Music Lessons
Music Together® Grinnell
Music Together® Grinnell
Grinnell School of Music provides access to amazing professional music instructors... right here in Grinnell! Our Associate Teachers teach a variety of instruments and styles.
Music Together® Grinnell
Music Together® Grinnell
Music Together® Grinnell
Music Together® Grinnell gathers babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and the grownups who love them together to play musically. Little ones love playing along in class, and caregivers love being a part of their children’s growth into confident music-makers. And everyone loves our songs that’ll have you tapping along in no time. Music Together® is the perfect family activity.
MiniKeys & Jam Band 101
Music Together® Grinnell
Other Classes & Workshops
MiniKeys (Ages 4-5) and Jam Band 101 (Ages 6-8) are game-based exploratory group classes. Licensed to GSoM by the renowned Brooklyn Music Factory (Brooklyn, NY), they are the perfect launch pad for young music-makers to develop music fluencies: rhythm, melody, harmony, and songwriting.
Other Classes & Workshops
Other Classes & Workshops
Other Classes & Workshops
Small group voice lessons, music & movement, Grinnell percussive arts club, music production, and more! Click to read more and register for all our current offerings.
Drop-in Programs
Other Classes & Workshops
Special Events & Recitals
Drum circle, jam sessions, musical theater sing-along, and pop choir are some of our new drop-in programs.
Special Events & Recitals
Other Classes & Workshops
Special Events & Recitals
Students from all of our studios and many of our classes and workshops share their music with family, friends, and guests at recitals and showcases throughout the year.
Summer & School Break Camps
Summer & School Break Camps
Summer & School Break Camps
From our popular "Grinnell Greenroom" summer musical theater camp to day-long workshops during school breaks, we offer a variety of camps. Click here to see what's happening!
Associate Teachers
Libby Albright - Beginner Voice, Mini Keys & Jam Band 101
Libby Albright is a vocalist and bass guitarist from Tama, Iowa, current Grinnell College student, and aspiring music educator. As a singer and instrumentalist, Libby has earned honors as a jazz and classical soloist, but she has the most experience as a musical theatre performer. Libby received the Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role Award at the Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards in 2022 and 2023, winning a spot at Des Moines Performing Arts’ Broadway Intensive her senior year. Back in her hometown, Libby channeled her theatrical and musical knowledge into designing and directing the South Tama County Middle School Musical Theatre Camp. She works as a counselor at Grinnell Greenroom Camp annually and this summer, she spent six weeks as a teaching intern at Des Moines Performing Arts’ Musical Theatre Camps program. You can find Libby performing in the Grinnell Singers, Grinnell College theatrical productions, and the Tama County Community Band.
Alex Aldridge - Guitar
Classical guitarist Alex Aldridge is an educator, soloist, and chamber musician from West Des Moines, Iowa. He earned his Bachelor’s in Music at the University of Northern Iowa in 2015 under the tutelage of Robert Dunn, and his Master’s in Classical Guitar Performance in 2019 at the Hartt School with Richard Provost. Alex has performed internationally on a handful of occasions, and throughout the New England area. In addition to concertizing, he was an educator at several music studios in Connecticut from 2017-2022, before returning to Iowa.
Alex has performed in master classes for internationally acclaimed guitarists Christopher Parkening, Antgoni Goni, Gaelle Solal, Scott Tennant, Thibaut Garcia, Andrew York, Jason Vieaux, Christopher Ladd and Oscar Ghiglia.
In 2018 Alex and his duo partner, flautist Sierra Schmeltzer, were awarded 2nd place in the annual Hartt chamber music competition. Additionally in spring of 2018, he was a featured soloist with the contemporary music ensemble “Foot in the Door”. Most recently, Alex performed on a promotional video for Luthier Toby Rzekpka, which was featured during the 2020 Guitar Foundation of America’s online convention. He currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa, where he works as a teacher and performer.
