Music Teachers in Colorado Springs

Benito Vena

Owner · Saxophone, Piano & Music Production

Benito is a classical and jazz saxophonist, piano player, electro-acoustic performance artist, DJ, producer, recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, and film and television composer, as well as the owner of Rocky Mountain Academy of Music. A graduate of Pikes Peak Community College and the University of Colorado, Benito has been a music teacher in Colorado Springs for over 10 years and performs live across the state with a variety of ensembles.

• Teaches: Piano, Saxophone, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Clarinet
• Ensembles: Jazz Ensemble, Rock Band
• Courses: Recording, Music Production, Film Scoring, Composition, Music Theory

Dan Swanagon

Guitar, Bass, Drums & Music Production

Dan is a contemporary and jazz guitarist, bass player, and percussionist, as well as a producer, DJ, recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, and film and television editor. A graduate of Pikes Peak Community College and UCCS, Dan has a performing career that stretches over 25 years across a variety of genres, and he has been a music teacher for over 15 years.

• Teaches: Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Piano, Banjo
• Ensembles: Jazz Ensemble, Rock Band
• Courses: Recording, Music Production, Film Scoring, Composition, Music Theory

Daniel Smith

Piano

Daniel is a Colorado Springs local and a graduate of Rampart High School. An avid multi-instrumentalist, he sang in the Colorado All-State Choir and has a piano performance career spanning over 10 years. A graduate of Pikes Peak Community College and CSU Pueblo, Daniel studied under Dr. Abe Minzer and Dr. Zahari Metchkov. He focuses on the large piano works of the master composers, with a concentration in piano pedagogy, and has been a music teacher for over 5 years.

Daniel enjoys giving back to his community and has donated free lessons to underprivileged music students for the last 7 years. “I enjoy sharing the joy of music with my students. I love to watch a student develop and learn, and I just want to help students be the best they can be.”

• Teaches: Piano

Dewey Steele

Drums, Percussion & Drumline

Dewey is an award-winning drummer and percussionist who has been playing for over 45 years. For more than 30 of those years he has worked professionally as a recording session drummer, backing touring artists including War, Chicago, the Neville Brothers, and Tribal Tech.

Dewey has taught percussion, drumline, and drum lessons for over 35 years, both privately and as a public school teacher in District 11 for the last 18 years, teaching at high schools and middle schools across Colorado Springs. He has been the go-to instructor for drumline and percussion in Colorado Springs for the last 20 years, and he cares about every student’s progress. As Dewey says, “I want the student to learn and I want them to learn things the right way.”

• Teaches: Drums, band and orchestral percussion, drumline
• Courses: Music Theory, Drumline, Music Reading for Percussionists, Rudiment Refresher, Making a Living in the Music Industry, Interview Techniques for Musicians, Music Industry Boot Camp, Recording Session Training

Angela Marvin

Cello, Violin, Viola & Double Bass

Angela earned her Master of Music in Cello Performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music in Long Beach, California. Her performance career has taken her from Hollywood studios and concert halls to tours across Europe and Asia. She performs and teaches throughout Colorado, playing regularly with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, and at weddings, chamber recitals, and the annual Flying W Ranch Christmas Jubilee.

Along with cello, Angela specializes in transcription and arranging and has a background in audio engineering. As a teacher, she believes in strong technical fundamentals while encouraging every musical curiosity, whether traditional for the cello or not.

• Teaches: Cello, Violin, Viola, Double Bass

Madalyn Botkin

Cello

Madalyn has lived in Colorado Springs all her life and has played cello for over a decade. She graduated from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) with a major in Visual and Performing Arts. She played and traveled locally and internationally with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony, played in the UCCS Chamber Ensemble, and has performed solo pieces in recitals.

Madalyn joined Rocky Mountain Academy of Music in 2018. She is dedicated to helping cello students develop their best sound and shapes each lesson around the student’s goals and learning style.

• Teaches: Cello

James Liverman

Trumpet

James is a trumpet player with over 32 years of experience. He has performed with orchestras, wind ensembles, and chamber ensembles throughout the United States and Europe, and he regularly performs with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Fort Collins Symphony, and Chamber Orchestra of the Springs.

For the past 17 years, James has served in the U.S. Army Bands as principal trumpet for the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus, the 4th Infantry Division Band, the 101st Airborne Division Band, and the 77th Army Band at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He has also performed as solo cornet and flugelhorn with the Western Missouri Brass Band, Fountain City Brass Band, and the Colorado Brass. When he isn’t performing, he likes to spend time with his wife and four children exploring the Colorado countryside.

• Teaches: Trumpet

Luke Hall

Piano, Composition & Film Scoring

Luke is a pianist, composer, and producer with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition and Film Scoring from Oral Roberts University, where faculty voted him the 2022 Outstanding Music Composition Student. He has played piano for churches around the country, including Peak City Church and The Springs Church in Colorado Springs, and has composed original music for advertisements, churches, podcasts, and films. Luke loves supporting growing musicians and keeps his lessons fun and positive.

• Teaches: Piano, Music Theory, Composition, Film Scoring, Music Production

Brandon Kunkel

Voice, Clarinet, Saxophone, Flute & Piano

Brandon is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Colorado Springs. He earned a degree in Music Performance from Pikes Peak State College, where he studied clarinet with William Malone, voice with Gayle Grace, and piano with Sara McDaniel, and also learned saxophone and flute. He has performed in concert bands, marching ensembles, choirs, theatre pit orchestras, and jazz bands.

Brandon has been the music director of a local church choir, an adjunct instructor and chamber ensemble director at PPSC, and Vice President of Music and Performance for the Pikes Peak chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. He focuses on total musicianship, including tone production, music theory, and technique, and wants to give every student the tools to sing or play with less frustration, so they can find fulfillment in making music, even if it’s just for themselves.

• Teaches: Voice, Clarinet, Saxophone, Flute, Piano, Microphone Technique