Wind Instruments and Percussion

Kelley Carpenter, saxophone instructor, received her Bachelor of Music degree in education from Lawrence University and has been teaching at the Community Music School over 30 years. Currently a band director in the Appleton Area School District, she also is a member of Wisconsin Symphonic Winds. She teaches saxophone in a fun and positive atmosphere using a variety of teaching techniques and materials to reach every child's learning style and help them succeed to the best of their ability.

Suzanne Jordheim was a winner of the National Flute Association Professional Performers Competition and has performed in recitals at the National Flute Association Convention and Carnegie Recital Hall. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance magna cum laude from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Jordheim was a graduate assistant at Northwestern University where she graduated with a Master of Music degree in flute performance. She has studied flute with Walfrid Kujala, William Bennett, Robert Aiken, and Jean Pierre Rampal.

Ms. Jordheim has performed as soloist with the Oregon, Seattle, Fox Valley, Oshkosh, and Lanzhou-China Symphony orchestras and toured throughout forty-four states as flute soloist with the "Fred Waring Show." She has performed for "Young Audiences," "Sunday Afternoon Live from the Elvehjem" on Wisconsin Public Radio, and in Dave Brubeck's cantata "Beloved Son," which was broadcast on Wisconsin Public Television. Most recently, Ms. Jordheim performed at the Electronic Music Midwest conference as well as for the College Music Society, Great Lakes Region conference.

Since 1993, Ms. Jordheim has taught flute, music education, and conducted the flute choir at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. An active performer and teacher, she has presented numerous flute master classes throughout the Midwest and in China. She has served on the national advisory board of the Gemeinhardt Flute Company and plays flute and piccolo in the Fox Valley Symphony.

Susan Lawrence McCardell, bassoon instructor, received a Bachelor of Music in bassoon performance and a Bachelor of Arts in French literature from Lawrence University and a Master of Music from Ball State University. Influential teachers include Fred Schroeder, Carl Rath, Frank Morelli, Stephen Maxym, Stéphane Lévesque, and Keith Sweger.

Ms. McCardell performs with various orchestras in northeastern Wisconsin, including the Weidner Philharmonic, Fox Valley Symphony, Civic Symphony of Green Bay, and Manitowoc Symphony, in addition to playing as a soloist and in chamber ensembles.

Since 2000, she has served as a lecturer of music at the Lawrence University Conservatory, teaching the bassoon techniques course to music education majors as needed, and since 2001, has been teaching private bassoon lessons in the Fox Valley and surrounding areas. She has coached young woodwind players in various  ensembles and enjoys teaching musicians of all ages.

Ms. McCardell also has a career in professional editing, including nine years as an information technology editor and currently as a freelance editor of various content, including Lawrence colleague Karen Leigh Post’s book “Mind-Body Awareness for Singers: Unleashing Optîmal Performance” and publications in the field of teaching Basic Writing at the college level.

She has been teacher of bassoon at the Lawrence Community Music School since 2009.

Leslie Outland Michelic, oboe instructor, enjoys a fulfilling and varied musical career as artist-teacher of the oboe and English horn. She has served as Principal Oboe of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra and solo English horn of the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra. Currently, she holds titled positions in both the Fox Valley Symphony and Oshkosh Symphony orchestras. A founding member of the Water Street Chamber Players, she is also active as a chamber musician and free-lance artist.

As a teacher, she is passionate to empower each student to fully realize their gifts and to develop their own musical voice. She serves as teacher of oboe at the Lawrence Community Music School and instructor of music at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers have included Paul Kramer, Howard Niblock, and Ray Still of the Chicago Symphony. She brings all of these important schools of oboe pedagogy to her teaching and performing artistry and melds them to individualize the guidance for each student.

She filled several important roles at the June 2017 convention of the International Double Reed Society. As a performer on English horn, she presented the world premiere of Stephen McCardell’s Poéme and as oboist, joined the Water Street Chamber Players in presenting a convention-opening recital. She also presented a master class for young artists at the convention and served as co-director of the IDRS Teen Camp Adventure. Her future plans include performances of works written for her by composers such as David Canfield, Elaine Fine, and Stephen McCardell.

Samara Morris, clarinet instructor, received a Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance and instrumental music education from Lawrence University. Throughout her undergraduate degree, she has contributed to the Lawrence University Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, along with multiple chamber groups and solo performances. Past instructors of hers include David Bell, Rose Sperrazza, and Stefan Neubauer. Along with private lessons, she is currently substitute teaching in the Oshkosh Area School District and working freelance performance gigs in the Fox Cities area.

Keith Dom Powell, French horn instructor, received a B.A. in horn performance from Stony Brook University, NY and a M.Mus. in music composition from Carnegie Mellon University. He also studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Hochschule für Musik und Drama in Hannover, Germany.

Mr. Powell has taught at the Community Music School since 2008 and previously at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh, and Musik Innovations, Pittsburgh. He is principal horn of the Green Bay City Band, performs with the Marquette (MI) Symphony, and is substitute horn for the Fox Valley Symphony. He was a member of Renaissance City Winds (1982-87) and has performed with orchestras in Pennsylvania: McKeesport, Altoona, Westmoreland; Wisconsin: Oshkosh, Green Bay, Sheboygan; New York: Chautauqua, Larchmont; West Virginia: Wheeling, and others. He has performed with a wide variety of musicians including Lee Tomboulian, Eddy Arnold, The Moody Blues, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Bernadette Peters, Maureen McGovern, Shirley Jones, Art Garfunkel, Vic Ferrari, and Shari Lewis & Lambchop among many others. Mr. Powell is a founding member of the Water Street Chamber Players.

Mr. Powell loves chamber music and opera. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by orchestras and chamber groups in New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, and elsewhere. A member of the International Horn Society, he received the New York Governor's Citation in 1974.

Michael Ratsch, percussion instructor, is a magna cum laude graduate of Lawrence University and holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. He taught instrumental music in the public schools for 32 years, the last 30 of which were for the Little Chute Area School District. He currently provides percussion instruction for individuals and with the New Horizons Band-Fox Valley. He also assists with the Appleton West High School lesson program.  He has performed with the Fox Valley Symphony, Green Bay Symphony, Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra, Green Lake Music Festival Orchestra, Wisconsin Symphonic Winds, the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley Concert Band, and the Appleton City Band, where he is the percussion section leader and assistant conductor. Michael is also an active adjudicator with the Wisconsin School Music Association and a member of that group's Publication Committee.  He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, National Band Association, Wisconsin Bandmasters' Association, and Percussive Arts Society.

Anne Witherell, teacher of low brass at the Community Music School since 1991, earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music, where she studied trombone with Emory Remington. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University and her Wisconsin teaching certification from Lawrence University. She has also studied historical dance with Wendy Hilton and piano with Linda Sparks.  Prior to her position at the Community Music School, Ms. Witherell taught low brass at Stanford University and at UC Santa Cruz. She was also a band director in the Appleton Area School District and in the Mountain View, CA Public Schools. A member of many performing ensembles, opera and symphony orchestras, early music ensembles, and a brass quintet, she is also a member of the International Trombone Association. While director of the Enriched Instrumental Instruction program for minority students, the program won a Presidential Growing Up Taller Award. The Anne Witherell Award was established to provide an annual scholarship for private music lessons. She enjoys accompanying her students and welcomes students of all ages, whether their goal is to contribute to school or community ensembles or to pursue a career in music.