Music Conservatory

Melissa Scott is a choral an vocal music educator with over 25 years of experience teaching choir, general music, and private voice in Texas, Washington, and Doha, Qatar. Melissa holds a degree in Music Education from Baylor University and a Master of Music from the University of Washington. At age 15, she decided to become a music teacher and has been following that path ever since. Melissa enjoys teaching students of all ages and currently works as a vocal consultant and private voice coach. Melissa has lived in Fort Worth since 2018 with her husband, Steve, and two daughters, Ava (FWCD Class of 2023) and Audrey (FWCD Class of 2021). She is proud to be a part of the Fort Worth Country Day community as a parent and has served as Music Conservatory Coordinator since 2021.

Melissa Scott
Music Conservatory Coordinator
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Jonathan Armerding has been a teacher and violin performer for 40 years. He studied violin at Wheaton College (Illinois) where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree. At Indiana University, he studied with James Buswell and received his Masters of Music in Violin Performance. Mr. Armerding performed as a member of the Violin 1 section of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and the New Mexico Philharmonic for 37 years. and was a member of the Helios String Quartet for six years. (He is heard on three recordings with that ensemble.) Though Mr. Armerding did not intend to teach when he finished his education, he found it very rewarding and taught string orchestra and guitar at Albuquerque Academy for 35 years, building a strong string program. The high school orchestra was the New Mexico All- State Honor Orchestra three times. He was also a Conductor and Violin Coach with the Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program for two decades. Since 2020, Mr. Armerding has taught at Fort Worth Country Day; two years full time (2020-22) and as a regular substitute. Presently, he is a member of the Las Colinas Symphony as well as the Northeast Orchestra and the Texas Chamber Music Project. He also performs at weddings and events with Serenata Strings and enjoys teaching private students of all levels. 

Marina Dichenko studied violin in Kharkiv, Ukraine, at Central Music School. She continued her studies at Gnessin’s Academy of Music in Moscow, Russia. In 2014, she graduated with an Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University School of Music.

As a soloist and member of chamber groups, Ms. Dichenko has traveled and performed in Ukraine, Russia, Belgium, Japan and the U.S. She has her recordings with Naxos and other recording companies. Ms. Dichenko earned prizes at different competitions, including a chamber music competition in Donetsk, Ukraine, and Sergey Taneev's International Competition of Chamber Music in Kaluga, Russia. She has participated in different festivals, among them Piano Texas International Festival.

Ms. Dichenko is proud to be a member of local orchestras. She has been playing with the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra since 2012 and is a Concertmaster of the McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. Dichenko currently leads violin ensemble at Fort Worth Suzuki School. She enjoys playing with local musicians and has been teaching violin in the Fort Worth Country Day Music Conservatory since 2019.

Marina Dichenko, Violin Instructor
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Pianist Daria Kiseleva received her early professional training from Gnessin State Musical College and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Russia. A winner of numerous international piano competitions, Ms. Kiseleva has performed in major performance halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall; Theatre of Champs Élysées, Salle Gauveau, Salle Cortot (Paris, France); Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (Russia); Theatre Municipal of Rio de Janeiro, Sala Sao Paolo (Brazil); Bellver Castle (Palma de Mallorca, Spain); and Theatre Curci (Barletta, Italy).

Since moving to the U.S. in 2014, Ms. Kiseleva received the Lay and Mattie Powell Piano Scholarship at the Texas Christian University School of Music to pursue an Artist Diploma. After graduating in 2017, she toured as a Guest Artist, performing solo recitals and collaborating with major orchestras (Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra de Experimental de Repertório, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, OLES Symphony Orchestra) at Londrina Festival and Festival VII Virtuosi Gravata (Brazil), Schlern International Music Festival (Italy), Aptos Keyboard Series (Monterey Bay, USA), Impromptu! Classical Music Recital Series (USA) and International Odyssiad Keyboard Festival (USA). Ms. Kiseleva continues her studies, pursuing a DMA in Piano Performance at TCU School of Music. She is a recipient of the LAAS and Judith Solomon Chamber Music Awards from TCU. Ms. Kiseleva has taught in private schools, studios, masterclasses, and workshops in Russia and the U.S. She enjoys working with and helping students of all ages get inspired and creative in understanding the art of music.

Daria Kiseleva, Piano Instructor
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Quint Olsen is a guitar educator living in Fort Worth. He runs a guitar studio as part of The Conservatory at Fort Worth Country Day and teaches private lessons at Music Place Mansfield.

Mr. Olsen was born and raised in Northern Utah. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Guitar Pedagogy and Music Education from Utah State University. Upon completing college, Mr. Olsen opened and ran a successful studio, teaching private students full-time while maintaining a full performance schedule.

In 2001, he moved to Las Vegas to run the guitar program at Cram  Middle School. Under his direction, the Cram Guitar  Ensemble grew to be one of Nevada’s largest and most successful middle school guitar programs, with more than 300 students enrolled each year. The ensemble received Superior ratings, placing first place in multiple festivals and competitions, was featured on local TV and in local newspapers, and was invited to perform at many prestigious events, including the Guitar Foundation of America Regional Symposium and the Nevada Music Educators Association showcase concert. Mr. Olsen was awarded the 2005 Wal-Mart “Teacher of the Year” award in the community for his work with the ensemble. His students have gone on to play with some of the best high school and university guitar ensembles in the state, including the University of Las Vegas Guitar Quartet.

