Yardley Music Lessons Team
Meet Our Team
At Yardley Music Lessons, we take pride in offering high-quality music instruction tailored to help each student reach their musical potential. Our team of experienced and enthusiastic instructors provides a range of lessons, including guitar, piano, voice, drums, ukulele, and more. We work with students of all ages and abilities, offering personalized lessons in a fun, supportive atmosphere. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced musician looking to refine your skills, our instructors are here to guide you every step of the way. Discover why Yardley Music Lessons is a top choice for music education in Yardley, PA, and surrounding areas. Meet our talented instructors and start your musical journey today!
Jonah Tolchin
Guitar Teacher / Owner
Jonah is a proud Yardley local with a story of musical success that continues to unfold. At 20 he signed to the prestigious label, Yep Roc Records. His music has been streamed over 30 million times in 78+ countries. He has spent the last 12 years developing multiple crafts including songwriting, guitar, and music production. Jonah has toured the world playing his songs and collaborated with legends such as Jackson Browne and Rickie Lee Jones. He has made a name for himself in the Los Angeles music scene where he works with A-list session musicians producing records for developing artists. The musicians he works with play with artists such as Fiona Apple, Ben Harper, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Beck, etc. Jonah has worked with Grammy winning engineers and musicians, and also is a voting member of the Recording Academy. He is known not only for his career as a songwriter, producer, and recording artist, but also as a guitar player. Jonah has been written about in NPR, Guitar Player Magazine Japan, Rolling Stone Germany, American Songwriter, Uncut, MOJO, No Depression, Pop Matters, etc.
Jonah loves teaching one on one guitar lessons to complete beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. His students will learn the skills of improvisation, foundational music theory, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, fingerpicking, songwriting skills, basic audio recording, and more. Most importantly, over time they will learn how playing music can be a tool for self-discovery and empowerment in all aspects of life.
As of 2024, Jonah now lives in Yardley with his wife and daughter.
Kyle St. Sauveur
Voice / Piano / Theory
Kyle proudly takes pleasure in encouraging students of all walks of life to reach their highest potential - whether that be performing their favorite song on stage, or exercising their creativity in making original music. His unique and organized approach to instruction sets him apart from the rest! He has a passion for understanding all learning levels, and is thrilled to provide a fun and goal-oriented environment to you or a future student’s lesson!
Kyle Saint-Sauveur is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. He was a double major in both the Vocal Performance and Music Theory/Composition programs, but grew his passion towards composition during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Kyle received his Bachelor’s in Music Theory/Composition with a voice concentration in May 2023. During his undergraduate studies, Kyle collaborated with his fellow colleagues, however most notably being commissioned by the Westminster Community Orchestra and by Morrisville Presbyterian Church for various chamber and symphonic works.
In his compositional studies, he was a protégé of various professional and well-accomplished composers such as Dr. Joel Phillips, Dr. Jay Kawarsky, Dr. Ronald Hemmel, and a descendant of famous educator Nadia Boulanger Dr. Stefan Young. He was proud of various awards including the Julianne Phillips Scholarship, the C. Johnson Scholarship, and the R&R Young Award. He competed in the Westminster Collegiate Composition Competition, earning first place in 2020. His compositional style relates mainly towards neo-classical music, and jazz fusion. Kyle’s favorite band is Kansas, and one of his many favorite songs is Galactic Funk by Casiopea.
Currently, he is an active performing artist and church vocalist for Morrisville Presbyterian Church in Morrisville, PA, and Mater Ecclesiae Parish in Berlin, NJ. Kyle continues to write sacred and chamber music, as well as exploring opportunities for the orchestra. His end goal is to write for movies, television, and various entertainment.
Kyle has worked as a private instructor for 3 years, and is excitedly beginning his second year of institutional instruction. He plans to expand and develop his studio by writing original work for those to use for educational purposes, and collaborate with recording studios and fellow composers.
