Private Lessons

Information and Cost

All CTMS band students are highly encouraged to enroll in private lessons. Private lessons offer your child a unique experience that they cannot receive in a regular classroom setting. If you choose to participate in the program, your student will meet with a private instrumental specialist once a week at an arranged time. Lesson times range from twenty three minutes to an hour. During this time, your student will have 100% of the instructor’s attention. These lessons will be geared toward helping your son or daughter become a truly great musician by teaching them how to improve their musical skills. While we as a band staff strive to work with each student regularly, we are limited because of class size and time. We feel that private lessons are a wonderful resource and that its contributes a great amount to the student’s musical success.

We encourage all students to take Private Lessons. Lessons are once a week for either 23 minutes($15-$23 per lesson) or 30 minutes ($16 - $30 per lesson) depending on teacher experience.

Private Lesson Sign Up Form 2024 - 2025

More Details about Private Lessons

RRISD Information on Private Lessons

Financial Assistance

We understand that there may be a need for financial assistance for your student to participate in the private lesson program. We do not want cost to limit your participation in lessons. Financial Assistance is provided in the form of a scholarship from the Round Rock Dragon Band Boosters. The band and the family share in the cost of each lesson. If you are in need of Financial Assistance please indicate so on the lesson sign up form.

Julia Escobar - Flute

Julia Escobar, a flutist based in her hometown of Austin, Texas, is a doctoral candidate in Flute Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she also earned her MM. She completed her BM in Flute Performance at Texas State University. She has enjoyed performing with orchestras in central Illinois such as the Sinfonia da Camera and Danville Symphony Orchestra. In addition to performing in her college career, she has studied and performed abroad in Italy, France, and Bulgaria. A passionate teacher, Julia has taught private flute lessons in Texas and Illinois since 2016. Her doctoral research specializes in the piccolo.

Kurt Kumme - Trumpet

Kurt Kumme enjoys an active career as a freelance trumpet player and educator in the Austin area. He received the Bachelor of Music degree from the Hartt School, where he studied with Jay Lichtmann and Roger Murtha (Hartford Symphony). In 2008 he completed the Master of Music from the University of Texas at Austin where he studied with Ray Sasaki. While living in Hartford, Connecticut, his versatility was demonstrated as a member of Hartford salsa bands The Latin Heart Beat Orchestra and Syncopacion’, as well as being the founding member of the Midnight Brass Quintet. Kurt is formerly a member of the touring group The American Wind Symphony. He has been teaching private lessons in Austin for the past 15 years. Kurt is also one of the co-founders of the Austin Trumpet Camp. You can hear (but not see) Kurt performing in the orchestras of musical theater productions. Kurt enjoys spending his free time with his wife Alanna, and their two little dogs, Riley and Archie. He is very excited to be joining Chisholm Trail staff!

Rebecca Haskins - Oboe

Rebecca Fairweather Haskins is the principal oboist of both the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Temple Symphony, and plays second oboe and English horn in the Round Rock Symphony. She has performed with numerous other orchestras and festivals, including the Austin Symphony, Austin Opera, Mid-Texas Symphony, Corpus Christi Symphony, and ZACH Scott Theatre. Rebecca is adjunct instructor of oboe at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, as well as a private teacher for many oboe students in central Texas. As a sought-after chamber musician, she is a member of the reed trio Five4Three and plays regularly with the Austin Chamber Ensemble. She has also performed for the Georgetown (TX) Festival of the Arts and Austin Chamber Music Center. She has appeared twice at Carnegie Hall, including as soloist with Irish singer-songwriter Liam Lawton, and can be heard on the soundtrack to Richard Linklater’s film Bernie. Rebecca holds a master’s degree in Oboe Performance from the University of Texas and a bachelor’s degree in Oboe Performance with Teacher Certification from the University of Michigan.

Nicoletta Pignatello - French Horn

Nicoletta is a performer and teacher based out of Austin, TX. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance from Lawrence University and a Masters of Music from Ithaca College. She has been teaching horn and other brass instruments since 2016. Her students have ranged in age from fifth grade to retired adults. She currently teaches in Pflugerville ISD, Austin ISD, and Round Rock ISD.

