Teachers
Sam Lustig - Founder/Instructor (Guitar/Piano/Bass/Drums)
Sam Lustig is a composer, performer, producer and teacher based in Los Angeles, and has been studying/playing music for roughly twenty years. He is fluent on Guitar, Piano, electric Bass, Drums, and Voice, and has written and produced music for orchestras, big bands, rock bands, theatre, short films and more.
After several years spent performing on different instruments, in various ensembles on the East coast, he moved from New York to Los Angeles in 2000 to enter the composition program at the California Institute of the Arts; there he had the opportunity to study world music, jazz, film scoring and interdisciplinary art, and apprentice under such esteemed faculty as James Tenney, David Roitstein, Art Jarvinen and Marc Lowenstein.
He performs and records regularly as MrBarnabus, and has released two recordings independently (MrBarnabus and The Cosmic Rebellion & MrBarnabus and The Cosmic Piano Trio) in addition to performing at many notable Los Angeles venues including Molly Malone's, The Cat Club, Key Club, Viper Room, and Rainbow Room among others. He is proud to have shared the stage with such diverse L.A. Artists as Shammy Dee, Swing Brazil, Fandango Sin Fronteras, Shakti Dance Company, Dafra African Ensemble, La Santa Cecelia, Klezmer Juice, Ten West, Magnolia Memoir, Judson Mckinney, Odaal and many more.
Since 2006 he has been the musical director and Keyboardist/Guitarist for the 24th Street Theatre's Arts Education program and in 2009/10 had the opportunity to perform as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Summersounds Youth show at the Hollywood Bowl museum.
He began teaching privately in 1997 and since then has remained committed to music education in various forms. He began Rockstar Academy in 2006 as a blanket for his educational pursuits, which include starting one of the first 'play-in-a-band' programs in the Santa Clarita valley. In 2009 the program teamed with Command Studios in Valencia, CA to give these student bands the opportunity to record demos of their songs in a pro studio. To date he has produced over thirty student recordings as part of the program, which continues to thrive, providing an important outlet for young area musicians.
Andrew Aguayo - Teaching Assistant
Andrew has been studying music since the age of 12 and has been training to become a teacher for over a year with Sam Lustig. He has assisted Rockstar Academy's Band Coaching classes since 2007 as a bassist, guitarist, drummer and vocalist and is currently available for lessons (as part of Rockstar Academy's Student-Teacher program) in guitar, bass, and drums. He has spent much time studying and playing countless styles of instrumentation, which enables him to adapt his teaching to help each student develop his or her own style and he is able introduce theory in a way that's easily understandable. Andrew has performed at the Whisky A Go Go, Santa Clarita Sports Complex and American Legion Hall among others, and is currently composing and performing with his band Five-Finger Discount and taking an active role in Santa Clarita's music scene.