New Faculty Join American Music Institute

Michael Hoover, Matt Ramel, and Crystalyn Snow have joined the AMI faculty in Clarendon Hills to teach flute, woodwinds, and piano respectively.

Michael Hoover is a Chicago-area flutist and teacher. He received his Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in flute Performance from DePaul University and also studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

As a performer, Michael has received numerous honors including second-prize at the National Flute Association (NFA) Orchestral Audition Competition, the Mary Motl Scholarship Award, third-prize in the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition, and finalist performances at the NFA Solo Masterclass Competition and the Walfrid Kujala International Piccolo Competition.

Matthew Ramel’s teaching experiences include private woodwind instruments including clarinet, sax and flute, as well as beginning and intermediate piano lessons. Mr. Ramel holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Elmhurst College where he focused his studies on woodwind instruments.

Matthew has played at Elmhurst College Wind Ensemble for the past 3 years. He has performed with them at IMEA as well as Orchestra Hall. He was also part of a Clarinet quartet that has played at the annual Clarinet Collaborations Chicago located at Northeastern Illinois University. At this event he has had the opportunity to play with some incredible musicians such as Jorge Montilla and John Bruce Yeh.

Crystalyn Snow began formal piano lessons at the age of twelve, studying with Christine Brown at the Indiana University Southeast Music Preparatory Department. Crystalyn received her Bachelor of Music degree as a double major in piano performance and music education from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), studying piano with Robert Ruckman. She recently moved to the Chicago area, and will be attending DePaul University School of Music for her master’s degree in piano performance.

Crystalyn has given numerous solo and chamber recitals in the Ohio and Indiana areas. In June 2013, she was featured as a guest artist in Savannah, GA as part of the Messiah Arts Summer Concerts Series. During the summer of 2012, Crystalyn attended Brevard Music Center under the tutelage of Douglas Weeks. While at Brevard, she was a piano teaching assistant, in which she coached high school pianists and accompanied instrumentalists. Ms. Snow also performed in the BMC orchestras under the direction of conductors such as Keith Lockhart.

Contact AMI at 630-850-8505 or ami@amimusic.org.