Who
Russell Lacy
Founder & Percussion
Founded RLM in 2012
A native of North Carolina, Russell Lacy started playing percussion when he was nine. In high school, Russell studied classical percussion under the noted percussionist and composer Christopher Deane; he completed high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he majored in classical percussion but developed his long-standing interest in jazz. Russell continued his training in Durham at North Carolina Central University, graduating with a concentration in jazz studies.
In 2006, Russell relocated to New York City to pursue a master’s degree at Queens College, dedicated himself to the study of Afro-Latin music with Vince Cherico, and composition and arranging with Michael Mossman, completing his MFA in Spring 2008. Russell has also studied privately with Joe Morrello, Billy Hart, John Riley, and Jeff “Tain” Watts and was selected to participate in the Lake Placid Institute Jazz Improvisation Workshop and the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program.
In his performing career, Russell has shared the stage with John Hart, John Bailey, Frank Kimbrough, Steve Cardenas, Bobby Porcelli, David Berkman, Michael Blake Band, Branford Marsalis, Joey Calderazzo, Eric Reed, Delfayo Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Pete McCann, and Gregory Tardy. Since 2008, Russell has concentrated his efforts on developing the Trachy/Lacy Collective, which released Lanky (2009) and performed in venues in the United States including Duke University, College of Charleston, Virginia Tech University and most notably the Kennedy Center.
While continuing to perform in New York City, North Carolina and around the United States, Russell has dedicated himself to music education for the past decade. Before moving to New York, he taught private lessons at Carrboro Music Studios. In New York, Russell served on the faculty of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and Mark Murphy’s Music. In 2011, Russell returned to Durham to focus on teaching and opening Russell Lacy Music.
Daniel Faust
Percussion
Joined RLM in 2020
Daniel Faust was raised in Jamestown, North Carolina, and started playing drums and taking lessons at the age of twelve in hopes of forming a band with two friends. Throughout middle school and high school, Daniel gained experience performing in church as well as with the Winston-Salem Youth Orchestra. He also started taking private lessons from noted classical percussionists Carol Johnson and J. Massie Johnson. Daniel graduated from the Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts with a concentration in Music Production. During his later years of high school Daniel played in the Piedmont Triad Jazz Orchestra (PTJO) and began studying with jazz drummer Thomas Taylor. Daniel attended UNC-Greensboro, where he continued his work with Thomas Taylor as well as studying with Steve Haines and Chad Eby, and graduated in 2011 with a BM in Jazz Studies.
Since graduating from college, Daniel has been one of the most in-demand drummers in North Carolina, playing and recording in almost all genres. In the realm of jazz, he has appeared on the following records: Chad Eby’s New Business and The Sweet Shel Suite (4 stars in Downbeat), Zen Poet’s Propensity Parade, and Keenan McKenzie’s A Bull City Holiday. Daniel has also performed internationally, touring China with the Antonio Truyols Quartet and performing at Bucharest International Jazz Competition and Festival where his group, Unit Three Jazz Piano Trio was awarded "Best Band." Daniel regularly performs with Chad Eby Trio and Quartet, Mint Julep Jazz Band, Keenan McKenzie and the Riffers, and the Piedmont Traid Jazz Orchestra. He has also shared the stage with Brandon Lee and Charlie Hunter.
Beyond jazz, Daniel can be heard on the following records; Anne-Claire’s I Still Look for You, Rachel Kiel’s Shot From A Cannon, H.C. McEntire’s Lionheart, and regular performs/tours with H.C. McEntire, Rachel Kiel, Rodes and Cashavelly Morrison. Daniel has also shared the stage with Strand of Oaks, Phil Cook, Mount Moriah, Lowland Hum, and Amy Ray (of the Indigo Girls).
Daniel’s theater credits include performing in the pits for Kiss Me Kate, Children of Eden, Jekyll and Hyde, Zombie Prom, The Wizard of Oz, Footloose, Hairspray, and Annie. The HBO show "Misbehavin'" has also featured his playing.
Daniel draws on diverse musical experiences and aims to provide a strong foundation in technique and reading while also focusing on a drummer's role in the context of a particular song or musical style.
