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Browse Instructors By Instrument Below

Violin, viola and cello: these are the classic strings of the violin family. They are probably most often pictured as members of the orchestra, but they are oh so much more. The violin performing as its rhetorical counterpart, the fiddle, appears in lots of folk and roots genres. And all of the string instruments are being found more and more in the jazz and rock worlds, whether as part of a band or on their own (for example check out the esteemed Kronos Quartet delving into some Jimi Hendrix).

At Madison Music Foundry we have a selection of great instructors who give lessons on violin, viola, and cello--and in virtually any style that interests you. Instruction is available for all ages and levels at a time that's convenient for you.

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

Jon Vriesacker

Jon Vriesacker

VIOLIN, VIOLA

Jon is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra where he has worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller. He studied at the Berklee College of Music with Matt Glaser and received his Bachelor of Music degree from UW-Madison. Jon has soloed with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and has been featured with violin legends Johnny Frigo and Johnny Gimble. He has performed on promotional recordings for Lands? End and Miller Brewing and can be heard on albums by Willy Porter, Freedy Johnston and Garbage. In his movie soundtrack debut, Jon played on “Al Otro Lado del Rio” from The Motorcycle Diaries, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2005. In addition to private teaching Jon has been a Solo and Ensemble judge and a clinician at numerous schools and string festivals. He also spent a semester teaching string improvisation at Wichita State University. He teaches classical violin, jazz playing and fiddling.