Lessons

The Instrument Barn offers lessons on all instruments. To get you started we offer 2 FREE trial lessons. That is a $60 value completely FREE with NO commitment. Lessons after your trial lessons are $30 a half hour and are offered during our normal business hours. We recommend scheduling lessons weekly but we do also offer bi weekly lessons. For more information or to schedule a lesson give us a call at 847-562-6616 or fill out the form by clicking on the link below.

Lesson Interest form

https://forms.gle/cWnzFSVgmFnDfEgE7

Teaching Staff

Harry Choin - Woodwinds, Piano, and Guitar

Harry is the owner of The Instrument Barn, and also an experienced instructor. He recently completed his enlistment in the United States Army. He has a strong passion for music and plays as much as he can. While he was in the United States Army, he was an Army Bandsman. Harry played in all kinds of ensembles including the jazz band, rock band, ceremonial band, and the woodwind quintet playing clarinet, flute, saxophone, and piano. His primary instrument is clarinet. Now he really enjoys playing in community bands, and orchestras, throughout the Chicago area. His goal is to get quality instruments at an affordable cost to all musicians. In his free time he enjoys working on old cars and hanging out with the family.

Nick Lowe - Trumpet, Beginning Strings, and Beginning Piano

Mr. Nick Lowe graduated from Elmhurst College in 2019 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education. Prior to graduation, he spent time teaching high school marching band in Wheeling, teaching private lessons in Aurora and Elmhurst, and performing in various pit orchestras around the northwest suburbs. During his time at Elmhurst College, Mr. Lowe performed with the Wind Ensemble, Philharmonic Orchestra, Jazz Lab Band, Trumpet Ensemble, and Brass Quintet. He has performed in several locations, including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, and at the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii.

Dennis Meacham - Low Brass

Dennis Meacham graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Tuba – Performance in 2018. Currently, he is working on a Master of Music in Tuba – Performance at Northern Illinois University. Dennis enjoys working with all students and has taught pupils from age three to sixty-five. Dennis’ experience also reaches public school communities, since he has taught middle school and high school bands. Outside of the teaching, Dennis performs in NIU Orchestra, NIU Wind Ensemble, brass quintet, tuba euphonium ensemble, and the fox valley brass band. In his free time, Dennis enjoys reading history books and learning new cooking recipes.

Victoria Choin - Strings, Electric Bass, and High Brass

(Zoom or Skype Only)

Victoria has been playing musical instruments for over 20 years. She studied piano and double bass at Central Michigan University, where she received a Bachelors degree in Music. She has played French Horn with the Arizona State University symphonic band, as well as other groups. Victoria received a Masters degree in Musicology from ASU in 2019. Since graduating, Victoria has been teaching orchestra at a school in Mesa, AZ. She has been teaching strings, brass, and piano privately for 5 years.

Kyle Anderson - Clarinet, Saxophone, Ukulele

Kyle Anderson has been playing clarinet since fifth grade and is currently a student at Northern Illinois University, pursuing a degree in Music Education. In addition to clarinet, Kyle also plays saxophone, ukulele, and guitar. At NIU, Kyle is a three year member of the Huskie Marching Band - the Pride of the Midwest - and has also performed with the NIU wind symphony. Kyle is eager to teach people something new, or grow in their musical ability. In his free time, Kyle enjoys playing tennis and riding his bike.

Hanna Bingham - Violin

Hanna Bingham has been an active member of the Chicago area music scene since the age of eight and has over ten year of teaching experience. She has been a featured soloist with a number of orchestras including: The Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago (which lead to her being featured on a WFMT broadcast of From The Top), Northwestern University’s Baroque Ensemble, Northern Illinois University’s Philharmonic Orchestra, NIU Sinfonia, and the Rockford Youth Symphony Orchestra.Her chamber music experience includes performing in an array of ensembles including a string quartet that competed in the St. Paul string quartet competition and was named semi-finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Indiana. Hanna Bingham earned her Masters in Violin Performance degree at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music under Desiree Ruhstrat in December of 2020. She earned her bachelors in music performance from the Northern Illinois University School of Music under Blaise Magniere during which time she also studied with soloist, Yang Liu. As an orchestral musician she served as concertmaster of the Northern Illinois University Philharmonic Orchestra, Northwestern University Baroque Ensemble, as well as on concertmaster rotation for the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra. Hanna is an active member of local Chicago area orchestras such as the Kishwakee Symphony Orchestra and the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra.

Now that she has graduated her performance degrees, Hanna plans to pursue a second masters degree in the recording arts under the instruction of Grammy-Award winning faculty, Dan Nichols, at Northern Illinois University starting in the fall of 2021.

Owen Miller - Saxophone, Beginning Piano

Born in Japan in 1985, Owen was raised in Maywood, IL and Decorah, IA. Having grown up in a musical family (mom is a classical trained concert pianist, organist and flautist), Owen pursued music at an early age, starting with piano at five and moving on to saxophone at eight. In 2000 he auditioned and was accepted to attend highschool at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy near Traverse City, MI where he performed and was a soloist with the jazz orchestra, the concert band, and the world-renowned Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra. He had the distinct honor in 2003 of leading the jazz orchestra to the national Essentially Ellington festival at Lincoln Center in downtown New York, where the saxophone section received the highest honors. He studied with Bill Sears and the late David Remington. In 2003 Owen continued his education at Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton, WI, studying with Steven Jordheim and Jose Encarnacion, being named the lead alto player of the Lawrence University Jazz Orchestra his freshman year. Since then he has been a Music Director onboard eleven of Carnival Cruise Line's twenty-six ships. In 2015 he was promoted to the Supervisor of Music Development, where he helped to design and create the music rehearsal spaces at Carnival's premier, industry-first Studio Rehearsal Facility in Davie, FL. Here, Owen rehearsed, coached and mentored hundreds of musicians every year and created new musical offerings that were deployed across the entire fleet. After the pandemic, Owen moved back to Illinois and loves to share his knowledge, experience, joy and FUN of playing music! He's been with us at the Instrument Barn since 2021 and loves teaching beginners, intermediate, and advanced students of all ages.

Ryan Klopfenstein - Drums, Guitar, Electric Bass, Ukulele

A native of northern Illinois, Ryan has played guitar, bass, and drums in numerous indie-rock bands throughout the Chicagoland area since the 1990s. He started playing music at a young age. Being the son of a drummer, growing up there was always music in the house. He played guitar and drums as a teenager. After high school, he attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Then in 1996, he accepted a position at The Player’s Bench music store in Crystal Lake. Ryan worked and taught there on and off for 20+ years until their closing in 2020. While at The Player’s Bench, Ryan studied privately both classical guitar with Ron Pingel and drumset with Bob Roak. He has been teaching at The Instrument Barn since 2021.

When not playing and teaching music, you can find Ryan focusing on his other passion, art. He exhibits his paintings in various art galleries in the area.

Andrew Ossler - Trumpet, Beginning Piano

Andrew Ossler graduated from Illinois State University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. During his time at ISU, Andrew played in the ISU Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, and Jazz band. Andrew teaches at Marian Central Catholic High School as the Music Director where he teaches Band, Choir, Guitar, and Piano. Outside of teaching, Andrew performs with the Prairie Brass Band, Rockford Concert Band, and subs with the Chicago Brass Band. In addition, Andrew plays trumpet at St. Mary in Huntley. In his free time, Andrew enjoys volunteering at the railroad museum and spending time with family and friends.