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 35 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
and Viola 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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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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Ryan Grippo: Piano Instructor
Ryan Grippo has taught piano to students with a
variety of skill sets and ages over the past eight
years. His goal is to provide a creative and low anxiety
environment where students can tackle challenges without
fear of judgment or failure. He received his Bachelors
in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado and
his Masters in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the
University of Oklahoma. Within the realm of piano, Ryan
is most interested in teaching and composition. Aside
from music, he enjoys hiking and computer programming.
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Kriss Hamilton:
Piano 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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Ben Therrell:
Cello Instructor
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. 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
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