Music Instructors | Music House | Overland Park, Lenexa, & Olathe School of Music

Every aspiring musician needs mentors

Our well-trained teachers are highly experienced and work together as a team to help students reach their individuals goals. At Music House, you'll have access to some of the best musicians and instructors in Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe and the Kansas City metro. Our entire team of educators works together to bring a diverse range of perspectives to each and every student.

Little-known fact: Our teachers are full-fledged employees of Music House, not just independent contractors like at every other music school in the Kansas City area. What does that mean? It means consistent instruction across the board, fully vetted music teachers, and an incredibly strong music community. We can't wait to meet you!

Administrators

Aaron Sizemore Co-Founder, Executive Director — **Aaron Sizemore**
*Co-Founder, Executive Director*

Music House Co-founder, Aaron Sizemore grew up in the Quad Cities, a hotbed of blues and jazz along the Mississippi River on the Illinois/Iowa border. He started out on the trumpet when he was nine...
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Becca Kephart Director of Band Workshops — **Becca Kephart**
*Director of Band Workshops*

As a popular independent music lesson teacher, Becca brought a whole fleet of students with her when she began teaching at Music House in 2014. It was the focus on community that had attracted her ...
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Rachel Vandivier Director of Classes — **Rachel Vandivier**
*Director of Classes*

Rachel Vandivier is a midwest based singer, actor, harpist, voice teacher, and musical director and is excited to join the Music House team! She holds an MM in CCM Voice Pedagogy and Speech Science...
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Rachel Loewen Director of Outreach — **Rachel Loewen**
*Director of Outreach*

Rachel comes to Music House from Wichita, KS where she was born and raised. She brings extensive knowledge of the music retail industry having worked 5 ½ years for one of the state’s largest music ...
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Kinsey Belgeri Director of Community Culture — **Kinsey Belgeri**
*Director of Community Culture*

Born in Overland Park, Kansas, Kinsey’s love for music came out of her early experiences as a dancer. Her parents influenced her love for classic rock, and she is now the self-proclaimed number one...
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Brian Kephart Director of Technology — **Brian Kephart**
*Director of Technology*

A veteran of many rock, funk & jazz bands from southern Illinois to the Colorado front range, Brian has a diversity of musical experiences that he loves to share with students and fans of all t...
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Joel Stratton Program Coordinator / Guitar / Bass — **Joel Stratton**
*Program Coordinator / Guitar / Bass*

Joel Stratton’s love for music first blossomed as a young boy wheeling a comically large upright bass between fireside jam sessions at the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, KS. As he gr...
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Mary Self Program Coordinator / Piano — **Mary Self**
*Program Coordinator / Piano*

Mary is originally from Laguna Hills, California, but grew up mostly in Springfield, Missouri. A Missouri State University alumnus, she has taught piano guitar and ukulele, for many years in the Un...
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Taylor Carter Community Assistant — **Taylor Carter**
*Community Assistant*

Taylor is a new resident of the Kansas City area and is originally from a small town in northeast Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri in Columbia and received her Bachelor of Fine Art...
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Audrey Renner Community Assistant — **Audrey Renner**
*Community Assistant*

Audrey’s love for music started with a fascination with Baby Einsteins and blossomed when she started playing viola and guitar. She performed in the school orchestra and as a Music House student! R...
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Maya Larkin Community Assistant — **Maya Larkin**
*Community Assistant*

Maya Larkin is a young creative hailing from Kansas City, and loves art in all forms, including music. Maya has been surrounded by music for as long as she can remember. From listening to The Beatl...
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Brass & Woodwinds

Zach Dixon Woodwinds / Piano — **Zach Dixon**
*Woodwinds / Piano*

Originally from Lawrence Kansas, Zach has been teaching saxophone for the better part of a decade. A graduate from the University of Kansas (2020) and of the Longy School of Music (2022) in Cambrid...
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Jackson Broadwater Brass / Piano — **Jackson Broadwater**
*Brass / Piano*

Jackson Broadwater is an educator and multi-instrumentalist who has been performing across the Midwest for the past 8 years. While studying with an all-star faculty at UMKC featuring Bobby Watson, ...
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Daphne Hootman Piano / Flute — **Daphne Hootman**
*Piano / Flute*

Daphne Hootman is a Kansas City native who has been teaching in the area since 1995. “My teaching philosophy is to give students the important tools they need to learn,” says Daphne, “while also gi...
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Drums

Spencer Smith Drums — **Spencer Smith**
*Drums*

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance graduate Spencer Smith began playing the drums at age eight after his mother discovered that he loved to tap on anything he could find. By the time he'd earned ...
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Dodi Wiemuth Drums/Guitar/Bass/Ukulele — **Dodi Wiemuth**
*Drums/Guitar/Bass/Ukulele*