Donovan Cheatham
Percussion
Joined RLM in 2018
Donovan Cheatham, a drummer from Richmond, Virginia, has been playing drums since age six, studying drummers such as Max Roach to John Bohnam. He has since completed a Bachelors of Music degree in Jazz Drum Set Performance at North Carolina Central University under the tutelage of Dr. Ira Wiggins, Thomas Taylor and with resident artists Joey Calderazzo and Branford Marsalis.
Donovan has shared the stage with artists including Ellis Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Clifton Anderson, Mary Stallings, Charanee Wade, Al Strong, Wallace Roney, Stephen Riley, Joey Calderazzo, John Brown, and Pieces of a Dream.
Donovan brings authenticity and his individual personality to his music. His refined sound and ability to dance the polyrhythmic musical spectrum gives him freedom to play in more than just the Jazz genre, though Jazz is his first love.
He performs regularly as a freelance drummer and leads his own groups as well.
Donovan approaches each student with the same authenticity he approaches music, providing instruction that fits each student’s style, ability, and goals.
Dexter Moses
Saxophone, Clarinet & Flute
Joined RLM in 2023
Dexter Moses is a saxophonist, composer, and educator originally from Richmond, Virginia. He started out on alto saxophone in his middle school band and began learning jazz at the Richmond Youth Jazz Guild after-school program. He's been in love with the instrument and the world of music ever since. Throughout the years, flute and clarinet would become a part of his winds skillset.
Leading his own groups, the Dexter Moses Quartet and Quintet, he has performed at various venues such as Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Sharp Nine Jazz Gallery, Bond Bros. Eastside and more. Dexter has performed and/or recorded with Branford Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Joey Calderazzo, Nneena Freelon, Charles Tolliver, James “Saxsmo” Gates, Desirée Roots Centeio, Billy Williams, and many more.
Dexter’s most recent album appearances playing saxes (alto, tenor, and soprano) and flute have been on Nnenna and Pierce Freelon’s AnceStars (2023) and Lenora Zenzalai Helm’s Journeywoman (2023).
Dexter is an alumnus of North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor's in Jazz Studies and Master's in Jazz Composition & Arranging. His primary teachers include Dr. Ira Wiggins, Dr. Brian Horton, James “Saxamo” Gates and Branford Marsalis. While attending NCCU, he had the opportunity to compete in the nationwide Jack Rudin Jazz Championship led by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York (2021-23). He received “Honorable Mention Alto Saxophone” in 2023 with NCCU being the first HBCU to win first place.
As an educator Dexter teaches saxophone, clarinet, flute, basic to advanced music theory and jazz improvisation and concepts. As part of his teaching philosophy, he wants his students to not only become competent musicians, but to see them grow as well-rounded, disciplined, and creative individuals.
Karina Harenberg
Voice
Joined RLM in 2021
Karina Harenberg is a North Carolina based singer, songwriter and music educator originally from Russia. Exposed to music from an early age Karina studied violin and developed a taste for music and a good ear while training at the Moscow School of Music. Karina grew up listening to and singing various styles of music ranging from classical and jazz to contemporary popular music. Karina started her jazz education at the Academy of Improvised Music in Moscow. Her formal education includes a BA in linguistics from Moscow State Linguistic University where she studied languages and pedagogy. She holds Undergraduate and Master degrees in vocal jazz performance from the prestigious University of North Texas, College of Music.
Karina's experience singing solo, in bands, vocal ensembles, choir, and jazz combos formed and conditioned her vocal skills. In 2010, Karina was a finalist at the National Competition of Jazz Singers in Moscow. Since moving to the US in 2014 Karina has performed around the Dallas/Fort Worth area with notable performances at the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival.
Karina believes that teaching voice begins with the question "How can singing bring more joy?" Karina believes that her worldly background opens up new possibilities in teaching students of all ages as individuals, team players, and open-minded music makers. Karina loves the ability of music to build a connection between people.
The basics of breathing, vocal technique exercises, and general musicianship are a core part of Karina’s pedagogy. Karina has also completed an intensive continued education course: Somatic Voicework TM - The LoVetri Method which Karina uses to help her students sing in contemporary popular styles while maintaining great technique that will ensure their ability have a healthy voice for years to come.
