Specialty

education Links

Browse Instructors By Instrument Below

Sometimes you're looking for ways to improve musically that aren't necessarily specific to an instrument. A number of the subjects listed below are traditionally only learned in class format or through a college but not as private lessons. At Madison Music Foundry we place a high value on the one-on-one time provided in private lessons, and we feel that individual study is an effective way to learn areas of music that are not necessarily specific to an instrument. Lesson subjects are listed below.

Specialty lessons can be on a limited basis or ongoing. Students can also have a trial lesson in order to help determine an appropriate lesson plan.

MUSICIANSHIP
--Music Theory (includes ear training and sight-singing)
--Songwriting
--Harmonizing

MUSICAL THEATER & OPERA
--Acting
--Audition Prep

MUSIC BUSINESS
--Booking
--General promotion
--Website development

TECHNICAL**
--Recording software
--Manuscript software (i.e. Finale, Sibelius, MuseScore)
--Beat making software
--Gear (i.e. pedals, processors)

**To get the most of technical lessons, the instructor may suggest you own the software or gear used in lessons, though you may also use lessons to help better understand what equipment is best for you.

Kevin Knapp

Kevin Knapp

ABLETON LIVE, GUITAR, ELECTRIC BASS, STRING BASS, MANDOLIN, UKULELE, PIANO, HAMMOND ORGAN

Kevin Knapp is a freelance multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator living in Madison, WI with over 30 years experience. Having grown up in a home full of educators and music, Kevin is passionate about music education. He focuses on keeping music fun and helping students explore music that excites them.

Kevin’s early accomplishments include acceptance to Interlochen Summer Arts Camp with an emphasis in composition and the Chopin Award for piano performance. Kevin graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Composition from University of Wisconsin, Madison. During his time at UW, he was awarded multiple scholarships, composed numerous pieces for performance by the UW Chior and UW Symphony Orchestra, and was awarded the UW Composition Prize.

These days, Kevin plays Hammond Organ and piano at multiple Madison area churches, provides dance accompaniment to the UW Dance Department, and teaches music privately. He also performs regularly with a variety of Madison-area ensembles with styles ranging from pop to classical.

knappmusicstudio.com

Nick Omiccioli

Nick Omiccioli

GUITAR, COMPOSITION, MUSIC THEORY, JAZZ THEORY, SONGWRITING

Nick is an educator, electric guitarist, and composer that decided to pursue music after he first heard Metallica when he was fifteen. Nick has been described as a “rising star” [The Kansas City Star] and a composer with “powerful ideas” that “expresses them confidently” [The Straits Times]. In addition to having been awarded many national and international honors, Nick has received residencies at Copland House, Willapa Bay AiR, and was a finalist for the Rome Prize.

Nick has performed with orchestras, wind ensembles, rock bands, jazz combos, and experimental music groups. In 2019, Nick performed as a soloist with the Singapore Symphony and in 2018 with the classical comedy duo, Igudesman and Joo. He specializes in rock, metal, classical, and fusion musical styles. Nick enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities—whether learning basic fundamentals, jazz theory, or how to shred, Nick’s extensive background and singular teaching approach can help you accomplish your goals. Many of Nick’s students have gone on to have careers as performing artists, composers, or study music formally.

As a composer, Nick’s music has been performed all over the world. He has composed for some of the leading ensembles of today such as the Berkeley Symphony, l’Orchestre de la francophonie, Alarm Will Sound, and the Jasper String Quartet, among others. Nick has received commissions by the Wellesley Composers Conference, the Aspen Music Festival and School, Shouse Institute at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, National Arts Centre in Canada, and Le Domaine Forget.

Nick holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (DMA, MM) where he was a Preparing Future Faculty Fellow and at Heidelberg University (BM). Nick previously taught at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and the University of Central Missouri.

nickomiccioli.com
instagram.com/nickomiccioli

Chris Schultz

Chris Schultz

MUSIC THEORY, SONGWRITING, RECORDING SOFTWARE, MANUSCRIPT SOFTWARE (GUITAR PRO), GEAR

Chris has been surrounded with music most of his life. His grandparents were music educators and had him start piano lessons at age 6. Then, at 13, after listening to arguably too much Metallica, he was inspired to take up the guitar, and start a band. Chris has toured the Midwest and shared the stage with bands ranging from Mudvayne, Disturbed, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. He currently plays music ranging from acoustic to aggressive metal in several Madison based bands and understands the details of dynamic, aggressive music.

As an instructor, Chris has taught all styles and ages. He prefers an individualized approach (everyone's different, right?), teaching everything from note reading, tablature, popular music, song writing, beginning to advanced theory and technique. Above all, he believes having fun can be the greatest motivator and is the most important part of playing music. Full Bio (pdf)

Chris also teaches guitar.

Ben Therrell

Ben Therrell

CELLO, MUSICAL SOFTWARE INCLUDING MUSIC PRODUCTION, COMPOSITION, AND MIDI (LIST BELOW)

Ben Therrell is a Suzuki-Certified instructor who has taught private and group classes for over a decade, along with coaching school and all-state orchestra sectionals. He is a Doctoral Fellow studying Cello Performance with a minor in Music Education at the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music and the resident cellist of the Rabin String Quartet. While working on a Master’s Degree at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Ben was faculty at the UNCSA Community Music School and the cellist for the Giannini String Quartet. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Cello Performance and String Pedagogy from the University of New Mexico.

Ben played with the Johannes Wallmann Quintet on their album Elegy for an Undiscovered Species, published on Shifting Paradigm Records. He also was commissioned to make the soundtrack for a globally-nominated NASA Hackathon project.

He has held a chair in the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and has performed with many major orchestras in North Carolina, New Mexico, and Colorado including the Winston-Salem Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Boulder Symphony, and others. For more info about Ben, please visit therrellcello.com

Ben teaches the following software:
Digital Audio Workstations: Logic Pro, ProTools, Digital Performer, Adobe Audition, Audacity
Composition: Sibelius, Finale, Noteflight
MIDI: FL Studio, LMMS