Teachers

Clarice Auluck-Wilson, Center Director and Teacher, has a Ph.D. in Community Development from the University of Minnesota and sees Music Together as a perfect vehicle for building strong families and communities. She thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to sing and dance with others during Music Together classes and boasts a very high “S.Q.” or “Silliness Quotient” (a very important attribute for a Music Together teacher).

Clarice lived in India for several years while doing research for her Ph.D. There, she met her husband who is a homeopath, and they have a 16-year old daughter, Kevalin, with whom Clarice takes ballet and yoga classes and they also train together with kettle bells (nothing musical here--these are weights with an interesting name).

Clarice has been teaching violin in her own studio, Stillwater Suzuki Strings, for many years. She stepped back into the world of community theater last fall, playing the role of Sister Amnesia in the Stillwater Community Theater’s production of the comedy “Nunsense.” This proved to be a great place for Clarice to exercise her SQ. The five-member cast of “Nunsense” such fun during the production that they still sing together on a regular basis. Clarice has earned a “Level One Certification” from Music Together.

Linda Brasaemle has a passion for family, music and fitness. While she takes all three very seriously, her 11 and 14-year old daughters describe her as “just plain silly”, and the joy her silliness generates in class is infectious. Families who have taken classes with Linda have described their time with her as “pure delight”.

Linda played in bands, orchestras and jazz groups throughout her high school and college years and discovered the joy of singing later when she began participating in vocal ensembles. Linda has a BA in Fitness and is a Red Cross instructor, working for the YMCA. She has also pursued further education through Music Together and attained both “Level 1 Certification” and “Level 2 Certification”, becoming one of a very select group of highly trained Music Together teachers honored for excellence in articulation of program philosophy, assessment of children's music development and teaching mastery.

Linda has also been selected by the national-level Music Together organization to be one of it's representatives at national-level early childhood and music education conferences.

Paula Emmons: I have been surrounded by music for long as I can remember. My great grandparents both played the piano and we had Sunday sing alongs where the whole family joined in. In high school, I sang in the choir and in the musicals The Music Man, Oklahoma and The Boy Friend. I was also in the marching band and played the tuba. Yes, I played the big sixty-five pound tuba and marched at the same time!!! I even sang to my husband, Brett, at our wedding sixteen years ago, so you get the picture: music is a big part of who I am.

I love working with young children and was an assistant teacher for Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) in the Minneapolis school system for fourteen years. I spent much of that time working with teen parents and their little ones, teaching the basics of good parenting.

During this same time, I continued to teach various craft classes for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Department, something I’ve done since I was fifteen! When my son, Easton, was born nine years ago, I developed a series of early childhood music classes for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Department and I’ve been teaching music classes for this age group for parks and rec. ever since.

I am delighted to be able to teach Music Together, combining my love of music and young children and their families with a curriculum that is backed by twenty years of solid research. An added bonus is that Music Together is a load of fun to teach! I look forward to meeting you and hope that we will be able to make music together.

Amanda Hand is certified as a Montessori teacher and has been singing for as long as she can remember. Though her father was a professional musician and frequently performed on A Prairie Home Companion, Amanda says that her love of singing came from her mother who made song a priority in their home. Amanda grew up steeped in the arts, attending the Children's Theater School, performing in professional and school theater, and taking ballet and modern dance classes.

A person of many skills and interests, Amanda has taught infants through kindergartners, run a YWCA after school program for girls, tutored ESL, GED and adult literacy, taught Danish (and lived in Denmark for a year and teaches at Concorida Language Village’s Danish Camp each August),worked on farms in Ireland and fought forest fires for the DNR.

These days, in addition to being a Music Together teacher, Amanda is a singer/song writer, a yoga instructor and the mother of two children, ages 4 and 7. In addition to her Montessori training, Amanda has a B.A. in International Studies with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture and agricultural policy.

Last summer, she completed her training for her “Level One Certification” from the national-level Music Together organization which is quite an honor.

Tibbe Luell has had over 20 years of dance training and has taught dance for the past 17 years. She is the owner of Valley Dance and Fitness, the studio where Music Together classes are held in Stillwater and in Osceola. Drawn by the irresistible music and the wonderful energy of our participants that she witnessed during the first session of Music Together at her Stillwater studio, Tibbe decided to take the Music Together teacher training herself. She has been enjoying the music and the families ever since. She sees Music Together as a great beginning in the arts, an excellent foundation for future training in dance, instrumental and vocal music, and all other creative endeavors. Tibbe has earned a “Level One Certification” from Music Together.

