About
Shanna Zamparas
Shanna Zamparas holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Sacred Studies from the University of Florida, as well as a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Tampa. She has performed both solo and chamber works in master classes and international festivals across Europe, including the Portoheli Festival for Arts and Culture and the Piano Plus Festival in Xanthi, Greece.
Passionate about worship music, Shanna began her piano studies with the goal of serving as a church pianist. She currently serves as a Conservatory Artist at a Tampa nonprofit organization. Her solo vocal and piano album, Always Enough, is available on all major streaming platforms. In addition, she enjoys performing as part of a piano duo with her husband, concert pianist and University of Tampa Professor of Music, Grigorios Zamparas.
We are delighted to welcome Mrs. Zamparas to the HFAA faculty!
Evelyn Moore
Evelyn Moore is a long time member of the Florida orchestra. She recently retired from the Florida Orchestra after playing professionally for over fifty years. She has been a professional musician most of her life and continues to perform throughout Tampa Bay in various chamber groups and ensembles and as a soloist. She brings a wealth of teaching experience to our staff, having taught private and group music lessons for various institutions. Mrs. Moore teaches violin, viola, cello, and Suzuki Strings for HFAA.
Jen Sanders
Jen Sanders is a graduate of Maranatha Baptist University. She completed her associates degree in 2019, her bachelor’s degree in 2021, and her master’s degree in 2024. During her undergrad years, she studied vocal pedagogy and sang in the top ranking choir. Subsequent to her vocal studies, she also continued her personal studies in violin and participated in her university’s symphony orchestra as a violinist. During her graduate years, she sang professionally with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus and made her debut as a soprano soloist in Bach’s Magnificat with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She loves to share her 20 years of violin and vocal training with students, and offers voice, violin, viola, and cello lessons.
Dr. Melissa Cancel
Dr. Melissa Cancel has a Ph.D. in Communication with an emphasis in Performance Studies and has taught professionally for over twenty-five years. She has extensive experience acting in professional and community productions and is also known for directing plays, vignettes, shows and one-woman productions. She is an adjunct professor for local colleges and volunteers her time helping assist in dramatic productions at Hillsdale Baptist Church. Whether you’re a student in need of acting, coaching or an adult looking to improve your public speaking, Dr. Melissa Cancel (aka “Drama Doc”) has the training for you. Dr. Cancel teaches Drama, Theatre, Public Speaking and Communications at HFAA.
Kids who study MUSIC do better in SCHOOL and in LIFE!
RHYTHM helps students learn fractions better! After learning eighth, quarter, half and whole notes, 2nd and 3rd graders scored 100% higher than their peers who were taught fractions using traditional methods. Neurological Research, March 15, 1999
SECOND GRADERS DO SIXTH GRADE MATH
2nd grade students who were given four months of piano keyboard training, as well as time using math puzzle software, scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than children who received no special instruction. They were also able
to solve proportional math problems at a 6th grade level.
Keeping Mozart in Mind, Academic Press
MUSIC MAKES THE BRAIN GROW
Childhood music lessons actually enlarge the brain. German researchers found that the brain area used to analyze musical pitch is an average of 25% larger in musicians. The younger the musical training begins, the larger the area.
Nature, April 23, 1998
MUSIC STUDENTS SCORE HIGHER SATs
College-bound seniors who’d had school music experience scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion of the SATs and 37 points higher in math (89 points combined) than those without instruction.
Profiles of the SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, 1998
PIANO RAISES CONCEPTUAL MATH SCORES
U. of California, Irvine found that after six months of piano lessons, preschoolers performed 34% higher on spatial-temporal testing than those who received no training and those who received computer training.
Neurological Research, February 28, 1997
SUBSTANCE ABUSE LOWEST IN MUSIC STUDENTS
A Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse report showed that “secondary students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances,” (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs).
Houston Chronicle, January 11, 1998
Our History:
Hillsdale Fine Arts Academy began in August of 2004. The Academy opened with one teacher and thirty-two students, working out of a house in Citrus Park, owned by Hillsdale Baptist Church.
HFAA Today: HFAA currently provides scores of students with the opportunity to take music lessons every week from several degreed, experienced faculty members.