Catherine Plichta is the director of the instrumental music program here at TAPCo and a graduate of New York University and Empire State College.  As a teacher in the NYC Department of Education for the last 14 years and a quarterfinalist in the 2016 and 2017 Grammy Awards, she has worked to bring high quality music education to students across the entire city. In addition to teaching music, Mrs. Plichta is an Arts Facilitator for Secondary Music and leads professional development for music teachers across the Bronx. She has also presented in Colorado at the Modern Band Rockfest and Symposium as well as the Modern Band Summit and has been a guest clinician at NYSSMA. 

Mrs. Plichta’s students have performed with celebrities such as Gloria Estefan, Nico and Vinz, and V Bozeman and even opened at the Vh1 Divas Concert featuring Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, Chaka Khan, and Teyana Taylor among other celebrities. In addition, her students have gone on to audition across the city and been accepted into prestigious programs such as the LaGuardia MS Arts Audition Boot Camp, Summer Arts Institute, Borough-Wide Band, All-City Choir, the “Salute to Music” All-City Orchestra. Mrs. Plichta is proud to say that she has even had several students who were nominated and auditioned for the National Youth Orchestra Program, NYO2, at Carnegie Hall. Mrs. Plichta would like to extend her warmest thanks to all of the staff, parents and students at TAPCo, as well as her family and friends. 

Instrumental Music Courses

Jonathan Lijoi is a New York based music educator and performer.  He completed his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, then returned to NYC to attend New York University where he received graduate degrees in both Jazz Performance and Music Education.  He has shared the stage with a variety of artists and most notably recorded for Kenny Werner on his Guggenheim Fellowship winning album No Beginning No End.  As an educator Mr. Lijoi has spent the last ten plus years teaching for the Department of Education where he has focused on building Modern Band and Jazz Instrumental music programs, with an emphasis on experiential learning.  Additionally, he is a Facilitator for both the Connected Arts Network and for the City-Wide Professional Learning Days organized by the Office Of Arts and Special Projects. He has also presented in Colorado at the Modern Band Summit and for focused professional learning sessions at NYU sponsored by Music Will.  He also had the pleasure of being part of the District 13 Equity Fellows Program where his focus was on equity of voice in the classroom, ensuring access to high quality and relevant musical instruction for all levels of students throughout New York City.  He recently joined the All City HS Music Directors team and is the assistant director for the Modern Music Project. 

Instrumental Music Courses