Juli Bey - Piano, Organ
For more than 20 years, Juli Bey has been a professional musician and educator. She received her degree in music from Central College and since has specialized in sacred music and choral accompanying, playing for churches, choirs, and musical theater productions across the Midwest. In addition, she has taught junior and senior high school and music lessons to people of all ages. Juli has been an accompanist for Grinnell-Newburg Community Schools since 2013 and is currently Organist and Handbell Choir Director for Westminster Prebyterian Church in Des Moines, where she was recently a featured performer on KCCI and Iowa Public Television.
Cornelia Di Gioia - Violin
Cornelia Di Gioia is a violist and violinist from Evanston, Illinois, studying music at Grinnell College. She began violin at age six, primarily studying with Sheila Hanford, and continues her studies at Grinnell College with Tracy Engman Finkelshteyn and Charles Miranda. Throughout her youth, Cornelia was a member of Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, where she played in the orchestras and chamber ensembles. She has also soloed multiple times in a chamber orchestra run by retired principal violist of the Chicago Symphony, Charles Pikler. As a member of the Io Quartet, she participated in multiple competitions, as well as having the opportunity to perform in masterclasses given by the Lincoln Trio, Risus Quartet, Jupiter String Quartet and the Cavani String Quartet. Cornelia is also very interested in music history and early music, and formed a baroque chamber orchestra at her high school.
Felipe Guz Tinoco - Guitar
Felipe Guz Tinoco graduated from Berklee College of Music with a BA in performance and jazz composition and is currently finishing up his PhD in Musicology at Washington University in St. Louis. He has taught guitar, ear training, improvisation, and Brazilian music for over 15 years and comes to the Grinnell School Music with experience in a wide range of styles and traditions, including classical, rock, funk, samba, blues, and jazz. His academic work centers on jazz and transnationalism in Brazil, the Caribbean, and on music of the African diaspora generally. He lives in Grinnell, IA, with his wife and pet bunny.
Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena - Ukulele
Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena (Putu) is an Indonesian artist-scholar serving as Assistant Professor of Music (Performance and Creativity), where he directs the Balinese Sound Ensemble and teaches courses on Heavy Metal Music, Electronic Music, and Noise and Activism. He also is a founding member of Balinese Experimental duo, ghOstMiSt, with dancer-anthropologist, Dewa Ayu Eka Putri; PAK Yeh (free-improvisation trio) from Denver, Colorado; and T.A.T.W.D. (improvised noise-metal trio) from Urbana, Illinois.
Hiranmayena found ukulele playing recreationally, using it primarily to improvise to pop tunes and integrates it in his noise music. For Hiranmayena, ukulele is a good educational tool and loves to use it in “not cute” ways, breaking its stereotypical exoticism of island music. Nonetheless, he finds ukulele playing to be sublime in its playful and fun timbres.”
Farren Johnson - Drums/Percussion, Mini Keys & Jam Band 101
Farren Johnson has played drums and percussion since 5th grade and specializes in playing the drum set. She is the drummer for the Iowa Women’s Jazz Orchestra and the rock group, Chameleon Society. Farren enjoys playing all varieties of music and has also taught lessons for percussion students over the past several years. Not only does Farren enjoy music, but she also loves art and is the K-4 art teacher in Grinnell.
Joleen Jorgensen - Voice
Joleen Jorgensen, a native of Winterset, moved to Grinnell in 2020. Prior to that she had a private music studio with 26 students. She enjoys teaching younger students, as well as older adults.
Jorgensen was vocally trained at Simpson College and won the High School division of NATS at the age of 16. In addition to NATS that same year she performed with DMMO ( Des Moines Metro Opera ) in Aida.
She graduated from college with an AA in Music from Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa.
She has traveled singing the National Anthem for opening ceremonies across the country. She has been to Reno NV, Atlanta GA, and Washington DC.
Here in Iowa, it is not uncommon to see Joleen judging local Bill Riley talent programs, and she is eager to help interested Grinnell students prepare for that program. She is looking forward to working with Grinnell School of Music and sharing her passion of singing.
In her spare time, Joleen enjoys being involved with the Grinnell Optimist Club. She also takes pleasure with spending time with family, traveling or taking leisurely walks outdoors with her dog Teddy.
