The Barn is Middletown's
largest music studio, located in the heart of town.
We are looking forward to working with you!
The Owner
Forrust and Sherry Miller, owners
Forrust studied voice and performed in operas at West Chester University, while getting a degree in chemistry/biology. Since then he ran a family business for 23 years, pastored a church for 20 years and is now retired.
Sherry has a degree in music education from West Chester University. Both she and Forrust toured the U.S. for a year with a singing group, when they were first married. Sherry has directed choirs, taught piano and voice lessons, led worship and run the studio for the past 18 years.
Forrust loves building things and Sherry loves gardening. They both love to read and spend time with their 2 daughters, their husbands and 7 grand kids.
Studio Manager
Peggy Ely is the Manager of S Music Studio at the Barn. At an early age, she developed her administrative and customer service skills in scheduling and accounting by working in her Dad’s produce business. It is through the many roles over the past 30 years, including retail and real estate, that she has gained her managerial expertise. For over 15 years Peggy has been a professional speaker, where she traveled internationally and received many awards. She thrives on adding much humor in her life and presentations.
She feels there is nothing better than to add a hearty laugh to everyone’s day. Her passion in coaching and training continues to be used today as she is a facilitator and coach at her church.
Parents, students and teachers may stop by the front desk, call or email and she is always willing to assist in their needs.
Teachers
Trisha Ramdoo is a dedicated vocal coach with a rich and diverse background in music and leadership. A native of New York, she began her musical journey by taking piano lessons at the age of 7. At age 11, she became an active participant in the music ministry at her church, by
joining the steel drum orchestra. Her passion for music led her to pursue a degree in Voice Performance at Adelphi University, where she received a scholarship for her work with the clarinet.
After several years teaching music at the elementary level, she transitioned into the corporate world, but never strayed far from her musical roots. She continued to serve in ministry, developing children’s choirs, leading worship teams, and eventually stepping into the role of Music Director. Upon relocating to Delaware, she began offering private voice lessons and has
remained deeply involved in her local church, leading kids' worship and nurturing young talent.
In addition to her musical expertise, she holds a Master’s degree in Human Services Leadership and is currently a doctoral candidate in Strategic Leadership at Liberty University. Her unique blend of musical talent, educational experience, and leadership training makes her a compassionate and effective coach, committed to helping each student find and refine their voice.
Sohee Kang has been playing/teaching piano for over 15 years. She has a Bachelor of Music and her studies have given her insight to the teaching world, as well as playing.
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Sohee’s goal with her students is for them to be able to play on their own as soon as possible and to enjoy a lifetime of playing piano, whether they are enrolled in lessons or not. She is a very active teacher and enjoys communicating during the process. Varying her style and teaching methods to suit each student enables everyone to have a good experience!
Herbie Maitlandt attended Herbert H. Lehman University majoring in performance. He also studied with Jorge Morel/Anthony Bez, Sal Salvador/John Scofield, Dave Stryker. He has been playing guitar and bass guitar for 55 years and teaching for 43 years.
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Herb’s laid-back teaching style allows the students to progress at their own speed, while still emphasizing the basics. It also gives a comfort level to the lessons.
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An interesting hobby of Herb’s is Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and Medicine.
Haley Fogel began her musical career by giving individual piano lessons, as well as group lessons. She is patient with her students as they are learning, adding fun, games and choices to the musical experience.
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She has been playing/teaching piano for over 10 years. Not only is she gifted with the piano, she sings in a choir, speaks fluent Spanish, paints and loves to cook. She has a B.A. in Spanish Education from the University of Delaware.
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She sincerely shares with us: “it is all for the Glory of God!”
Pierce Deshield has been playing the drums for 46 years and studied Music theory, along with Information and Technology at Wilmington University and Villanova. He comes from a family that loves to sing, and some have played instruments, as well. There is so much love for music in the family that his 2 daughters are currently in music programs at school.
