Lori graduated magna cum laude from UW-Platteville with a degree in general music and secondary choral education. She currently teaches K-5 general music at Slinger Elementary and is the musical director for Slinger High School's musicals. She also is a regular vocalist at Trinity Lutheran Church in West Bend and performs with the Hartford Players.
Notice: Undefined variable: preview_set in /var/www/vhosts/schauercenter.org/htdocs/school_of_the_arts/instructors/index.php on line 99
Lori graduated magna cum laude from UW-Platteville with a degree in general music and secondary choral education. She currently teaches K-5 general music at Slinger Elementary and is the musical director for Slinger High School's musicals. She also is a regular vocalist at Trinity Lutheran Church in West Bend and performs with the Hartford Players.
Terese is pleased to be teaching Preschool Music, Musical Theater, and all elements of music and theater for Arts Immersions at our beloved Schauer Center. In the recent past, she has happily teamed up with Lori Hassig to offer summer choral camps, directed the younger Children's Choir, and music-directed for a Rising Stars production. Privately, Terese teaches beginning to intermediate bass
guitar, drums, guitar, piano, ukulele, viola, violin, and voice. She also loves teaching and leading music at Hartford Bible Church, and she directs the Spring Plays and coaches Forensics (competitive public speaking) at Hartford Union High School. In addition to formal education, many years of experience directing and performing with professional (Acacia Theatre), school (college, HUHS), and community groups (Hartford Players, Haylofters, Peninsula Players) have taught her that it's wonderful to be on both sides of the footlights!
Joseph Steinbart is a violist/violinist from Hartland, Wisconsin. The youngest of seven kids, he grew up around music and started violin when he was eight years old. He studied violin for ten years and started playing viola in high school. He loved playing the viola more than the violin and officially switched to viola when he went to college. Joseph attended Maranatha Baptist University in Watertown,
Wisconsin and majored in Church Music with a minor in Pastoral Studies, graduating in 2018. He completed his Master of Music in Viola Performance and String Pedagogy at the University of Louisville, Kentucky in 2020. While at MBU, Joseph won the Fine Arts Commencement Competition at MBU and received the Musicianship Award for the most outstanding musician upon graduation. At UofL, Joseph received the E.M. Aldrich Scholarship and the viola graduate string quartet position. In addition to these awards and scholarships, he has played in masterclasses for Molly Carr, Hillary Herndon, and Todd Phillips.
Joseph has taught private and group lessons for the past five years. He loves working with students and is passionate in helping them realize their potential. He actively serves as the music pastor for First Baptist Church of Hartford, Wisconsin where he leads music and directs the choir. In addition, he is a member of the Kettle Moraine Symphony.
Paul Westfahl is an active performer and educator in Southeast Wisconsin. He earned his BA in Music from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in 2012 with an emphasis in Percussion Performance, Composition and Jazz Studies. Paul holds a position on the percussion faculty at MSOE and has worked with many Milwaukee organizations including but not limited to The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, UWM Dance
Department, Danceworks, Young Dance Academy, The Milwaukee Children’s Choir and The Dead Man’s Carnival to name a few. In addition to teaching privately, working with dancers and maintaining a demanding freelance performing schedule, Westfahl leads and composes for several of his own projects and is also involved as a sideman and co-conspirator/performer/composer with dozens of ensembles throughout the Milwaukee area. Since 2015, Paul has dedicated himself to studying tabla and is a disciple of Pandit Hindole Majumdar.
Allen Russell is a violinist, composer and instructor based in Milwaukee, WI. He began his musical studies on the violin at age 5, and studied at the String Academy of Wisconsin with Mimi Zweig and David Becker before later going on to study with Jerome Franke and Dr. Bernard Zinck. Allen has performed with his Hot Swing quartet Swing Chevron at festivals such as the Midwest
Gypsy Swingfest, as well as historic venues such as the Green Mill. With the string quartet Tontine Ensemble, Allen has participated in premiering the new works of modern composers and has had his own compositions performed in collaboration with Milwaukee Ballet, Danceworks Inc., Water St. Dance, and Hyperlocal. Allen is a registered Suzuki Violin instructor and holds a Master of Fine Arts in String Performance and Pedagogy from the UW Milwaukee.
Therese has been a children's theater instructor at the Schauer Arts Center for eight years and is the director of our Schauer Rising Star productions. She has directed countless plays and taught a wide variety of drama classes for the past 30 years. This is Therese’s 23rd Season as Artistic Director for the Milwaukee Youth Theatre. Since she moved to Oshkosh
18 years ago, she has also been very active directing and stage managing shows for Fond du Lac Community Theatre. Therese has been instrumental in starting up three theater groups, Fond du Lac Area Homeschool Drama Troupe, Oshkosh Home School Players, and Oshkosh Playin' Round.
