Meet our Teachers

Savannah Wood

Cello, Piano

Savannah was born and raised in Colorado and has always loved the Colorado life of adventure in the great outdoors. Presently, she is married to the love of her life and is busy raising their three young children. She developed a love for making music at a young age when she began taking piano lessons taught by her mom. She added cello to her repertoire as a teenager, and then went on to major in music at Pikes Peak Community College. She has been teaching music lessons since her second year of college and, although her studio has had to evolve as her family has grown, she continues to enjoy teaching when she can fit it into her schedule.

Patrick Arion

Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums

Originally from the NJ/New York City area, Patrick Arion began playing classical piano and trumpet in elementary school, with continued orchestral studies in brass sections throughout junior high and high school. Upon graduating, Patrick then began playing guitar and tenor banjo while studying guitar under Jazz-great Joel Perry. Studies in drumming and percussion followed while attending William Paterson University's music appreciation/theory program. After moving to Colorado, he enrolled at Pikes Peak State College and UCCS where he continued studies in finger-style and jazz guitar, hand drums, mandolin, keyboards, and lastly, bass guitar. He graduated cum laude with a degree in Arts with focus on musical and theatrical performance. Patrick began teaching private lessons in Colorado at Music Central and at AspenPointe to under-served students with special needs. He has performed just about everywhere including NJ/NYC in Manhattan; Walt Disney World; Amarillo, TX and churches, open tent revivals, Armstrong Hall at Colorado College, and great venues along the front range from Boulder to La Junta. Patrick is honored and excited to be teaching guitar, bass, and drums at Home Musicology!

Danika Puhek

Harp

Danika Puhek has been playing the Celtic Lever Harp for 13 years and teaching harp for 6 years. She enjoys playing, arranging, and composing music from a variety of genres, including Celtic folk, classical, pop, jazz, bluegrass, and sacred. She performs regularly at The British Pantry in Old Colorado City and at Rock Ledge Ranch.

Olivia Luellen-Sipes

Piano, Voice

Olivia Luellen-Sipes is a student of classical piano pedagogy, vocal performance, and music theory. She has a passion for sharing the power of music with students of all ages, abilities, and musical backgrounds. It brings her great satisfaction to see her students improve. Olivia has been teaching piano since her senior year in high school and has enjoyed every minute of it. She values the student-teacher relationship, as well as the important role that parents of young students play in their musical journey. 

Matthew Powless

Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums

Matthew Powless is a married father of 4 that has had a lifetime love affair with music and teaching music to others. He has been teaching guitar for 25 years, bass guitar for 10 years, as well as drums for a few years. He has taught students in-person and online, as young as 5 up to adults well into their retirement. He truly believes that you are never too young or old to start your music journey. He is capable of teaching all genres and styles of music and can provide an education in music theory to create your own music or learn to play along with your favorite songs. He can teach acoustic or electric guitars and basses as well as drums even if you don’t yet have a drum set. He has a mobile recording studio that he can bring to select lessons to document the progress of you or your child and share with family and friends. He believes that you should get the absolute best for your money, and he takes teaching very seriously, while also making it a lot of fun! Whether you are looking to join or start a band or just looking for a new hobby to enrich your life, he would be happy to teach you or your child and is very excited to start a new journey with Home Musicology.

Casey Williams

Guitar, Piano, Mandolin, Ukulele

Casey Williams has been playing and studying music for over 15 years. He studied music education at CSU-Pueblo where he got an excellent foundation for music theory and played in two ensembles for guitar which included Classical Guitar and Jazz Guitar. He completed piano proficiency as his focus because all music can easily be translated to a piano, and it’s easier to see the patterns and formulas that make up what we call music. He has continued to study music to ensure that he can continue to expand his musical palette. He is passionate about teaching. Presently he also works full-time with children as a Behavioral Technician. As a teacher, he aims to take his students through a musical journey to gain the knowledge necessary to become a creative musician and gain the freedom to travel all over the world of music. 

Brandton Visser 

Violin

Brandton Visser is a classically-trained violinist with over 20 years of experience playing in performance mediums from orchestra to solo, in genres ranging from classical to cinematic. Beginning private lessons at the age of 4 and continuing until 17, he actively worked to perfect both performance skills and technique through a consistent practice regimen, spurred on by encouragement from parents and mentors. He participated in several minor competitions throughout his musical career and performed with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony for two years in early high school before moving violin performance to the back seat in college and contenting himself to serve on worship teams and play by request for small personal audiences. Though a firm believer in the importance of disciplined practice to truly learn and progress, he truly values finding what motivates a student and helping them find their way to achieving something that they can be proud of and enjoy long after they put down the instrument and focus on other pursuits.

