Teachers – Fantasia Music

Chatswood Location - teachers

Our teachers in Fantasia Music School have outstanding qualifications as both performers and teachers and have be associated with prestigious international and local music institutes.

With our professional teaching approaches and knowledge,
Our teachers can meet your specific needs to guide your musical journey.

For the Croydon location go here: https://www.fantasiacroydon.com.au

Mr Eray Yucel- Cello

Eray Yücel is an accomplished cellist and passionate music educator with a strong foundation in classical training and over a decade of performance and teaching experience. A graduate of a leading conservatory in Turkey with a major in Cello and a minor in Piano, Eray has performed extensively both as a soloist and in orchestras across Istanbul and internationally. He has appeared in chamber ensembles, given solo recitals, and participated in various masterclasses and artistic projects.

In addition to his performance career, Eray is deeply committed to music education, offering private cello lessons tailored to students of all levels, from beginners to those preparing for conservatory auditions. He adopts a holistic teaching philosophy that integrates technical development, musicality, sight-reading, and ensemble playing. His approach balances structure with creativity, helping students grow both musically and personally.

Eray continues to perform in acoustic sets, take part in community concerts, and collaborate on professional cello recordings. His primary focus, however, is on providing one-on-one cello lessons tailored to each student’s individual goals, whether they’re learning for personal enjoyment, preparing for AMEB exams, or getting ready for auditions. With a supportive and personalised teaching style, he guides students in developing strong technique, expressive playing, and a deeper connection with their instrument.

Mr Sel Hardaker - Violin

Sel is a Sydney Conservatorium graduate, currently pursuing his masters’ degree in violin performance. He has been fortunate to study with distinguished pedagogues and performers, including Ole Böhn, Tim Kantor and Goetz Richter. Furthermore, he has a comprehensive understanding of the AMEB syllabus, having completed Grades 1–8 with at least a Distinction in each.
Sel’s experience in the United States at chamber music festivals deepened his appreciation for varied pedagogical approaches and strengthened his commitment to crafting individualised curricula for each student, while his interest in performance psychology literature, particularly the Inner Game series, has further shaped his understanding of the mind’s role in learning.
Music has been the mainstay of Sel’s life since childhood. Students will find in him an amiable, adaptive, dependable and rigorous mentor, supported by six years of teaching experience and more than a decade of performance experience on the violin.

Mr Zachary Connor - cello

Zachary Connor is one of Australia’s most promising young cellists. He grew up in Canberra and has studied cello for eleven years, performing frequently in Sydney and Canberra.
Zachary Connor has performed many immense works of the classical canon, including Shostakovich ‘s Cello Concerto No.1, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, Chopin’s cello sonata, Bach’s Six Suites for solo cello, and Cassado’s suite for solo cello. Zachary performed a number of these works alongside Edward Neeman in Zachary’s own critically reviewed recital series in Canberra at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture.
Zachary was also a key member of youth music groups in Canberra, playing as the Principal Cellist of both the Canberra Youth Orchestra and the Canberra Youth Symphony Orchestra, the latter of which he performed in front of as a soloist on multiple occasions, even premiering his own compositions.
Zachary graduated from youth music early however, and in 2024 became the youngest member of the professional Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and has played with them since.
At the national level Zachary competed in the Musica Viva Strike a Chord competition, earning a finalist place, and at an international level, performed as a part of Bach in the Dark Cello Sextet.
Outside of the classical sphere he has performed at numerous musical theatre productions and has understudied David Pereira for the past two years on Hawke.

Ms Ranee Luo - Piano

Ranee was admitted to university with a first-place national ranking in piano performance. While studying, she had the privilege of winning second prize at the Singapore International Piano Competition. Ranee also successfully passed the highly competitive entrance exam for the prestigious Liszt Academy of Music, where only two students were accepted nationwide in that year’s autumn intake.