Tom Hill
Guitar
Joined RLM in 2015
Tom was raised Holland, Michigan, where music was omnipresent in his childhood. He started on violin as a young child, switched to percussion in grade school, and finally settled on guitar in high school. Directly after high school, Tom served in the U.S. Army on active duty for four years and was a member of the 108th Division Army Band for six years. Tom holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from UNC-Greensboro with an emphasis on jazz.
Tom’s primary teachers have been Mark Mazzatenta, Steven Haines and John Salmon. He has also studied with Bill Hanna, Scott Sawyer, Howard Morgan, Geoff Guthrie, Jonathan Kreisberg, and Tom Quayle.
Tom teaches all levels and all styles of acoustic and electric guitar, developing individualized lesson plans for each student. This approach allows the students to learn the music that most interests them while providing Tom with an opportunity to teach theory, technique, and composition. Tom’s passion for music and teaching is evident in the care he takes with each student’s music education.
Ben Lassiter
Guitar
Joined RLM in 2013
Growing up in Greensboro, Ben Lassiter started playing clarinet in elementary school, switching to guitar at age fifteen. Just a few years after picking up the guitar Ben received the 'Outstanding Soloist' award from his high school Jazz Ensemble.
At Appalachian State University Ben studied music, working with saxophonist Todd Wright and guitarists Andy Page and Dr. Douglas James as well as performing with the ASU big band.
Ben is a recent graduate of North Carolina Central University's Masters in Jazz Studies program where he studied with Baron Tymas, Joey Calderazzo, and Dr. Ira Wiggins. He was also a part of the numerous award winning large and small ensembles at NCCU.
An in demand guitarist Ben performs around the Triangle and Triad areas of North Carolina constantly. While being well known as a jazz guitarist Ben's versatility means he can often be heard on gigs of almost any musical genre.
Teaching privately since 2005, Ben has experience working with students of all ages and levels and enjoys broadening students' musical horizons through the study of the guitar's many capabilities.
Aaron Gross
Acoustic & Electric Bass
Joined RLM in 2018
Aaron Gross is a jazz bassist, composer and educator born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. At the age of three he picked up the violin and began the Suzuki method, later taking lessons and playing in ensembles through the Duke University String School. Aaron attended high school at the Durham School of the Arts, where he discovered jazz and learned to play upright and electric bass. His passion for jazz drove him to earn his Bachelor of Music from the Miles Davis Jazz Studies program at UNC-Greensboro. While enrolled, Aaron played in the Jazz Ensemble I under the direction of Chad Eby, which accompanied artists like Aaron Diehl and Rex Richardson.
Aaron returned to Durham to earn the Master of Music degree from North Carolina Central University. While at NCCU, Aaron studied with Branford Marsalis, and travelled to Louisville, New York City, and Natal, Brazil to represent the school in conferences and performances. His arrangements were featured by the NCCU Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Ira Wiggins with guest artists including Mary Stallings, John Fedchock and Ellis Marsalis.
Aaron lives in Durham and performs across North Carolina. He has shared the stage with Chad Eby, Kobie Watkins, Benito Gonzalez, Baron Tymas and Brian Miller. He co-leads the band Zen Poets with saxophonist and fellow RLM faculty Annalise Stalls. The group is a Salett Arts Center/NCCU Jazz Competition winner and successfully funded a 2018 Kickstarter campaign for their album Propensity Parade.
Aaron's teaching philosophy focuses on development of rhythmic feel, technical execution, clarity and depth of tone, and understanding of harmony. He strives to make seemingly esoteric concepts easy to understand for students of all ages. Several of Aaron's students have earned spots in the North Carolina All-State Jazz Band as well as receiving many other honors.
Michael Trinastic
Piano & Composition
Joined RLM in 2012
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pianist, composer, teacher, and scholar Michael Trinastic has studied piano since he was five years old with private instruction under Kathleen Murray, Ellen Swan Dixon, and Dolores Lenore.
