Pianist/coach Manuel Arellano grew up in rural Southern California and was drawn to music very young, playing musical theater for his high school and also singing and playing for his church choir. He then completed a bachelors in solo piano at CSULB, a masters in collaborative piano at University of Michigan, and a doctorate in opera coaching from UTAustin. After freelancing for a year in Berlin and graduating the Young Artist program at LA Opera, he moved to New York where he now works at Manhattan School of Music and the New School. He is excited to be joining the team at Faith Lutheran.