Aside from her extensive performing experience, Ranee also has over 20 years of teaching experience involving students of all ages and musical styles. She adapts her teaching depending on the various personalities of students to help them achieve musical improvement both technically and expressively.

Mr Aero Lin - Piano, Double Bass

Aero is an experienced teacher of both individual and class music teaching, with close to a decade of experience in the education of students at all ages. Having held positions such as Band Branch teacher, instrumental teacher and classroom teacher, Aero has developed the ability to cater and adapt to different student’s learning styles and levels.

In addition, Aero has wide ranging performance experience with several symphony orchestra and jazz ensemble performances. Amongst these include the Fringe Festival, Chiayi International Band Festival, Taichung Jazz Festival as well as recieving the excellence prize in several county music competitions in Taiwan.

Mr Kai Hong- Piano

Kai Hong is a classically trained pianist with extensive performance experience in both classical and jazz genres. His playing is recognized for its expressive depth, elegance and warmth, blending technical precision with emotional richness. Influenced by Bill

Evans, Chick Corea, and Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, his style seamlessly combines stability with brilliance, and a dynamic balance of cool restraint and passionate intensity.

Ms Gloria Huang - Violin

Gloria is an experienced violin teacher of many years, helping many students achieve high results in various performances and AMEB grades. Using a foundations of string pedagogy, Gloria seeks to educate students through a wide range of musical avenues including theory, aural, physical and mental aspects of violin playing.

Being multilingual in English, Mandarin and Cantonese her communication with parents and students alike is extremely important in many situations. Having attended many masterclasses with teachers such as Professor Andrea Gajic and Ye-Eun Choi, Gloria is currently studying under Professor Goetz Richter at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Ms Ino Jiao - Cello

Ino started studing at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music in China and then went onto the European Gymnasium Meerane in Germany. Her career then brought her to Australia where she studied cello under Georg Pedersen at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

As a soloist and orchestral player, she has given over 100 concerts for various activities and events internationally and has won countless competitions including the third AIQIN Cup, the Guangdong-Hongkong-Macao-Taiwan Cello Competition and the 2013 Jugend Musik Spiele in Germany.

Ino has an inspirational and patient style that helps students of all levels to further their musical journey.

Ms Nicole Hsueh - Clarinet

Nicole has a widespanning musical background with early developement in piano and violin. She began clarinet soon after as part of a primary school band program. With extensive performance experience in solo, orchestral and chamber playing, she has studied under teachers such as Deborah de Graaff and Sue Newsome. Her many ensemble memberships include the Sydney Youth Orchestra, Kuringai Youth Orchestra, the School Spectacular Orchestra and involvement in many Sydney Conservatorium ensembles.

Nicole has much experience teaching students of all age groups with a holistic method of music education, combining both theory and practical aspects to foster a love of learning and playing.

Ms Jingyi Pan - Piano

Learning piano from age 10, music has been an essential part of Jingyi’s life. She hopes to pass on the enjoyment of musical knowledge and understanding to her students whilst letting them think independently about the music.

Jingyi has over 6 years of teaching experience in China and Australia. Her education is taught through patience and encouragement to help all types of learners. Her comprehensive method of education allows the students to gain important practical, learning and performance skills.

Ms Lilac Shi - Piano

Lilac began her piano studies at age 7 and participated in a wide range of musical activities through primary and high school. Along the way she gained much performance experience through exams and concerts.

From the beginning of piano education, Lilac focuses on building a strong foundation by exploring technique, music theory and rhythm. She believes in cultivating this through the student’s imagination for music and perception of rhythmic beat. To aid this, Lilac encourages her students to take part in the regular concerts, masterclasses and workshops run by our school. Through this the students can begin to accumulate stage experience and increase their self-confidence.

By using a mixture of set exercises/pieces and repertoire based on the student’s passions, Lilac believes this will let students learn whilst cultivating their love of music.