After 15 years directing the Cram Guitar Ensemble, Mr. Olsen moved to Fort Worth. He has served as educational director for Guitar Fort Worth and built several after-school guitar programs in Fort Worth ISD schools. Mr. Olsen has been a private guitar instructor in The Music Conservatory at FWCD since 2017.

Quint Olsen, Guitar Instructor
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Igor Parshin graduated from the famous Gnessin State Musical College (2008) and Gnessin Russian Academy of Music (2015) with the highest marks in his class. He studied with Irina Temchenko and the world-renowned Tatiana Zelikman. In 2015, he received the coveted Lili Kraus Scholarship at the TCU School of Music and completed the Artist Diploma program under the guidance of Dr. Tamas Ungar in 2018. In 2020, Mr. Parshin completed the Master of Music program in Collaborative Piano at TCU under the guidance of Dr. Michael Bukhman. 

Mr. Parshin is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at TCU. In the spring semester of 2023, he served as a Collaborative pianist at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. 

Mr. Parshin has successfully participated in many international piano competitions, winning first prize in the “Ciudad de Huesca” International Competition in Huesca, Spain in 2005; first prize in the International Piano and Chamber Music Competition “21st Century Art” in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2006; and first prize in the Concorso Internationale “Don Vincenzo Vitti” in Castellana Grotte, Italy in 2014. Mr. Parshin also received The Marina Bondarenko Memorial Prize 2016 in Israel and the Judith Solomon Award in Vocal Accompanying in 2020. Mr. Parshin has performed in numerous venues in Russia, the U.S., Ukraine, Belarus, Spain, Italy, Germany, Hungary, and Israel. He received many return invitations to such festivals as the Rachmaninoff International Music Festival, the Chamber Music Festival of Music from Ireland and Russia, and the Tel Hai International Piano Masterclasses in Israel. 

Mr. Parshin recently performed numerous piano recitals and concerts on board the cruise ship Le Commandant Charcot, visiting Antarctica. In the summer of 2022 and 2023, he received an invitation from the PianoTexas International Festival & Academy in Fort Worth to participate in the event as a collaborative pianist. In the summer of 2023, Mr. Parshin also played in the Texas Chamber Music Institut and the Basically Beethoven Festival in Dallas, playing Saint- Saëns Carnival of Animals with Metamorphosis Dallas Chamber Orchestra. 

Igor Parshin, Piano Instructor
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Leni Settle is a dedicated and performance-driven music educator with over 10 years of experience in teaching and conducting across a wide range of ensemble settings. Currently serving as the Director of Bands at Fort Worth Country Day, Leni brings a wealth of expertise in band direction, percussion performance, and music education. Leni holds a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is certified to teach music for grades EC-12 in Texas. At Fort Worth Country Day, Leni is responsible for the administration and instruction of multiple performing ensembles, ranging from beginner to intermediate levels.

Leni has an extensive background leading high school bands, most notably at Lubbock High School, where she served as Director of Bands. There, she successfully helped guide the band to the 5A UIL State Marching Contest for the first time in 33 years. She is also a noted band judge and clinician.

Beyond the classroom, Leni frequently performs locally and at prestigious events like the McCormick Marimba Festival. Leni is passionate about inspiring students through music and is dedicated to creating a positive and supportive learning environment where every student can thrive. She is currently a graduate student at Texas Christian University, pursuing her doctorate in educational leadership. Leni is excited to continue working with percussion students in the Fort Worth Country Day Music Conservatory.

Leni Settle, Percussion Instructor
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Martin Shahbazyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia. He earned his Master’s degree and graduated from TCU in 2023. Before coming to Texas, Martin Shahbazyan also graduated from Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (YSC) in 2020, majoring in piano performance

Mr. Shahbazyan started to play the piano in Armenia when he was 4. He graduated from the Tchaikovsky Specialized Music School in 2016. During these years, he participated in many national and international competitions and festivals. In his senior year at YSC, he was awarded first prize in the Chamber Music Competition. In his junior year, Mr. Shahbazyan was the first and only student in his Conservatory to win an ERASMUS scholarship to study at the Turku University in Finland. In 2017, Mr. Shahbazyan won the fourth annual Arno Babajanian International Competition and received a special prize for the “best performance of Babajanyan’s work.” In the same year, he premiered the piano preludes by Haro Stepanyan at the eighth Armenian Composers’ Art Festival in Yerevan. 

In addition to his career as a classical pianist, Mr. Shahbazyan is the pianist, singer and composer for his band “HIGH” since 2014. He also composed for theatrical performances such as “Hovnan” in 2017. He performed with the State Jazz Orchestra of Armenia in 2017 at the Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. 

In 2018, he won the first prize and five special prizes as an accompanist at the sixth Heghine Ter-Ghevondyan Competition in Yerevan, Armenia. 

Since 2018, Martin Shahbazyan has also been working as an accompanist and piano tutor at the Sayat-Nova music school in Yerevan. In 2018, he performed a solo piano recital at the Sigyn Hall in Turku, Finland. Martin recently received the Grand Prix of the Harmonium Onlineplus IMC, an International Competition in which contestants participated with a demanding and wide-ranging repertoire. Mr. Shahbazyan also received the first prize for the 47th Annual Pi Kappa Lambda Honors Competition and first prize for the Franz Liszt Center International Piano Competition.

Mr. Shahbazyan is excited to join the music faculty in the Music Conservatory at Fort Worth Country Day in the fall semester of 2023.

Martin Shahbazyan, Piano Instructor
[email protected]