ACT-SO scholarship competition and the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center. His choirs from Milwaukee High School of the Arts have performed at numerous state and regional music conferences as well as with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Raymond has received recognition from the Wisconsin Choral Director''s
Association as an Outstanding Young Conductor. He also received the
Distinguished Teacher Award from the United States Department of Education for his work with a student who was named a Presidential Scholar in the arts. He was featured in a 2008 cover story in Choral Director Magazine and received the Civic Music Association Excellence in Choral Music Award in 2009.
instructor's page

Pablo Amaya III
Email: amayaviola@gmail.com | (414) 934-7135
Pablo Amaya, III had been Orchestra Director at Milwaukee High School of the Arts since 2001. A graduate of Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts and Milwaukee High School of the Arts (Class of ''''''''91), Mr. Amaya received a Bachelor of Fine Arts - Music Performance (Violin/Viola) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts - Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). Recently, Mr. Amaya completed his Masters of Music Education with a conducting emphasis at UWM. Mr. Amaya has studied Violin with Yuri Beliavsky and David Becker; Viola with Robert Levine, Virginia Barron; and conducting with Margery Deutch, conductor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Amaya has been an avid freelance Violist and Violinist throughout the state of Wisconsin where he has performed with the Racine Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (Madison), Plymouth Concert Chorale, Master Singers, Waukesha Concert Chorale and Waukesha Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Amaya has presented his model of Arts Propel at the State Music Convention in Madison and the National Conventions in Salt Lake City, Utah and Milwaukee. He has also been recognized in the School Band and Orchestra Magazine as one of 50 directors (representing Wisconsin) who make a difference, and appeared  as the Guest Conductor with the UWM High School Honors Orchestra in 2010.

Every year, Mr. Amaya''s ensembles have received superior ratings at WSMA Solo and Ensemble, Large Group, and State competitions, and have participated in numerous festivals and clinics. In 2005 the MHSA Symphonic Orchestra received the prestigious Downbeat Award for best High School Symphonic Orchestra from among hundreds of applicants in the United States and Canada. In 2006/2008/2010 the MHSA Chamber Orchestra received the Gold Award/First and Adjudicators Award at the Heritage Music Festivals in Toronto and New York for their outstanding performances. Many students from Mr. Amaya’s orchestras have gone on to successful careers in music performance and music education as well as other academic pursuits. Mr. Amaya maintains a private studio for violin and viola.
instructor's page

Sharie Garcia
Email: rathwesx@milwaukee.k12.wi.us | (414) 934-7163
Sharie Garcia has been the Band Director at the Milwaukee High School of the Arts since 1998. She received a Bachelor of Music Degree in oboe performance from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and a Masters of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she studied with Thomas Dvorak and Margery Deutsch. Prior to her position at MHSA, Sharie was an administrative assistant and assistant conductor with the UWM Orchestras, and worked in marketing and development for the UWM School of Fine Arts. An active musician, she was a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus for four years, studied privately with MSO principal oboe Stephen Colburn for two years, and played oboe and English Horn with the Knightwind Ensemble. Sharie lives on the northwest side of Milwaukee with her husband Greg- a freelance trumpet player and private music teacher, their sons Gregory Jr. and Martin, and their two rambunctious Boston Terriers.
instructor's page

Douglas Syme
Email: symedw@mail.milwaukee.k12.wi.us | (414) 934-7136
Doug Syme has been the director of the award winning Milwaukee High School of the Arts jazz program since August 2001. Before accepting the position at MHSA Mr. Syme had been the band director / department chair at Vincent high school, and had taught in the jazz studies and classical guitar department at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Mr. Syme began teaching for the MYSO jazz studies program in the fall of 2004. He has also maintained an active private guitar studio since 1980. Doug holds a BM from Northern Illinois University, an MME from UW Stevens Point, completed his teacher licensure at Alverno College and is currently studying to receive his D.M.A. from Boston University. Since arriving at MHSA Mr. Syme''s groups have earned numerous awards at both the regional and national level and continue to be recognized as some of the top HS jazz groups in the country. In addition to numerous state festivals their travels have included performances at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the JVC jazz festival in New York, The Berklee College of Music HS jazz festival in Boston Mass., The University of North Texas Jazz Festival in Addison Texas and the IAJE annual conference in New York City.
instructor's page

Christopher Wszalek
Email: wszalecp@milwaukee.k12.wi.us | (414) 934-7020
Christopher Wszalek is the Artistic Director and Director of Piano Studies at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, where he has worked since 2002. Mr. Wszalek is a graduate of Milwaukee High School of the Arts (Class of 1998) and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance from UW-Madison. He is active in the Milwaukee theater community, providing music for companies such as First Stage Childrens Theater, Off-the-Wall Productions, Renaissance Theaterworks, Windfall Theatre, Waukesha Civic Theater, and Bay Players. Mr. Wszalek is a founding member and program coordinator for the First Stage Glee Club.instructor's page