Sign up for a trial lesson with Kyle today and begin your musical journey.
Mark Blair
Guitar / Piano / Ukulele
Mark Blair is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and music teacher hailing from Ellicott City, Maryland. He began exploring his passion for music around age 15 when he first picked up the guitar on a whim. Since then, he has branched out to other instruments, including piano, bass, and ukulele. He initially began his guitar journey by learning various styles of rock and eventually branched out to classical guitar. He is currently working on improving his jazz chops on guitar and piano as well. He has an immense appreciation for all of the above styles of music, with a particular affection for 90s alternative rock.
Mark holds a B.A. in music theory and composition from Goucher College, located in Baltimore, MD. In recognition of his academic achievements, he received the Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg and Robert Hall Lewis awards in music in 2015 and 2016, respectively. After graduating from Goucher in 2016, he moved to Brooklyn, NY and joined the faculty of Brooklyn Music School. Throughout his tenure there he worked as a private lesson instructor, ensemble director, choir accompanist, and group class instructor. Over the past couple decades, he has performed solo and in various bands on guitar, piano, and bass around Baltimore and NYC. In 2023, he relocated to Trenton, NJ, and continues to teach and perform in NJ and NYC. He enjoys spending his down time honing his skills on each instrument, writing music, playing retro video games, and having fun with friends.
As a teacher, Mark strongly believes in tailoring his teaching style to match the needs of each individual student. With an approach that emphasizes critical thinking, he strives to cultivate a fun and challenging learning environment for each and every new student that comes his way. He is very grateful and excited to be part of the YML team!
Santo Rizzolo
Drums / Guitar
Santo Rizzolo born in Jackson, New Jersey is an American drummer and musician. His love for music and the drums began around the age of twelve when his father purchased him his firstsnare drum at a local garage sale. Santo has been playing drums professionally for over 15 years sharing the stage and recording with many artists such as The Village People, Steve Forbert, Dana Fuchs, David Bryan, Matt Oree, Nicole Atkins, Brielle Von Hugel (Finalist on The American Idol), Remember Jones, Dead On Live, JT Bowen, Arlan Feiles, Jackson Pines, Matt Wade Band, Play Date, Tara Dente, Brother Andrew, and Mike Montrey Band to name a few. Santo is currently plays and tours nationally with Atlantic Records artist Joe P.
Santo has been teaching for over a decade and has a deep-rooted love for sharing knowledge of his craft and watching students grow into great musicians. His passion for the fundamentals of the instrument, from rudimental studies to drumset performance is infectious and makes
learning new concepts very enjoyable. Adept in a wide range of diverse musical styles such as Rock, Funk, World music, Hip Hop/ R&B, Jazz, and Country, Santo can take a student in any direction they’d like and form lesson plans and practice routines that best suit their individual
needs.
When not teaching or touring, Santo enjoys writing and creating songs in his basement studio in Bordentown, New Jersey.
Brandon Broderick
Guitar / Ukulele / Beginner Piano
Brandon Broderick is a Music Performance and Music B.A graduate from Rutgers University. He has been teaching students of all ages for over 10 years and teaches several instruments including Guitar, Bass, Ukulele, Vocals, Piano and Music Theory. Brandon is also ABRSM certified for the ABRSM Music Theory Exams. He teaches all styles and genres (rock, pop, jazz, acoustic, folk) and is open to teaching all students of any difficulty level or any age. On top of that, Brandon is a full-time musician and performer and has performed solo and with many bands over the last 15 years
Shawn Waterman
Operations Manager
Shawn has over 15 years of experience working as a public educator and operations manager for small businesses and nonprofits. He's also an avid guitar player and forever grateful to his parents for agreeing to sign him up for lessons when he was twelve years old. In addition to playing guitar and writing songs, Shawn lives on a homestead in Central New York with his wife and two young sons, where he enjoys gardening, exercising, and relaxing in his wood-burning sauna.