Heather Monthony: I've always loved music and my earliest musical memories are of my mother singing lullabies to me. My own singing was mostly done in my parents' living room and in church pews (both with gusto!).

I started playing trumpet in elementary school and never put it down. In Junior High, I was in a “before school” German "oom-pah" band in addition to the concert band. In high school, I was in every band that existed—jazz band, pep band, marching band, concert band. I also participated in a number of musicals. I then went off to St. Olaf College and spent four wonderful years in the St. Olaf Band where in addition to playing, we were required to sing several songs at every concert.

Since then, I've played with the Minnesota State Band and currently, I play trumpet and do a little singing with a German band, The Bavarian Musikmeisters. Whenever we perform, I wear the entire German outfit, complete with a dirndl skirt, braids and clunky shoes! I also play the cornet with the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band.

I've worked with children in a variety of settings including as a gymnastics coach and as a naturalist. I have two children, a 4-year-old girl and a 9-month-old boy. Both of them love music and dancing! I discovered Music Together when my daughter was one-and-a-half. I love the variety of music and my daughter loves to “practice" the new music in our living room (with gusto, of course!).

Tera Sayers: Hello! I currently reside in Woodbury with my husband, my two wonderful children, and one beautiful, psychotic dog rescued from the humane society. (If anyone would like to have a dog, up-to-date shots and some free food, let me know!)

Born into a family of musicians, I crawled, walked, slept, and ate music. My day care days were spent with a phenomenal musician who taught all lessons through music. My day care group toured the cities performing for festivals, ball games, nursing homes and other venues, but my favorite opportunity was soloing on a children's record my teacher wrote and recorded. So, I know the value of early childhood music education from personal experience.

Growing up, I studied piano for 15 years, clarinet for 10 and took dance lessons for 13 years. Music and dance have always had a strong presence in my life. Throughout my high school years, I was involved in community orchestra, band, choir, dance, and theater as well as participating in school theater, madrigal singers, band, choir, orchestra, All-State Band, All-State Choir, Dixieland, jazz, and our family band.

All of this wonderful experience led me to study music at St. Olaf College on a clarinet performance scholarship. I'm not one to be all study and no play, so my budding clarinet career was cut short with one broom-ball stick to the mouth. (Ouch!) That emergency room visit resulted in an abrupt change of plans and my graduation from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in speech and communications with a minor in mass communications from the School of Journalism.

After graduation, I found a job niche that I loved in pharmaceutical sales. Once I had my first son, I became a stay-at-home mom. I learned about Music Together by signing up for a sample class in Woodbury with my eldest son. I saw the immediate reaction to the class and the interest in going back. We signed up for the next session and have been taking classes ever since. Both of my sons absolutely love the experience Music Together has provided, and have benefited greatly from it. I am thrilled to be able to teach in this wonderful program.

Tera has earned a “Level One Certification” from Music Together.

Paula Wilson: Paula Paula Wilson was born into a musical family. As part of the Klemp Family Singers, she began singing and performing with her seven siblings and her parents when she was just five years old. She and her family recorded three record albums, performing throughout the Twin Cities and touring each summer in a Partridge Family-style bus. Then, she began studying the flute and piano in grade school, two instruments she has played ever since.

When Paula’s daughter, Audrey, was born, Paula wanted to give her the same wonderful beginning in music and knew she’d found just the right program when she discovered Music Together. Paula now brings both Audrey and her son, Fletcher, to Music Together classes.

Paula is a graduate of Augsburg College with a double major in Theater and Broadcast Communications and she continues her acting career by doing television commercials locally. In her most recent TV commercial, Paula is part of a choir that is precariously perched in a tiny boat, singing hallelujah when a fish bites!

Paula is eager to share Music Together with others, to help them discover the spontaneity and joy of making music in a circle of family and friends. Paula earned her “Level One Certification” this summer, receiving high praise for her teaching from Dr. Lili Levinowitz, one of the creators of Music Together.

Beeta Gualdoni: Beeta grew up with a mother who loved to sing and dance (and still does!) and a father who still plays the harmonica and dances to country and western music. As a child in Corpus Christi, Texas, she attended the Chula Vista Academy of Fine Arts where her days were filled with music as she sang in the choir and learned to play the piano, flute and guitar. Beeta’s mother gave her a guitar at the age of 11 and she’s been playing ever since, using it often in her Music Together classes.

