About Trala
Trala is a tech-powered online music school headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2017, our mission is to make world-class music education accessible to every single person on Earth. For most of the world, accessible, affordable music lessons are hard to come by. In the next 20 years, over a billion people will pick up an instrument for the first time. Imagine if every single one of them could become the musician they want to be. That’s the future we’re obsessed with realizing.With over 600,000 downloads and violin students in 193+ countries, Trala has received support from top musicians and investors at Duolingo and LinkedIn. Trala violin students are surgeons, moms, graphic designers, truck drivers, grandparents, middle schoolers, martial arts teachers, and CEOs. They live and make music in rural Montana, Beirut, Juneau, Perth, and our hometown of Chicago.
Our Team
Sam
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CEO
Violinist and engineer. Architect of Trala’s musical pedagogy. Uses words like ‘pedagogy’.
Vish
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CTO
Signal processing expert. Armchair economist. Private pilot in the making. Vibes: 00000KT 10SM CLR.
Erik
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VP of Operations
Avid traveller, aspiring drummer, and constantly in search of the perfect oneliner. Won Wheel of Fortune. Lowkey.
Jeremy von Halle
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VP of Growth
RevOps nerd turned growth leader. Picky eater turned Chicago foodie. Considered a rebel for preferring Excel on a Mac vs a PC.
Mariah
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Lead Android Engineer
Former D1 Athlete at Princeton. Named after Mariah Carey. Spongebob Enthusiast. Believes in the sanctity of Arby’s.
Josh
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Lead iOS Engineer
Programmer of things that go “bleep” and “bloop” (and things that could go “bleep” or “bloop” if they really wanted to).
Johnny
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Lead Front-End Engineer
Avid basketball fan who loves watching and playing. Often plans vacations around favorite artists' tour dates and interesting hikes.
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Christian
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Lead Front-End Engineer
Rhythm games enthusiast, collector of board games, quotes Kung Pow far too often.
Val
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Executive Assistant
Named after a Steve Winwood song - you know the one. Has unfinished business with the piano. Actually enjoys playing calendar tetris.
Rachael
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Head of Teaching
Professional Violinist. Played at that white-tie gala we weren’t invited to.
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Seina
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Program Manager
Violinist, violist, dabbles on ukulele. Headshot photographer for musicians & artists. Obsessed with her Golden Retriever, Cooper. Former gymnast turned outdoor enthusiast. Sometimes found working out in VR.
Rasa
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Violinist, Educator, and Project Manager
His violin case is open 16 hours a day. Master of bad paintings, sending links on the internet, beginner Oud player, and makes a dish out of any ingredient.
Jessica
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Marketing Coordinator
Likes being outdoors, especially with a cup of tea (or four). Has too many plants and pins.
Mark
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Operations Associate
Saxophonist, vocalist, actually thinks Excel is pretty cool. Loves pizza and bagels, lukewarm on pizza bagels.
Loyvie
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Operations Associate
Vocalist. Thrifter/estate-sale enthusiast. Producing an EP of anime theme covers. Bubble tea connoisseur. Senior Makeup Artist in a past life.
Brian
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Sales Development Representative
Composer, Keyboardist, Conductor, and proud father. Loves to perform all styles of music and write music for documentary films. Avid movie buff and super-amateur chess player. Has an Emmy but won’t bring it up. On the freaking Academy for the GRAMMYs.
Katherine
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Sales Development Representative
Harpist, violinist (ish), pianist (ish), loves planning and thinking about the best way to plan. Looks forward to hearing about science from her 4th grade sons after school. Is spoiled by her husband who cooks 29 meals out of 30.
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Aaron
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Sales Development Representative
Singer, guitarist, songwriter, teacher, seeker. Down with books made of paper, largemouth bass, saying “yes, and”, Buckeyes, and The Beatles. Married up. His three kids still think he’s moderately cool… some of the time.
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Jo
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Sales Development Representative
A rad dad who rocks out on the drums, creates art like a boss, collects and listens to all kinds of music, and loves 80s and 90s horror movies. He also has a knack for telling corny dad jokes that'll make you groan (in a good way).
Lima
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Llama
Don’t know how I got here and neither do they. Enjoys awkward stares and the sound of crunching carrots.
