Cadence Music offers private music lessons to people of all ages. We offer lessons for piano, violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, saxophone, alto and tenor sax, trumpet, trombone, baritone, tuba, guitar, bass guitar, drums, and percussion. Lessons are scheduled directly between the student and the teacher and all lessons are here at our store. For more information, please call us at (239) 275-6262 or email us: cadencemusic@cadencemusic.com
Meet our instructors!
Richard West: Piano, theory, beginning guitar, beginning percussion, and all band instruments
Mr. West received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1975. He was the band director at the New England Kurn Hattin School in Vermont from 1975-1978. He has been a Lee County public school music teacher since 1982, having taught elementary, middle and high school, and has been teaching at Cadence Music for over 20 years.
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Rachel Cox, violinist and violist, has performed with the Naples Philharmonic, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra. She has been a member of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra since 1998, holding the positions of principal viola, acting assistant and principal second violin, and acting assistant concertmaster. Rachel holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied with Walter Trampler, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from IMPAC University in Punta Gorda, Florida. Performance credits include a performance in Carnegie Hall under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, broadcasts on WGBH-FM “Off the Record” program, guest artist at the 2006 Ohio Federation of Music convention, and two PBS nationwide broadcasts as a member of the Naples Philharmonic under the direction of Erich Kunzel. In 2002, Rachel started the music scholarship at Florida Gulf Coast University that ultimately led to the formation of the Bower School of Music.
Rachel has published six books on Ohio and U.S. history, which are used in schools, libraries, and colleges throughout the country. In 2008 she published her first novel, The Horror Within. Rachel’s newest book is A New Era: A History of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, which was written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that orchestra and is the basis of a short documentary. She is the author of Ecce Cecilia, a poem set to music for chorus and orchestra by Paul Richards in honor of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra’s 50th anniversary celebration. Rachel is the historian for the Regional Orchestra Players’ Association (ROPA), a conference of the American Federation of Musicians.
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Rachel currently resides in Cape Coral.
Michael Willis: Acoustic, electric, and bass guitar
Mr. Willis has lived in Ft.Myers since 1978. Mike has played the guitar since the age of 18. His influnces are a diverse range from Ferdinand Carulli, Christopher Parkening, & Fernando Sor to James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, Crosby Stills & Nash, and many more. Mike plays and teaches a variety of styles and has been teaching privately since 2003.
Todd Handley: Tuba
Mr. Handley is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Music degree. He maintains an active teaching schedule in addition to working full-time at Cadence Music. While attending FSU, he studied with Mr. Paul Ebbers, one of the foremost teachers of brass pedagogy in the country. Mr. Handley also plays tuba with several chamber groups and symphony orchestras around southwest Florida. In his teaching, he integrates his own fun style into traditional learning methods.
Gary Leone: Drums & Percussion
Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Mr. Leone has been percussion instructor at Edison State College since 1981. He has also been an elementary school music teacher in Lee County since 1989 and maintains an active private teaching studio. Gary has performed throughout SW Florida for the last 28 years and currently plays percussion at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater.
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Cindy Scaruffi-Klispie, trumpeter and native Chicagoan, received a BM from Illinois State University and an MM from Northwestern University. In high school, Ms. Klispie was 1st chair in the Illinois All-State Orchestra and a student at the Interlochen Arts Camp where she played Principal Trumpet in the World Youth Symphony and Lead in the High School Jazz Ensemble.
Cindy was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for two years and was selected for the prestigious Tanglewood Fellowship program with the Boston Symphony for two summers. She was also a member of the Disney World All-American College Band in Orlando. While in Chicago, she studied with Adolph Herseth, Vincent Cichowicz, William Scarlett, George Vosburgh, Tom Crown, Luther Didrickson, and Arnold Jacobs. While at Tanglewood, Ms. Klispie studied with Charlie Schlueter and Roger Voisin. She has also studied with Leon Rapier, Susan Slaughter, and Thomas Wohlwender.
Cindy has played with the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Boston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Elgin Symphony, and many other ensembles in the USA. Ms. Klispie was Principal Trumpet of the Southwest Florida Symphony and the Sarasota Orchestra (formerly the Florida West Coast Symphony). She has played with the Monarch Brass Ensemble at conferences for the ITG and IWBC. Cindy was also Principal Trumpet of the Rome Opera Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo in Napoli. She also played for the RAI Orchestras in Napoli and Torino, as well as the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Currently, Ms. Klispie plays Principal Trumpet for Opera Naples, the Sarasota Pops Orchestra, The Suncoast Brass (which she founded), the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater, and with other groups in Florida.
Ms. Klispie has taught at Illinois Benedictine College, Florida Gulf Coast University, and currently at Edison State College. Following in the footsteps of her many teachers, Cindy allows time to teach private lessons to aspiring young musicians. Many of her students have been selected for the Florida All-State Ensembles and All-County Bands, consistently in the top chairs. Cindy is a member of FBA, as an adjudicator, and the International Trumpet Guild. Read more about Cindy and the Suncoast Brass on Facebook!