Stiefel Theatre
Great opportunity for community members to learn how to play guitar and end with a group recital at the Stiefel Theatre.
Enroll now for eight-week group guitar classes at the Stiefel Theatre with classes beginning Monday, February 16, for complete beginners through experienced guitar players and continue every Monday through the April 13 recital, eight weeks of music.
What to expect
· Beginner class is 4:00 pm -4:50 pm , with teacher Daryn Garman.
· “Monday Night Hootenanny” is the 5:00 pm -5:50 pm class for all levels with teacher Matt Gerry.
· Intermediate Guitar is 6:00 pm -6:50 pm , also taught by Matt Gerry.
Gerry is an award-winning guitar teacher who started the flourishing guitar program at South Middle School.
Garman is a junior at South High and former student of Gerry. She began teaching beginner classes last year.
The Monday Night Hootenanny is an innovative format that Gerry started last year. Students receive chords and lyrics for familiar songs – oldies, popular songs, folk songs, songs that most people know – and class members play and sing the songs together in class.
“You don’t have to be a good singer or a great guitar player – this is singing and playing for the joy of it,” says the Stiefel’s Music School manager, Ann Zimmerman, a Salina attorney who is also a singer-songwriter. “The atmosphere is very supportive for all ages and playing abilities.”
Students are asked to bring their own guitars – the Stiefel has guitars available for students without guitars.
The cost is $200 for each eight-week class.
Scholarships are available. The Stiefel urges adults and youth to seek scholarships if they do not have money to spare. Request a scholarship application by calling (785) 827-1998.
According to Mr. Gerry, “We want young and old to have the opportunity to enrich their lives through music, especially guitar playing.”
Jane Gates, Stiefel Theatre Executive Director, says “We want to foster a musical community in Salina. Great music is what the Stiefel is all about, and greatness can start with people taking guitar lessons.”
Individual lessons offered through the school include Hammond B-3 organ from Kansas Music Hall of Famer Paul Draper and classical guitar lessons from Kansas college guitar professor Howard Glanton. Piano, harmonica, ukulele, harmony singing, and songwriting classes are some of the other opportunities the school of music offers from time to time. Shortened classes and music “camps” are held in the summer; more classes will happen in the fall semester.
The Stiefel’s “Mike Finnigan School of Music” is named for the world-renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ, Mike Finnigan, whose untimely death from cancer inspired his family to support the Stiefel’s school of music.
Enroll now here or by calling the Stiefel Theatre, (785) 827-1998.