Chris Kopp
Music Director
Chris Kopp has had a passion for music his whole life which was instilled at an early age growing up in a musical family. This passion eventually led him to attend, and graduate from, the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts with a degree in Professional Music. After graduation, he returned to his hometown of Monterey, California, and began pursuing a career in music.
In 2008, Chris auditioned for the United States Navy Band where he was fortunate enough to spend more than a decade traveling the world, leading bands, and performing for high-profile audiences, all while sharing the stage with some of the greatest musicians in the world. After separating from active duty service in 2018 he went back to school and received a master's degree in Organizational Psychology. Chris and his wife Maki opened School of Rock Santa Ana in 2021 and he currently serves as the school's Music Director.
Anthony Klinner
Singing Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
Anthony Klinner has been in love with music his whole life. His performance career started off in Heidelberg, Germany when he was around seven years old in his church worship band. From there, Anthony would continue to lead worship and pursue music all the way up until today.
Throughout his life, Anthony has been a part of touring jazz groups where he sang and played trumpet, touring choirs, National and International songwriting competitions, and leads worship in many different churches across the country.
Today, Anthony attends Vanguard University where he is studying Musical Theatre and still actively pursuing his music and acting careers. When he is not writing songs or teaching lessons, you'll most likely find Anthony re-watching marvel movies for the 100th time.
Danny Hudson
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Danny Hudson is a bassist, guitarist, and pianist from Fountain Valley, California. He started to play music when he was 12 years old and soon found a soft spot for the bass. Shortly after, he became a School of Rock student and developed his skills on the bass. Danny trained for a few more years until he was accepted into one of the top music programs in the Southern California area at the Orange County School for the Arts.
While Danny continues to focus primarily on the bass, he enjoys playing the guitar and piano as well. After playing for a few years, he started performing with local bands and studios as a bassist and guitarist. Danny is very active in the local music scene and is excited to continue on his musical journey, wherever it may take him.
Sky Wilson
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Drum Teacher, Singing Teacher
Sky Wilson is a multi-dimensional musician from Long Beach, California. After starting piano lessons at a young age, Sky decided that he was going to teach himself as many musical instruments as possible, and that list continues to grow. At School of Rock Santa Ana, he teaches drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and vocals, and has taught music in elementary schools for over 6 years. Sky plays in quite a few bands around LA and OC, everything from Blues to Metal, while maintaining an unmatchable love for his children, and family. Sky is on a mission not only to be a rockstar, but also to create as many rockstars as he possibly can in the process.
Ryan Reiff
Drum Teacher
Ryan Reiff fell in love with music at an early age playing violin in elementary school and tenor saxophone in his jr. high school band. At age 12, he sat down at his first drum set and knew he had found his calling in life. Since those early days, Ryan has played in many bands, toured the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and shared the stage with some of his heroes like TV on the Radio, Little Dragon, They Might be Giants, Sage Francis and Raekwon of the Wu Tang Clan. While collaborating with Ikey Owens (The Mars Volta, Jack White) for a decade in the band Free Moral Agents, Ryan honed his performance, writing and improvisation skills. But the biggest lesson learned was what a great impact a talented mentor can have on a passionate musician. As a drum instructor at School of Rock, he aims to impress those same valuable lessons on his students to help them succeed in their musical pursuits as well as in their lives.
David Sampen
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Drum Teacher, Singing Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
David Sampen is a well-known actor, entertainer, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer. He has appeared in several films including "Avatar" and "Blades Of Glory" and continues to work regularly in front of the camera on shows such as ABC's "General Hospital" and Amazon's hit series "Goliath."
David grew up playing the violin, saxophone, piano, and singing and attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts for eight years. In college, he received degrees in Biology, Chemistry, and Recording Tech. Featured in the famous Los Angeles rock bands 80-DO, Expiate, Sound Library, and The Edgar Allan Poets, David produces music for each group with performances in and around the LA area. In addition to his virtuosic guitar performing and free-lance artistry, David composes music, builds guitars, and produces music commercially.
Parker Hanna
Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Parker has been playing guitar and bass since he was 8 years old and attended Orange County School of the Arts. He was part of the classical guitar program in seventh grade and was then asked to audition for the Commercial Music Conservatory where he remained for the rest of his tenure at OCSA. Upon graduating, Parker attended the Musicians Institute in Hollywood where he majored in bass performance.
Parker loves all genres of music and is devoted to his craft. He enjoys teaching and is devoted to promoting the importance of music to his students.
Miré Molnar
Vocals Teacher
Miré came of age during the 90's Indie Rock Movement and was playing in Riot Grrl bands by the age of 16. One of her bands, Point of Theta, opened for The Softies. Orange County was a vibrant scene for early emo/hardcore, indie pop, punk and ska revival bands and Miré loved all of it. Ska was the most fun for her, so eventually she started up a ska band with some co-workers and they played as Los Pantalones. Life unfolded and a few years later that band became Save Ferris and one of the songs Miré co-wrote ended up featured in the Disney film, 10 Things I Hate About You (and that soundtrack went gold). After college Miré focused solely on music and was in two bands, Kill Baby Kill and Radio Vago. Radio Vago was an all girl dark synth band with high energy and toured the country while making an album produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (of The Mars Volta). Most notably they opened for Sleater-Kinney. Sadly Radio Vago broke up right before a European Tour and before their LP was released. So Miré has some good war stories of being out on the road and in an "almost famous" type band situation. She lives on to tell the tale and help young musicians discover their own passion for Rock N' Roll while navigating the underground music scene.
