MAS Teachers' Bios
Jared Baird, drums instructor, received blue Smurfs drums when he was six years old, and his future was set. Studying and performing both rock and jazz since high school, he is the founder of the band Titmouse and co-founder of the local jam rock band, Loma Alta with MA Music Director Chris Detrick. Known for tight grooves and expressive chops, Jared is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music Summer Performance Program and a winner of the individual performance award at Berklee’s high school jazz competition. He is currently a student of local jazz fusion legend Scott Amendola. Jared is the sophomore class dean and teaches in the English department. Areas of expertise: improvisation in ensemble, developing strong time and groove, recording drums, refining drum sound, and preparing for performances.
Rebecca Mimiaga '05, voice and piano instructor, is a Marin Academy alum who has been studying voice since age 11. She started writing and performing her own music at age 16, while fronting various rock, folk and blues bands. She spent two years studying classical voice at Skidmore College before transferring to the New School For Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. There, she completed her BFA in Vocal Performance studies. Since 2010, Rebecca has been teaching private voice and piano lessons at various schools in New York, New Jersey and the Bay Area, including at Mark Murphy’s Music School in South Orange, NJ; The Music Center in Chatham, NJ; TeacherTone in Manhattan; Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera and The Brooklyn Music Factory, where she additionally taught band classes. She also gives private lessons in her home, some of which were contracted by the teaching staff of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. When not teaching, Rebecca writes and performs with her two bands around California and New York City. Her projects include "Rebecca Mimiaga" - songs in a cinematic, through-composed form for voice and piano, and "LOUIZA", her indie-alt rock band.
Chris Peck, guitar and bass instructor, is a musician and teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds a B.A. in Jazz and Composition from NYU’s Gallatin School. He began teaching guitar while still in high school, and has since taught group workshops in percussion, rock and jazz ensemble in a variety of settings around the Bay Area. When he’s not teaching, Chris makes his own albums and videos, and performs internationally and throughout the US. Last spring, he released “Ancient Baby,” the first album from the band of the same name. Chris is also a creative writer—presenting his fiction and poetry in readings around the Bay Area and holds an M.A. in the Humanities from Dominican University.
Karsten Windt, violin instructor, has been a teacher and director of the Advanced Chamber Music Ensemble program at Marin Academy. He received his Masters degree from the Universität der Künste in his hometown of Berlin and spent two years of postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School in London. First violinist with the Deutsche Symphony Berlin (DSO) and joining many other orchestras occasionally, like Montreal Symphony, Hamburg and Stuttgart Radio, Berlin, Oslo and Valencia Operas, and London Philharmonic, he maintained a busy concert, recording and international touring schedule over a period of twenty-five years and won a Grammy with his orchestra in 2011 under the baton of Kent Nagano. Karsten founded the Akanthus Ensemble Berlin and performed and recorded chamber music with his group. He introducing all of his programs as a narrator and included popular styles of music in special theme concerts and events. Karsten also developed and directed the String Academy of the DSO for many years, training young music students for orchestra parts, chamber music, chamber orchestra and auditions. Following repeated invitations to play and narrate for Forest Hill Musical Days in San Francisco, Karsten fell in love with the San Francisco Bay Area, founded the private chamber music series Salon Classique and moved to California in 2011. Since then he has established himself as an independent orchestra and chamber violinist and teacher. He still plays with the DSO in Berlin from time to time. Karsten holds several captain’s licenses. In his free time, he pursues his passion for sailing.