Naiza Delica Gohr has been surrounded by music and performance since an early age. Her first musical debut was around the age of 6, singing Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid at every family party event. Alongside her brothers, she continued singing and added piano, violin, and theater. Naiza continued her musical studies into college, graduating from UW-Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Fine
Arts in Vocal Performance. In addition to performing in shows like West Side Story, Princess Ida, and In the Heights, she began music directing and pit conducting with recent credits including Shrek, Spamalot, Addams Family, Man of La Mancha, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Willy Wonka Jr, Madagascar Jr, Beauty and the Beast, and Flat Stanley Jr. She is extremely excited to continue her passion in the arts with the Schauer Arts Center for her fifth year! Sharing her love for music and theater, and seeing that passion and appreciation in other performers and artists of all ages is what keeps her happy and excited to continue in the fantastic world of Fine Arts!
Questioning her future as a ballerina, Rachel was first introduced to unicycling at the age of six at the suggestion of her dance instructors at the Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park, Illinois. After her first unicycle class she abruptly stopped following in her older sister’s footsteps and found the confidence to proudly “march to the beat of a different drummer” as her
mother always said she did. Rachel attended her first National Unicycle Meet at the age of eight and in 1987 won the World Unicycle Queen title at International Competitions in Edogawa, Japan. She has performed with Chicago’s Windy City Circus, Triton Trouper Circus, Circus Kingdom, and has traveled with The Flying Valentines where she performed aerial cradle and flying trapeze. Performing on The Bozo Show and providing opening entertainment for the Bruce Springsteen Concert at Soldier Field have been highlights for her. Outside of the Circus Arts, Rachel’s career brought her into the banking world where she found her niche in talent development. It’s no surprise that creating a culture of learning and supporting others in their professional growth and pursuit of their passions has her walking into work with a smile each day! Over the years, Rachel has become involved with the youth of the communities she serves through volunteer activities with several not-for-profit organizations with a shared interest in financial literacy and economic education. Additionally she discovered the Milwaukee writing community which further fueled her creativity. As a result of sharing her stories from childhood with these audiences, her desire to pass on the life skills she learned through the Circus Arts has been reignited. Whether it was fate or coincidence, she also found - and was found - by new and old influencers. The pursuit of people with shared interests resulted in the support of her dream by the American Youth Circus Organization (AYCO). In 2018 she attended her first American Circus Educators Conference (ACE) which made her realize the only thing standing in her way was…nothing. Rachel is happy to report that she is right where she needs to be to make her dream of helping youth shine brighter by providing a safe place for the exploration of self through the Circus Arts a reality.
Ryan Cappleman is a performer, choreographer, musician, and teaching artist (affectionately known as Milwaukee's Quadruple Threat). Favorite roles include Pooh Bah (The Hot Mikado), Scarecrow (The Wizard of Oz), Woof (Hair) Dancer (Carmina Burana) and four years of Kidswrites at Skylight Music Theater, Young Billy/the Pianist (Billy Bishop Goes to
War), Company (Tom Foolery) at Third Avenue Playhouse, and Jake (Waiting...a Song Cycle) Off Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theater in NYC. As a choreographer, he has earned 3 Footlights Awards for his work on Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, and Pirates of Penzance at Skylight Music Theater. As a musician, Ryan has created many cabaret shows, conducted and played in pit orchestras, and music directed everyone from kids to Broadway veterans. He teaches various aspects of musical theater all over Wisconsin and around the country. Follow him (and more importantly) his dog Dolly on instagram @mkes4threat.
Anna has been dancing since the age of 3, and started dancing at the Schauer Center in 2010. She’s concurrently pursued further dance education from Academy of Dance Arts, Danceworks, Valley Academy for the Arts, and Milwaukee Ballet. She’s taken an intensive course in the systematic teachings of Vaganova, Anatomy, Kinesiology and developmental movement in children through Valley Academy for
the Arts. Performing in countless dance productions with Schauer Center, Storybrook Dance, Dance Alive National Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Valley Academy for the Arts, and Dance of Wisconsin has been a highlight for Anna. She has taken master classes from Patrik Kasper of Storybook Dance Theater, Andre Valladon and Kim Tuttle of Dance Alive National Ballet, Karl Van Rabeneau and Jennifer Miller, as well as attended Dance Masters of Wisconsin workshops and Milwaukee Ballet’s 6-week pre-professional summer intensive. Anna has been professionally trained in ballet, pointe, contemporary and modern, with varying exposure in tap, funk, Irish, ballroom, African, hip-hop, Afro-Cuban, and Latin dance. Anna was a teacher assistant at the Schauer Center for 3 years, served a dance internship through their Sycamore Tree location, and began teaching in 2015. She also taught for Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy from 2018–2020. She has taught all levels of ballet and contemporary at the Schauer Center, choreographed modern and contemporary group and solo pieces, dances for a school play, the Schauer’s 2016 showcase “The Toy Shop”, 2017 showcase “Dance of the Swans”, and 2018 showcase “A Story Through our Shoes”. She is excited to continue teaching at the Schauer Center, and is looking forward to helping your children develop into the best dancers and individuals possible.
