Vita Hsieh, Director of Early Start Music, is a true artist in music and art and is an early childhood music specialist. Vita is fluent in Mandarin. Having earned her Master of Fine Art in Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She used to work in the movie industry at Disney and Sony as a digital painter. Later, Vita found her love as an early childhood music specialist, and studies Master of Music in Music Education with Kodaly emphasis from Holy Name University in Oakland, CA. Vita is also an Orff Schulwerk Level lll certified teacher, from the San Francisco International Orff School. 

Vita got inspired to be a music teacher when she started taking Music Together^® classes with her daughter. After becoming a trained Music Together teacher, Vita taught music and movement in preschools around the East Bay and San Francisco. In addition to Music Together, Vita teaches a Mandarin curriculum class, Kids Go Mandarin, for parents and kids that she has developed and composed. She also leads an Orff ensemble for kids age 6 and up and is a choir teacher and used to work in Piedmont Choir with Girl Training 1.

Vita plays piano, guitar, ukulele, percussion, and recorder. Vita truly believes music is a critical part of early childhood development and commits herself into building a community which involved all families and their children through music.

Level lll Orff-Schulwerk ceritfied teacher

Level lll Kodály ceritfied teacher

Member of:

*Northern California American Orff-Schulwerk Association

*American Orff-Schulwerk Association

*Organization of American Kodály Educators

Teacher Vita also teach music in preschools around the East Bay. Please EMAIL teacher Vita for more details and schedule a demo class in your preschool. 

Teacher Reina has been working with children since 2006. She has worked as a nanny, preschool teacher and school-based mental health counselor. Reina loves making music with young children. She believes all children are naturally brilliant music makers. She also believes every grown up has a singer and dancer inside of them and encourages parents to freely let loose during Music Together® classes. What Reina loves most about leading Music Together classes is the bond building and strengthening that happens when caregivers make music with their children. Reina wants to foster this as much as possible because she knows it creates loving relationships that last a lifetime. 

Reina has her BA in psychology, with an emphasis on child development, from Mills College. Alongside her studies, she always made sure she took a music or dance course as well. Reina's primary instrument is her voice but she also plays guitalele (half guitar, half ukulele) and aspires to become a drummer. Of studying vocal improv with Molly Holm at Mills College, Reina says, "It was one of the neatest musical experiences I have ever had: to make music with your voice without any planning or thinking reveals such spectacular surprises; it's quite a fun and enlightening experience, like dreaming while you're awake".

Reina is an animal lover and has a cat named Feliz and a horse named Levi. Levi and Reina have been together for over 20 years, since Reina was twelve and Levi was four. Horses live, on average, to about 30 years old. Needless to say, they can't imagine life without the other. Levi gives kisses on command, as you can see, all you have to do is make a kissing sound and he'll slobber you with his huge muzzle. Levi also loves children and has children as young as 18 months on his back.

Ashley is the director of Music Together Panorama in British Columbia, Canada. She is delighted to be joining forces with Early Start Music to bring Rhythm Kids Online to both centers during this time of virtual learning! Ashley has been teaching Music Together since completing her teacher training in the summer of 2011 and summer of 2017 she completed her certification level 1 as well. Ashley loves music and has been singing since before she could talk, she plays piano and is working on learning the ukulele. She has a degree in History and French from Simon Fraser University. As well as being a musician and a teacher Ashley is a mom to 4 kids of her own ranging from toddler to 5th grader! Ashley has been a choral singer since she was a child and continues her love for that music by singing with the world renowned Elektra Women's Choir in Vancouver, BC.