Melissa Birchett
Owner, General Manager
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Melissa had an interest in music at a very young age. Her dad exposed her to a variety of musical styles, but she decided she was born to be an opera singer. She started vocal and piano lessons at 5 years old and performed in many musicals and plays across Texas until she strictly studied classical music.
Melissa moved to sunny Malibu, California, and attended Pepperdine University where she received a B.A. in Vocal Performance. During her time at Pepperdine, she had the opportunity to live in Heidelberg, Germany, while traveling and performing in Bizet’s Carmen. She furthered her education by moving to San Francisco and received a master’s degree in Opera Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
After graduating, Melissa moved back to Texas and continued singing classical music and performing in the area. Melissa switched from classical to rock and has worked for School of Rock for the past decade, teaching vocals, and keys, and becoming a music director of the program. Her passion has always been music and helping others find their voice and their joy in it. Her dream was to eventually own and operate her own School of Rock and she is so excited to bring that dream to Coppell!
Tim Harman
Music Director, Drum Teacher
Tim was destined to be a musician. Growing up in a musical family, he was exposed to music early on via his mother’s Beatles records and the marching bands directed by his father. He did the typical beating on books, pots, and pans until his parents accepted their fate and relented, buying him a snare drum one Christmas, eventually leading to a full drum set soon after.
After cutting his teeth in Deep Ellum clubs in his early teens, Tim embarked on his first national tour at the age of 14 and essentially hasn’t stopped since, save for a couple of breaks to go to music school and establish a drum shop on the Denton Square. Currently touring with San Francisco-based rock and roll band The Atom Age, his real-world musical experience continues to broaden every year.
Tim began teaching in drum shops in 2008 and has taught thousands of lessons since then. There is nothing he loves more than to pass whatever knowledge about the instrument and music he has accumulated to anybody willing to listen, and that means you!
Loren Moreland
Singing Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Loren is a vocalist who was a former School of Rock student for six years. As a student, she became a multi-instrumentalist and toured across the United States with the School of Rock Continental Tour. At 16 years old, Loren was a contestant on American Idol and made it to Hollywood Week.
After her time at School of Rock, Loren graduated with her degree in Psychology and Child Development from the University of North Texas. Currently, Loren teaches the Rookies and Little Wing classes, in addition to the Adult Band. Loren continues to practice music and play at local venues in the area.
Matthew Martinez
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Matthew Martinez is a guitar player from Arlington, Texas. He was inspired from a very young age by all things music with some of his favorite artists being Snarky Puppy, John Mayer, and Jeff Buckley.
Matthew became a School of Rock student at the age of 15 and worked his way up to the House Band, attended the Continental Tour, and was even accepted into Berklee College of Music.
With over a decade of experience playing guitar, Matthew has returned to School of Rock to help lead those on a similar path. He dreams of nothing but performing and inspiring others to do the same. Matthew is a guitar teacher and bass guitar teacher at School of Rock Coppell.
Alex Poulos
Drum Teacher
Alex Poulos is a drummer and percussionist from Dallas, Texas. He started his musical journey in his elementary school percussion program, moving on to middle school percussion, and finally spent his high school years in the drumline as the top marching bass during his freshman year, and marching snare during his sophomore through senior years, all providing him with a technical education geared toward performance which allowed him to flourish once he found musicians to play with on a stage.
Alex started playing live music at the age of 19 in a metal band called Our Tragic Hero, then co-founded a folk-punk band called Hats & Statues, which formed into the Dallas surf-punk band Sealion, gaining a certain level of notoriety over 12 years that amounted to a special place in the DFW music scene. Currently, aside from Sealion, Alex plays in the Dallas indie-rock band FIT, releasing singles and playing live shows across the Denton, Dallas, and Ft. Worth areas, and Dead Beat Club which is a B-52's tribute act.
Music has brought Alex so much in the way of life experience and taught him patience, acceptance, and self-motivation. Having the opportunity to pass that knowledge on to successive generations of musicians, regardless of age, means so much to him. If luck resides at the intersection of opportunity and preparation, Alex would consider himself extremely lucky to be a musician and a member of the School of Rock Coppell staff!
Johnnie Domingo
Drum Teacher
Johnnie Domingo started playing drums at the age of 10 and no one has been able to stop him since. He cut his teeth on the drums by performing with the exciting yet chaotic punk band The Atomic Tanlines and dove head first into the north Texas DIY music scene. Over the course of a decade, his drums have been recorded on a self-released 7" with his post-hardcore band Anger House and he has toured the Midwest and the South with the alternative rock band Rei Clone.
Nowadays, Johnnie plays drums for the dance-pop group Hypnagogo and is exploring electronic music production. With a drumming style that formed from trial by fire, Johnnie's mission is to instill a sense of musical experimentation and confidence in his students all while guiding them through potential pitfalls and difficulties that he himself has experienced out on stage.
Rachel Webb
Singing Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Rachel has been a professional musician for over a decade. She was born and raised in Frisco, Texas, starting with a classical voice education, eventually leading to a 7-year-long journey as a School of Rock student.
While Rachel initially auditioned for opera programs at Pepperdine and Belmont University, she decided to take a contemporary route in higher education. Rachel studied at the University of Colorado Denver with a focus in performance for a year, then transferred to the Berklee College of Music in Boston and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Music Production and Engineering (with a focus on Commercial Record Production).
While in Boston, Rachel performed in multiple hardcore and metal bands, playing gigs in the Back Bay and Cambridge areas. She is so excited to be back in Texas and to impart the knowledge she has gained to a new generation of music students.
Sam McClaran
Studio Coordinator
Sam started out as a School of Rock student back in 2011. He has been playing bass guitar in different music projects spanning many genres including alt-rock, metal, classic rock, and shoegaze.
In 2018, Sam went on a small music tour across Texas and New Mexico for his solo project in the lo-fi genre, playing with other lo-fi artists like Dead End Kids, Yung Crybby, and Hardy Tunes. Sam got to experience life on the road and explored music through the sound and production side as well.
After touring, Sam decided to step away from lo-fi and solo gigs to focus on technique and other genres of rock. At School of Rock Coppell, Sam divides his time between his role as studio coordinator and running Rock 101!