Meet our Instructors
Brian Widder: Owner and Piano Instructor
Brian Widder received a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree from
the UW-Platteville, and has a Master of Music degree in
Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the UW-Madison. He
has been teaching piano privately for over 20 years. He
is also an active performer in the Madison area for
weddings, receptions, dinner parties, & other special
events.
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Stacey Binder: Violin Instructor
Stacey Binder received the Master of Music degree
in violin performance from the UW-Madison, where she was
a student of Vartan Manoogian. In addition to teaching
private lessons for 14 years, Stacey was an Upper
Strings Sectional Coach and a chamber music coach for
the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO). She also
has served as a judge for WYSO and for WSMA's Solo and
Ensemble Festivals. Stacey has been a substitute
violinist for the Madison Symphony Orchestra and has
performed in productions by the Four Seasons
Theatre. Stacey has an interest in teaching the violin
to the visually impaired. Her article "Rewards and
Challenges of Teaching Blind String Students" was
published in the February 2002 issue of the American
String Teacher.
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Michael Butkus-Bomier:
Piano, Jazz Piano, Composition
Michael Butkus-Bomier, known to practically everyone as
Michael BB, is a teacher of many things musical.
The piano is his main instrument, and teaching its
techniques and repertoire is his main occupation.
Classical, jazz, Latin, blues, and pop/rock are all
styles that he has decades of experience performing, and
in teaching, one-on-one, with students ranging in age
from 5 to 85.
Michael's training is as wide-ranging as his interests. His
music degree is in composition, under Prof. Les Thimmig,
at the UW-Madison, '79 cum laude.
His childhood piano teacher was literally the woman next
door, Ruth Schoening. She wrote her own series of graded
music literacy textbooks for elementary school use. His
jazz mentors include Barry Harris and Hal Galper, of
NYC, and James Cheatham. His main scholarly interest is
the history and evolution of piano technique and
pedagogy.
Michael's practice has
every sort of age and musical interest represented:
beginners of all ages, teens at the cusp of mature
musicianship and performance, adults learning jazz, with
or without a significant classical background,
composition students, theory students, and professionals
who want coaching, technique assistance, and
transcriptions. Michael uses the Kasschau Method series
for beginners of most ages. He uses his own editions of
public domain and standard repertoire titles. His teaching method
also relies on student input for the
choice of music, since a piece chosen by the person who
wants to learn it is more effective.
Michael has lived in Madison since 1994. His spouse
is a retired special education teacher, who has shown
him many aspects of teacher-student interaction models
that have proven their worth over time. His original
compositions, special editions, and technical books on
classical music and jazz can be found at
http://www.jwpepper.com/myscore/michaelbb
and
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/search?q=bomier.
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Christopher Cramer: Guitar Instructor
Classical guitarist Christopher Cramer began his
music studies at the UW-Manitowoc, where he won a number
of awards including the UW-Manitowoc County Fine Arts
Award in the Area of Music. He went on to complete his
undergraduate training at the UW-Milwaukee and the
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, where he won first
place in the annual WCM scholarship competition in
classical guitar. Continuing his studies at the
UW-Madison, Dr. Cramer earned both his masters and
doctorate degrees in music performance under the
direction of renowned guitarist Javier Calderon.
While at the UW-Madison, Dr. Cramer undertook an
intensive study of instrumental conducting with
respected conductor and pedagogue David E. Becker,
ultimately leading to a doctoral minor in the discipline
and the opportunity to work with the UW-Madison Symphony
Orchestra.
From college campuses to performing arts centers, Dr.
Cramer has performed in the United States, Canada, and
Taiwan. In addition to performing as a solo recitalist
and as a soloist with orchestra, Dr. Cramer is also an
active chamber musician collaborating with various
instrumentalists and singers. In the fall of 2008, Dr.
Cramer joined the faculty at Beloit College where he
teaches studio guitar lessons and directs the guitar
ensemble program. He also teaches guitar related courses
at the UW-Madison and the UW-Rock County. Former faculty
engagements have included Edgewood College and the
UW-Manitowoc.
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Kriss Hamilton:
Piano and Flute Instructor
Kriss Hamilton was born and raised in Wisconsin. She received
a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the UW-Eau
Claire and a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance
and Pedagogy from the Wichita
State University. She has taught private music lessons
in a wide variety of settings, including homes, music
stores, and schools.
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Jeff Larsen:
Guitar, Electric Guitar, Music Theory/Composition Instructor
Jeff Larsen has been performing with bands and doing
solo guitar concerts for over thirty years, and has been
teaching students for over twenty years. He plays most
styles of music, and specializes in jazz, progressive
rock, classical, and fingerstyle solo guitar. He has
released three CDs, including Spirits of St. Paul --
the score to a musical play he composed; Threads
-- a jazz-rock mixture of covers and originals; and
most recently, Jeff Larsen plays Emerson, Lake, and
Palmer -- solo fingerstyle arrangements of ELP's
best. He won a 2009 MAMA (Madison Area Music Award) for
Best Classical Piece of the Year, Suite for Two Guitars.
Having written over 100 pieces of music, he is able to
help guitarists become composers as well as players.
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