Music instructors
Our music program offers a variety of musical instruction from experts available to students wishing to learn an instrument or improve their skills.
Joe Braccio
Instructor of Guitar & Bass, Steel Drum Band Director
B.A., Eckerd College
braccijk@eckerd.edu
Joe Braccio is a respected teacher and performer in several styles of acoustic guitar, playing over a hundred engagements a year in top venues. He is also a noted coach of steel drum ensembles and is director of the Tampa Bay Steel Orchestra. In addition to teaching at Eckerd, Braccio is on the faculties of St. Petersburg College and several magnet arts programs in the Pinellas County Public Schools. Joe’s recordings are posted to the Buscarino Guitars website and available for download on iTunes. Braccio studied locally before pursuing advanced instruction at the Scuola Cresciani di Roma Conservatory.
Amy Collins
Instructor in Oboe
B.A., University of South Florida
Instructor Collins is an accomplished teacher and performer who has played oboe and English horn for all the area’s major orchestras. She teaches at the U. of South Florida and several other area institutions in addition to Eckerd.
Brent Douglas
Choral Director, String Orchestra Co-director, Instructor of Piano & Organ, Staff Accompanist
Brent Douglas is a highly versatile conductor with experience in orchestral, choral, and operatic repertoire. He is currently conductor of the Eckerd College Orchestra and Eckerd College Choir where he also teaches piano and organ lessons.
Rebecca Zapen Douglass
Instructor in Violin and Viola, Co-Director: String Orchestra
B.S. & B.A, Florida State University
douglarz@eckerd.edu
Instructor Zapen is a teacher, performer and composer with expertise across genres: classical, jazz, world and folk. She teaches private lessons in violin and viola and also coaches Eckerd’s string orchestra and chamber ensembles. To learn more about her many recordings and performances, visit her website.
Dawne Eubanks
Instructor in Voice
B.A., Florida State University
eubankdw@eckerd.edu
Instructor Eubanks is well-known as a teacher and performer in the Tampa Bay Area and beyond. In addition to her duties at Eckerd, she teaches voice at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts and taught for many years at Hillsborough Community College. A graduate of Florida State University, Eubanks is also an active church musician.
Alfred “Fred” Gratta
Instructor in Cello, Choir Accompanist
B.M., Cleveland Institute of Music
M.M., University of Southern California
grattaa@eckerd.edu
A long-time member of The Florida Orchestra, St. Petersburg Opera Orchestra and of summer festival orchestras in Eisenstadt, Austria and at Washington’s Bellingham Festival of Music, Mr. Gratta also teaches at the State College of Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music and his Master of Music degree at the University of Southern California.
Kurt Grissom
Instructor in Percussion
B.M., University of Tampa
grissokd@eckerd.edu
Instructor Grissom is a versatile, long-time percussionist with The Florida Orchestra who teaches not only at Eckerd but also for many other local institutions including the Pinellas County Center for the Arts and the Pinellas Youth Symphony. He also taught for many years at Hillsborough Community College. He holds a B.M. degree from the University of Tampa.
David Manson
Instructor in Low Brass
D.M.A., College Conservatory, University of Cincinnati
Instructor Manson teaches and coaches at St. Petersburg College in addition to working with students at Eckerd. He is also a composer and well-known performer of avant garde and jazz trombone music.
Stacey McColley
Instructor in Clarinet
B.M., University of South Florida
M.M., University of California – San Diego
Instructor McColley earned her B.M. degree from the University of South Florida, pursued graduate studies at the University of Southern California, then completed her M.M. degree at the University of California – San Diego. She has played clarinet and/or bass clarinet in most of the region’s professional orchestras including the Sarasota and Port Charlotte Orchestras and the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. She is also an active chamber musician and soloist, often promoting new compositions for the clarinet. In addition to teaching at Eckerd, McColley teaches at Florida Southern College and Southeastern College in Lakeland and at St. Petersburg College.
Erol Ozsever
Rock Lab, director and instructor of Advanced Music Production
DMA, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Erol Oz is a classically trained guitarist whose music defies genre boundaries. He is an award-winning guitarist and author who has been featured on radio stations across the country. His songwriting is an amalgam of indie rock, power pop, colorful jazz chords, folk-inspired fingerpicking, and altered tunings. His classical guitar programs include an eclectic range from serene to fiery tango to avant-garde. He has recorded, mixed, and produced artists from across the Tampa Bay Area.
Website: https://erolozmusic.com
Barbara Prescott
Instructor in Flute
B.M., University of Wisconsin
Instructor Prescott, previous principal flute of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, is an acclaimed area soloist, ensemblist, chamber music coach and teacher. She teaches at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts, St. Petersburg College and the University of Tampa in addition to Eckerd.
Kaitlyn Resler
Instructor in Horn
M.M., B.B., The Juilliard School
Instructor Resler plays 2nd Horn with The Florida Orchestra. She is also an active chamber musician who plays in prominent summer festival orchestras and in Broadway pit orchestras. A native of Pinellas County, she is happy to have returned to her home territory.
Emeriti
Marion Smith
Professor Emeritus of Music
Banner photo (top) by Sophia Bond ’25
