“Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.”

Our educators at Kindermusik by the falls fully embrace this saying by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, the world famous violin teacher, child pedagog and the founder of the Suzuki method. Kindermusik licensed educators as well as professional musicians, they are eager to share their appreciation for music with young children.

Ardis Hartley-Billey is a professional harpist and a violinist with a bachelor of music degree from Cleveland State University.A suzuki violin and harp teacher for more than 2 decades, she founded Kindermusik by the falls in 2000. Since then, she has exposed and initiated to music more than 1,000 babies, toddlers and young children with their parents! Kindermusik has fulfilled her vision of the role of music in nurturing skills in the whole child and contributing to his cognitive, emotional, social, language and physical development.

Kathleen Mylecraine is a freelance flutist in the Cleveland area.  She is Director of Flautrageous, the Cleveland Music School Settlement’s resident flute choir. She performs regularly as soloist, with the flute duo MagicalFlutes, and the larger North Coast Flute Ensemble which she founded in 2003. She is a graduate of the University of Utah. She lives in Aurora, OH where she maintains a private teaching studio.     

Cathy Clifford-Nicholson is an Ohio native and has studied voice and music for over 17 years. She holds her Masters of Fine Arts from Ohio University 96’.  As an actress, she has performed at many of the area theatres such as the Karamu, and Great Lakes Theatre, as well as, the Cleveland Playhouse. Her experience with children involves teaching Kindermusik™ since 1999 and has taught theatre to children at the Cleveland Playhouse, Karamu Theatre, and the Weathervane Theatre in Akron. In addition to teaching with Choristers she sings with the LCCC Community Choir.  She looks forward to sharing her abundant joy and love of music with your children.

Amanda Surace, the daughter of a college band director, has been very excited to become a Kindermusik studio teacher after various experiences teaching public school, private school, toddler classes and church Sunday school classes. She created her own studio in Lyndhurst before deciding to join the faculty of Kindermusik by the falls and help many more families to build that critical parent-child bond!

Amanda attended Kent State University from 1998-2005, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Education with a Choral/General emphasis. She has early intermediate level piano skills, as well as classical singing skills. She has earned her Orff and Kodaly level one certificates, and hopes to pursue levels two and three in each specialty soon.

Amanda lives in Lyndhurst with her husband and her "baby" Frankie the dog.