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UWSP | Continuning Education - ACO Music Instructors

Arts & Culture Outreach Music Instructors

 
James Anderson (Bass)

 

James Anderson is currently in his second year at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point where he is a music education major with an emphasis in instrumental and general music. Before studying at UW-Stevens Point, he was educated in music at the University of Wisconsin - Marathon County in Wausau, WI. During this time he studied string bass with Kirsten Hornby, jazz under the direction of Jeff Erickson, and played section bass under Dan Larson in the Wausau Symphony Orchestra. James is currently studying bass under David Story and is currently still playing jazz bass under Ryan Korb. The Chicago native promises that as long as there is a child wanting to learn, he will be willing to teach.

 
Tom Bjoraker (Percussion)

Tom Bjoraker is a percussion student at UW Stevens Point, studying percussion performance. Bjoraker’s former teachers include Vicki Jenks, director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra’s percussion ensemble as well as Tom Ross, the current associate lecturer for percussion at UW Madison. Bjoraker has been studying with Robert Rosen and Ryan Korb since the fall of 2008. During his studies, he has been instructed in mallet percussion, hand drums, and drum set. Bjoraker currently performs regularly with the UWSP Orchestra and Jazz Combos, and has performed with the UWSP Wind Ensemble.

Charles Calabria (Percussion)

Charles Calabria is an Instrumental Music Education and Percussion Performance major at UWSP. Calabria currently studies with Robert Rosen at UWSP. Past teachers include Adam Hardt, Michael Udow, and Stefan Harris. Calabria works with elementary aged students through high school. Students studying with Calabria will have the opportunity to work on drum set, marimba, and snare drum.

Mike Cegelski (Trumpet)

Mike is a Trumpet Performance (Classical) and Instrumental Music Education Major at UWSP. Mike is entering his fourth year of study with Trumpet Professor, Brent Turney. Other teachers of Mike have included Lawrence University Trumpet Professor, John Daniel, UW-Madison Trumpet Professor, John Aley, former UWSP Trumpet Professor, Bob Kase, and Madison Jazz Artist, Chris Forbes.  He has also taken a lesson with Don Greene, former Principal Trumpet of the LA Philharmonic. Mike performs all different styles of music as he has also been a member of the UWSP Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Jazz Lab and Symphony Orchestra, in addition to the Brass Quintet that Mike will be starting this coming fall. Mike also enjoys listening and playing all styles of music. Mike is currently the President of the Xi Omicron Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and has previously served as Vice President, and Historian. Mike hopes to attend Graduate School for Trumpet Performance and one day become a College Trumpet Professor.

Kyle Dewitt (Guitar)

Kyle is an Instrumental Music Education major at UWSP. Kyle has been playing professionally with many groups in the area since the age of 14. In addition to playing guitar, tenor banjo, and saxophone in several local jazz bands, Kyle plays electric bass and sings in the rock group, The Kommissioners. Kyle also studies clarinet with Dr. Andrea Splittberger-Rosen, and studied saxophone with Don Chesebro.

 

Julia Driscoll (Clarinet, Bass Clarinet)

 

Julia is in her fourth (but not final!) year at UWSP. She is studying General and Instrumental Music Education as well as German Education and aspires to be a high school band teacher. Julia currently plays in both the UWSP Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, and enjoys performing in small chamber groups. She has experience teaching beginning and intermediate clarinet lessons. In past years she has also taught students who are English language learners. Julia is also involved in several professional organizations including CNAfME (Collegiate National Association for Music Education) and Delta Omicron (for which she is the Publicity Director). She also has volunteered as the Assistant Music Director for Vacation Bible School at Dr. Martin Luther Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  

Elizabeth DuPont (Piano, Trombone)

Elizabeth is currently pursuing a double degree in Spanish Education and Music at UWSP. On piano, Elizabeth studies with UWSP faculty member, Raffi Besalyan , and has studied trombone with Brian Martz and Patrick Lawrence. Elizabeth currently performs with the UWSP Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. Elizabeth's teaching philosophy is to make music accessible and enjoyable to all of her students, while being flexible with material to meet everyone's individual needs. Elizabeth's professional memberships include Delta Omicron.

