About Us
Crescendo Music Loft is a music school serving Madison, Guilford, and communities across the Connecticut shoreline. We teach students to play music they love — and to play it with other musicians.
From young beginners to adults, from hobbyists to serious performers, our goal is the same: to train confident, capable performing musicians.
Music is meant to be shared. That means learning to listen, collaborate, accompany, improvise, and step forward when it’s your turn. Whether in lessons, ensembles, or concerts, we are always working toward performance.
What Makes Crescendo Different
Every instructor at Crescendo Music Loft is an active performing musician in Connecticut. We play in local bands, theater productions, jazz ensembles, churches, and venues throughout the shoreline. We don’t just teach music — we live it.
All faculty teach through the Crescendo Music System (CMS), a curriculum developed over more than thirty years. CMS integrates:
- Strong technical foundation
- Practical music theory woven into playing
- Student-selected repertoire
- Structured, multi-layered lesson planning
- Ensemble preparation from the beginning
Our teachers meet regularly to refine lesson plans and develop as educators. We are not a “learn a few songs and move on” studio. We build independent musicians — whether that’s your stated goal or not.
If you are looking for piano lessons, voice lessons, guitar lessons, or ukulele lessons in Madison, Guilford or in the Connecticut Shoreline area, Crescendo offers professional training grounded in real-world performance.
The Mentor Behind the Madness
Crescendo Music Loft was founded by Sandy Ervin, creator of the Crescendo Music System and a long-time performing musician on the Connecticut shoreline. For over three decades, she has taught students, developed curriculum, mentored teachers, and refined a system that balances structure with creativity.
Sandy works closely with each instructor to shape individualized lesson plans for every student. The result is cohesive, performance-ready training across the entire faculty.
(You can learn more about Sandy’s background and performance history on her full bio page.)
Meet the Faculty
Our instructors are working musicians who teach piano, voice, guitar, and ukulele to students throughout Madison, Guilford, and the surrounding shoreline towns.
John Hurley – Guitar Instructor,
Berklee-trained guitarist, and active Connecticut performer with the Red Planet band bringing roots-based musicianship into every lesson.
Justin Paglino – Piano Instructor,
professional gigging pianist helping students develop harmonic understanding and true musical independence.
Steve Shelton – Guitar & Ukulele Instructor,
experienced jazz and ensemble performer teaching students of all ages and levels.
Samantha Foggle – Voice, Piano, Guitar & Ukulele Instructor,
Berklee College of Music graduate and former Crescendo student blending classical training with contemporary songwriting and production.
Kailyn Toussaint (page coming soon!) – Voice Instructor
Professional music theater performer specializing in confident, expressive stage-ready singers.
(Visit each instructor’s page to learn more and watch their interviews.)
The Team Behind the Scenes
Kirsten Livingston – Architect of Operations & Cash Flow oversees marketing, scheduling, and studio logistics, ensuring smooth operations across our growing shoreline Connecticut student community.
Melissa Greenberg – Minister of the Monetary Flow manages Accounts Payable and financial administration, keeping the business side steady so the music can stay front and center.
Join Us
Crescendo Music Loft is a community of performing musicians in the making.
We start young.
We train seriously.
We have a lot of fun along the way.
And eventually — we join each other on the scene. 🙂