Mark Laver - Saxophone
Saxophonist and ethnomusicologist Mark Laver is an Associate Professor of Music at Grinnell College, where he directs the jazz band and teaches classes on jazz and popular music. As a performer, Professor Laver has shared the stage with such leading jazz and improvising artists as Lee Konitz, William Parker, Dong-Won Kim, Seamus Blake, NEXUS, Kurt Elling, Eddie Prévost, Hugh Fraser, and Phil Nimmons. He has also been a featured soloist with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, and the University of Toronto Wind Ensemble. He was profiled in the “Canadian Rising Stars” issue of The Music Scene/La Scena Musicale in 2005.
Sara McCue - Percussive Arts Club, Woodwinds
Sara McCue is a musician, educator, and music therapist (almost). She has taught music for more than 20 years, from preschool singalongs to high school band and choir to blending folk music with Rock ‘n’ Roll history. She has a Bachelor’s in Music Education and a Master’s in Music Education with a Kodály Emphasis. Her continuing studies include the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and World Music Drumming. She is currently pursuing an equivalency degree in music therapy at the University of Iowa as well as teaching band for the BGM School District.
Sara, her spouse, and their three kids live in Grinnell, Iowa. In her free time, you can find Sara ice skating on her family’s backyard ice rink or in the audience at her kids’ activities.
Cirène Mourad - Beginner Voice
Cirène Mourad is a first-year student at Grinnell College studying English and music. A native New Yorker, Cirène attended a music high school where she trained in classical voice performance. From the age of ten, Cirène was a member of Manhattan Girls Chorus, with whom she performed at Carnegie Hall several times under the batons of renowned conductors, Zubin Mehta and Leon Botstein, and sang backup for Sting as well as other major recording artists. In New York Cirène had the privilege of teaching voice lessons to children, and she is excited to continue doing so at the Grinnell School of Music.
Dewa Ayu Eka Putri - Music & Movement
Dewa Ayu Eka Putri (Ayu) is an artist-anthropologist and is currently a lecturer of World Dance Tradition class in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at prestigious Grinnell College. Prior to Grinnell, she taught at the critically acclaimed arts organization, Sanggar Cudamani in Bali, Indonesia. Born into a family of artists, Dewa Ayu is internationally known for her collaborations of traditional and contemporary works in theater, music, and dance while actively working as a freelance choreographer and dance instructor. The majority of her work advocates for the legal protection of women and children which is highlighted in various artistic modalities. Currently, Putri has international projects with organizations in Mexico, Switzerland, and Japan, as well as annual projects in Indonesia. She is also the co-founder of an experimental duo called ghOstMiSt. This group focuses on traditional-contemporary art related to Balinese indigeneity and cosmology.
Ollie Peterson - Music Together®
Ollie Peterson grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, where they learned their love of music by attending Music Together® classes from an early age. They spent much of their childhood practicing ballet, dancing with the Boston Ballet School and the South Shore Ballet Theater, and they have played piano for 8 years. Currently studying at Grinnell College, they have helped re-establish Bob’s Underground as a center of student creativity, and are taking classes to further their study of music theory. After joining the Grinnell School of Music team as an apprentice teacher in October 2023, Ollie trained to be a certified Music Together teacher in January 2024. In their spare time, Ollie enjoys frequenting Saint’s Rest and getting to know the wonderful community of Grinnell. Ollie is a firm believer that music, especially when shared with others, has the power to fill our lives with delight, and is excited for the opportunity to spread this joy through Music Together!
Joshua Rex - Violin/Fiddle, Alternative Strings, Music Production, Celtic Jam Session, Mini Keys & Jam Band 101
From his formative years in the Des Moines Youth Symphony and Iowa's fiercely competitive show choir circuit, Joshua’s musical destiny was always to embrace diversity, oddity, and excellence. His eclectic path led him from extreme metal and hardcore vocals back to violin in 2008, where he found his niche with the art of fiddling.
