cello
Scott Sund
Cello, in-person
$17/30 minutes; $34/60 minutes
I encourage my students to develop their musical skills by focusing on technique and sound production. Creating a solid foundation takes time and patience but it is essential if students are to become free to incorporate their own ideas and emotions in the music they are studying. I encourage students to listen carefully while practicing, learning to identify problem areas and find solutions. Playing the cello is a unique journey for every student.
I have been teaching cello privately in the Quad Cities for the past 29 years. I currently play in the Muscatine Symphony as well as the St. Ambrose Chamber Orchestra and the String Arts Trio.
hannah holman
Cello & Suzuki Cello, hybrid
$30/30 minutes; $45/45 minutes; $60/60 minutes
Hannah Holman, cellist, joined the New York City Ballet Orchestra at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season. Her career has encompassed orchestral and chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. In a review of the second CD she recorded with pianist Rene Lecuona, Fanfare magazine declares, “her tone and technique are the stuff that cello legends are made of. Holman’s cello sings with a lustrous tone that’s hard to resist.”
In addition to her work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Ms. Holman is the principal cellist of the Quad City Symphony, a position she has held since 2008...READ MORE
violin
sabrina tabby
Violin, in-person
$35/30 minutes; $45/45 minutes; $60/60 minutes
Violinist Sabrina Tabby, from Philadelphia, developed a fondness for chamber music at a very young age that has carried her through her life as a musician. At the Bard College Conservatory of Music, Sabrina performed across four continents, as concertmaster of and soloist with the Conservatory Orchestra, in chamber music, as well as in various baroque and new music ensembles. It was there that Sabrina became a founding member of the NYC-based new music ensemble, Contemporaneous, prominently featured on the Innova Recordings album “Stream of Stars: Music of Dylan Mattingly."...READ MORE
janis sakai
Violin & Sukuki Violin, hybrid
$35/30 minutes; $55/45 minutes; $75/60 minutes
Janis Sakai has performed orchestral, chamber music, and solo works internationally. She has been studying the violin since the age of 5, winning numerous awards in competitions, and has performed with world-renowned artists such as Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, James Ehnes, Lang Lang, Radu Lupu, Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald, Rachel Barton Pine, Itzhak Perlman, Vadim Repin, Har Mar Superstar, and Christian Tetzlaff...READ MORE
viola
BEN LORENTZEN
Viola, in-person
$30/30 minutes; $45/45 minutes; $60/60 minutes
Ben Lorentzen is a veteran educator and musician. He has been teaching since his days as a college student at Augustana College. Mr. Lorentzen studied with Dr. Deborah Dakin, and graduated from Augustana College with a B.A in Music. He was then accepted into the University of Wisconsin School of Music where he would receive his Masters Degree in Viola Performance under the tutelage of Professor Sally Chisholm.
It was a work-study job as a reading tutor in the public schools of Madison, Wisconsin that further inspired a focus in education. He began providing private instruction to aspiring musicians in the Quad Cities immediately after graduate school, went back to school to earn teaching certification through the Regents Alternative Path to Iowa Licensure...READ MORE
bass
MIKE WHITE
Bass, in-person or hybrid
$30/30 minutes; $45/45 minutes; $60/60 minutes
Mike White is currently an Assistant Professor at Augustana College where he teaches applied double bass and string methods. He also holds faculty positions at St. Ambrose University and Cornell College, teaching applied double bass and bass guitar. Mike received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Double Bass Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa where he studied with Professor Volkan Orhon. His dissertation, “The Double Bass Extension - A Compendium for Performance,” was developed as a technical guide for those using a C-extension on their instrument. Previously, Mike studied with Dr. William Koehler at Illinois State University where he received his Bachelor of Music degree...READ MORE
richard wagor
Bass, in-person or hybrid
$35/30 minutes; $40/45 minutes; $45/60 minutes
Double bassist and electric bassist Richard Wagor currently resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Richard, in earning his BA in music from the University of Iowa and a MM from Manhattan School of Music, has worked with various teachers including Eldon Obrecht, Diana Gannett, Homer Mensch, and Robert Kassinger. Richard has also performed in a wide variety of professional settings. Richard has played orchestrally as a member of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Principal Bass in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and both Principal Bass and assistant principal bass in the Dubuque Symphony...READ MORE
PIANO
Kellen myers
Jazz Piano
$30/30 minutes; $45/45 minutes; $60/60 minutes