Hannah has been dancing competitively for over 15 years. She has performed professionally and actively competes at the international level. Some of her accomplishments include training a junior 8-person mixed ceili team to win 5th overall at the Midwest Regional Championships, taking first place at the Midwest Championships in the set dance category and ranking top 10 in the solo championship
category at the Midwest Championships. She is currently understudying for the TCRG exams (international Irish Dance teaching certification) and enjoying the position of Troupe director with the Schauer's first semi-professional performing Irish Dance Troupe. If you wish to enjoy a great Celtic Christmas, St. Patrick's Day performance or other show, workshop, or combination, please make arrangements by email. To contact Hannah regarding Troupe performances and workshops, email at reelceltic@gmail.com
Autumn started dancing with the Schauer School of the Arts when she was 8 years old. She took ballet for 10 years. At age 11 she started as a teacher's assistant for ballet and tap classes, something she continued to do all the way to age 17. In 2015 she started taking Irish dance, going on to perform with the Schauer Irish Dance Troupe for three years, two of which she spent as Troupe Captain.
At age 15 she started teaching her own private ballet student that she continues to teach. She did an internship under Hannah Voelkel in 2018 and started substitute teaching the next year, going on to teach her own classes that summer. After graduating high school she started dancing with Milwaukee Irish Dance Academy, competing in her first competition in January 2020.
Celeste started her dancing career with Cashel Dennehy where she very quickly found herself on many competitive solo and team trips around the country and abroad. After many years with Cashel Dennehy, Celeste moved to Kinsella Academy where she spent a few more years dancing until life moved her around the country. After two very serious dancing injuries, Celeste's competitive career was over
and her dancing was put on hold. While rehabilitating, she was able to use her experience to teach dance and tutor young dancers in their careers. While living in South Korea, Celeste was the ambassador for the Cambodian National Dance Team and traveled with them on tour before returning back to the states. After moving back to Wisconsin, she joined The Milwaukee Irish Dance Company and has been performing with them for three years. Celeste is currently studying for her TCRG (International Irish Dance Certification), which provides an international, standardized teacher certification for Irish dance teachers.
Thecla moved to the West Bend area in the summer of 2018 after 23 years in New York City. While in New York, Thecla was Artistic Director of PS Broadway® of Rosie's Theater Kids (RTKids), an arts education program providing nearly 1,500 students annually with musical theater training. Thecla still serves as a consultant for RTKids.
Ms. Harris trained professionally with the Cuyahoga
Valley Youth Ballet and Dayton Ballet II, and was a guest performer with numerous companies. She received a BA from the University of Akron and has been teaching dance in New York City public schools since 1995, including Ballet Tech, Steps, Broadway Dance Center and 8 years with the National Dance Institute. Thecla has also served as an artistic consultant for arts education programs in Ohio, Long Island, NY and Pennsylvania and is an American Ballet Theater (ABT®) Certified Instructor.
Mattie started her love for dance at the age of 4. From then on, she continued to grow as a dancer, taking a variety of classes ranging from Ballet to Funk. Mattie grew up taking classes at the Schauer School of the Arts, but also enrolled in Milwaukee Ballet School Academy for 2 years before she decided to finish out her senior year back at the Schauer Center. She continued taking miscellaneous
classes at Danceworks in Milwaukee after finishing high school.
Holly Heisdorf was first introduced to dancing at the age of two and a half at Melody in Motion in West Bend. She began her training at Nancy Dianne Studio of Dance at the age of ten and continued through her completion of high school taking classes in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz and Modern dance. During her high school years, she became involved with the studio’s Student Teaching Apprenticeship
Program and was accepted into the advanced placement level of all of her dance disciplines. Holly graduated from West Bend East High School in May 2006 and went on to study at the University of Iowa where she graduated in May 2010 with Bachelor degrees in Dance, as well as Business Administration-Finance. While at the University of Iowa, Holly won several scholarships as a result of her demonstrated abilities in Dance as well as having performed in numerous undergraduate performances. She became a member of Milwaukee’s Danceworks Tap Company, “Danceworks On Tap” in 2012. In June of 2019 Holly completed a Masters Degree in Finance from Concordia University, Wisconsin. She is also a member of Dance Masters of Wisconsin and Chicago national Association of Dance Masters.
