Erik Gibelyou

Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Ukulele

Erik Gibelyou, a native of Bay City, Michigan, started playing guitar at age 12, shortly after his introduction to the tenor saxophone. He played many styles of music as a young guitarist, including fingerstyle, rock, and heavy metal. Erik enrolled at Delta College in 2006 and met his first classical guitar teacher, Dr. Brad DeRoche. After taking music classes and lessons with Professor DeRoche, Erik transferred to Saginaw Valley State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance. He studied classical guitar with Javier Calderon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, completing his Master of Music in Guitar Performance in 2015, and his Master of Arts in Music Theory in 2016. Erik is continuing his study of classical guitar at the Eastman School of Music with Dr. Nicholas Goluses, beginning the Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance and Literature in the fall of 2016.

As an undergraduate at Saginaw Valley State University, Erik traveled to Rome, Italy to participate in the Rome Festival Chamber Music Seminar, where he studied with local musicians, performed in operas, and performed numerous solo works and chamber works. Erik was an active member in the Madison Classical Guitar Society while living in Wisconsin, and he kept a large studio of private students. In July 2016, Erik was a featured artist and faculty member at the Michigan Classical Guitar Workshop, where he performed a solo recital and presented a paper on the guitar music of Hans Werner Henze.

Erik is successful in engaging students of all ages and maintains a high retention rate. He cares about his students and brings a positive and encouraging attitude to lessons.

Austin Wahl

Guitar, Suzuki Guitar, Mandolin

Austin Wahl, a Minneapolis native, began his guitar studies in 1998 with Alan Johnston, a former member of the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, at the MacPhail Center for Music. Annually from 2004 to 2011, Wahl attended the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, WI where he worked with Alan Johnston and Joseph Pecoraro. In 2009, he also studied with David Madsen at the MacPhail Suzuki Institute in Minneapolis. Between 2011 and 2015, Wahl earned his B. M. and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Dr. Nicholas Goluses. He will begin his M. M. studies in August of 2015, also at the Eastman School with Dr. Goluses. Wahl received his Suzuki guitar teaching certificate in August of 2012 from Mary Lou Roberts in Ann Arbor, Michigan.