Teachers

Kristi Stice

Voice/Piano/Songwriting/Music Theory

Kristi graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelors of Music in jazz studies with an emphasis in voice. She has been teaching private music lessons for 20 years and enjoys teaching her students music fundamentals, while incorporating a sense of play, along with emphasizing the importance of music theory. She currently teaches songwriting at the University of Colorado Denver. She taught courses in songwriting, performance, and voice at Metropolitan State University's music extension program D.I.M.E., and also taught weekly as a guest lecturer at the University of Colorado Denver in the large performance ensemble courses. She taught guitar for 12 years, and now focuses on teaching piano, voice, and songwriting. She studied classical piano under Dr. Sandra Stewart and composition under Dr. Gary Smart at the University of North Florida. Gary Starling was her jazz guitar instructor at Jacksonville University. She studied jazz voice under the direction of Dr. William Brown and Michelle Amato at the University of North Florida. She continues to study jazz piano under the direction of Drew Morell from the University of Colorado Denver. She currently sings with the local Django Reinhardt 1930's french ensemble, Gypsy Swing Revue, and continues to compose original music. Kristi owns and operates the Music Lesson Café with a dream of having a brick and mortar coffee shop that offers music lessons, live music, & joy for everyone who enters.

Gil Clark

Guitar, Bass, Piano

Gil’s love of music began at a young age. After combing through his parent’s Beatles records at age 8, he got his first guitar and started playing. Subsequently, he took up the cello and bass and performed in a variety of symphonies, chamber ensembles, jazz ensembles, and rock bands throughout his youth. Gil is a graduate of the University of Colorado, Denver with a degree in guitar performance, where he studied jazz guitar with some of Denver’s top guitarists and instructors, primarily with Sean McGowan. Gil continues to perform regularly in the Denver area in a variety of music projects, and has found teaching to be a rewarding way to share his knowledge and inspire others.

Emma Haupt

Voice, Pipe Organ, Beginning to Lower Intermediate Piano

Emma is a 2016 graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota with degrees in Church Music, Pipe Organ Performance, and Spanish. During her time at St. Olaf, she performed across the country and abroad singing with the St. Olaf Choir and served churches around the Twin Cities as organist and pianist. She holds a Masters of Science in Education from Canisius College that she earned in 2019 while teaching high school English as a Teach For America Corps Member in Buffalo, New York. Additionally, she served as the Director of Music playing organ, piano, directing choirs, and handbells at a local church. In January 2021 Emma moved to the Denver area to pursue her dream of living near the mountains to hike, camp, and backpack in her free time and has entered the Denver music scene playing and directing handbells and teaching music lessons. Her favorite part about teaching is seeing students joyfully take on a new skill and succeed.

Wilson Luallen

Electric and Acoustic Bass, Beginning Guitar, Ukulele, and Piano

Wilson studied music at the University of Denver, graduating in 2015 with a degree in Jazz Studies and Commercial Music. While there, he took classical bass lessons from Susan Cahill of the Colorado Symphony and jazz lessons from Ken Walker. He does freelance bass performances around Colorado, and is a member of the local bluegrass band Meadow Mountain. Starting with rock bands and then jazz groups in middle school, he discovered a love of music that grew to include many other genres. During high school and college, Wilson began learning guitar and took several years of piano lessons. At DU he had the opportunity to take a jazz piano class from pianist and composer Dave Hanson. One of his favorite aspects of teaching is to help expand students’ knowledge and appreciation of the many diverse styles of music.

Clint Koury

Guitar, Mandolin, Ukulele, Beginning Piano

Clint Koury is a private lesson instructor from Denver, Colorado. Clint graduated in 2017 from the University of Colorado Denver with a degree in Guitar Performance. He studies and teaches a wide variety of instruments including guitar, beginning piano, ukulele, and mandolin. He teaches different musical styles including pop, folk, fingerstyle guitar, bluegrass, jazz and country. Clint played mandolin in the Denver based folk band Avenhart and continues to play in his own traditional bluegrass band. He enjoys helping students learn to play their favorite songs as well as introducing students to new styles of music.

The Music Lesson Café was proudly selected by Denver Arts & Venues to be a recipient of the Denver Music Advancement Fund for the 2019 - 2020 school year. "The Denver Music Advancement Fund has provided $200,000 to support initiatives that advance the Denver Music Strategy and IMAGINE 2020 cultural plan. This fund demonstrates long-term financial and partnership opportunities to ensure that music continues to drive economic vibrancy, create a more resilient and connected city, and catalyze reinvestment in the community."

The Music Lesson Café believes that a good music education for children begins with great educators. The award from Denver Arts & Venues was used throughout the 2019 - 2020 school year to help the teachers join the national, state, and local music teacher associations. The associations offer continuing education resources to private teachers, and annual conferences to keep music teachers inspired with new teaching techniques and curriculum. The state and local chapters provide opportunities for private teachers in Colorado to attend monthly teacher development workshops. As a small business we value our teachers and the grant allowed the business to support them in their continued development. Helping them grow as educators means the business will have great teachers in the long run that will in turn provide a valuable education to new and existing students as we continue to grow in the Denver area and beyond.