Our Staff

Tatiana Kats - Executive Director and Choir Artistic Director
Tatiana Kats is the founder of Columbus Music and Art Academy and the Columbus International Children's Choir. She is responsible for the educational and artistic development of the choir. Mrs. Kats earned a Master of Arts degree in choral conducting and a Master of Music degree in piano pedagogy from The Ohio State University where she studied under Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt and Mr. James Gallagher.

Mrs. Kats was awarded by National Music Certificate Program as "Founding Teacher ... instrumental in establishing a national standard for developing musicians in the United States of America". Before coming to the United States in 1991, she worked as a director of youth and mixed choirs in Moscow, Russia. Her expertise in American, European, and Russian choral education and singing training contributes to the success of the Columbus International Children's Choir.

Dawn Beckman - Vocal Coach and Assistant Choir Director
Dawn Beckman, soprano, holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Ohio State University and a Master of Music degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has appeared in various opera productions in Colorado, and was chosen for master classes with Martin Isepp and Frederica von Stada. Mrs. Beckman was a frequent soloist in the Denver area performing with the Westminster Symphony, the Boulder Music Festival, the Colorado Mahlerfest in Boulder and the Colorado Opera Troupe. She served as soprano staff singer at St. John\'s Cathedral in Denver for four years before relocating to Columbus in 2007.

Irina Utkina - Associate Choir Director and Principal Accompanist
Irina Utkina has extensive experience as choir director, choir conductor and accompanist. Currently she is Director of the Sunny Smiles Choir and the accompanist of the Columbus International Children's Choir. She also arranges music for the Columbus International Children's Choir. Mrs. Utkina graduated from the St. Petersburg Music Conservatory in Russia as choral conductor.

Tamara Eichenlaub, LSW - Choir Manager
Tamara Eichenlaub is the choir manager of the Columbus International Children's Choir. She received a Bachelor of Science in Social Work degree from The Ohio State University. She assists with grant writing, fundraising, concert and tour planning for the choir.

Michelle Williams - Choir Events Supervisor
Michelle Williams has been helping with organizing concerts and tours of the Columbus International Children’s Choir since 2004. Her daughter Maddie Williams sings in the Swallow Choir.

Kristin Bentz - Art Instructor
Kristin is an art teacher from in Westerville, Ohio. She earned a Bachelors degree in Art Education from the University of Toledo in 2005. Since then, she taught elementary art in Charles County, Maryland for two years as well as art classes for children at the College of Southern Maryland. She worked as a camp counselor and director for Camp Adventure for three summers living in Germany, Virginia, and South Korea. She loves to travel to new places and adds her personal experience into the art projects she teaches. She is currently working on her Masters degree through Walden University in Integrating Technology into the Classroom.

Erik Kotheimer – Art Instructor
Erik Kotheimer is an Ohio native, from the Cleveland-Akron area. He received a Bachelors degree in Art Education from Kent State University in 2006. Since then, he has worked with the Art for a Child’s Safe America Foundation, or ArtSafe. ArtSafe is a non-profit organization that believes in empowerment through the arts. Erik also teaches private painting and drawing classes through the City of Grove City Parks and Recreation Department.

Yuri Bortz - Music Theory Instructor
Yuri Bortz, teacher of the Intermediate and Advanced classes in Music Theory, earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts from The Ohio State University in 2005. His previous teaching experience has been at OSU and at the University of Akron, where he has taught music theory, sightsinging, and private composition. As a former Composer-In-Residence for the OSU Symphony Orchestra and winner of OSU's Ruth Friscoe Prize in Composition, he also remains an active composer.