Edoardo (Dodi) Wiemuth has been playing guitar, drums, and bass for over twenty-five years. He is originally from Tuscany, Italy and graduated from the Music Conservatory of Perugia in percussion. ...
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Joel Shipley Drums — **Joel Shipley**
*Drums*

Joel Shipley has been teaching drums for years, but what brings him to Music House is his passion for playing music with others. “My goal is to share the joy of drums and music with every student.”...
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Steve Thomas Drums — **Steve Thomas**
*Drums*

Throughout his over 20 years of teaching experience, Steve has enjoyed sharing his passion for music with students of all ages. His teaching style is often described as “inspirational” and we’ve be...
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Kevin McAfoos Drums — **Kevin McAfoos**
*Drums*

Kevin McAfoos is a drummer, educator, and audio/video technician in Kansas City. Originally hailing from small town Cleveland, MO, Kevin was given ample opportunity to try his hand at music educati...
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Early Childhood Music

Zakara York Voice — **Zakara York**
*Voice*

Zakara’s musical journey began at home, with musician parents and siblings. She started writing songs soon after picking up the guitar at age 11, singing in her school choir throughout childhood. A...
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Guitar & Bass

Aidan Murrow Guitar — **Aidan Murrow**
*Guitar*

Aidan Murrow is a jazz and classical guitarist from St. Louis, Missouri. Since picking up the guitar at age 9, Aidan has performed in many ensemble settings including the Pit Orchestra for the Broa...
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Lilah Cottrell Guitar / Bass / Ukulele — **Lilah Cottrell**
*Guitar / Bass / Ukulele*

Lilah Cottrell is a multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer from Kansas City. Lilah got her start in education at Kansas City Young Audiences, first as a student, then going on to lead their "...
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Jon Self Guitar/Bass/Ukulele — **Jon Self**
*Guitar/Bass/Ukulele*

Jon Self is a guitarist, trombonist, educator, and composer from Kirksville, MO. Having started as a self-taught guitarist, Jon understands a wide variety of musical perspectives. Recently graduate...
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Aiden Jensen Guitar / Bass — **Aiden Jensen**
*Guitar / Bass*

Aiden Jensen is a working guitarist and bassist born and raised in KC. He was first introduced to music at age 13 in a school guitar class, then moved on to private lessons and gigs shortly after. ...
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Forrest Fowler Guitar/Bass/Ukulele — **Forrest Fowler**
*Guitar/Bass/Ukulele*

Forrest Fowler is a performer, composer, and educator living in Kansas City, Missouri. Forrest graduated from Ottawa University in 2016 with a BM in Jazz Studies and is currently pursuing his Maste...
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Logan Contino Guitar/Bass/Ukulele — **Logan Contino**
*Guitar/Bass/Ukulele*

Logan Contino, a Johnson County native, graduated from Selkirk College in British Columbia with degrees in music composition, music production, and guitar. As a Music House alum, he spent multiple ...
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Piano

Ernest Douglas Piano — **Ernest Douglas**
*Piano*

Ernest Douglas is a Kansas City based multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, producer, composer and teacher specializing in Rock, Soul, Blues, and film scores. As a second generation musician, Erne...
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Tyler Kemp Piano — **Tyler Kemp**
*Piano*

Tyler Kemp is a composer, pianist, bassist, and educator living in the Kansas City area. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University. He also...
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Audrey Lena Baughman Piano / Voice — **Audrey Lena Baughman**
*Piano / Voice*

Music is Audrey's number one love language. With over 15 years of teaching experience, Audrey finds great joy when she inspires her students and helps shape them to become the artist they desire to...
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Stas Heaney Piano — **Stas Heaney**
*Piano*

While growing up in the Midwest, Staś had a knack for chancing upon world-class musical experiences as he studied piano, voice, violin, and percussion. He picked up a number of other instruments al...
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Andrew Ouellette Piano — **Andrew Ouellette**
*Piano*

Andrew Ouellette is a Kansas City pianist, composer, and educator. Originally from Hannibal, MO, Andrew has taught piano lessons for over 6 years. He had the privilege to study under the world-reno...
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Charles Hoeft Piano — **Charles Hoeft**
*Piano*

Charles Hoeft is a versatile pianist and a devoted educator. Originally from Minnesota, he moved to Kansas City in 2014 and has enjoyed teaching at Music House since 2015. He loves to teach people ...
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Voice

Blair Walker Voice — **Blair Walker**
*Voice*

Blair Walker has been singing for as long as he can remember. Music was always present in Blair’s life, from exploring piano at a young age to singing in choirs through all of his secondary educati...
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