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All of Pierce’s life he has played drums in his church, which gave him the foundation of learning multiple styles of drumming. For instance, in gospel music a wide range of styles are used including Blues, Jazz, Country and Salsa, to mention only a few. He was the youngest drummer ever to play for the C.O.G.I.C. Delaware State Choir at the age of 12. The fact that this happened due to the emergency absence of their current drummer, and he filled in with only 5 minutes before the choir came in is just an indication of how versatile he is. Also, after that performance he was offered the job, and played the drums for them for over 20 years. He also plays piano, and of course, was singing in the choir before becoming their drummer.
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Pierce teaches music theory and improvisation. First, the student plays the part and later he wants the student’s interpretation of the song. This makes it very interactive, with his first rule being “we must have fun”, and laughter in the room is another must. His second rule is the student MUST practice, letting his students know it will make the difference between being a drummer, a good drummer or an awesome drummer.
Maddie Sowers has played piano since the age of seven when she took lessons with Ms. Sherry, the owner of S Music Studio at the Barn. She has not stopped playing piano since.
She has enjoyed acting in musical theatre, which fits well with her love of music, both listening and playing. She enjoys teaching herself other instruments, currently mastering ukulele and guitar.
Maddie comes to S Music Studio to ignite a love for music and piano in students. She meets her students exactly where they are and assists them in accomplishing their goal of becoming better musicians. She is excited to meet her students and become a part of
their musical journey!
Dwight McIntosh started playing piano when he was 5 years old and has continued for 40 years. He has been teaching for 25 years. His continuing education with the Berklee School of Music, the Royal School of Music and Trinity College of Music in London accounts for much of his knowledge with his students. So many things to learn with Dwight, such as, piano performance, music composition, music theory and jazz piano, to name a few.
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Dwight’s goal for his students is “to help them reach their highest musical potential”.
Daniel McFarland started playing trumpet when he was ten and quickly decided to learn the piano, as well. He has been playing piano for 40 years and has been teaching for 20 years. Not only does he play piano and trumpet, but he ventured out to study the guitar, tenor saxophone and sings.
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You are likely to find Daniel performing at church and in nursing homes. He is definitely giving back with his talent.
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Daniel is well aware that each student is different, and he is constantly looking for the best way to teach each individual. He also teaches chords, which is most helpful in order to play in church or in a band. Proudly, he has a student who is 67, showing that it is never too old to learn!
Catherine Pearce has been playing/teaching for over 30 years. Her love for the piano has taken her to the University of Heidelberg (Germany) where she apprenticed piano tuning/technician with Yamaha and Steinway.
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Her gentle, loving ways make it easy for her students to connect with her, as she adds activities and conversation that keep them involved. Here style is classical, always gearing her teaching to each individual
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Not only is she a very good pianist with lots of experience, she also enjoys recording music, playing guitar and traveling.
Susan Becker has been playing piano for 34 years and teaching with S Music Studio for 2 years. Since Susan was classically trained using the Yamaha method, it allows her to apply those techniques to her students in formal and creative ways. Her license in early childhood gives her an edge in understanding some of the younger students she is teaching.
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Susan loves going to musicals and shows. The variety in those influences her in the art of music.
Rachael Metzing has been singing in choirs since she was 7 and playing piano since she was 10. Not only has she been teaching piano lessons for 20 years and voice lessons for 23, she is also a Special Ed-Certified teacher for grades K-12.
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Rachael has a wholistic approach (ear training along with theory and reading music), and differentiates her teaching style to meet each student’s needs.
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The guitar has captured her attention, as well as listening to podcasts and working out.
Sarah Paludniak has been singing on her church worship team for many years and started learning voice at the age of 12.
She has a Bachelor’s degree for teaching English as a second language and has also taught High School Spanish. This teaching degree gives an extra edge in teaching voice, as well as her other subjects.
She became fluent in Spanish when she lived in Mexico, and also met her husband there.
Sarah comes to S Music Studio to inspire students by making a personal connection and focusing on interest-led teaching, built on solid foundations.
Josue’ Oreliano has been playing drums for 15 years and teaching drum lessons for 2 years. He plays other percussion instruments, such as the cajon.