Gretchen Grube (Violin - Classical and Fiddle)

Gretchen Grube is a Violin Performance Major at UWSP with an emphasis in Suzuki pedagogy. Grube studies Violin with Professor Steven Bjella at UWSP. Grube has performed as a section violinist with the UWSP Symphony and Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a CWSO/UWSP String Quartet Scholarship recipient. Grube completed her Suzuki teacher training with Pat D'Ercole. She has seven years teaching experience. Professional memberships include Delta Omicron, American String Teacher’s Association (ASTA), and the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Sean Hickey (Guitar)
 
Sean Hickey is in the midst of his second year at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point studying English with an emphasis in teaching. Sean has been playing the guitar for seven years and has quite a bit of experience. He is a self-taught musician, but he has obtained an abundance of knowledge by playing in his high school music club and various bands throughout his guitar-playing years. Sean has a burning passion for guitar and wishes to give that same love of the instrument to every person of any age. Sean holds true to his believe that anyone can learn.
 
Anna Huemann (Piano)

Anna is a junior Instrumental and General Music Education Major at UWSP. She has been teaching private piano lessons out of her home in Minnesota for five years. She has taught students from age seven to adult. This is her second year with the ACO program. Anna has been playing piano since third grade and has completed the highest level of class piano at UWSP under the instruction of Professor Raffi Besalyan and Dr. Molly Roseman. Her instrument of study is cello, which she studies under Dr. Lawrence Leviton. Anna is a member of the UWSP Symphony Orchestra. Other experiences Anna has had with children include two years of employment at the North Suburban Summer Academy for High Potential Students in Columbia Heights, MN, working as an assistant coach at youth basketball camps, and working as a teacher’s assistant at orchestra camps during the summer. She has also worked with children in Belize as part of a church mission trip.

Jessica Patterson (Voice - Musical Theater emphasis)

Jessica Kate Patterson is a Senior Vocal Performance Major at UWSP. She has been studying Soprano voice, French and German Diction, and Vocal Pedagogy with Dr. Dennis Willhoit. She has also studied Latin, Italian and English Diction with Professor Susan Bender. Jessica has a wide variety of performance experience ranging from madrigals, swing choir, musical theater, dance review shows, and operas. With the University, Jessica performs with the Concert Choir, and with UWSP's Opera Workshop. During the summer she has been involved in community theaters for the past 7 years. She enjoys working with different genres of music and teaching them within a healthy vocal style.

Merry Planton (Flute)

Merry Planton is an Instrumental and General Music Education major and Dance minor at UWSP. Merry currently studies flute with Dr. Julie Hobbs and has also studied with Dr. Jessica Dunnavant. Merry has played with the UWSP Wind Ensemble and currently plays with the UWSP Orchestra. 

Adam Qutaishat (Voice)
 
Adam Qutaishat is currently a Continuing Senior in Music Education with focuses in Choral, Instrumental and General Music at UWSP. He currently studies voice with Susan Bender and viola with Dee Martz. He has also studied with Kathy Pearson. Adam has art song, opera, musical theater and directing experiences at all levels. He has been teaching voice lessons since 2010. He performs with the UWSP Concert Choir and Opera Workshop.
 
Tyler Raddant (Guitar)

Tyler Raddant is a junior at Stevens Point with social studies broadfield major with plans to teach at the high school level.  He has been playing guitar since the age of eleven and started playing in bands at the age of twelve.  In his ten years of experience he has specialized in blues, rock, funk, gospel, jazz and jazz fusion.  Tyler has also taken private lessons with Tom McComb since he began playing guitar with the UWSP Jazz Lab Band and Jazz Combos.  Tyler has also been involved with several gigging bands and has offered his services to bands in need of a substitute guitarist.  He has been taking on private guitar students since his junior year of high school teaching students of all ages.  