While earning her degree in Spanish at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, Beeta revisited her fine arts background by participating in the Women’s Chorus, the Symphonic Choir, the Concert Dance Company, and the Two to Tango ballroom dance club. While in college, she met her husband who shares her love of music and plays the guitar and piano. They enjoy taking ballroom dance classes together, playing volleyball and sharing the occasional guitar jam.

After their daughter, Isabella (now 2 1/2), was born, a friend gave Beeta a Music Together CD. After listening to it (again and again and again!), they were both hooked. Beeta is delighted to be working with families of young children in a musical environment because she believes that music and arts education should be available for all children. She is happy to have the opportunity to express her sense of humor and her creativity in class and to pass on the benefits she received from growing up in such a musical environment.

Autumn Irlbeck: Hello, I’m Autumn. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida, so I am a long way from home here in Minnesota, but I love it here. I am one of six children. Three of my siblings and I are adopted and we have a wonderfully diverse family. I have always loved music as well as children, so I am thrilled to be able to combine my two loves by teaching Music Together!

I am married and we are expecting our first little miracle in February. We are so excited! I am currently a full-time nanny for a great family in Blaine that has three beautiful children. I've taken them to Music Together classes for several sessions now. That's how I was first introduced to the program and I am so glad that I found it! I have been involved with child care since I was twelve years old, baby sitting, working in day care centers and being a nanny. Children can teach you so much, can't they? I look forward to learning from all the new little ones I’ll the privilege to teach in Music Together--and all of you adults who are a little bit ahead of me parenting-wise can give me advice!

I LOVE MUSIC. I play the piano and the guitar and am a singer/song writer. I have been writing songs since I was a teen and have had the privilege of playing at various youth and church events as well as at a number of coffee houses. I sang in the choir all four years of high school and in my senior year, I worked daily with a kindergarten class and composed songs that they performed.

My long-term career goal is to be a music therapist and I’ve been working on my degree. I am looking forward to meeting you and to enjoying music with you and your children.



