Ryne is a Golden native who studied music at MSU Denver learning to play a variety of Musical Styles. Everything from Jazz to EDM Ryne is no stranger to it and is happy to accommodate any style. Ryne is currently working with his band Projecting Black and is set to drop an album this January. Ryne teaches Guitar, Bass and Ukulele.
Born in Alaska, and raised in Colorado, guitarist Jeff Gleason holds a Master of Music in Guitar Performance from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance from Metropolitan
State University of Denver. He was the third-place winner of the Denver Classical Guitar Society’s solo competition in 2009. He has been an active studio teacher in the Denver area for over 20 years, and was also part of MSU Denver's guitar department from 2009 until 2020. While on the MSU faculty, Jeff taught private guitar lessons, class guitar, Intro to Music, and History of Rock and Roll.
He has performed throughout the United States as a soloist, including recitals and competitions in St. Louis, MO, Gainesville, FL, Reno, Santa Fe, and nearly every mountain and valley throughout Colorado.
Alex received his Bachelors Degree in Music from the University of Colorado. With 15+ years of touring and performing experience, he teaches all levels and styles. Alex teaches all styles of music including Rock, Country, Jazz, Experimental, Pop, Metal, Reggae, Blues, Folk, Classical as well as Theory, Improvisation, Composition, Notation, and Ear Training. To Alex each student is unique, and caters his teaching style as such to keep them progressing and having fun.
Julie McCarthy received her Bachelors at the University of Denver in Music Theory and Composition and Masters at Berklee College of Music in Film Scoring. McCarthy’s work ranges from composing for orchestras both local and international to media post-production.
Drew Benito has spent the last 4-5 years traveling the US while studying, producing, and performing music. After majoring in classical piano in college, they studied under Jazz legends such as Jacob Collier, Anomalie, Jesus Molina, Cory Henry and more. Being of Latin American decent, Drew traveled Central and South American to better understand the rhythms of his roots. They also toured with a percussion ensemble around this time. Due to their diverse education, Drew has been able to adapt to perform rock, electronic, latin, jazz, r&b shows and more on over 20 different instruments.
Drew currently is the Music Director for an indie game studio and manages an online learning community. Their goals are to make a home in Lakewood/Denver as they change focus from performing to educating. Their education focus is centered around students having the freedom and knowledge to create whatever they desire, not just play off of a piece of paper.
Heidi Schmidt holds a BM in Vocal Performance in the Jazz and Commercial Music Studies Program at Lamont School of Music, Denver, Co. She is the recipient of many awards and is an active performer in the greater Denver area. She is a lecturer at University of Colorado Denver and Red Rocks Community College. Heidi usesclassical technique for a basis in her instruction of voice, guitar, and piano. Having a good understanding of the instrument and how it works is vital to growth as a musician. Concurrently, she works with students to reach their own personal goals as growing musicians. She teaches all styles of vocal technique including classical, jazz, pop, folk, and musical theatre. She loves to work with singer songwriters in guitar/piano instruction, composition techniques, and lyrical content. She teaches beginning to intermediate guitar, both classical and folk/rock styles. She also teaches beginning piano and piano for song writing.
A professional multi-instrumentalist, arranger/composer and master educator, Sarah strives to produce high quality music and education to all walks of life. She received her Bachelors of Music with an emphasis in trumpet performance at the University of Northern Colorado. Sarah has performed with award- winning and internationally recognized ensembles and has participated in various national music competitions. In addition to trumpet, Sarah has 18+ years experience with classical violin and acoustic/electric guitar, has 4+ years classroom teaching experience with public and charter schools, and can confidentially teach all orchestral strings. Students love studying with Ms. Hight as she is a patient, innovative, and creative teacher devoted to her craft.