Michael holds a Ph.D. in composition from Duke University and a Bachelor of Music from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, where he studied piano and composition. His primary composition teachers have been Scott Lindroth, Stephen Jaffe, Syd Hodkinson, Joanne Metcalf, Philippe Bodin, and M. Lee Suitor. Michael's compositions have been played by the Ciompi Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, pianist Tomoko Nakayama, and violinist Jose Bastardes. His first opera, The Yellow Wallpaper, premiered at Duke in March 2012 sung by soprano Aimee Marcoux, to whom it is dedicated.
His recent scholarly work analyzes the piano music of Dane Rudhyar in light of the French-American composer's theories of tone. He currently serves as pianist at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church, where his pianistic palette has further expanded from his classical upbringing into the Gospel tradition.
Michael has taught piano for 17 years, including a stint at the Waukesha County Conservatory of Music, where he taught a studio of up to forty students, and classes in music theory and history at Duke.
Ingrid Nora Knight
Piano & Alexander Technique
Joined RLM in 2023
Ingrid Nora Knight is a composer, pianist, and vocalist originally from the Appalachian Mountains. She studied Piano Performance with Bair Shagdaron at Appalachian State University and then went on to complete a Master's degree in Jazz Composition at North Carolina Central University under the tutelage of Ira Wiggins, Brian Horton, and Jim Crew with instruction from resident artists Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo.
Ingrid spent the past decade studying and teaching the Alexander Technique, an educational method that eases chronic pain, optimizes patterns of movement, and promotes mental wellbeing through constructive awareness. She was first exposed to AT as a young college student who was experiencing back and wrist pain brought on by long hours of practicing at the piano.The technique helped her overcome chronic discomfort and today greatly informs her career on stage, in the recording studio, and as a music educator.
Ingrid leads the Durham-based Brazilian quartet Também and composes, arranges, performs, and records original music for the project. Since she founded the group in 2019, Também has recorded two studio albums and has performed statewide in North Carolina. In 2021 Ingrid and Uruguayan drummer Gastón Reggio were selected by Mallarmé Music to perform a program of South American composers at Sharp 9. Also in 2021, Ingrid was awarded an artist grant by the North Carolina Arts Council to complete Também's second album, Echo. Ingrid loves combining disparate elements in her compositions, experimenting with form, rhythm, and timbre.
Ingrid's priority as a teacher is to help students overcome mental and physical barriers they face while studying music. She emphasizes improvisation and composition and guides the student towards a holistic experience by tapping into their creativity. She trains her students to view themselves as the primary instrument, promoting physical ease at the piano. In addition to performing and teaching, Ingrid loves spending time with her husband Ezra and baby Juniper!
Sarah Town
Piano
Joined RLM in 2024
Sarah Town is a musician, dancer, and ethnomusicologist. She grew up in Ohio, where she studied classical piano and sang in choirs. She began exploring folk and pop repertoires of the United States and Latin America in high school and college, when exchange programs in Bolivia and Brazil allowed her to connect with musicians and dancers in those countries and experience new (to her) musical cultures first-hand. Sarah holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master's degree from City College of New York and a Ph.D. in Musicology and Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies from Princeton University. She is an Instrutora in the Grupo Senzala de Capoeira.
Sarah has studied classical piano with Birute Smetona and Latin piano with Rebeca Mauleón; she has studied classical voice with Christina Price, Brazilian jazz vocals with Sharman Duran, and Irish traditional vocals with Eithne Ní Chatháin. She has studied traditional rhythms and genres with Berta Armiñán, Albenis Castellano, Kati Hernández, Scott Kettner, Gamo da Paz, and Mestre Zumbi, among many others.
Sarah currently performs with her Latin jazz combo, sabrosura, based in Durham. Highlights include performances at Hopscotch Festival and Artsplosure and in partnership with local dance company Mambo Dinamico at the Nasher Museum and Carolina Theater. She also sings with Women’s Voices Chorus. Past performance highlights include: an album and regular gigs throughout New York City with her previous combo sarah y su cachito; Lincoln Center with Maracatu New York and Estrela Brilhante; San Francisco Carnival with Abadá Capoeira and Quimbanda; and The Magic Flute with Lyric Opera Cleveland.
Sarah is passionate about fostering self-expression and building community through music. In her teaching, she pays homage to her own teachers and communities while working with students to develop inner confidence and historical awareness. She encourages discipline and attention to detail alongside playfulness and creativity.
