A Sharp Music Studios

Teachers

A# Music Studios Teachers

Having completed the required Kindermusik® Educator’s Professional Training Sessions, each Kindermusik Curriculum teacher is licensed by Kindermusik®.

LaRae Mills — Owner of A # Music Studios and Teacher

Degree: Bachelor of Music Education with Vocal Emphasis and Master of Divinity

Musical Abilities: Vocalist, Pianist, Amateur player of multiple instruments

Family: Married to Jeff Mills, who own an  international boutique internet and search engine marketing company. Their daughter, Izabella, is in 2nd Grade. She loves art and music and her dog Mickey. As a family, we love to travel to Hawaii, California, Florida and have cruised to several exotic islands and places aboard cruise ships.

Kindermusik® Connection: Taught Kindermusik in South Dakota in 1995-1997 and joined KinderMelodies in the spring of 2006. “I love the quality and philosophy of Kindermusik. I am thrilled to be teaching such a wonderful curriculum.”

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Kari Ulrich – Kindermusik Educator

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a minor in music from the University of Minnesota, Morris.

Musical Abilities: Pianist, vocalist, taught piano lessons for five years and is currently a Minister of Worship at Risen Christ Lutheran Church in Stillwater, MN.

Kindermusik® Connection and Family: Kari started teaching Kindermusik class in 2010 and has two children, Sydney (age 6) and Cameron (age 3) who have attended Kindermusik classes since 2005. “I am thrilled with the foundation Kindermusik has provided for my children and am excited to share this wonderful curriculum with other young families.”
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Mike Graebner – Guitar Classes and Lessons & Group Sessions

Mike is an accomplished musician with 28 years of experience playing the guitar.  He has a background in fingerstyle acoustic guitar, rock, jazz, and classical guitar.  Mr. Graebner has studied at Arizona State University, the University of Minnesota, and the Smith McNally School of Music.  While at Arizona State University he was awarded the Jazzbird Grant for Excellence in Jazz Performance.  In 2002, Mike recorded a solo LP, “Corner of the World”, with Grammy award winner Mike Elliott as engineer.  Mike has written music for film and radio, but nothing gives him more satisfaction than his passion for playing and teaching the guitar.  Mr. Graebner has been teaching privately since 1996 in the St. Paul area.

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Shawn Foster – Guitar Lessons & Group Sessions

Degree: McNally School of Music, Audio Production 1994

Music Abilities: Shawn was born with a song in his head! He started playing the drums at age 8 and picked up the guitar at age 11 studying rock, classical, jazz, etc. along the way.  Shawn can play piano, guitar and drums and spends his free time writing,  recording original music and finding ways to express his creativity.

Shawn’s favorite group is the Dave Matthews Band.  His favorite guitarist is a toss up between Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen (extremely creative and made up their own rules).  While Shawn’s main style is Rock, each private lesson is tailored to the individual to build a confident, creative and skilled student – a real ‘guitar hero’.  Being a musician and a recording engineer has taught Shawn the importance of being balanced, dedicated and communicative with your music. He likes all genres of music and likes to introduce students to other styles that they may not have in their collection or repertoire. Music is universal.

The following are just a few of the skills that Shawn can customize for you or your group:

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Mallory J. Martin – Piano, Violin & Voice Instructor

Education: Bachelor of Music in Music Education with a Vocal Performance emphasis from St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin.  Student of the Graduate Programs in Music Education, Choral Concentration, at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Experience: Mallory has taught choir and general music in public schools for four years.  She loves the challenges of developing unity in junior high and high school choirs and developing musicianship in elementary students.  Mallory has taught private lessons in voice, violin, and piano since 2003.  An experienced performer, Mallory is no stranger to the stage.  She has been singing publicly since age 6, began playing the violin at 8, oboe at 10, and performed in her first musical (“Tom Sawyer”), at age 11.  She even has experience performing in dance recitals, show choirs, and an opera!  Knowing she was going to become a music teacher, Mallory began teaching herself piano at age 16.  Mallory absolutely loves teaching and helps her students develop their own sense of musical independence.

Hobbies: When not teaching, Mallory enjoys the solitude and silence of reading or working on her lawn and garden.  She likes surfing the internet, exploring new technology, and, of course, shopping!  She has taken French lessons and enjoys tasting the finer things in life as a home chef and amateur “wine-o.”  She and her husband will begin bow hunting together in the fall of 2010.

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Solveig Mebust – Instrumental, Piano and Vocal Instructor

Degree: Bachelor of Music Education- specializing in both vocal and instrumental music from Augsburg College

Experience: Solveig’s voice part is soprano and her primary instrument is the flute, which she has played for 16 years.  She has also played piano for 16 years.  She is currently also working as a substitute teacher in Saint Paul and as a soprano section leader with a church choir in Saint Paul.  In addition, she sings with two volunteer choirs, the Masterworks Chorale of Augsburg College and the Minnesota Chorale.  She plans on pursuing graduate work in Musicology in the coming years.

Hobbies: When not singing, playing, or teaching, she loves to read, cook, knit, and run.  Her family currently consists of two rescued cats, Fanny and Felix, named for the Mendelssohn siblings.

Jason Wolfe – Violin and Guitar Lessons

Education: B.A. in Guitar from the University of St. Thomas.  Violin studies at Lawrence University.

Experience:  Jason started playing violin at age 6, using primarily the Suzuki method.  He studied with several teachers, eventually to attend Lawrence University for a year of study with Anton Miller.  Since then, he has enjoyed playing in folk/blues/jazz styles, along with his classical background.  In high school, he discovered guitar.  It started with jamming along with the radio, eventually progressing to studies at UST with Chris Kachian.  He has a wide appreciation for anything guitar, classical to rock.

Jason performs on both instruments in solo,duo, and group settings.  He enjoys writing and recording a wide range of styles, which can be heard at  http://www.soundclick.com/jasonwolf . He also plays in the band Morosity, http://www.morosity.com/ , The Weather Underground, and several others.

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Mitch Grussing – Piano, Composition and Theory

Degree: B.A. in music from the University of Minnesota, Morris.

As a student at UMM, Mitch performed frequently as both a solo and collaborative pianist. Officially a piano performance major, he also devoted considerable study to composition and has had many compositions performed—most notably, A Prairie Cantata (UMM Concert Choir, 2010); Intrusions (UMM Symphonic Winds, 2011); and Reflections on Good Friday, sung by the combined choirs of three churches at an ecumenical Good Friday service in 2012. He is active as a church musician, having been a keyboardist, choir director, and youth musical theater accompanist in that setting.

Mitch fell in love with teaching music when he started giving piano lessons in 2007, and his love of patiently nurturing music in others has only grown since then. He is a member of MMTA, MTNA, and the National Guild of Piano Teachers.

Outside of music, Mitch enjoys reading maps, studying foreign languages, going on bike rides, and baking desserts.

Would you like to join us as a trained Kindermusik teacher or music instructor in the East Metro?

We’re looking for some passionate teachers in YOUR BACK YARD!

Just click on the contact us link, and send La Rae an email!