Matthew Schroeder is a Milwaukee based WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) award winning guitarist who is equally at home on electric or acoustic guitar. Matt is one of a handful of players to graduate, with honors, from the short-lived cooperative program between The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a performance degree in American Finger-Style Guitar. Matt is one of Milwaukee's prominent guitar educators and has taught guitar at The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music since 1992. He also teaches at Mount Mary University and is the Music Director of the Fingerstyle Guitar Workshop at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts. Matt is a featured guitar instructor on Hal Leonard's Guitar Instructor website and on the Hal Leonard instructional DVDs "Acoustic Guitar Licks Goldmine" and "Rock Guitar Licks Goldmine." Matt is featured on recordings such as Pet Engine's 1994 release "Hearts and Bones and Voices," the compilation CD "American Finger-Style Guitar circa 1999," and his debut solo acoustic fingerstyle CD, "Signal," released in 2006. A popular performer, Matt can be seen as an acoustic soloist and as the smoking guitar wielding "Space Ace" with the international touring KISS tribute band STRUTTER.
For nearly four decades, American fingerstyle wizard Richard Gilewitz has fascinated listeners with 6 and 12-string finger gymnastics while spinning enchanting yarns of a seasoned raconteur. His concert performances around the world spill over with unexpected turns of the funnies, thought-provoking takes on life on the road, and tunes that propel the audience on a magical journey of sight and sound. His signature playing style delivers a technical diversity of banjo style patterns and classical arpeggios with a rhythmic percussive approach, exploring the history of guitar with sounds of folk to Americana, the blues to the classical, ragtime to pop, and somewhere in between.In addition to his concert performances, his GillaCamp Guitar and Ukulele Workshops, Meet the Artist Seminars, Clinics, and Avenues for Success educational program for schools inspire players worldwide, providing opportunities for music lovers to work on their craft and young players to learn fingerstyle techniques and tips of the trade.
