Castle Rock Music

April received her Master of Music Degree from the Longy School of Music of Bard College and Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance from Northern Arizona University, and has spent the last 4 years teaching piano and flute privately.

She believes in the importance of a mind and body connection through training in yoga, Alexander Technique, body mapping, and long arduous hikes. She also believes in the importance of social justice and equal opportunity, spending time volunteering for El Sistema Colorado and teaching flute sectionals at Adams City High School through the educational outreach program of Colorado Wind Ensemble.

Having spent years trained classically in ear training, theory, technique, and music history, she now turns her attention to playing music from the heart. She spent the last year mostly improvising music, tuning into the moment as a conduit for inspiration, and blurring the lines between audience and performer. She also started a project, Nothing is Everything, featuring ambient meditative music to play for meditations, yoga classes, and performance art events. The goal for herself and students is to find the balance between discipline and creativity!

Celine has been singing and performing for the majority of her life, and has been in love with it since the beginning! She is currently earning her bachelor of music with a concentration in voice performance at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

She has gained experience by being involved in several choirs throughout middle school, high school, and college. A couple of these include the choir Versailles, where she accompanied the Colorado Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker, and the well known Metropolitan State University of Denver Chorale.

Having spent years studying proper singing technique, she has become very well rounded in many different genres of music. Celine has also been involved in many theatre productions such as Chicago, Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables, and many more.

In addition to teaching voice, Celine also teaches beginner piano! She works especially well with younger kids when it comes to learning the basics, while still keeping lessons lighthearted and fun.

Celine first discovered her love of teaching when she volunteered as the music director for Castle Rock Middle School's Rogue of the Railway musical. Since then she has been inspired to share her love for music with her students, while encouraging them to grow as knowledgeable musicians.

I started playing piano at eight years old and it quickly became my lifelong pursuit.

I played primarily classical in my 20s and 30s, at church through my 40s, and at 50, I took on a new challenge and started playing Jazz. For eight years I studied with a Grammy Nominated Artist from Colorado Springs. I love jazz harmony and theory.

I hold a masters degree in education and love teaching. It's my hope that I can help instill a lifetime love for music in my students.

Daniela Popa came to Colorado from Bucharest, Romania, in 2021. She graduated from the National University of Music in Bucharest in 2005 with a degree in Musicology, Composition and Music Pedagogy. For the last 17 years she has been teaching violin and piano at one of the best music schools in Bucharest, achieving the highest teaching certification for a Romanian teacher; during this time, she also taught private lessons. As her main instrument, she focused on violin in the school and piano for private lessons.

Her students regularly performed and excelled in nation and international festivals, contests, and concerts, including the "Merci Maestro" piano contest in Brussels, Belgium.

She is an experienced, passionate, and results-oriented music teacher, willing to bring the best of her knowledge, technique, method, and energy to students in Castle Rock. Music education in Europe has differences with the United States. Daniela believes this will be an enriching experience for students as well as for her, since she is always willing to broaden her horizons and searching for new challenges and achievements.

Daniela is also a choir professional. For 20+ years she was a member of one of the best mixed ensembles in Romania. They won several prizes in contests and festivals in Romania and across Europe.

Daniela is happy to become a part of the Castle Rock School of Music. She's looking forward to meeting and teaching you, and discovering together the amazing language of music, here in this nice Colorado town.

Marguerite Juenemann has an on-going performance career of over 30 years, nominated twice for a Grammy, toured in Benny Goodman's band in the 80's playing prestigious stages nationally and internationally. Her solo career experience covers R&B, Folk, Gospel, Bluegrass, Blues, and Jazz on stage and in the studio. She teaches singing, acoustic guitar and classical piano. She also encourages young composers to bring their original compositions to use as lesson material, teaching them how to protect their originals by transcribing them to staff paper for copyright and other purposes.

Academically, she was a piano/woodwinds major at CU Boulder, having studied both instruments since childhood. Teaching experience covers 18 years at State Universities on the East coast and in Denver, Conservatories in Europe, the UK as well as New England Conservatory in Boston, teaching not only Jazz and Improvisation but popular styles of music mentioned above.

