Wesleyan Middle School Lesson Schedule
To enroll in private lessons for the 2013-2014 school year for K-5 dance or LS, MS, and HS music lessons please fill out the form here.
Fall semester – 12 total lessons
(Students who started late were give an adjusted # of lessons and a pro-rated tuition amount)
Week 1 – August 27th
Week 2 – September 3rd
Week 3 – September 10th
Week 4 – September 17th
Week 5 – September 24th
***October 1-5 NO LESSONS DUE TO TESTING WEEK***
Week 6 – October 8th (please note, no school on Monday Oct 8th) 8th grade out on Wed, 10/10 for Service Day
Week 7 – October 15th
Week 8 – October 22nd
Week 9 – October 29th
***November 5-9 MAKE UP LESSONS ONLY!*** Students have no school Monday, 11/5
Week 10 – November 12th
***November 19-25 NO LESSONS DUE TO THANKSGIVING BREAK***
Week 11 – November 26th
Week 12 – December 3rd
***December 10-14 MAKE UP LESSONS ONLY!!***
Private Lesson Instructors
For information regarding private lessons, please contact:
Marianne Breneman... Clarinet Instructor
Ms. Breneman holds degrees from Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and the University of Cincinnati Collage-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
She has performed with many orchestras throughout the Midwest and Southeast including the Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Symphony, and the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. Festival performances include the Aspen Music Festival and School, The Banff Centre for the Arts, The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Le Domaine Forget, the Scotia Festival of Music, the ARIA Academy, and the Grandin Chamber Music Festival. She also performs with Conundrum, a quartet of soprano, flute, clarinet, and piano.
Prior to moving to Atlanta in June 2011, Ms. Breneman was a member of the faculty at Northern Kentucky University and The College of Mount St. Joseph as well as the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati-the country's only K-12 arts magnet school.
In Atlanta, she is on the faculty at Wesleyan School and also maintains an active home studio. In addition, she is on the faculty at the University of West Georgia.
Marianna and her husband Brian live in metro Atlanta with two exuberant golden retrievers. In her spare time, she volunteers with animal rescue organizations, loves fitness, running, triathlon, reading, and travel.
Michael Brian Cape... Trumpet Instructor
Michael began playing the trumpet at the early age of seven after being awe struck by its distinctive sound. He began freelancing in the Atlanta area during his teenage years and started teaching privately while in college. Since then, Michael has performed with many local and regional orchestras in Georgia and throughout the southeast. His other engagements include anything from playing in weddings to performing in local church services.
As a dedicated teacher, Michael’s students can be found participating in local district honor bands, All State Band and Orchestra, and solo competitions. Along with this, Michael served on the faculty at Georgia’s Governor’s Honors Program at Valdosta State University for two summers. As service to the community, Michael is on the faculty at the Gwinnett Conservatory for the Fine Arts in Lawrenceville. During his off time Michael can be found biking on the Silver Comet Trail or eating at any local Mexican food restaurant.
For private instructions please contact Michael via phone at (678)-908-5493 or via e-mail at mcapster@aol.com.
Jason Casanova... Low Brass Instructor
Jason Casanova is quickly making a name for himself in the Metropolitan Atlanta area as both a euphonium soloist and a low brass instructor. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Jason completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in euphonium performance at St. Mary’s University. Upon completing bachelors he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he received his Masters of Music in Euphonium Performance from Georgia State University. Jason’s most influential instructors include Adam Frey, Lee Hipp, Demondrae Thurman, Peter Kline, and Abel Cortinas.
As a performer, in the summer of 2011, Jason was guest soloist with the Emory University Summer Wind Ensemble. In 2011, Jason won 1st place in the International Euphonium Institute Soloist competition as well as the 1st place duet competition. Earlier in 2011 he placed 2nd in the Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference Soloist Competition in Chattanooga, TN. In 2010 he was a winner in the Georgia State University Honors Recital competition. Jason was one of three finalists in the 25th Annual Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival Competition
As a jazz trombonist, Jason has had the pleasure of performing alongside phenomenal jazz artists such as Rufus Reid, Wayne Bergeron, and Eric Revis, just to name a few. Jason also studied classical trombone at St. Mary's University with W. Peter Kline and with Dr. Cory Mixdorf at Georgia State University.
Jason is called upon to play in various ensembles throughout the metro Atlanta and surrounding areas including the Mercer University Wind Ensemble and Emory Wind Ensemble. He currently plays euphonium with the Georgia Brass Band, the K.S.U. Alumni & Friends Brass Band, as well as Atlanta’s up and coming tuba/euphonium chamber ensemble, J.A.W.S.
As a teacher, Jason holds the position of low brass instructor at the Atlanta International School. In addition, he also teaches low brass at other public schools in the metropolitan Atlanta area as well as maintaining his own private teaching studio at home.
For more information on Jason Casanova, please visit www.jcasanova.com.
