Music Teachers / Music Instructors / Staff

Dave Brumbaugh

Executive Director /Guitar & Theory Instructor

It has been my fortunate experience to spend the last 28 years studying, performing, teaching and composing music. Along the way I have been lucky enough to make music with many great musicians both famous and relatively unknown. In the last 16 years, teaching has become my greatest joy. Through teaching I have shared my passion for music with hundreds of students, young and old, from all walks of life, many of whom have become musicians and teachers in their own right. I run the day-to-day operations, teach intermediate to advanced students, higher level theory classes and produce all the major performances we hold each year.

Jared Mondell

Admissions and Marketing Manager

Colin Beatty and I had a desire to learn music theory and the classes were not offered at our high school. Fortunately, Dave offered music theory at the Uptown Music Collective. Through taking theory classes with Dave, I learned what the Collective was all about and decided I wanted to be a part of it. Meeting Dave was the equivalent of Luke meeting Obi-Won; a mentor was found. Since then I have participated in nearly every show and recital the Collective has put on and in 2006 was given the opportunity to direct the show The Wall. I graduated from Lock Haven University in the spring of 2007 with a BA in Communications Media. After graduation, I was offered a position at the Collective to help out with the day-to-day running of the school. Currently I am the front man for local band, 44MAG.

Will Ort

Technical Director/Student Manager and Guitar Instructor

I was inspired to play guitar at a young age after watching my dad play a smoking rendition of Malaguena. My desire to play guitar was only intensified by listening to my sister’s Led Zeppelin records and my Dad’s CCR tapes. By the age of twelve, I had my first guitar and had begun taking lessons. After graduating from high school, I enrolled at Bloomsburg University where I earned a degree in music with a concentration in A/V recording. While in college, I studied blues, jazz, and theory at the Collective. I currently play in multiple bands and continue to sharpen my skills in the pursuit of musical excellence. I’m excited to be teaching at the Collective and am looking forward to helping young fledgling musicians on their way to rock stardom.

Alex Callenberger

Guitar Instructor

Born and raised in California , I focused on my first passion— sports—, but always had a passion for music. Moving to Pennsylvania from California in 2002, I hooked up with the Uptown Music Collective and began studying with Dave Brumbaugh. I went through 4 years of intense guitar and music theory training, directed and assisted in producing such shows as Dark Side of The Moon, The Wall, Tommy and Prog Rock Karnevil. I have been a teacher since 2006 and currently play in numerous local bands including The Electric Volcano Experiment and the Antique Babies. I teach beginner to apprentice level guitar students.

Hunter Wentzler

Guitar Instructor

With the fortunate coincidence of growing up next to UMC founder Dave Brumbaugh, I began studying music and guitar under his watchful eye at an early age. I have since dedicated myself to being a notable musician. After high school, I set my sights on “higher education” and chose Berklee College of Music. Graduating from Berklee with degrees in Music Business and Music Production in 2002, I emerged with a brand new title: Professional Musician. After a brief exploration of other markets such as Southern California and Florida, I returned to the area to refine my craft as a guitarist, songwriter, and music producer. I love sharing my passion for music with UMC students and it inspires me to watch them grow.

Colin Beatty

Bass Guitar Instructor

I’m coming up on a decade of musical experience and playing the bass is still fun for me because playing music is fun. Born and raised in Williamsport, I have stayed in the area most of my life, playing with various groups and artists like Mallory Scoppa, Morgan Myles, Silenus, The Dirty Nickels, The Doug McMinn Jazz Quartet, Jazzin, Capt Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters and Johnny J. Blair to name a few. Over the years I have also played in numerous pit bands for high school plays, as well as for local theatres. I have been with the Uptown Music Collective almost since its creation, first as a student and recently as an instructor. I have studied music and the bass with both Dave Brumbaugh and notable music instructor Tim Breon for many years.

Michelle Dennen

Piano/Vocal & Theory Instructor

I've been around musicians all of my life and was first inspired to study music when I was very small by my grandfather, who played the accordion and the guitar. Since there was a piano around, I decided to focus my attentions on that. Years of piano lessons later, I graduated from Susquehanna University with a degree in music education. From there, I went on to teach music classes and choirs at all the school levels, direct many large and small scale musicals, and maintain my own studios in New Jersey, New York, and, most recently, here in PA. I discovered the Collective several years ago while shopping around for a bass teacher for my son. We went to see their production of "Tommy" and were hooked! Since then, I have been the happy observer of both my kids and several of my former school students as they continue on their musical journeys here at the collective. My own musical journey has also brought me here to teach piano and voice.

Kimberly Adair

Piano/Vocal Instructor

I was born into a musically blessed family in the small town of Okolona, MS. In preparation for destiny’s meeting with purpose, I began to sing in the church choir at five years old. When I turned seven, I began taking piano lessons. As music became more and more prevalent in my life, I added drums, clarinet, and writing to my list of musical talents. Through the years that followed, I have immersed myself into the constructions of many styles of music.

Currently, I am a piano and vocal instructor for The Uptown Music Collective and for the Campbell Street Center in Williamsport, PA. I perform at various venues throughout the United States as the lead singer and musician of Kimberly Adair and Meant2B. My debut project, “Voice of My Soul”, is scheduled for release the early part of next year.

Jesse Roedts

Drum Instructor

I have been playing drums for 14 years. I started at the age of 11, taking lessons from Robert Morrision, who worked with the Williamsport Symphony, and Joseph Hauserman, who has worked with Tommy Cash. My first musical projects were with the Montoursville Jazz Band and Marching Band. For the past 10 years I have been playing in the local hard rock band 44Mag. I have also worked with various country and classic rock bands. I am schooled in the styles of rock, blues, country, funk and pop drumming.

Adam Westover

Drum Instructor

As a kid I always loved banging on my uncle's drum set at my grandmother's house. When I was 10 and the school system started teaching music, I jumped at the idea of taking drum lessons and began a life-long obsession with music and drumming. I played in every band I could through high school and earned the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award my senior year. I joined the Army and attended the Army, Navy, Marine Corps School of Music. Since returning home to Montoursville I have played in several bands in the area including Lyonnesse and for the past six years with local favorites The Flu Shots. When I was approached by the Uptown Music Collective to be one of the new drum teachers, I was flattered and I am looking forward to sharing my 27 years (and counting) of musical experience.

Deron Johnson

Guitar & Theory Instructor

Through the study and practice of music, I have learned as much about myself as I have about the craft. Music touches all of us in a unique and personal way, and through studying music we can begin to understand why it affects us the way it does. My own music journey has involved intensive study in styles such as jazz, classical, and rock music, as well as serious study of arranging and composing. I recently graduated from Lycoming College with a degree in music and I write and perform with the band Clouds Make Sounds. As a songwriter, performer, and teacher, I love sharing my joy and passion for music with others, while helping them on their own musical journeys.

Joe Marchese

Guitar Instructor

Joe Marchese is currently a Senior at Lycoming College studying Music Performance. He has been playing guitar for seven years and studying guitar for the last five years with Dave Brumbaugh of the Uptown Music Collective. He has lived in the Williamsport area his entire life. He began teaching at The Uptown Music Collective in the beginning of 2010. His musical projects include Clouds Make Sounds.

Uptown Music Collective

848 West Fourth St.

Williamsport PA 17701

(570) 329-0888

jared@uptownmusic.org

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