Kara Rasmussen (Piano)
 Bio coming soon! 
 
April Schwab (Clarinet)

April is in her fourth year of study at UWSP and is pursuing an Instrumental and General Music Education degree, as well as a Math Education degree. She currently performs with the UWSP Wind Ensemble, and has taught lessons in both Stevens Point and her hometown.

Rie Tanaka (Piano)

Rie started learning the piano when at 3 years old from her mother, who was a piano teacher. Rie graduated from Osaka Prefectural Yuhigaoka High School music course and has studied piano under Atsushi Hatta (professor of the Osaka College of Music), Kumiko Hattori (assistant professor of the Kyoto City University of the Arts), and Shizuka Kida (assistant professor of the Osaka University of Arts) in Japan. Rie is currently studying piano at UWSP with Raffi Besalyan (Professor of the UW-SP music department). Rie has won prizes in several national competitions in Japan and U.S, and is currently a sophomore piano performance major at UWSP. 

Mark Vach (Piano, Bassoon)

Mark is a Piano Performance and Instrumental Music Education major studying at UWSP. He studies with Dr. Raffi Besalyan on piano and with Dr. Patricia Holland on bassoon. He previously studied piano pedagogy with Dr. Molly Roseman. He performs as co-principle bassoonist with the UWSP Symphony Orchestra and as second bassoonist with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. Vach also frequently performs in chamber ensembles including a woodwind quintet. Previous bassoon experiences include performing as principle bassoonist of the UWSP Wind Ensemble, performing as a member of a bassoon quartet, performing in a production of the Mozart's Die Zauberflote, performing with the Women's Choir and the Chamber Singers, and leading a masterclass. Vach is also an active pianist, both as soloist and collaborative artist, performing with instrumentalists and vocalists on student recitals and colloquiua. Previous performance experiences include performing in a piano duo. Professional memberships include the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and Wisconsin Music Teachers Association (WMTA). He currently serves as Vice President of the UWSP Chapter of MENC and President of the UWSP Chapter of MTNA.

Katie Vandehey (Cello)

Katie Vandehey is an Instrumental Music Education Major at UWSP. Vandehey is currently studying Cello with Dr. Lawrence Leviton at UWSP and has also studied with Roza Borisova at Lawrence University. Vandehey currently plays with the UWSP Symphony Orchestra, and the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. Professional memberships include the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), and the Collegiate Music Educators National Conference (MENC).

Anna Marie Vatland (Oboe)

Anna Marie Vatland is a fourth year student at UW-Stevens Point studying Music Education- Instrumental and General Music. Anna Marie performs on the oboe and with numerous ensembles at UWSP, including the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. Anna Marie has studied oboe for over 13 years, and is currently studying with Professor Stacey Berk.

Emily Zachek (Voice)

Emily is pursuing a degree in Choral and General Music Education at UWSP. She has studied voice privately for 7 years, most recently under Dr. Dennis Willhoit and Professor Weston Hurt. Emily performs in the University's Concert Choir and has appeared both onstage and behind the scenes in the University's Opera Workshop. Although Emily primarily studies classical voice, she has experience in musical theater, jazz, madrigals and opera. She has studied singer's diction in Latin, Italian, English, German and French; as well as Vocal Pedagogy. She currently serves as the President of ACDA,  Secretary of Delta Omicron and a member of CMENC. Emily keeps an active blog of her teaching and learning experiences which can be viewed at http://lifetimeofmusic00.blogspot.com/

Anita Zerbe (Viola)

Anita Zerbe is pursuing a degree in Instrumental and General Music Education as well as Philosophy with an emphasis in Environmental Ethics at UWSP. She has studied viola privately with Professor Dee Martz since 2007. She currently performs with the UWSP Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Patrick Miles. Anita has held the position of ACO Music Lesson Coordinator since September 2011.