Marguerite loves teaching budding musicians from age 7 to 77. As some have attested, she can be the same age as her student which makes them comfortable taking instruction from her. She is passionate about bringing out a students' talent with classic instruction, making it possible for the student to play any music they choose rather than only teaching how to play "that song".

Mike Maurer began playing guitar at a very early age, studying with Jock Bartley of national hit sensation, Firefall. Receiving a degree from the University of Colorado Denver, Mike was a natural at guitar and infatuated with the blues. Not wasting much time, Mike received national merit winning a youth talent showcase in New Orleans. After his Debut release, Chasing Pearl, Mike toured extensively, sharing the stage with acts such as Johnny Winter, Tab Benoit, Earth Wind and Fire and many more.

Aside from endorsements and regional awards, Mike has been teaching classes and private music lessons for Guitar, piano, and bass in the Denver metro area and Los Angeles for 15 years, with a passion and dedication to the growth and progress of his students, His recent student achievements include scholarships to Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory among others.

Victoria has been singing in choirs, musicals, and solo performances for most of her life.

She has 2 years of professional experience traveling with a variety of choir ensembles across the United States, including the Hawaiian islands. She has performed solo at Red Rocks Amphitheater and accompanied the Colorado Ballet, for a performance of The Nutcracker, with her high school choir Versailles.

She attended Lee University for their degree in music business and is continuing her education at CU Denver.

Victoria believes in helping her students find a love for music. 

"It should be something they enjoy and find passion in."

Victoria especially enjoys working with piano students who are just starting. She is passionate about helping them grow and learn the necessary techniques and theory, while also having fun making music!

Will received his Bachelor in the Arts in Music from Metropolitan State University of Denver. He has been playing guitar for 17 years, and piano for 10 years. In the past 3 years, he has been giving music lessons to students in Colorado. He has experience playing classical, acoustic, and electric guitar and is well-versed in classical, folk, rock, jazz, and blues. He teaches the ukulele and the piano at a beginner/intermediate level.

Will's goal is to have his students succeed and thrive playing the music they've always wanted to play, or to create the music they've always wanted to create. Will believes it's better to learn in simple steps, and always aims to make the lesson engaging and fun.

Regan is a Soprano from the Bay Area. She recently graduated from the University of Denver with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance. She began performing first as a dancer, but quickly grew to love singing even more! She has taught voice and beginner piano for the past 5 years and started performing long before that. She also has an extensive choral singing background.

As a performer and teacher, she believes in proper and healthy technique that can be used for any genre. She has studied voice pedagogy for the last few years and strongly believes that a healthy voice is a happy voice. She has experience in both musical theatre and classical music.

Regan is so excited to teach at Castle Rock Music and can’t wait to meet new students. She teaches all age groups and styles of voice as well as beginner piano.

Emma was given the opportunity to play the violin at ten years old. She soon added the viola, cello, piano, and voice, and began composing classical music at eleven years old. She has been studying music theory and composition with Dr. Treibitz at the collegiate level since age twelve. Emma has been teaching music for almost a decade and loves to teach all subjects in a fun, uncomplicated format.

Students can expect critiques and positive affirmation with each aspect of their playing and singing. Propper technique is a musician's bread and butter. Encouraging students to look into the background and history of each piece they are playing is essential to understanding what type of technique to use and how to use it properly. Additionally, Emma believes a solid understanding of music theory is essential to strengthening one's musicianship.

Emma studied violin and viola with Basil Vendrys, Lydia Sviatslovskaya, and Dr Emily Ondracek-Peterson, voice with Laura Nolen, Rochelle Gallup-Walter, and Ginger Allen, cello with Olga Orgranovitch, and music theory and composition with Dr Howard Treibitz and Thomas Blomster. 

Hi, I’m Dechen. I’m a lifelong musician and Buddhist. I’ve been making a living in the music industry for over 20 years as an entertainer, vocalist, composer, performer, and multi-instrumentalist.

I've written hundreds of songs and recorded a bunch of albums. I’ve played major venues and festivals and shared the stage with top acts. I’ve studied and taught music at the university level. And I’m also a master teacher and mentor, uniquely positioned to offer insight due to my extensive mindfulness training and meditation practice.