New Hope

New to the Twin Cities, Emily is thrilled to share her musical knowledge with you. She began private lessons on the flute at 8 years old and practiced avidly while growing up in Idaho. While studying art in college, she constantly drew from the combination of discipline and expression she learned from her musical education. Emily finds a uniquely transportive experience whether playing the flute or piano which shapes her experience of the world. Her love of teaching comes from the opportunity to enable others to cultivate this experience. When she’s not teaching, Emily is making ceramics, listening or watching jazz performances, and enjoying the outdoors.

Rachel grew up in a musical home where singing and playing instruments together was a regular part of family life. She began private piano lessons when she was 7 years old and studied with various piano instructors, including her dad who supplemented her private piano lessons with additional music theory.  She continued lessons throughout her undergraduate studies at Augsburg University, where she studied piano under Professor Jill Dawe. 

Rachel has kept her connection to music alive in a variety of ways since graduating from Augsburg, including accompanying vocalists and other instrumentalists, playing piano for church services, volunteering to play at nursing homes, and tutoring elementary and college aged piano students.  In addition to her musical expertise, Rachel has extensive education experience. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Masters in Education and has taught middle school science for the past seven years. In addition to her classroom experience, she has also worked for afterschool programs and worked as an educator for the International Wolf Center. 

Rachel is excited to get to know students and help them grow as pianists. Playing piano can bring joy and confidence to a young person’s life as well as equip them with a lifelong skill. 

Outside of work Rachel enjoys reading, baking, hiking, and spending time with her two-year-old son Zayn and her dog Cato.

Joe has been playing guitar for over 15 years and has been teaching for over a decade. He is a well versed Guitar, Bass, Ukulele, Drums, and Piano instructor. He plays a variety of genres from funk/jam band to reggae to progressive metal. Joe graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education at Saint Cloud State University and continued studying Guitar Performance at McNally Smith College. He has years of experience working with kids teaching private lessons and has owned and operated the Kracker Jacks Drumline since 2015. No matter the time of the day, Joe can be found spreading the word: “Music is a language we all know how to speak. Some of us just don’t know it yet.”

Guitar Repairs

Joe has been repairing guitars for nearly 10 years. His work covers everything from pickup mods, parallel/series wiring, to full refrets. Whether you need a cracked headstock glued, to deck out your Squier/Epiphone with upgraded parts, or just a restring/setup, Joe has you covered!