What is Studio A?

Dr. Scott Donald is founder and co-owner of Studio A.  Previous positions include Administrative Director of the New School for Music Study in Kingston, NJ, piano faculty at The University of Texas at San Antonio and The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.

A native of South Carolina, he earned his BM in Piano Performance at Furman University in Greenville, SC.  He completed his MM in Applied Piano and DMA in Music Education/Piano Pedagogy from UT-Austin. In 2010, Dr. Donald made his Carnegie Hall debut at the Weill Recital Hall in New York City. 

Dr. Donald is the immediate Past-President of the Austin District Music Teachers Association.  He currently serves on the Editorial board for the Piano Pedagogy Forum, a peer-reviewed research publication.  Dr. Donald is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and was the ADMTA nominee for TMTA Teacher of the Year in 2015-2016, the 2016-2017 ADMTA Teacher of the Year and a 2017 and 2018 Steinway & Sons Top Teacher. He has published articles in the Music Teachers National Association’s e-journal, American Music Teacher, Piano Pedagogy Forum, Keyboard Companion, Clavier Companion, and Texas Music Education Research.  Dr. Donald’s research in piano pedagogy has been featured at international and national conferences.

He serves on the summer faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.  In 2016, he joined the faculty of American Voices and has traveled to Beirut, Lebanon to teach piano and coach chamber music in their Youth Excellence on Stage (YES) Academy.  YES Academy is a model for multicultural artistic collaboration with countries in Asia and the Middle East.  

Dr. Joshua Straub is co-owner of Studio A and enjoys a multifaceted musical career. Active at many state, regional, national, and international conferences, he has presented at the MTNA National Conferences in San Antonio, TX and Orlando, FL, the College Music Society's International Conference in Sweden and Finland, the ISME Regional Conference in Hong Kong, and the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference in Australia. Other presentations include appearances in Canada, Belgium, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oregon, and Texas. As an extension of his interest in the potential impact of music education, he co-wrote a paper with cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Kirsten Smayda and Dr. Ruby Chou detailing many of the benefits of learning piano in a group setting. This paper, published as part of the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference Proceedings, is the result of a ten-week group piano course for older adults aiming to scientifically test the ability for music to impact the brain. 

Joshua is also the director and co-founder of Beerthoven Craft, a program in partnership with the Beerthoven Concert Series that provides group piano lessons in a casual, relaxed environment, along with... beer! This innovative approach to music education allows classes to be set up virtually anywhere--an office, community space, retirement center, or even a brewery. The program has received local and national attention from The Austin American-Statesman, Austin360, and Food & Wine magazine. Joshua has taught seven classes at three different local breweries with plans for expansion to other venues in the near future.

Recently, Josh began composing and producing music and his collaborations with adventure photographer Ryan Deboodt have been featured by National Geographic, the Smithsonian website, and reached over a million people. His passion for multidisciplinary work and its ability to impact society resulted in his most recent film score for Saving Son Tra Now, a documentary aimed at raising awareness for the preservation and protection of the critically endangered red-shanked douc langur. It was recently selected for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York City in October, 2019.

In addition to his commitment to the traditional Western canon, Joshua also frequently performs and commissions works by living composers. He has premiered and recorded several new works including performances at The Clutch Concert Series, Gamma UT, Music at the Blanton, and the Fast Forward Austin concert series, among others. Works in these concerts ranged from Music for 18 Musicians and Piano Phase by Steve Reich, to a multidisciplinary collaboration with composer Kay He, featuring video, electronic tape, and piano.

Joshua serves on the executive board of the Beerthoven Concert Series, is an active member of MTNA and CMS, and is a former faculty member at Concordia University Texas.

Dr. Carla McElhaney is an artist innovator, pianist, coach, and educator. Her mission is to foster an unshakeable sense of wholeness, connection, and aliveness—both within individuals and among communities—through the soul-affirming power of the arts. An award-winning pianist, her playing has been recognized by the Austin Critics’ Table, praised by the Austin-American Statesman as exhibiting “infectious enthusiasm”, commended by the Austin Chronicle as delivering “an exciting mix of focus and passion,” and described in the Chronicle’s 2019 “A Guide to Classical Music” as “absorbing and exhilarating.” She can be heard on several recordings, including Conspirare’s Grammy-nominated album, The Hope of Loving.

As the co-founder and artistic director of the Austin-based collective Revel, she has presented over a hundred themed “revels” since their 2009 debut, performing for enthusiastic audiences at diverse venues such as Fuel Coffee House in Llano, Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Recording Studio in Wimberley, the Armstrong/Connelly Studio at Ballet Austin, New Mexico Tech in Socorro, the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica in San Jose, the Krotona School in Ojai, 4th Tap Brewing Co-Op, Albuquerque’s Chatter, the Blanco Performing Arts Series, the Mid-Texas Symphony, and more, inviting listeners everywhere to dispense with the standard protocol of the day, rebel against the straight-laced austerity of the modern concert hall, and “come as you are, clap when you feel like it, and revel in the music like no one is watching.”

Dr. McElhaney earned degrees from Eastman School of Music (B.M.) and The University of Texas at Austin (M.M, D.M.A). A faculty member at Texas Lutheran University since 2009, she has also served on the piano faculties of The University of Texas at Austin and the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio.

A native of Jakarta, Indonesia, Dr. Martin Kesuma is an award-winning pianist praised for his “heartfelt flexibility and harmonic sensitivity” (Fanfare Magazine) and “clearly articulated playing of the highest order” (The Art Music Lounge). He has extensively performed as a solo pianist and chamber musician throughout Asia, Europe, and North America.

He has been recognized with major prizes in competitions including the San Jose International Piano Competition, Vancouver International Music Competition, PianoHouse International Piano Competition, Betty Dickinson Piano Competition, New York International Music Concours, Canadian International Music Competition, ASEAN International Concerto Competition, Petroff College Level Piano Competition, and Texas State International Piano Festival Concerto Competition. His debut album, “Detours,” was released in 2021 by Centaur Records to critical acclaim.

Martin’s concerto appearances include performances with Orkes Simfoni Nasional Indonesia (The National Symphony Orchestra of Indonesia), Central Texas Philharmonic, Round Rock Symphony, Density512 Orchestra, University of Texas-University Orchestra, and Texas State Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he has appeared for interviews and performances on the National Public Radio, KUTX (Austin), Texas Public Radio (San Antonio), and K-Radio (New York).

Martin earned his degrees in Piano Performance from Texas State University (BM), University of Texas at Austin (MM and DMA), and Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music (Artist Diploma Program). While at UT Austin, Martin also worked as the UT Piano Project coordinator, class piano instructor, and private lesson instructor. His principal teachers include Washington Garcia, Jason Kwak, Anton Nel, and James Anagnoson. In Fall 2023, Martin has relocated to Central Texas to prepare for performances and competitions.