Private Teaching Artists

Alex Bootzin, co-founder of Spindrift School of Performing Arts (SSPA), is an accomplished musician and educator dedicated to advancing piano and voice instruction. With a B.A. in Piano Performance and an M.A. in Musicology from the University of California, he trained under esteemed teacher Dusi Mura.

In 1994, Alex and his late wife Martha founded SSPA, a community pillar for artistic education. Beyond SSPA, Alex leads the jazz quartet Nucleus, showcasing his musical versatility.

Believing in the transformative power of music, Alex sees the arts as integral to personal growth. Through teaching, he empowers students to discover their authentic voices. With decades of experience, Alex Bootzin inspires aspiring musicians of all ages to embark on transformative journeys of growth and success.

Soprano, Sarah Benzinger holds a CA Secondary credential to teach Music and Mathematics and loves joining her students on their unique journeys of musical discovery on the piano and in voice. She currently co-teaches classroom music at Casa di Mir Montessori school in Campbell and has maintained a full studio in voice and piano at Santa Teresa Academy of Music and Dance for the past three years. She has taught and performed in the US and abroad, working with students through Opera Tijuana in Mexico, Opera Nova in Costa Rica, and with students at Lake County high school in Leadville Colorado. Previously she sang with the Oregon Bach Collegium, Lyric Opera of San Jose, Cascadia Concert Opera, Humboldt Light Opera, Portland Summer Opera Workshop, Vivace Vancouver, Chamber Music Silicon Valley, Redwood Symphony and at the Astoria Music Festival.

Audrey is thrilled to continue teaching with the Spindrift team. Having grown up in Pacifica, it’s especially meaningful for her to give back to the community that helped shape her love for the arts. Audrey has always been passionate about singing and performing and brings that energy to every class. She holds Associate’s degrees in Theatre Arts and Arts and Humanities, and is currently pursuing her Theatre degree at San Francisco State University. With years of experience leading summer camps, after-school programs, and youth classes, Audrey brings both skill and heart to her teaching. She remains grateful for the opportunity to share her love of performing with the next generation of Spindrift students.

Kaori graduated from Japan’s prestigious music school, Kyoto Horikawa Music High School, where she studied vocal performance. She earned her BA from Kobe College and graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with an MA in vocal performance, having studied with Herman Leroux and received a first place prize in the American Art Song Competition. She received preschool and teaching credentials from San Francisco State University, studied pipe organ with Wyatt Insko, and has Kodály training from Holy Names University. Kaori is passionate about teaching and has served as a choir director, pianist and organist for many organizations. These include the San Francisco Girls Chorus (20 years), A.P. Giannini Middle School choir, Christ United Presbyterian Church, and her very own children’s choir Kirakiraboshi Children’s Choir in Japantown. She currently teaches music to K-8th grades in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties and teaches private piano and voice students at Spindrift School of Performing Arts in Pacifica

Valeria is a profesional singer, pianist, and teacher from Lima, Peru currently living in San Francisco. Valeria has a bachelors of music performance and Pedagogy from Florida Gulf coast university and a Masters degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of music in voice perfromance. She has won multiple singing competitions and worked with Opera Naples, the Florida Southwest Symphony Orchestra, Pocket Opera and multiple other organizations. She has experience working with students of all ages, but has a soft spot for kids and teenagers. Valeria has experience in a wide range of genres but specializes in musical theatre, classical, and pop. She likes to swim, read, and colect colorful stickers! As a voice and piano teacher, she is commited to fostering a healthy and welcoming learning environment, where creativity is encouraged and students can find their love for music.

Tristana Ferreyra-Rantalaiho is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from San Francisco State University and an undergraduate degree in choral conducting from Universidad Católica Argentina. She loves to premiere vocal works by new composers as a soloist and with choirs. She has worked as a singer and choral conductor in Argentina and Finland, relocated to the Bay Area with her family, and is a passionate musician, vocalist, and voice teacher. In California, she has sung in Convivium and is now in the 21V ensemble. She placed second at Cal Western Regional Student Auditions at the K Advanced Classical Level of The National Association Teachers of Singing (NATS). Currently, she also teaches voice at Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir. She loves to hike, swim, and do yoga in her free time. She is thrilled to join the Spindrift School of Performing Arts.

Ava Latz is a guitar player from Walnut Creek, CA. She has been teaching at Spindrift since early 2023. She is currently living in San Francisco studying at San Francisco State University. She hopes to graduate in Spring of 2025 with a Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance. While classical is her focus, she has a background in both jazz and rock music! She hopes that her background in different styles of music translates through her teaching and gives her students a well rounded perspective and education on guitar!

Manu Petaia completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance at San Francisco State University in 2016 under the tutelage of Dr. R. Woodward, and his Masters degree in the fall of 2021 under Dmitry Rachmanov. He began playing piano at the age of 6, and throughout his childhood and into early adulthood, was exposed to a great body of choral work through his Dad, who received his Bachelors from San Francisco State University before him.

He is very, very fond of the music of Bach and Mozart, and by extension, much of the music—both for piano and other instrumental ensembles—of the 17th and 18th Centuries. If given the opportunity, he would very much like to engage in a thorough study of the early Mozart Piano Sonatas.

Randall Watts is originally from Kentucky, has lived all over the United States, but is thrilled to make his home for the past ten years in the bay area. He has toured as a professional music theater performer and music director for 12 years before retiring from living out of a suitcase. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Music from Murray State University and graduate work in Opera and Music Theater Performance at Oklahoma University. He is currently a teacher with Mercy High School and performs in community theater on occasion. He is happy to be joining the faculty of Spindrift School of Performing Arts.

Randall has been seen as Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls with the Peninsula Ballet Theatre of San Mateo, Edna Turnblad in Hairspray at Ohlone College of Fremont, Father in Ragtime at MAD Theatre in Tampa, Florida, and the National Tours of A Christmas Carol and George M.