Kellen Myers is a musician and composer based out of the Quad Cities. Born in Davenport, his rich harmonious and rhythmically captivating playing make him a top call artist in the area and beyond. His wide array of styles and experience range from classical, to jazz, to contemporary music. His teaching philosophy is custom to each student, teaching in the best way(s) the student learns, whether visually, aurally, or however else. By crafting each lesson to the individual needs of the student, he will both captivate and grow on their strengths, as well as address weaker areas of the student in a rigorous yet friendly environment. As a Jazz student of his, you will learn first hand of this true and beautiful art form and artistic medium of performing and composing simultaneously through means of improvisation, transcribing, (Jazz) history/theory, and real world musical examples from both performing and listening, all in an extremely fun yet worthwhile environment. READ MORE
guitar
oleg timofeyev
Guitar
$30/30 minutes; $45/45 minutes; $60/60 minutes
Musicologist, guitarist, and documentary film director and composer, Oleg Timofeyev was born to a musical family that gave the world several generations of professional musicians. He received his first music lessons from his mother, an excellent cello player. Later he studied classical guitar with the famous Muscovite teacher Kamil Frautschi. In 1989, Oleg Timofeyev was invited to the University of Iowa to direct the Collegium Musicum there. A few years later he received his M.A. in Early Music Performance from the USC, under the guidance of the famous lutenist James Tyler...READ MORE
group CLASS FACULTY
michelle crouch
Music Literacy
Michelle Crouch, born and raised on the Canadian prairies, studied music from a very young age, and pursued both piano and voice in college. She has performed a wide range of oratorio, opera, and both solo and chamber vocal music, from Medieval to contemporary, and loves the sheer diversity of vocal expression available to singers, something she seeks to pass on to her students. Her primary research interest is musical literacy, particularly for singers, whose musicianship skills tend to lag behind instrumentalists in general music education. She is at work on a hopefully helpful book on the subject...READ MORE
MASTER CLASS FACULTY
naha greenholtz
Violin
Canadian violinist Naha Greenholtz was born in Kyoto, Japan, where she began her violin studies at age three. Since her solo debut at 14, concerto performances have included engagements with the San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, and National Repertory Orchestras, as well as the Vancouver, Quad City, Burnaby, and Kelowna Symphonies. In the Madison area she makes regular solo appearances with the Madison Symphony and the Middleton Community Orchestra.
Naha also maintains an active career as an orchestra musician. In addition to her duties as Concertmaster of both the Madison and Quad City Symphony Orchestras...READ MORE
emily nash
Violin
Violinist Emily Nash, graduated with her MM in violin performance while studying with Almita and Roland Vamos at Northwestern University, graduating early and with high honors. She received her BM in violin performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign while studying with Simin Ganatra. Nash has participated in master classes with the Silk Road Ensemble, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Wendy Sharp, Roland and Almita Vamos, John McGrosso, Kurt Baldwin, Rebecca Henry, and the Parker Quartet...READ MORE
administrative staff
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rishi wagle
Executive Director
Rishi Wagle is elated to be serving as the inaugural Executive Director for the Deanery School of Music. He is a musician, theatremaker, educator, and administrator based in Eastern Iowa. As a musician, he has proficiency as a pianist, vocalist, violinist, conductor, composer, orchestrator, and music producer/recording engineer.
Mr. Wagle was born and raised in the Quad Cities, and in his music education in the Quad Cities area, had many accolades. As a pianist, he won every division of the Quad Cities Annual Baroque Festival, he won every category of the District IMTA Piano Competition, he won two categories at the State level of the IMTA Piano Competition, and received his Grand Cup in the FMTA Music Festival. He also was the 2016 recipient of the Quad City Symphony Concerto...READ MORE
Emma stapleton
Fundraising & Development Advisor
Emma Stapleton has spent the past decade working in development and leadership positions in the nonprofit sector with a strong passion for education and social justice causes. Stapleton is a dynamic fundraiser who has a proven track record of cultivating, soliciting and stewarding 7+ figure grants and major gifts. She currently serves as the Vice President of Philanthropy for Entertain Impact.
Prior to this position, Stapleton served as Development Director for the GRAMMY Music Education Coalition, Director of Development for the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, and Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Berklee College...READ MORE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
joseph lohmuller M.D., president
of Genesis Health Group
tim gulbranson, secretary
of Lane & Waterman LLP
eric spriet, treasurer
of American Bank & Trust
hannah holman, director
of The Deanery School of Music, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Ballet
ron may, director
of Opera Quad Cities
scott tunnicliff, director
formerly of Hilltop Campus Village
sue von maur, director
of Von Maur
emma stapleton, director
of Dubuque Museum of Art
MATT MANWEILER, director
of Rock Island School District