Cosmo School of Music Guitar Teachers

Randy Finney

Guitar Teacher

You want to participate in the musical experience from the very beginning of study. Give yourself permission to not let what you can't do get in the way of what you can do. See yourself as a musician from the very start. Explore, discover, and enjoy your own unique musical personality with a “it's what you with what you got” attitude. Randy Finney believes that his job as your teacher is to understand, respect, and embrace your unique musical personality and guide you on your journey of discovering how physical technique, ear training, theory, sight reading, and rhythmical articulation can best serve you as a musician.

As a young child, Randy grew up with Classic Country (Porter Wagner, Kitty Wells, Faron Young, et al). Then, into his teens, it was Classic Rock (The Doors, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, et al). A little later he became enamored with The Big Era which led him to study music at Humber College (Randy graduated from Humber with Honours in 1991 and was the Recipient of The Outstanding Achievement Award for Guitar). While at Humber he discovered guitarist Lenny Breau. This led him to Chet Atkins and the many great guitar players inspired by Chet. He founded the Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association in 2004 which has brought many of these players to Toronto for concerts and/or clinics.

Randy's teaching career began in his second year at Humber when one of his teachers recommended him to the Humber College Continuing Education to teach a guitar course. This inspired him to take a Pedagogy Course in his final year and he developed a lifelong love of teaching and for exploring teaching methodologies. This dedication to learning how to teach allows him to adapt to and accommodate a wide variety of student learning personalities.

Elliott Chung

Guitar Teacher

Elliott Chung has been playing the guitar for over 15 years. He currently holds a Level 7 in Classical Guitar with the Royal Conservatory of Music. Elliott passed with first-class honours or higher in all his playing and theory exams, including Level 9 History and Harmony. He has been teaching in various settings for over five years and has experience working with students of all ages.

Combined with his dedication to the art of guitar instruction along with his Bachelor of Education, Elliott strives to instill in his students a solid command of the instrument while also building their artistic confidence. He has studied with various teachers in Toronto, including Michael Kolk of the Henderson-Kolk guitar duo. When not teaching, Elliott also performs live and has experience performing at weddings, dinner parties, and other special events. In addition to classical guitar Elliott also enjoys and teaches rock and pop styles.

Dr. Francois Koh

Guitar Teacher, Ukulele Teacher

Dr. Francois Koh is an experienced guitar instructor, music ensemble coach, conductor, and mentor. He has taught guitar, music theory, and harmony since 2000. His rich musical experience in Korea, France, and Canada enables him to teach guitar and offer a solid musical foundation, such as French solfege and aural skills, to his students. While in France, he was a guitar Instructor at St. Cyr Ecole de Musique in Paris. In 2009, he was the adjudicator of the plucked string parts at the Coast Music Festival in British Columbia. Many of his students have successfully completed Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) exams with Silver Medals and university auditions, including McGill University and Berklee College of Music.

Dr. Koh is also interested in cognitive science research related to music education. During his doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, he actively participated in the "Music and the Brain" seminar to learn how music can rehabilitate a human's body and mind. His teaching philosophy is to help students reach their full potential by applying various musical approaches.

Michael Lanteigne

Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Banjo Teacher

Michael Lanteigne has been teaching guitar and bass for over 16 years. He grew up in a musical family and began learning to play guitar at a young age. His knowledge and talents are the result of years of private lessons with both well-known musicians and classically trained teachers. Michael has been working as a professional musician for the past 30 years. Presently, he is the co-founder of and guitarist/co-writer for the Johnson’s Creek Band, a Canadian country recording group, whose music is currently played on radio stations here in Canada and worldwide. Michael is dynamic, fun, and has a great sense of humour. He enjoys teaching various styles (rock, pop, contemporary, and metal), as well as theory and fretboard knowledge. Michael has a unique style, and uses a combination of finger picking, flat picking, and Travis picking.

Johnny Nixon

Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Banjo Teacher, Mandolin Teacher, Ukulele Teacher

A graduate from Humber College for Jazz in 1994, Johnny Nixon also studied classical guitar under Eli Kassner. Most of his music career has been spent working as a studio guitarist. He has performed/produced over 300 full length recordings, including five CDs under his own name. His albums are a mix of instrumental jazz/rock fusion and solo acoustic music and can be found on any streaming platform. Some of the artists that he has performed with include The Toronto Mass Choir, Pat & Debbie Boone, Kathy Troccoli, Mark Masri (The Tenors), Robin Mark, Dan Macaulay, Andy Timmons, Gary Hoey, For The Master, The Tonettes, Ben Heppner, and Kevin Pauls. He has also performed/produced many themes/commercials for film, television, and radio (Michael Coren Show, Huntley Street and CTS themes, Energizer, Canadian Tire, Hard Music Library, and YouTube Fireplace Channel Christmas themed). In addition to those credentials, he is also a clinician/house band at various workshops like Guitar Workshop Plus and Power Up which focuses on Gospel music.

Johnny is comfortable performing and teaching in most guitar styles: jazz, rock, metal, gospel, R&B, neo soul, progressive, flamenco, worship, blues, country, new age acoustic, and pop. Let Johnny help you connect the dots faster with your music goals.

Paul Wickham

Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Mandolin Teacher

Having taught guitar since 1975 and being involved in many aspects of the music business for over 25 years, Paul Wickham brings a wealth of experience to his teaching. He has taught classes, clinics, and seminars in various guitar styles and singing at the Guitar Workshop Plus and at the York Board of Education. He has also performed with John Allan Cameron, David Sinclair, John Knowles, and Matt Smith among others. His unique program is designed for students aged nine and older and levels of ability, to provide an enjoyable learning experience.

Andrea Casciato

Guitar Teacher, Ukulele Teacher

Andrea has been teaching guitar, music theory, and musicianship at Cosmo School of Music since 2005. He never misses a lesson and has a very good student retention rate. He teaches popular music and classical music, and effectively prepares students for Cosmo School of Music recitals, Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) exams, and university auditions. Andrea believes in comprehensive music education, and his lessons include technical work, rhythmic training, and music theory. Above all he strives to teach students how to practice so they can work independently from a teacher over the week between lessons.

He studied classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music where he completed exams in guitar performance, music history and music theory. He is a RCM Sliver Medal recipient in classical guitar performance (2009, Level 10 guitar). He is also a three time recipient of the Royal Conservatory's Teacher Certificate of Recognition for student achievement in Level 6, Level 7, and Level 8 guitar exams. When he is not busy teaching he writes music for solo guitar. His music has been published in the 2011 Royal Conservatory of Music guitar series, and is listed in the 2011 and 2018 RCM guitar syllabus. Over the years Andrea has been involved in many genres of music, and has performed in various venues across the Greater Toronto Area. He will be a guest performer with the Vesuvius Ensemble (vesuviusensemble.com) in 2022.

Andrea is an RCM Certified teacher (rcmusic.com).

Danny Sargeant

Guitar Teacher

Teaching has always been an important part of Dan's life having been a music teacher for 35 years. Since 1981, Danny Sargeant has been teaching in various music schools throughout Toronto and in public and private schools such as Bayview Glen Private School, Toronto District School Board, Dixon Hall School, and Royal Orchard Public School. He also has experience in music therapy.

Steve Gotlib

Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Ukulele Teacher

Steve Gotlib's lesson focus is on theory, technique, and ear training in order to provide the student with a strong foundational understanding of their instrument. At the same time he emphasizes the importance of learning simple songs, melodies, and pieces that help to inspire and motivate students to practice.

Steve is a busy sideman in the Toronto area and plays often with his own Brazilian Jazz trio Que Isso.