Teachers
	Our Music Together in the Valley teachers are fun-loving, multitalented individuals who have widely varied backgrounds in music, dance, theater and education. Though they have come to Music Together through different routes, they have all chosen to teach it because they love children and they love to sing. All of the teachers who are listed below have successfully completed the Music Together® Teaching Workshop developed by the Center for Music and Young Children, Princeton, New Jersey. Several have also gone on to complete Music Together’s rigorous certification process.
		Clarice Auluck-Wilson, Center Director and Teacher, has a Ph.D. in Community Development from the University of Minnesota and sees Music Together as a perfect vehicle for building strong families and communities. She thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to sing and dance with others during Music Together classes and boasts a very high “S.Q.” or “Silliness Quotient” (a very important attribute for a Music Together teacher). Clarice lived in India for several years while doing research for her Ph.D. There, she met her husband who is a homeopath, and they have a 16-year old daughter, Kevalin, with whom Clarice takes ballet and yoga classes and they also train together with kettle bells (nothing musical here--these are weights with an interesting name). Clarice has been teaching violin in her own studio, Stillwater Suzuki Strings, for many years. She stepped back into the world of community theater last fall, playing the role of Sister Amnesia in the Stillwater Community Theater’s production of the comedy “Nunsense.” This proved to be a great place for Clarice to exercise her SQ. The five-member cast of “Nunsense” such fun during the production that they still sing together on a regular basis. Clarice has earned a “Level One Certification” from Music Together. Linda Brasaemle has a passion for family, music and fitness. While she takes all three very seriously, her 11 and 14-year old daughters describe her as “just plain silly”, and the joy her silliness generates in class is infectious. Families who have taken classes with Linda have described their time with her as “pure delight”. Linda played in bands, orchestras and jazz groups throughout her high school and college years and discovered the joy of singing later when she began participating in vocal ensembles. Linda has a BA in Fitness and is a Red Cross instructor, working for the YMCA. She has also pursued further education through Music Together and attained both “Level 1 Certification” and “Level 2 Certification”, becoming one of a very select group of highly trained Music Together teachers honored for excellence in articulation of program philosophy, assessment of children's music development and teaching mastery. Linda has also been selected by the national-level Music Together organization to be one of it's representatives at national-level early childhood and music education conferences. Paula Emmons: I have been surrounded by music for long as I can remember. My great grandparents both played the piano and we had Sunday sing alongs where the whole family joined in. In high school, I sang in the choir and in the musicals The Music Man, Oklahoma and The Boy Friend. I was also in the marching band and played the tuba. Yes, I played the big sixty-five pound tuba and marched at the same time!!! I even sang to my husband, Brett, at our wedding sixteen years ago, so you get the picture: music is a big part of who I am. I love working with young children and was an assistant teacher for Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) in the Minneapolis school system for fourteen years. I spent much of that time working with teen parents and their little ones, teaching the basics of good parenting. During this same time, I continued to teach various craft classes for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Department, something I’ve done since I was fifteen! When my son, Easton, was born nine years ago, I developed a series of early childhood music classes for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Department and I’ve been teaching music classes for this age group for parks and rec. ever since. I am delighted to be able to teach Music Together, combining my love of music and young children and their families with a curriculum that is backed by twenty years of solid research. An added bonus is that Music Together is a load of fun to teach! I look forward to meeting you and hope that we will be able to make music together. Amanda Hand is certified as a Montessori teacher and has been singing for as long as she can remember. Though her father was a professional musician and frequently performed on A Prairie Home Companion, Amanda says that her love of singing came from her mother who made song a priority in their home. Amanda grew up steeped in the arts, attending the Children's Theater School, performing in professional and school theater, and taking ballet and modern dance classes. A person of many skills and interests, Amanda has taught infants through kindergartners, run a YWCA after school program for girls, tutored ESL, GED and adult literacy, taught Danish (and lived in Denmark for a year and teaches at Concorida Language Village’s Danish Camp each August),worked on farms in Ireland and fought forest fires for the DNR. These days, in addition to being a Music Together teacher, Amanda is a singer/song writer, a yoga instructor and the mother of two children, ages 4 and 7. In addition to her Montessori training, Amanda has a B.A. in International Studies with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture and agricultural policy. Last summer, she completed her training for her “Level One Certification” from the national-level Music Together organization which is quite an honor. Tibbe Luell has had over 20 years of dance training and has taught dance for the past 17 years. She is the owner of Valley Dance and Fitness, the studio where Music Together classes are held in Stillwater and in Osceola. Drawn by the irresistible music and the wonderful energy of our participants that she witnessed during the first session of Music Together at her Stillwater studio, Tibbe decided to take the Music Together teacher training herself. She has been enjoying the music and the families ever since. She sees Music Together as a great beginning in the arts, an excellent foundation for future training in dance, instrumental and vocal music, and all other creative endeavors. Tibbe has earned a “Level One Certification” from Music Together. Heather Monthony: I've always loved music and my earliest musical memories are of my mother singing lullabies to me. My own singing was mostly done in my parents' living room and in church pews (both with gusto!). I started playing trumpet in elementary school and never put it down. In Junior High, I was in a “before school” German "oom-pah" band in addition to the concert band. In high school, I was in every band that existed—jazz band, pep band, marching band, concert band. I also participated in a number of musicals. I then went off to St. Olaf College and spent four wonderful years in the St. Olaf Band where in addition to playing, we were required to sing several songs at every concert. Since then, I've played with the Minnesota State Band and currently, I