SCCM Faculty

GRANT HORROCKS

Academic Director

Chair, Piano Department; Co-Chair, Braille Music Division

GRANT HORROCKS earned his degree in piano performance in 1971 from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. In Canada, he composed music scores for feature films, documentaries, and musical theater productions.  Since 1973, he has maintained a large private teaching studio. He was chairman of the Conservatory Division of SCCM from 1984 until 2005.  During that time, he developed SCCM’s academic structure, produced quarterly recitals and special concert events, and developed music outreach programs at Braille Institute (Orange County), Francis Blend Elementary and Joaquin Miller High School, a public school for children who are challenged by moderate to severe physical, mental and/or emotional disabilities. He has been co-chair of SCCM’s Braille Music Division since 1992. During his tenure, Grant has created specialized repertoire and keyboard geography curriculum for blind students. As an Executive Board Member, he is president of the CTEVH (California Transcribers & Educators for the Visually Impaired) and chairman of the bylaws committee.

RICHARD TAESCH

Co-Chair, Braille Music Division; Chair, SCCM Guitar Department

RICHARD TAESCH has been a music educator since 1961 and joined the SCCM faculty in 1976.  He founded SCCM’s Braille Music Division in 1992 and is SCCM’s principal instructor of braille music reading skills.  Richard is certified by the Library of Congress in literary braille, braille music transcription, and literary proofreading. He is a State Music Specialist for California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped (CTEVH) and author of “An Introduction To Music For The Blind Student,” “Introduction To The Piano For The Blind Student,” “A Blind Music Student’s College Survival Guide,” and extensive journal articles.  He is founder and editor of Music Education Network for The Visually Impaired (MENVI). His biography is listed in “Who’s Who In America,” 58th edition.  Additional author credits include work for two years for Soundboard, Journal for Guitar Foundation of America – Commercial Guitar series, 1980′s. Member, Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC); American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); Music Committee – National Braille Association; Individual member, National Association of Schools of Music.

Dory Bavarsky – piano, guitar, Braille Music Division and FAME programs

Dory Bavarsky is an award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist.  He studied classical piano under scholarship at SCCM, and earned a BA in music composition from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  He is an in-demand pianist and guitarist, performing as a soloist and accompanist in a variety of musical styles.  His jazz ensembles have performed throughout Southern California.  In May 2010, Dory’s trio performed as semi-finalists in the 4th Bucharest International Jazz Competition in Romania.  In September 2010, the group won 5th place at the Hoeilaart Jazz Competition in Belgium.  In October 2010, Dory performed as a semi-finalist in the Nottingham International Jazz Piano Competition in England, and the Martial Solal Jazz Piano Competition in France.

Dory’s music has been featured on many prominent television programs, commercial music libraries, and independent films.  He received an Emmy Certificate in 2010 and ASCAPlus awards in 2010 and 2011.

David Forrest – Braille Music Division and FAME programs

DAVID FORREST designs curriculums and runs classes for SCCM’s FAME and Community Outreach programs. He studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory and the USC Thornton School of Music, and focuses on the intersection of music theory, education, and technology. David has taught at SCCM since 1996.

Grace Cho – violin

GRACE CHO received her Bachelors in Music and her Masters in Music Performance from the University of Toronto. She also holds her ARCT in Performance certification from the Royal Conservatory of Music and her Suzuki Education training from Institution Suzuki Montreal.
She taught for many years in her hometown of Toronto and was on Faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music before making Los Angeles her home and joining SCCM.

Mariana Popzlateva – voice

MARIANA POPZLATEVA earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice Performance in 1983 from the State Academia of Music in Sophia, Bulgaria, and a Master’s degree in Music and Arts from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2003. She is an accomplished voice teacher whose extensive repertoire includes opera, operetta, and musicals: My Fair Lady; Maria, West Side Story; Cats; Christine, The Phantom of the Opera; Miserables; Konegonda, Burnstein’s Candide; and Webber. Suppe, “ Die Schone Galatee” ; Lopez “Andalusia”; Schutz “Fray Luna”; Kalman “ Queen of the Chardash.”

Ms. Popzlateva has performed as a soloist throughout Europe and the United States, as well as in China and the Philippines.    Her artistic career began when she joined The State Musical Theatre, Stephan Makedonski, with which she performed thirty roles and a variety of characters.  These included vocal heroic, vocal soubrette, characteristic, and children’s roles, both in dramatic and musical genres. In 1997,  she joined Theater “ Maestro Grorgi Atanasov” Pazardjik as a soloist–artist where her career included shows and concerts in Bulgaria abroad and more than 150 concerts in Spain as a soloist of the Pazardjik Philarmony. Since 1997, she has performed opera roles and individual opera concerts, along with recitals in Tokyo, Miami, Moscow, Manila, Hong Kong, Germany, and Spain. Ms. Popzlateva’s teachers have included Maestro Stefano Aljieri of Juilliard School and La Scala di Milano, Margarita Lilova of State Opera Vienna, Alexandrina Milcheva, international Bulgarian soprano, and Kimberly Davis, Ph.D., of the University of Southern Mississippi.

Ms. Popzlateva is a member of the AGMA.