Michael Malinowski
Drum Teacher
Michael Malinowski is a freelance drummer and percussionist who has performed with artists such as Blue Man Group, Monobloco, and Sheila E. He has had the privilege of performing at some of the biggest venues in LA, including the Hollywood Bowl, Ford Amphitheatre, and Microsoft Theater. Michael graduated from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, at California State University, Long Beach, with a degree in Percussion Performance. There, he studied classical, jazz, and world music. Currently, Michael is focused on performing live, touring, teaching, and recording in his studio.
Michael has performed and toured with multiple groups in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas – most notably One High Five and Samba Da Mudança. Being a versatile drummer, he balanced those shows with numerous musical theatre performances, including Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, and Guys and Dolls. In the last several years, he also filled in drumming for numerous Los Angeles and Long Beach Rock bands, including Riot Stage, Katie Jo & the Mijos, DCHAV, Lazarus Casket, Alyssandra Nighswonger, and more.
Elijah Vann
Drum Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Elijah Vann is a drummer and bassist from Los Alamitos, California. He started playing music at the age of 6 when he picked up drumsticks for the first time; he learned how to play bass guitar shortly thereafter. Elijah has played in a multitude of groups throughout his life at prestigious venues such as the NAMM show, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Angels Stadium, and others. During high school, Elijah studied music at the Orange County School of the Arts. While at OCSA he performed dozens of times as a part of the Popular Music Program as well as the school’s Premier Performance Ambassadors, Montage! Currently, Elijah is actively working as a musician for hire and is excited to share his musical expertise with the future rockstars at School of Rock Santa Ana.
Amarissa Vicente
Singing Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Songwriting Teacher, Recording and Production Teacher
Amarissa has always had a deep-rooted passion for music. Growing up, her favorite singers consisted of powerhouse vocalists Etta James, Christina Aguilera, and the late Amy Winehouse. Amarissa began taking vocal lessons at the age of 10 and immediately began to find her voice. Trained in pop music by a classical voice instructor, Amarissa built a strong foundation of healthy vocal techniques to fully unlock and utilize her powerhouse voice. She pursued her education as a vocalist at the prestigious Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music where she obtained her associate's degree in vocal performance. Since graduating, Amarissa has found success in her career as a singer-songwriter, releasing many highly streamed singles and performing live shows around LA with her band. With a heart for music, she loves teaching and sharing her craft with rising-star musicians, singers, and songwriters.
Rick Byoun
Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Drum Teacher
Rick Byoun is a keyboardist and drummer from Irvine, California. He has been playing music for as long as he can remember, beginning with piano at the age of 5. During the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, he spent his time improving as a musician and taught himself how to play drums.
Rick has participated in dozens of county and state-level classical music competitions and accompanied many orchestral performances over the years. Wanting to broaden his horizons, he applied and was accepted to the Popular Music Conservatory at the Orange County School of the Arts. While at OCSA, he performed in dozens of concerts at venues like the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and was under the tutelage of professional musicians currently working in the industry.
Rick continues to enjoy playing both the piano and drums and is looking forward to sharing his passion with the next generation of musicians at School of Rock Santa Ana.
Derek O'Brien
Drum Teacher, Recording + Production Teacher
Derek O’Brien fell in love with music before he had teeth and could say the word "music!" He grew up in Fullerton, spending his time skateboarding, surfing, and trying to find his purpose in life. Derek spent a few months playing snare drum with the school band at Nicholas Junior High School and was persuaded by his music teacher to play the drum kit at a school concert for families and friends. Even though he had not played a drum kit before, Derek acted on that encouragement, and his leap of faith paid off!
At Fullerton High School, Derek played with the school jazz band, orchestra, and marching band; with the marching band, he led ten drummers at a time in cadences through parades and football games. During this time, Derek also started a rock cover band. In his senior year, he was offered a scholarship to study jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. At the same time, he was also offered a chance to go on the road with a punk band called Social Distortion. Once again, he took the risk on what seemed to be the most exciting option.
Derek spent years drumming on records and touring with bands such as Social Distortion, DI, Agent Orange, Extra Fancy, The Adolescents, Punk Rock Karaoke, and many others through many different genres of music. He eventually earned a Music Production / Engineering degree at UCLA and built a recording studio to record, produce, mix, and master music with bands, singer/songwriters, and other projects, including The Adolescents, Fishbone, The Meat Puppets, The Adicts, TSOL, The Briggs, a duet with Grammy Award-winning folk singer Lucinda Williams and Flogging Molly, Ted Kamp, Mark Ford, Rich Redmond, Clem Burk, Davey Faragher, and many others. Derek finds time to enjoy teaching, playing local shows, and doing short band tours.