Shih-Min Tang - Bassoon

Shih-Min Tang (b. 1986) received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Bassoon Performance at The University of Texas at Austin in 2015. As a solo bassoonist and chamber musician, Shih-Min has performed in the United States, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, China, Thailand, and Hong Kong. She has been invited to perform with professional orchestras and ensembles in Taiwan and the United States.Shih-Min has been playing the bassoon since the age of eleven and studying music since the age of nine. She studied at the Taipei University of Art, in Taiwan, where she received her Bachelors degree before coming to the United States where she received a Masters of Music and Performance Certificate from Indiana University with Kathleen McLean and a Doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin with Kristin Wolfe Jensen. While at the University of Texas, she received a full scholarship. Also, she was the bassoon teaching assistant and performed regularly as the principal bassoonist with both the university orchestra and wind ensemble.
As an orchestral musician, Shih-Min has performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. She has traveled with the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players for their “Pirates of Penzance” Tour and the University of Texas Wind Ensemble for their 2014 World Tour. She is a member of the Austin based new music ensemble Tetractys, which regularly commission new works from young composers. Dr. Tang also maintains a large private studio in the Austin area. She hopes to continue to perform, teach, and enrich people’s lives through her music.-DMA in Bassoon performance and pedagogy- University of Texas Austin-MM in Bassoon performance-Indiana University of Bloomington-PD in Bassoon performance-Indiana University of Bloomington- https://shihmintang.weebly.com/yoga, meditation, playing video games, cooking, cleaning, singing, and teaching herself to speak French and Italian.

Eliud Garcia - Trombone

Eliud Garcia is a Texas native trombonist. Eliud holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University where he studied with Dr. Martin McCain. During his time at Texas State University, Eliud was named finalist for the Eastern Trombone Workshop (American Trombone Workshop), the Big 12 Bass Trombone Competiton and the Texas State Trombone Symposium. He was also selected as a competition winner for the Woods-Kone Scholarship and the Texas State Concerto Competition where he performed Eric Ewazen’s Tuba Concerto.
After completing his undergraduate degree at Texas State University, Eliud accepted a full ride scholarship offer to study at Yale University with the renowned trombonist of the Empire Brass, Scott Hartman. While at the prestigious institute, Eliud recorded his first album where he collaborated with instrumentalists from the institution and of other music schools like Juilliard and Curtis in 2017.In 2017-18, Eliud accepted to become a Yale University fellow for the Music in the Schools program where he taught brass students with financial needs in New Haven, CT.
Eliud has been invited as bass trombone soloist with the Collegium Musicum Academy in Pommersfelden, Germany where he performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto in 2018 and has participated in numerous recordings throughout his short career. He has also performed with numerous East Coast orchestras including the Greenwich Choral Society Orchestra, the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Nutmeg Symphony Orchestra, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, and other local symphonies in Connecticut.

More info coming soon!

Tracey Redus - Clarinet

Tracey Redus is a life long band instructor. She taught for 24 years in RRISD. She most recently served as the Director of Bands for Chisholm Trail Middle School for the past 17 years She retired from full time teaching in 2021 after leading CTMS. Her love of teaching music has brought her back as the private clarinet instructor for CTMS. She received her Bachelor of Music Education in 1990 and Master in Music Education in 1992 from Radford University. She served in the United States Navy Band as a clarinet/saxophone/vocalist from 92-96. In 2013 she received the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award. Mrs. Redus is a member of our community. Her oldest son graduated from RRHS last year and her youngest son will be a sophomore at RRHS this year. He is a member of the Dragon Band. She is excited to be part of the lessons staff and cultivate a strong clarinet studio.

Dan Troiano - Tuba & Euphonium

Dan (Mr. T) Troiano grew up in New York where he had been studying the tuba since the age of 9 with his father. After graduating from Ithaca College in 2009 with a B.M. degree in Music Education, he began working with young tuba and euphonium students where he served as a TA to the band faculty at the USDAN Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in Wheatley Heights, NY. Dan had the privilege of performing with various professional wind ensembles, symphony orchestras and chamber groups while living in New York. In 2011, he moved to Austin, TX and began working as a private lesson instructor in Leander ISD, Round Rock ISD, and Pflugerville ISD. Although Dan is now living in Texas, he will always remember New York pizza, New York bagels and root for the New York Yankees!