Associate Teachers

Libby Albright - Music Together®, 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, Con Brio A Capella, and Grinnell College theatrical productions.

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.

Ellie Durr - Bassoon

A native of Grinnell, you may have seen Ellie in productions like The Addams Family or Little Shop of Horrors, as a concert choir singer, or as the sole bassoonist of the concert band during her time in high school. Ellie is beginning her masters in music therapy from the University of Iowa, hoping to work with kids in pediatric hospitals and rehabilitation centers.

As a bassoonist, Ellie has received many honors including Iowa All-State and recipient of the John Philip Sousa Award. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2025 with degrees in bassoon performance and developmental psychology, having sat first chair in the CMU philharmonic and specializing in music cognition research through the psychology program. In addition to playing, she also is skilled at making and finishing bassoon reeds.

When not playing music, Ellie enjoys being outside, traveling, thrifting antique dishes and furniture, and training her nose to smell niche scents in perfumery.

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 - Saxophones

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.

Chris Matheos - Bass

Chris has been playing bass for over 40 years. He studied

music at The Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has written

many instructional bass method books. Twenty of his books have

been published internationally by Mel Bay Publications. He has

toured and recorded with many well known acts in about every

style of music. Chris enjoys teaching all levels and all ages of

students. Website: www.chrismatheosmusic.com

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.”

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.

Teach for Us!

Join our team of experienced teachers!

Offer private or small-group lessons or classes - it’s up to you.
Set your own schedule.
Work with students of any or all age groups.
Earn fair compensation, including paid holidays.
Teach in our brand-new, fully equipped studios (opening in August).
Be part of a supportive and inclusive musical community.

We provide administrative support including student recruitment and onboarding, invoicing, teaching materials, student resources, recitals, and more.

You get to focus on the best part: making music; making a difference.

Learn more