Dani Kuepper is excited to join the Schauer Arts Center team as the Education Coordinator! Utilizing decades of experience in the arts, she is inspired to create meaningful, high-quality, inter-disciplinary arts programming for children and adults of all ages, backgrounds and abilities in her home town. Her career began as a company member of Danceworks resident contemporary dance company, Danceworks
Performance MKE (formerly Danceworks Performance Company) in 1998. Dani served as the Co-Artistic Director of the company 2005–2007 and then as the Artistic Director of Danceworks, Inc. from 2007–2021. She has choreographed numerous works and evening length performances throughout her career. In the Milwaukee community, Dani is known as a “master of collaboration” and has enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate extensively with independent artists of all genres and established arts organizations including Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Present Music, Florentine Opera, Chant Claire Chamber Choir, First Stage Children’s Theatre and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She has directed numerous outreach programs for Danceworks and co-founded Danceworks Generations, an intergenerational, multi-arts program that pairs students and seniors together in collaborative dancemaking and visual art activities. Dani received both her BFA and MFA from UW-Milwaukee, where she has been a faculty member of the Dance Department since 1999. As an undergraduate at UWM, she was selected by adjudicators to perform the solo she choreographed, Mrs. Schultz, at the national American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She was honored in 2009 as a “Forty under 40” recipient by the Business Journal of Milwaukee, received the UWM Alumni Association Teaching Excellence Award for non-tenure track instructors in 2010, the 2018 Choreography/Performance Award from the Wisconsin Dance Council and was featured in Milwaukee Magazine as a “Mover and a Shaker” in February of 2020. In the Hartford area, Dani has choreographed the Hartford Union High School Musicals 2016–present and has choreographed and performed in various Jim & I Productions, most recently appearing in the title role of Peter Pan in 2018 at the Schauer Arts Center.
Elisabeth Roskopf was born in South Korea and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she began dancing at the age of 6. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire where she earned her BA in Piano and minor in Dance. She is a company member with Li Chiao-Ping Dance, Danceworks Performance MKE, and Wild Space Dance Company. She is currently a guest artist with the Gina Laurenzi
Dance Project, and she has had the opportunity of performing with Marlene Skog Dance and Catey Ott Dance Collective. As a performer, she is described as “light as a feather, tough as nails” and a “joy to behold.” Since the spring of 2014, Elisabeth has been performing in Lake Arts Project, directed by Jennifer Miller and Karl von Rabenau formerly of the Milwaukee Ballet. Since 2013, and still ongoing, she has choreographed and performed her solo works for Danceworks DanceLAB Get It Out There concert series. In addition to performing, she has taught contemporary and ballet classes at the Schauer Arts Center, and she was the founding artistic director of the pre-professional Schauer Contemporary Ballet Company. Elisabeth is very excited to come back to be a part of the Schauer Arts dance team as a contemporary teacher!
A Milwaukee area artist, Jolie Collins draws and paints what catches her fancy, and a variety of subjects have inspired and influenced her art, including dancers, flowers, animals, fruit, non-representational abstracts, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, scripture, photography and printmaking. Jolie’s playful, abstract acrylic works reflect the energy, boldness and vibrancy of color, which she hopes will
bring joy to the viewer. Jolie desires to bring joy through the arts, just as others have positively impacted her. Jolie has exhibited in several places around the Milwaukee area and Southeast Wisconsin, including SWAN Day MKE, Oholiab’s Offering, Cedarburg Cultural Center, Walker’s Point Center for the Art’s Annual Member Show, Gallery 227 in Port Washington, the Art*Bar’s mini “tiny” Art Show, Oconomowoc Arts Center, Cardinal Stritch University, Cedarburg Art Museum and Frank L. Weyenberg Library in Mequon. In 2019 & 2020, Jolie had solo shows at the Boerner Botanical Gardens-Garden House, Freya Salon, UW-Madison’s Gallery 1308 and Greenfield Public Library, Frank L. Weyenberg Library, and she was the February Artist in Residence at the Cedarburg Cultural Center. In 2021, she will exhibit at the Urban Ecology Center-Menomonee Valley. In addition to exhibiting, Jolie has taught art; created props for theatrical productions; done graphic design work for a local store, and designed artists’ websites. In 2018, Jolie painted her first public art pieces, Beastie Benches, for the Zoological Society. She is on the board for the League of Milwaukee Artists as the webmaster, and a member of Milwaukee Artists Resource Network, Fine and Shorewood Artists Guild.
Jeanne Kollmeyer has been making art for several decades and teaching classes for children for the past ten years in the Milwaukee area. She currently works at several art centers as an instructor and has been painting with acrylics since taking class a few years ago. She began her art career as a photographer hand coloring her black and white pictures and then developed an interest in sharing her
love of art with children. Her art reflects her love of the natural world and the whimsical. She loves painting with bright, vibrant colors and is having fun painting fruits, flowers, plants and desserts! Last summer she ventured into plein air painting and hopes to do more painting outside once the weather turns warm.
