Our Music Instructors
Tom Savage
Intermediate Band, Wind Ensemble, and Chamber Strings Director
Mr. Tom Savage started playing the trumpet in the fifth grade. His grandmother, a church pianist, encouraged his love for music as they regularly played together in church as he was growing up. After graduating high school, he went on to get his Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Salisbury State University and his Master of Arts Degree in Performance from Pensacola Christian College.
Mr. Savage had the privilege to teach band at his high school alma mater. He eventually taught elementary music, private lessons, concert band, jazz band, symphonic band, and marching band at many other schools, including Sims Middle School and Pensacola Christian Academy, and also as an Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at the University of West Florida and Pensacola Christian College. On the side, he enjoyed playing in the Pensacola Symphony for 25+ years, the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Pensacola Civic Band, the Perdido Brass Quintet, the Four Seasons Brass Choir, and the Olive Baptist Church Orchestra.
Besides being a teacher, he was the orchestra director at Olive Baptist Church for fifteen years, where he directed the orchestra, and handbells, taught brass and percussion lessons, coordinated the performing arts program, and led several musical mission trips in the U.S. and overseas. His love for music is evident in the hours he puts into practicing, teaching, performing, and listening to music. He hopes to instill in the next generation the power of music and the techniques he has learned throughout his long musical career.
Besides music, he also enjoys drinking coffee, being with his family, traveling, and
attending sporting events.
Jennifer Schuler
Beginner and Intermediate Strings Director
Jennifer Schuler joined WFHEMA in 2020 as director of Beginner and Intermediate strings. She studied under Dr. Alberto Jaffe, former artist in residence of Pensacola and author of the Jaffe Strings Method. She graduated from Pensacola Christian College with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education, violin proficiency. She holds 14 years of teaching experience in both private and group lessons. In addition to teaching for WFHEMA, Mrs. Schuler teaches private string lessons in her personal studio. She also performs as a violinist with Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and Panama City Symphony Orchestra. Jennifer is also a homeschooling mother of 2. Whenever she is not teaching or playing violin, she loves making memories with her family and spending time in the kitchen cooking and baking.
Daniel Blomdahl
Beginner Band Director
Daniel Blomdahl started playing clarinet in 5th grade after hearing the Seattle Symphony perform Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. It was at that moment that he decided that music was something he wanted to pursue full-time. Mr. Blomdahl completed a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Music Education with an emphasis in piano from Pensacola Christian College in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Throughout his college career, he played a variety of band and orchestral instruments in PCCymphony, Symphonic Band, woodwind ensembles, brass ensembles, and string ensembles. While teaching full-time, he also completed his Master of Music Education from Bob Jones University in 2020.
Mr. Blomdahl has over 15 years of experience teaching private lessons to a variety of ages, skill levels, and instruments, as well as almost 10 years of experience leading beginner band. He has also had experience leading intermediate and advanced bands and orchestras. When he is not involved in a musical event or practicing, Mr. Blomdahl loves reading, cooking, and drinking coffee.