Nicole Chamberlain... Flute Instructor
Nicole Chamberlain is a composer and flutist living in Atlanta, GA. Nicole's works have been featured on WPLN's "Live in Studio C", bowed.org, International Festival of Women Composers at IUP, SCI conference at UCM, and IAWM World Congress 2011. In 2008, Nicole was awarded Atlanta Pen Women's Composer of the Year. In 2010, Nicole won "Audience Favorite" at the Atlanta Opera's 24 Hour Opera Project for her opera, "Scrub-A-Dub". This resulted in the Atlanta Opera's first ever commission of the children's opera, "Rabbit Tales", which received over 50 performances. Nicole has recently been commissioned to compose an orchestral work by the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, which will premiere on October 13, 2012. Nicole received her Bachelors in Music Composition from the University of Georgia, where she studied with Dr. William Davis, Dr. Leonard Ball, Dr. Lewis Nielson, and Dr. Roger Vogel. At the University of Georgia she was selected for master classes with Charles Wuorinen and Joan Tower.
Nicole, as a flutist, has appeared with such groups as Georgia Symphony Orchestra, duoATL, Mercury Season, Terminus Ensemble, Chamber Cartel, neoPhonia, Bent Frequency, Capital City Opera, and Orchestra Atlanta. Nicole has participated in master classes with Bradley Garner, Paul Edmund-Davies, and Dr. Gordon Cole. Nicole's former flute teachers have included Donna Orbavich (Hong Kong Symphony), Lisa Wienhold (Alabama Symphony), Dr. Ronald Waln (University of Georgia), and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's principal flutist, Christina Smith.
Currently she balances her time composing, teaching students, and performing. Nicole lives in Doraville with her husband, classical guitarist and composer, Brian Chamberlain.
To hear samples of her playing and compositions visit www.nikkinotes.com.
Erika Dieges... Oboe Instructor
Ms. Dieges attended high school at North Springs High School in Atlanta, and was a member of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra for two seasons (1983 and 1984). As a student, she attended the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan for two summers (1981 and 1982) and was chosen to participate in the Georgia Governors Program for Music in 1983. In 1988, she graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Music, Oboe Performance. While in NEC, she studied with Lawrence Thorstenburg (Boston Symphony) and Fred Cohen (University of Massachusetts at Amherst). In 2000, she attended the John Mack Oboe Camp, a yearly master class given by the most revered oboist in the United States; John Mack (now deceased). Currently, she is a member of the wind quintet Quintessence and is a private teacher and freelance musician in Atlanta.
1988-1996: Freelance musician in Boston
1998-2001: DeKalb Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta, Georgia; 2nd Oboe
2001-2005: DeSalo Solisti Chamber Orchestra, Lilburn, Georgia; Principles oboe/Soloist
1998-Present: Freelance musician and oboe instructor in Atlanta
2002-Present: Quintessence Woods woodwind quintet
Ms. Dieges has instructed students of all ages at all levels of proficiency, since 1988. Currently she maintains a studio of 5-10 private students, depending on school season and available time. On several occasions, her students have won seats in Middle School and High School level All-State band and orchestra in Georgia. She is adept at teaching fundamental-to-advanced playing techniques and is a highly proficient reed maker and reed-making instructor.
Ms. Dieges also has extensive experience teaching sectional classes in partnership with local band and orchestra directors. Most recently, she has provided oboe sectional training at Hopewell Middle School in Alpharetta, Sprayberry High School in Marietta, and Northview High School in Duluth. She is also currently serving as adjunct faculty at Wesleyan School in Duluth, Georgia.
Helen Werling... French Horn
A native of Chicago, IL, Helen started playing piano at the age of five and French Horn at the age of nine. At the age of twelve she auditioned for and was chosen to play with the prestigious Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. During those years she studied under noted free-lance horn performer, Glen Estrin and Norman Schweikert of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Helen received a double Bachelor's degree in French Horn Performance and Music Education, graduating summa cum laude from from Ithaca College in New York. Upon graduation from Ithaca College, she returned to her home town Chicago to attend DePaul University where she received her Master's degree in Music Composition.
She later was selected to attend the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television graduate program at University of Southern California, where she was awarded the Joe and Alice Harnell Scholarship.
After graduating from the USC film scoring program, Helen worked in the film and TV industry in Los Angeles, both as a freelance studio horn player and a composer primarily for media, including movies television, video games, and websites.
In addition to performing and composing for films, she also worked as a music copyist for movies, including Cars, Happy Feet, Polar Express, War of the Worlds, Memoirs of a Geisha, Star Wars III, King Kong; television shows, including Family Guy, American Dad, The Simpsons, and King of the Hill; and special concerts and CD recordings, including the Barbara Streisand tour, Tony Bennet, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Gwen Stefani, and Bette Midler's Cool Yule Christmas CD.
Helen currently resides in the Atlanta area where she continues to perform, compose, arrange, and teach.
For information regarding private lessons, please contact:
Marianne Breneman
Private Lesson Coordinator
mbreneman@wesleyanschool.org