Meet Our Teachers
Ting-Ting Yen, DMA
Dr. Ting-Ting Yen has a special passion for children's music and education, inspired by Jesus's love of little ones. As a professional musician, she strives to reveal God's word through the language of music.
She is the pianist for Virginia Glee Club at UVa and a member of the Piano faculty at the Heifetz Institute. As a violinist she is a member of Roanoke Symphony and also performs periodically with Richmond Symphony and Charlottesville Symphony, the Oratorio Society of Virginia.
Ting-Ting received her D.M.A. in Violin Performance, and her Master’s in Collaborative Piano at the University of Minnesota. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from Manhattan School of Music, and a Bachelor’s degree from Taipei National University of the Arts.
Joyce Polifka, MM
Joyce Polifka, pianist, is an enthusiastic participant in the Charlottesville musical community. She
maintains a bustling home studio comprised of students in all stages of their musical development,
aiming to instill a lifelong love and appreciation for music. Joyce is an active member of the
Charlottesville Music Teachers Association (CMTA), serving on both the program and festival
committees. In addition to teaching, Ms. Polifka enjoys working with various local choirs. She is the
accompanist for the Crozet Community Chorus and she also assists with the youth choir programs at
Saint Paul’s Memorial Church.
Prior to moving to Charlottesville in 2018, Joyce was on the Piano Performance Faculty at Colorado
College, a post she held for 12 years. During this time she also served as Assistant Director of Children’s
Music at Grace and St. Stephens Church in Colorado Springs and maintained a home studio. Joyce holds
Bachelor’s (B.M. Choral Music Education) and Master’s (M.M. Piano Pedagogy) from The Catholic
University of America. In 2007, she earned her NCTM (Nationally Certified Teacher of Music).
Isaac Melamed, MM
Cellist Isaac Melamed’s musical endeavors connect him to some of the greatest musicians and artists of our time. As a member of the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Isaac has toured internationally to critical acclaim under music directors Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Daniel Hope. Since joining the Garth Newel Piano Quartet in 2014, Isaac and the Quartet have performed throughout Croatia, Scotland, Italy, at the Chautauqua Institution, and around much of the United States.
A San Francisco native, Isaac studied with Grammy Award-winning cellist Antonio Lysy in Los Angeles, where he enjoyed solo engagements with the UCLA Philharmonia and Symphony Orchestras, and the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra. Isaac received graduate degrees from Manhattan School of Music, studying with Alan Stepansky and David Geber, as well as training from Dmitri Ferschtman at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Daniël Esser of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Steven Isserlis and Miklós Perényi at the Kronberg Academy in Germany.
David Melamed
David received a ukulele for his 13th birthday which he soon parlayed for a guitar and group lessons at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. Relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, David's teachers included George Sakalarieou and David Tannenbaum.
With parenthood, David's focus returned to children’s music, and he led song activities in the classrooms and for Kid’s Gym, composing a variety of songs and story settings.