James Divine

Saxophone, Clarinet, Guitar, Beginner Band/Orchestra Instruments

There once was a little boy whose mom told him he could be anything he wanted…a policeman, a doctor, a lawyer, even the President of the United States. He exceeded all her expectations and became a music teacher. He is now a grown man with four kids (he married his high school sweetheart) and ten grandkids, loves eating pizza, mountain biking and spending time with his family (not necessarily in that order). His shoe size is ten (more on that in a moment).

This all grown up little boy teaches but still finds time to perform, record and do some public speaking. Do you get the feeling he loves music?

He is the author of several books…

I Cannoli Imagine: My Italian Life about growing up as the son of an Italian immigrant from Naples.

Jimmy: A True Story of Abuse, Poverty, Forgiveness and Redemption in which he shares his biography and reminds others that their Now doesn’t determine their Future.

The Saxophone Diaries: Stories and Tips from my 30+ years in music which is full of fun, short stories from his career.

Now for the boring, adult stuff…

James earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s College in Maine. He received his music education from the Army School of Music, graduating from the basic, intermediate, and advanced courses over a span of ten years and serving in Virginia, Japan and Colorado. He retired from the Colorado National Guard in 2006. He earned his teaching license from Western State College in Colorado and completed a master’s in music education at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. James believes in the value of life-long learning! He just doesn’t like standardized testing.

James is a member of the Colorado Music Educator’s Association, the American School Band Directors Association, the Order of the Sons of Italy, and the Professional Association of Colorado Educators.

James’ life-long goal continues to be to act his shoe size, not his age. Find out more about James at www.jamesdivine.net. 

Jonah Archuleta

Guitar, Bass Guitar, Voice 

Jonah Archuleta began his musical journey on guitar 15 years ago. He plays a litany of genres, including blues, R&B, tejano, norteño, rock, bluegrass/folk, and reggae, with major emphases on jazz and funk. In addition to his experience with conventional techniques (flatpicking, fingerpicking, comping, etc.), he is a practitioner of live-looping performance, which involves using the guitar as both a percussive and harmonic instrument. He has experience performing as a solo musician and with small and large ensembles. Currently, he performs with groups based out of Denver and Pueblo in addition to his solo performances. 

While attending Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, he discovered a passion for teaching as a tutor and, since then, has vigorously pursued this passion as a private tutor, classroom teacher, and guitar instructor. His years of experience in one-on-one instruction enable him to convey complex music theory concepts in a palatable, low-stress manner, assuage frustration, and develop effective practice routines. In his lessons, he strives to develop a love of music in his students, with the aim of creating independent, lifelong learners. He hopes that, in doing so, his students can experience the deep satisfaction and enhanced self-worth that saturate the path of a musician

 Beth Ann Elisha

Piano, Voice

Beth Ann grew up in the country of Papua New Guinea. She started taking piano lessons at the age of 7 and, with a few brief exceptions, took lessons through college. She began taking voice lessons when she was 16. She studied music (piano and voice) at Columbia International University in South Carolina. She has enjoyed teaching both piano and voice since she graduated from college. She now lives with her two youngest children, 2 cats, 1 dog, 3 chickens and 1 rabbit in Colorado Springs and serves on her church's worship team.

Graeme Winder

Piano, Guitar, Voice, Ukulele, Drums, DJ Training

With over 23 years of experience in music education, Graeme Winder is a passionate educator dedicated to fostering creativity and self-expression through music. Throughout his career, he has worked with students of all ages and ability levels, helping them discover their musical potential. As a certified music teacher, specializing in innovative and interactive approaches, Graeme integrates technology, improvisation, and experiential learning to engage students and build their confidence as musicians.

In addition to his classroom experience, he has served as an Adjunct Faculty Member in Music Production and Songwriting, where he guided students through the entire process of creating and performing their original works. His dedication to high-quality access, as well as supporting diverse learners, including students with ADHD, autism, and intellectual disabilities, underscores his commitment to creating a supportive and inspiring learning environment for all.

As a lifelong advocate for the power of music education, Graeme continued to find new ways to connect students to music through innovative technology solutions.  As a founder of Keys & Kingdoms, a SaaS EdTech platform, he now distributes this music learning adventure to schools and districts across the U.S.