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 displays 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 an 18-year old daughter, Kevalin, with whom Clarice takes Tai Chi 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 recently stepped back into the world of community theater, 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” had such fun during the production that they still sing together on a regular basis. Clarice has been teaching and directing Music Together for seven years and has earned a “Level One Certification” from the national-level Music Together organization.
Heather Cogswell: Heather was singing the theme to “Sesame Street” and 'It's a Small World After All" at 18 months of age...well, at least that's what her mother says! Regardless, music has always been a part of her life. Heather was born and raised in the Twin Cities area and returned to Minnesota after completing her undergraduate degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education at Illinois Wesleyan University. She taught K-12 music in the public schools for eight years and has completed her Master's degree in Music Education from The University of St. Thomas.
Born with a healthy amount of the ham gene, Heather threw her hat into the performance ring, spending eight years singing, traveling, and recording with The Rose Ensemble, a professional early music vocal ensemble. Life on the road came to an end in 2009 with the next, greatest, and best adventure: the birth of her son.
While teaching music in the school system, Heather became fascinated with music education for very young children and was delighted to find Music Together when she had her son. She was even more delighted when she discovered it would be possible to teach for Music Together and she is now looking forward to working with families to bring the joy and magic of music to children and adults alike.
Heather Zenk: According to family lore, Heather was “the baby who cried all the time.” Her four older sisters discovered, out of desperation, that singing and dancing with the baby would soothe, distract and entertain her. It was a win-win situation. The family got a reprieve from her howling, and Heather got an early introduction to song and dance that launched her lifelong love of music.
Born in Northern California, Heather was transplanted to Iowa in elementary school where she grew up in a converted barn on a cattle farm run by her artist parents. (It’s a long story!) Her father had a beautiful tenor voice and her mother tap danced in the kitchen. As a result, Heather loves homemade music and has a deep appreciation for the joy, camaraderie and comfort this kind of music brings to a family.
During high school and college, Heather participated in a variety of choirs, choral ensembles, musical theater productions and vocal music classes. She holds a BA in Journalism from Iowa State University and before becoming a mother, worked as a publicist for Sesame Street Live and a freelance feature writer.
Heather is the mother of Mackenzie (12) and Shane (9) and lives in St. Paul with her husband, Jim, and the family’s beloved dachshund, Lucy. Currently, their home contains one piano, two fiddles, three guitars, a bagpipe chanter, and they hope, someday soon, to add an accordian.
Heather spends her summers with her children on Madeline Island in Lake Superior managing their family-owned hotel, doing lots and lots of laundry, and organizing acts for her favorite event: The Madeline Island Talent Show. She is delighted to be working as a Music Together teacher and is grateful to her dear friend, and fellow Music Together teacher, Sarah Hardy, for introducing her to this wonderful program.
Laurie McFaul: Laurie was born into a family of musicians with both parents involved in music education. She started playing the piano very young and took up the violin when she was nine. It was the violin that captured her imagination and she went on to play in the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies and focused on the violin while at the University of Minnesota where she completed her degree in Musicology.
Laurie worked in the mortgage and banking industry for twelve years while continuing her music. She played the violin in the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis the entire time and still free lances with various groups in the Twin Cities.
These days, Laurie is focused on mothering her three children, gardening, teaching violin lessons to both children and adults and teaching Music Together. Her youngest child, Ellie, is just six months old and Laurie reports that Ellie loves being a guinea pig as her mom works on Music Together songs.
In addition to loving classical music, Laurie enjoys a wide range of musical styles and has recently taken up playing bluegrass music on the mandolin, playing with her husband who is also a musician. She says that she loves lighting up the lives of both children and adults by sharing her love of music and she is so excited to meet the families who come to her classes.
Linda Brasaemle is a veteran Music Together teacher. She loves her work with families, helping adults learn to play and facilitating community building through music, and thinks she has the best job in the world.
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 and singing at church. Recently, she has been seen playing the bass guitar in a jazz brass band in the Twin Cities. Linda has a BA in Fitness with several related certifications and spent 15 years working for the YMCA. More than anything in the world, she loves being a mom to two beautiful teenaged girls.
Linda 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 the program philosophy, the 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 its representatives at early childhood and music education conferences throughout the country. Most recently, she has become a Workshop Leader and Teacher Trainer for Music Together, joining a select group of teachers worldwide.
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.
Paula Wilson: 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.
Robin McGuire: Robin’s father was a band director, her mother was a music teacher and her sister (who is also a Music Together teacher!) played both the piano and the violin. So, music is and has always been a huge part of her life. Robin began piano lesson when she was quite young, added flute lessons a few years later, took up the autoharp as an adult and just this summer took on the challenge of the ukulele—and is proud to announce that she already knows three chords!
Robin’s husband plays the trombone, as does her daughter, Maeve (12). Her son, Miles (9), is the singer in the family and her dog, Otto, howls along with them all, according to Robin.
Robin has a degree in Elementary Education from the University of Minnesota and she puts this to good use conducting the Cherub Choir at her church, teaching at her church’s music and drama camp each summer, and doing the music portion of the weekly Parents’ Day Out that the church sponsors. Robin also serves as a worship arts leader at her church.
One of Robin’s passions is children’s books and she has an extensive collection. She also thrives on gardening and being outdoors. Robin has an infectious smile and a delightful sense of humor and when you see her in action, you know she was meant to be a Music Together teacher!
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.