our teachers

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Voice

Claire has been teaching voice at The Malvern School of Music since October 2021 and is grateful for the opportunity to continue teaching! While studying music at The University of Tennessee, Claire spent many years performing as a Scholarship Singer at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Knoxville, Tennessee. In the summer of 2016, Claire traveled to Urbania, Italy, where she participated in the festival ‘Si Parla, Si Canta!’, intensively studying  the Italian language and opera. Upon receiving her Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance in 2018, Claire moved to Philadelphia to pursue a career in music. Since moving to Philly, Claire has performed several concerts with Singing City Choir and focused her efforts on spreading music throughout the community. Through various roles, including administrative positions at Symphony Square Assisted Living & Memory Care in Bala Cynwyd, and Chosen 300 in West Philadelphia, Claire has been able to perform for multiple Philadelphia communities on a multitude of occasions. She recently started the Masters of Music Therapy & Counseling program at Immaculata University. Claire is excited to begin her journey in music therapy as she works towards becoming a board-certified music therapist.  

Piano
Educated at Berklee College of Music. Dwight McIntosh is known as a professional Pianist/Keyboardist, Composer, Piano Tutor, Performer and lover of life. He began formal training in piano performance at the age of 5. Dwight also earned certificates of honors from the Royal School of Music during the earlier years of his life. At 14, Dwight joined his first band and has been performing ever since, both live and in the studio. Dwight has been teaching piano and music theory for over 20 years. His skills cover multiple genres, including Jazz, Pop, Rock, Classical, and Reggae. Dwight’s acceptance into Berklee College of Music provided him with a solid and diverse education in Composition, Orchestration, Music Theory, Jazz Piano Performance, Jazz Arranging, Counterpoint, Ear training, Reharmonization techniques, Music History, Music Notation, Music Production, Film Scoring, Music Cognition, and Music Therapy.
Dwight has had the opportunity to work with many world-renowned musicians, including Gerald Veasley (Smooth Jazz bassist), Kim Waters (Smooth Jazz saxophonist), Frankie McIntosh (pianist/keyboardist and arranger), Bobby Lyle (Smooth Jazz Keyboardist/Pianist), Alex Bugnon (Smooth Jazz Keyboardist), Fostina Dixon (Jazz Saxophonist) and the late Wilby Fletcher (drummer). He has also toured with many international artists. He currently works with local artists and musicians around the Delaware area. Dwight enjoys sharing his knowledge and experiences with students and band mates.

Clarinet, Saxophone, Oboe, Flute, Bagpipes

Charlie Rutan is a classically trained professional musician with 35 years of nationwide and international performing experience. A graduate of the University of the Arts, he is a member of ASCAP, and the AFM. He specializes in all the standard woodwinds and many traditional, historical woodwinds from around the globe. He was principal oboe in the Chestnut Hill Orchestra, Olney Symphony, and Northeast Oratorio Society, and has performed for President G.H. Bush, Rod Stewart, H.M. Queen Noor Regent of Jordan, and the Phillies MLB team. He’s been on NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, FOX, and TV Finland. Charlie currently performs & records in seven separate bands along the NYC/DC corridor, and is the official Bagpiper of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Charlie was designated as a Master Folk Artist by the state of New Jersey (2021), awarded an "Illuminate The Arts” grant by the City of Philadelphia (2022), featured in the NBC series ‘Mrs Peacock’ (2023), and the indie horror film ‘ Bitter Souls’ (2025).  

Charlie’s foundation training in woodwind technique was given by Maurice Sailly, a graduate of the Amiens Music Conservatory in France. Prof. Sailly’s philosophy has been the core of Charlie’s instructional methods to impart the enjoyment of playing music to all his students.

Guitar, Ukulele

Erik recently graduated from Berklee College of Music with a Degree in  Contemporary Writing and Production. He is the lead guitarist/songwriter for bands Yaer, Airstrikes, and Insomnivore. He also works as a freelance producer and studio guitarist. Erik is currently working on a post-minimalistic project for 9 guitars using both standard and  

experimental recording and production techniques. Erik regularly listens to and learns from Bach, Meshuggah, Pat Metheny and Pink Floyd. 

Piano

Barbara began her musical studies at the age of 7, studying piano. She added flute and guitar several years later. In college, she sang in the Penn State University Concert Choir, Chapel Choir and Penn State Singers. She performed in musical theater at The Three Little Bakers in Kennett Square and Christiana, DE, taking part in the beloved musicals “Annie”, “Sound of Music”, “Carousel”, and “Kiss Me Kate”. She studied voice and Music Education at Immaculata University, and taught piano at St. Agnes in West Chester. She enjoys introducing young people to music.

Classical Pianist
Bonnie Sumerfield holds a Bachelors degree in Piano Performance from the Boston Conservatory and a Master of Music in Accompanying from West Chester  University. Ms. Sumerfield has been on the staff at Millersville University, the University of Delaware, West Chester University and Settlement Music School as both teacher and collaborative artist. She is the staff pianist at the Camphill School in Glenmoore, PA, pianist at  Covenant Presbyterian Church in Malvern and for the Pennsylvania Eurythmy Ensemble, a performing group of movement artists. In addition to teaching at MSoM, she also runs a private studio. 

Guitar, Ukulele

Dan has been studying music and playing guitar for more than 20 years, and has been teaching students at the Malvern School of Music since 2023. He enjoys making learning fun. You’ll want to go home and practice everything you learned in today’s lesson!