Mrs. Allen is a Zion Conservatory of Music graduate. She majored in piano at Mundelein College and has continued studying music and teaching lifelong, attending workshops and master classes to keep up with new methods and stimulating repertoire. She holds a Robert Pace Piano Pedagogy Certificate and has wide teaching experience, in both private and group lessons. A number of her students have graduated from the Conservatory and pursued careers in music as teachers and church musicians. In other musical endeavors, Mrs. Allen was Assistant to the Artistic Director and Coordinator of Educational Programs for the Lake Forest Symphony. She enjoys accompanying and ensemble playing and occasionally performs for various programs and local organizations.

Mrs. Ashmore is a Zion Conservatory of Music 1980 graduate. She was a piano performance major at Wheaton College, and also studied under Willard Wikowski at Oral Roberts University. She finished her education at Carthage College while teaching at the Conservatory. Along with her love for the piano, she has been involved most of her life in church music. Her involvements in church music range from choir member to choir director, from church pianist to worship leader, from soloist to director of music, etc. As a pianist in church music, she loves the challenges of sight-reading new music, creating arrangements of existing music, improvising, playing-by-ear, and most of all, worshipping the Lord.

Mrs. Pekkarinen has extensive experience teaching piano and thoroughly enjoys the challenge of keeping her students motivated. She is always looking for new material and innovative ways to inspire her students. JoAnne has had students go on to play at the college level and become music teachers themselves including Jennifer Warren, now the choral music director at Zion-Benton High School. Mrs. Pekkarinen received her Bachelor of Music degree from Mundelein College and did additional graduate work at the University of Illinois before transferring to the American Conservatory of Music where she received her Master’s Degree.

Mrs. Poucher has had extensive experience in professional music capacities. Most recently, she served as Director of the Zion Conservatory of Music from 2008 until her retirement in 2020. In addition to 30+ years teaching piano in private and public schools with 12 of those most recently at the Conservatory, she has performed as a piano soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and choir director. She is a charter member of Lake County Symphony Orchestra, serving as both a board member and a performing member and served as conductor and assistant director of Zion Chamber Orchestra prior to that. Her education includes a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education - Piano Major - at Milliken University and Master of Arts in Piano performance from Eastern Illinois University.

Ms. McCulloch began studying violin at the Zion Conservatory of Music. Before completing the pre-collegiate musical studies program there, she performed as the winner of the Young Artist Concerto competition with the Zion Chamber Orchestra, and appeared as soloist with the Midwest Chamber Players throughout their concert tour of Europe. Ms. McCulloch continued her violin studies at Butler University with Laurence Shapiro. She performed on numerous honors recitals and chamber music concerts, including a collaboration with Van Cliburn silver medalist Panayis Lyras. She served as concertmaster of the Jordan Sinfonia and the Butler Symphony Orchestra, both at home and on tour in Taiwan.

Andrew Johnson studied piano at the Zion Conservatory of music. He attended Carthage College, where he earned a degree in Vocal Performance and had extensive study in piano pedagogy.

As a performer Andrew Johnson is a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus and was the tenor for the Milwaukee Symphony Quartet. He has been a soloist for the Milwaukee Chamber Choir, Mastersingers of Milwaukee, Waukegan Choral Festival, and Kenosha's Sing-a-long Messiah.

Andrew has been teaching at the Zion Conservatory since 2012 and loves to work with all ages and abilities.