Ms Tianyi Liu - Piano

After starting piano at age 6, Tianyi was selected to be in the advanced piano training program at Chifeng Performing Arts College. She won many provincial piano competitions, becoming one of the top piano performers in Mongolia.

After completing the Bachelor of Music Studies in Inner Mongolia University, Tianyi went on to study Master of Music from Minzu University in Beijing with a full scholarship. For 10 years, she was a piano teacher at Hulunbuir Univeristy and became senior lecturer in Music.

Tianyi’s students have won many regional and national piano competitions as well as gaining positions in the Central Conservatorium of Music and Shanghai Conservatorium of Music.

Moving to Australia, Tianyi is now teaching beginner to advanced through the AMEB syllabus from beginner to adult learners. Trained as a classical musician, she also enjoys performing and teaching other genres including contemporary, jazz and chinese traditional in Mandarin and English.

Ms Christy Ju - Violin

Christy has been teaching Violin for the past five years with extensive experience in AMEB exams to help students learn and grow. Having played violin for over a decade, Christy is experienced with all aspects of violin and music theory.

Throughout her extensive music experience, she has also performed in solo and chamber groups in Hills Grammar School. Christy’s patient and intuitive teaching style helps bring out an enjoyment of the instrument and improvement.

Ms Felita Pratomo - Piano

Felita began her musical journey at the age of five through learning classical music with the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music). THroughout her adolescent years, Felita began to explore other musical genres and instruments through ministering at church.

Though she was classically trained for years, Felita later developed her love for other musical genres which brought her to graduate from the Australian Institute of Music in 2018 with a Bachelor Degree in Contemporary Music Performance majoring in Piano and was trained under some of Sydney’s renowned musicians such as Darren Heinrich, Greg Coffin, Duncan Brown and Warwick Alder.

Felita has been teaching students both classical and contemporary piano across all ages for over 5 years. Through juggling her schedul between performing and teaching, she feels the passion to spread love of music and hopes to inspire many young generations.

(On Leave) Ms Crystal Jia Gu - Violin

Crystal Gu started to play the violin since 5 years old and achieved distinction in the performance level exam in China at the age of 11. She used to learn from Professor Xian He in Shanghai Conservatorium and was admitted to Shanghai Conservatorium High School at the age of 15. After arriving in Sydney, she continues learning from Professor Goetz Richter in Sydney Conservatorium and already achieved both AmusA and LmusA with DISTINCTION.

Crystal has been teaching for 8 years and accumulated extensive experience. She is an extremely patient teacher who can handle all kinds of students. Crystal also organises personal performance showcase regularly as a channel to improve instrumental skills and interact with students.

Mr Benjamin He - Piano

Head of School
BMus (Performance) Sydney Conservatorium of Music
MMus (Studies) Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Associate AMUSA with Distinction in Piano
Licentiate LTCL with Distinction in Piano
Specialist in Exams, Performances, Auditions and Scholarships

Benjamin He is the Head Teacher and Manager of Fantasia Music School. Beginning his piano studies at age 5 at the Australian Institute of Music, he went on to complete his Grade 8 and AmusA with Distinction. He was accepted into the Sydney Conservatorium High School then went on to complete his schooling at The Kings School on Scholarship. Completing his LTCL with Distinction, Bachelor of Music (Performance) and Master of Music (Performance). He now teaches, performs and accompanies both solo and with chamber and orchestra.

Benjamin is an experienced educator of over 10 years, combining a teaching method of theory, aural training and creative music thought into lessons for comprehensive learning.

(On Leave) Mr Kenneth He - Cello

Kenneth He started cello at age 11 learning under Patrick Murphy at the Australian Institute of Music. Later on, he went on to complete his high school education at the King’s School on music scholarship, achieving high grades for music performance and ATCL with distinction. He has extensive experience performing with Orchestras, Ensembles and as a soloist. His hobbies include editing, composing and performing his own media projects with his brother.

Kenneth’s teaching philosophy involves technical fundamentals mixed with musical expression.