Joshua began his professional fiddling career with regional country music sensation Cactus Hill and has become a linchpin in the Midwestern country music scene, lending his talents to acts like Emmett Bower Band, DJ Bridwell, and the Jason Earl Band. He is the principal player and band director for KC Cameron, and part of acclaimed folk/Americana ensemble, Jack Hotel, which earned the prestigious Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award for Album of the Year, as well as best band in their category for two years in a row. Joshua studied the Cape Breton style of fiddling under the guidance of renowned fiddler Mairi Rankin.
Joshua is also a skilled music producer and composer, specializing in the use of Ableton Live and iOS production tools. Not content with performing and producing, he is equally passionate about sharing his knowledge. He taught alternative strings and guitar at Nissa’s String Studio in Lincoln, NE, and refined his teaching methods, particularly in the iOS music production landscape, at Blue Raven Studios.
“My alternative approach to string music is simple: I don’t teach instruments - I teach students how to play them with a confident and creative spirit. Whether your goals are academic or artistic, I am eager to teach you the rules like a professional, before I teach you how to break them like an artist.”
Dr. Meghan Schumacker - Saxophones, Piano, World Music
Dr. Meghan Schumacker graduated from the University of Missouri- Kansas City with a bachelor’s degree in music education followed by a master’s degree in music performance. She has taught for the past twenty-four years in the Kansas City, Marshalltown, Des Moines, Waverly and Grinnell areas. Her talent and teaching experience ranges from the piano, to singing, to woodwind instruments as well as a variety of music classes. From younger to older students Dr. Schumacker has taught the love, passion and appreciation of music. She is currently a Supervisor of Academic Assistants at Grinnell College.
Richard Tanimoto - Piano
Richard Tanimoto is a keyboardist originally from Dallas, TX, living in Grinnell since 2015. He received his BA in Music from Grinnell College in 2019, where he studied harpsichord under Jennifer Williams Brown and organ under Linda Bryant. In addition to harpsichord and organ, Richard plays piano and has taken lessons from renowned concert pianists since childhood. Richard currently serves as organist at Grinnell United Methodist Church.
Scholarships and Financial Aid
We believe that music should be accessible to everyone.
In partnership with other local non-profits and with the support of our own generous donors, we aim to make all of our programs available for students and families in need on a pay-what-you-can basis.
The application process is entirely anonymous - all you need to do is ask.
Music Together® Grinnell
Schedule and Tuition
More about Music Together®
Schedule and Tuition
Tuition includes minimum of 8 classes, a CD and/or download code to stream the music, an illustrated songbook, and resources to help you continue making Music Together at home!
More about Music Together®
More about Music Together®
More about Music Together®
Music Together® Grinnell offers our community an internationally renowned curriculum, grounded in decades of research.
Grinnell Greenroom
Save the Date! August 5-10, 2024
Grinnell Greenroom is a FUN, process-oriented, non-competitive program suitable for students who are brand new to musical theater as well as more experienced performers – and everyone in between! Our program is designed to be inclusive and enjoyable for those who want to be in the spotlight, and those who have more interest in behind-the-scenes and technical roles. All campers will participate in the ensemble; however, no camper will need to perform (sing, dance, or speak) on their own unless they want to do so.
Camp Locations
Studio E (819 Broad Street)
Central Park
Grinnell UCC (902 Broad Street)
Tuition
The Grinnell School of Music believes that arts education should be accessible to everyone and that professional artists should earn a living wage for their work.
$425 is the true-cost tuition per camper. This covers 45+ instructional hours by professional staff, supervisory staff, daily snacks, supplies and materials, and camp swag! Students are required to pack a brown-bag lunch.
We offer a sibling discount of $40 per camper for additional student(s) from the same household.
Reduced tuition is available on a pay-what-you-can basis and should be discussed at the time of registration. Reduced tuition is subsidized by generous support from donors. We invite those who are able to please consider a donation to help make Grinnell Greenroom accessible for another student.
If you would like to set up a monthly or bi-weekly payment plan, please just ask! We are happy to help set that up for you.