Star City Music Studios

Lessons Offered

Where are Lessons Offered

About Me

Welcome to Star City Music Studios! Located in historic downtown Miamisburg, Ohio, we offer private voice and instrument lessons, including piano, guitar, ukulele, and trumpet. We also offer group and academic enrichment classes, including Music Appreciation, Music History, and Music Theory, for all ages.

At Star City Music Studios, our goal is to offer quality music instruction to the greater Miami Valley, including Centerville, Dayton, Farmersville, Franklin, Germantown, Miamisburg, Springboro, and West Carrollton. Whether you’re just beginning your musical journey or are looking to further refine your skills, you’ll find the teacher you’re looking for and the type of lesson that meets your needs with us!

My Musical Education Background

Samee Griffith Mood (owner/piano/theory/history) received her Master of Music degree in piano performance and collaborative piano from Bowling Green State University and her Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Wright State University, where she graduated summa cum laude. An experienced instructor, Samee has taught piano for more than fifteen years, including at the Penn-Griffin School for the Arts in High Point, North Carolina. Her students regularly place in the top tier of competitors in state level piano competitions and festivals.

Samee is currently working towards the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her honors include: the Mary Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award (2012), First Place in the Undergraduate Division at the Marjorie Peatee Art Song Competition (2004), and the MTNA Star Award (2002).

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Blaine F. Heeter III (voice) is the Graduate Teaching Assistant for the vocal and choral departments at Wright State University where he is currently pursuing his master’s degree in vocal performance. Blaine has been studying and performing music and theater since childhood. His adventure began at the age of nine when he was cast as Tiny Tim in his hometown community theater’s production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The theater served as a playground where Blaine could cultivate his artistic abilities through his youth and young adult life. Some early productions include Oliver, Anything Goes and Barnum.
Blaine began his collegiate career as a music performance major at Sinclair Community College where he earned his associate’s degree in 2005. That same year he transferred to Bowling Green State University to begin working towards his bachelor’s in vocal performance. While attending BGSU Blaine was involved in the opera theater’s production of Die Zauberflöte,participated in a vocal master class with Julliard pianist Margo Garrett and in 2007 had the privilege of playing the male lead in Francesco Cavalli’s 1642 opera, La virtù dei strali d’Amore for its North American debut in collaboration with early music musicologist, Paul O’Dette and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

After graduating from BGSU in 2007, Blaine moved back to the Dayton area where he opened a small studio teaching private vocal and piano lessons. Blaine’s students have been accepted into such music performance schools as the Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton and the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Blaine’s students have also received superior ratings in OMEA solo and ensemble adjudicated events in both piano and voice.

In addition to teaching private lessons, Blaine has also served as music director for Richmond Civic Theatre’s Stage One youth theater program in the summers of 2003 and 2004. In 2009, he also served as music director for the Vandalia Youth Theatre’s production of Les Misérables. Earlier that same year Blaine portrayed the role of Lumière in Richmond Civic Theatre’s Main Stage production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.Blaine performed as a member of the Dayton Opera Chorus for La Traviata, also in 2009, the 2005 production of Tosca and the 50th Anniversary Star Gala in 2011. Other engagements have included numerous events and musical theater productions in the Dayton area.

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John Wright (piano/voice/trumpet) is the Organist and Choirmaster for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Milford, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is an award-winning piano performer and instructor with over 25 years of experience. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Wright State University, where he graduated with honors. Many of Mr. Wright’s former students are now successful music professionals themselves, including teachers, performers, recording artists, and composers.

He has taught Piano Proficiency Class, Non-Western Music, Music Appreciation, Theory, and Intro to Humanities Through Music as an adjunct faculty member at Edison State College in Piqua, Ohio. While he lived in Piqua, he was the director of the BENEDICTUS Schola Cantorum, a choral ensemble that received national acclaim for its work in preserving, promoting, and performing Sacred polyphonic choral music of the Renaissance and Gregorian Chant.

Mr. Wright currently serves on the Music Committee for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and is the music consultant for the successful Cast Your Nets archdiocesan vocations program. He is also a composer and arranger of chamber and choral music, and his works have been performed and recorded by professional groups all around the world. In 1996, Mr. Wright was the gold medalist in the sixteenth annual Bartok-Kabalevsky International Piano Competition in the Young Artists’ Division. Later that year, he married Deborah, his college sweetheart. Today they live in Mount Repose, Ohio, with their six children. Mr. Wright has considerable experience in teaching piano and voice lessons to children with special education needs, and believes everyone can attain personal growth, development, and fulfillment through the study of music.

Genres and Subjects Taught

Private and Group Lessons:

Guitar
Piano
Trumpet
Ukulele
Voice

Group Classes:

Music Appreciation
Music History
Music Theory

Lesson Rates

Lesson rates vary by class and instructor. Please contact us for more information.

Ages / Skill Levels Taught

All ages!

My Certifications and Awards

Please see the individual instructor bios for more information on certifications and awards.

My Musical Influences

Our instructors have a wide variety of musical tastes, including classical, jazz, and rock. They will tailor lessons to your individual needs and musical tastes as necessary.

Service Area

Bethany
Miamisburg, OH

Samee is really in tune to the individual needs of her students. She knew my style and music preferences in a very short time. She also did an amazing job coordinating my senior recital. Samee is a great teacher for advanced students or any piano student.

Melissa
Miamisburg, OH

Samee is one of the best piano teachers I have had. In only two years she has transformed the way I play. I love how I felt like she knew me in my very first lesson. I think she is a very knowledgeable person and she has helped me see many things in a new way. I enjoyed my time studying under Samee and I love her passion for music.