Our Instructors
Matt Richter
Owner
Matt Richter began his musical venture in grade school at the age of 9. Always intrigued by the guitar, he was able to realize his natural musical ability by teaching himself some simple songs. After gaining the competence to begin teaching professionally by the age of 17, Matt pursued his musical career more seriously by applying to the Music Business program at Elmhurst College, located in the suburbs of Chicago. His audition led to his receiving of a Presidential Scholarship.
His collegiate musical experiences were very extensive, with multiple years of participation in classical guitar ensemble, electric guitar ensemble, classical chamber ensembles such as quartets and trios, various jazz combos, jazz big band, as well as intense lessons with four different guitar teachers, such as Steve Suvada, Wesley Hixon, Mike Pinto, and Frank Portolese. Steve Suvada became Matt’s mentor during his Undergraduate career, and has guided Matt to where he is now, a graduate of the University of Denver with a Masters Degree in classical guitar performance, having studied expert pedagogue Ricardo Iznaola.
Matt has had the pleasure of participating in master classes held by world class musicians such as The Australian Guitar Duo, The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, William Kannengiser of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Eduardo Fernandez, David Burgess, and the Brazilian Guitar Duo.
Matt, currently 26 years old, has over 9 years of guitar and bass guitar teaching under his belt. As an active member of the Denver music community, Matt performs regularly in bands and in and electronic music duo in the Denver area as well as nationwide, while still maintaining a fairly regular wedding/ceremony performance schedule. Feel free to visit mattrichterguitar.com to listen to his playing!
Tyler LaFortune
Owner
Tylers knowledge of multiple instruments has made him a sought after teacher for many students.
With experience of teaching over 100 different students with a range of different backgrounds, Tyler is sure to bring your musicianship to the next level.
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Tyler plays guitar, bass, piano and is a music producer.
He has played at many prominent music venues in Denver.
His knowledge comes from an education from Berklee for sound design and music theory.
He is extremely personable and caring of his students process and would be a great fit for any eager student!
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Christopher Gandara
Christopher Gandara was born in Los Angeles, California and as the second youngest of nine siblings. He remembers being surrounded by family and music at a very young age. Whether it was hard rock, traditional Mexican music, classical records, or jazz, he connected immediately with the rhythms of music. At the age of 13, he began his formal training on guitar and music theory. He learned from four different teachers in the Denver area until finally being taken under the wing of flamenco master, John McCoy of Parker. From there, Chris became fascinated with classical music and began learning finger style techniques through Bach, South American Waltz, and Tango music. Chris then attended Metropolitan State College where he studied tonal music composition and the Berklee Methods of harmony and arranging.
Through studying jazz theory books, listening to a steady diet of harmonically sophisticated music, and picking the brains of accomplished local and online musicians, Chris began to piece together a comprehensive model of chord-scale theory. He currently composes, arranges, produces and improvises music with his modal jazz combo as well as various other musical outlets.
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Christopher will be great for anyone wanting to excel their musical journey wether that's on Guitar or Piano!