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His goal in his lessons is to help the students discover how fun and exciting playing the drums can be. His teaching philosophy “is to learn by doing”, so he makes sure every student is able to play the drums in every lesson. Josue' is able to teach in Spanish also.
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Josue’ enjoys getting to know each student as an in
dividual, finding out exactly what it is that excites them about the drums.
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He is a Computer Systems Engineer and likes playing soccer and drawing.
Kyra Limerick has been playing guitar and ukulele for over ten years. She also plays some piano. You never know when you might run into her performing, as she plays in two bands. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music and learned a few styles of teaching there from her professors.
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Kyra teaches classical and beginner jazz, styling her teaching to fit the student’s interests. For those students that love to go online and learn, Kyra teaches online via Zoom.
Noah Baker started playing the drums when he was 9 years old, and has continued playing for 30 years. He has played drums on church worship teams, and enjoys teaching all kinds of music for 13 years.
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When he is not teaching drums, you may see him in the sky teaching others how to fly planes. He is a Commercial Pilot and a Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII), which gives him even more experience at teaching all ages.
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He typically does a little workbook music theory, and then makes the lesson fun. His students learn proper techniques to hold drum sticks and the art of getting just the sound you are looking for, whether it is a light touch or something a little heavier. The student learns new songs/parts, while also making the lesson fun by jamming together perfecting the songs.
Beth Sowers has been playing a variety of instruments for 41 years. At age 8 she started with the violin, and discovered she had a gift of teaching herself other instruments. She borrowed the flute, clarinet, saxophone and trumpet. Her band teacher confirmed that she could indeed learn to play.
Beth has been teaching for 20 years, starting at the Pike Creek Christian School, then Accent Music and currently teaches at Glasgow Christian Academy.
She meets her students at their level, and gives instructions of how to keep progressing from that level. She also challenges them with new and harder skills, often surprising her students at how much they have progressed.
Her hobbies include learning other instruments such as the Piccolo, Trombone, Eb Tuba, and Bells. While that would seem to keep her very busy, she still loves spending time with her family and her four dogs.
Chris Horne took private guitar lessons all through grade school and continued playing for 42 years. He has been teaching, providing quality guitar lessons, in the tri-state area for 30 years. He earned a B.A. in Commercial Music from Shenandoah Conservatory in 1995 and this contributes to his knowledge that he passes along to his students.
Chris absolutely loves music, especially guitar, and plays in a cover band called “The Everafter.” Along with performing, he writes and records music.
His goal for his students is to give them what they need to play well, listen to their requests, and share the joy of playing guitar with others. He wants to pass along his love for music and create that love in his students. They will learn warm ups, scales, chords, reading music, popular songs and more with Chris!
Jody Garcia has been playing piano and flute for 40 years. She has a Degree in Music Education, with a concentration in piano.
As a music educator with over 25 years of experience, she has a passion for music and teaching to a variety of ages. She loves seeing her students learn and grow in their love of music and playing.
Jody uses visual, auditory and kinesthetic techniques while teaching so each student can reach their individual goals. Her knowledge of music content, as well as playing various instruments makes her a great addition to S Music Studio at the Barn.
Charlie Franklin has been playing the drums for 50 years. He grew up in Pittsburgh and started playing at an early age in parades and school dances. Even while studying at Penn State, he formed a rock band to play the bars and clubs off campus, and still received a bachelor’s degree in the Arts.
Before moving to the Middletown area, Charlie continued to play covers and record original music in the Philly area, as well as teaching drum lessons. He has enjoyed playing in local bands at bars, clubs, churches and outdoor events, and continues to play and sing on Sundays at a nearby church, as well as in two other bands.
While doing these many things, he still achieved a successful career in IT sales. Charlie attributes his success partly to integrity, communication skills and hard work.
He says, “there is nothing quite like helping others experience the joy of playing music.” Everyone learns differently and he tailors the lessons to best fit the student’s style, using many tools, such as his many drum instruction books and digital tools. Whatever your needs, Charlie will adapt his methods of teaching to reach your goals, making sure to have fun while learning!