play trumpet and do a little singing with a German band, The Bavarian Musikmeisters. Whenever we perform, I wear the entire German outfit, complete with a dirndl skirt, braids and clunky shoes! I also play the cornet with the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band. I've worked with children in a variety of settings including as a gymnastics coach and as a naturalist. I have two children, a 4-year-old girl and a 9-month-old boy. Both of them love music and dancing! I discovered Music Together when my daughter was one-and-a-half. I love the variety of music and my daughter loves to “practice" the new music in our living room (with gusto, of course!). Tera Sayers: Hello! I currently reside in Woodbury with my husband, my two wonderful children, and one beautiful, psychotic dog rescued from the humane society. (If anyone would like to have a dog, up-to-date shots and some free food, let me know!) Born into a family of musicians, I crawled, walked, slept, and ate music. My day care days were spent with a phenomenal musician who taught all lessons through music. My day care group toured the cities performing for festivals, ball games, nursing homes and other venues, but my favorite opportunity was soloing on a children's record my teacher wrote and recorded. So, I know the value of early childhood music education from personal experience. Growing up, I studied piano for 15 years, clarinet for 10 and took dance lessons for 13 years. Music and dance have always had a strong presence in my life. Throughout my high school years, I was involved in community orchestra, band, choir, dance, and theater as well as participating in school theater, madrigal singers, band, choir, orchestra, All-State Band, All-State Choir, Dixieland, jazz, and our family band. All of this wonderful experience led me to study music at St. Olaf College on a clarinet performance scholarship. I'm not one to be all study and no play, so my budding clarinet career was cut short with one broom-ball stick to the mouth. (Ouch!) That emergency room visit resulted in an abrupt change of plans and my graduation from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in speech and communications with a minor in mass communications from the School of Journalism. After graduation, I found a job niche that I loved in pharmaceutical sales. Once I had my first son, I became a stay-at-home mom. I learned about Music Together by signing up for a sample class in Woodbury with my eldest son. I saw the immediate reaction to the class and the interest in going back. We signed up for the next session and have been taking classes ever since. Both of my sons absolutely love the experience Music Together has provided, and have benefited greatly from it. I am thrilled to be able to teach in this wonderful program. Tera has earned a “Level One Certification” from Music Together. Paula Wilson: Paula Paula Wilson was born into a musical family. As part of the Klemp Family Singers, she began singing and performing with her seven siblings and her parents when she was just five years old. She and her family recorded three record albums, performing throughout the Twin Cities and touring each summer in a Partridge Family-style bus. Then, she began studying the flute and piano in grade school, two instruments she has played ever since. When Paula’s daughter, Audrey, was born, Paula wanted to give her the same wonderful beginning in music and knew she’d found just the right program when she discovered Music Together. Paula now brings both Audrey and her son, Fletcher, to Music Together classes. Paula is a graduate of Augsburg College with a double major in Theater and Broadcast Communications and she continues her acting career by doing television commercials locally. In her most recent TV commercial, Paula is part of a choir that is precariously perched in a tiny boat, singing hallelujah when a fish bites! Paula is eager to share Music Together with others, to help them discover the spontaneity and joy of making music in a circle of family and friends. Paula earned her “Level One Certification” this summer, receiving high praise for her teaching from Dr. Lili Levinowitz, one of the creators of Music Together. Beeta Gualdoni: Beeta grew up with a mother who loved to sing and dance (and still does!) and a father who still plays the harmonica and dances to country and western music. As a child in Corpus Christi, Texas, she attended the Chula Vista Academy of Fine Arts where her days were filled with music as she sang in the choir and learned to play the piano, flute and guitar. Beeta’s mother gave her a guitar at the age of 11 and she’s been playing ever since, using it often in her Music Together classes. While earning her degree in Spanish at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, Beeta revisited her fine arts background by participating in the Women’s Chorus, the Symphonic Choir, the Concert Dance Company, and the Two to Tango ballroom dance club. While in college, she met her husband who shares her love of music and plays the guitar and piano. They enjoy taking ballroom dance classes together, playing volleyball and sharing the occasional guitar jam. After their daughter, Isabella (now 2 1/2), was born, a friend gave Beeta a Music Together CD. After listening to it (again and again and again!), they were both hooked. Beeta is delighted to be working with families of young children in a musical environment because she believes that music and arts education should be available for all children. She is happy to have the opportunity to express her sense of humor and her creativity in class and to pass on the benefits she received from growing up in such a musical environment. Autumn Irlbeck: Hello, I’m Autumn. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida, so I am a long way from home here in Minnesota, but I love it here. I am one of six children. Three of my siblings and I are adopted and we have a wonderfully diverse family. I have always loved music as well as children, so I am thrilled to be able to combine my two loves by teaching Music Together! I am married and we are expecting our first little miracle in February. We are so excited! I am currently a full-time nanny for a great family in Blaine that has three beautiful children. I've taken them to Music Together classes for several sessions now. That's how I was first introduced to the program and I am so glad that I found it! I have been involved with child care since I was twelve years old, baby sitting, working in day care centers and being a nanny. Children can teach you so much, can't they? I look forward to learning from all the new little ones I’ll the privilege to teach in Music Together--and all of you adults who are a little bit ahead of me parenting-wise can give me advice! I LOVE MUSIC. I play the piano and the guitar and am a singer/song writer. I have been writing songs since I was a teen and have had the privilege of playing at various youth and church events as well as at a number of coffee houses. I sang in the choir all four years of high school and in my senior year, I worked daily with a kindergarten class and composed songs that they performed. My long-term career goal is to be a music therapist and I’ve been working on my degree. I am looking forward to meeting you and to enjoying music with you and your children.