Music Educators

Kari has been teaching music in central Ohio for 24 years. However, 22 of those years have been teaching k-4 at Darby Woods Elementary in the South Western City School District. At Darby Woods, Kari teaches over 500 students various vocal and instrumental experiences on barred Orff, recorders, ukuleles and other percussion instruments. She also has served on several committees in her school and district such as: Basic Schools (builds a positive learning environment for students and their families,) elementary curriculum and course of study committee, and union representative of her building. She also helps organize school wide dances, after school family celebrations and brings exciting musicians to her students to enrich their lives. Kari created a show choir that has performed for professional teaching conferences, spent her time after school teaching students how to play the guitar and co-directs the Cougar Broadcasting Club where students create stories to share via weekly video recordings sent out to families. Not to forget all of the themed concerts she produces throughout the year.  

Kari is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and has a masters degree in Curriculum Instruction. When not teaching, Kari sings around town but her most favorite performing experience was singing with the Columbus Symphony Chorus for 20 years. She has since retired from the symphony chorus because she is also a busy mom of two children, Henry (12) and Ella (9). They are currently keeping Kari and her husband Eric, very busy with their own musical and athletic endeavors. 

Aaron Given is the director of bands Olentangy Liberty Middle School, where he has taught at since 2008. During his time in Olentangy, Aaron and his students have commissioned numerous works from professional composers. His enthusiasm for collaborating with new compositional voices has resulted in notable contributions to the pedagogical wind band repertoire. Aaron’s arrangements for brass ensemble have been performed by the Mirari Brass Quintet,as well as the Interlochen Faculty Brass Ensemble, of which he was a member. During his time as an instructor at Interlochen Arts Camp, Aaron taught french horn, chamber music, and musicianship courses. Aaron has presented clinics in forums such as the OMEA Professional Development Conference, the Capital University Complete Band Director’s Workshop, the National Association for Music Education online seminar series, and The Ohio State University. He appeared as a featured guest on the Everything Band and Portfolio Composer podcasts, and his peer-reviewed research is published in the National Band Association Journal. Aaron holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from The University of Northern Colorado and a Master’s Degree in Wind Conducting from The Ohio State University, where he studied conducting with Dr. Russell Mickelson and horn with Bruce Henniss.

Karl Wohlwend, has worked in Columbus, Ohio, since 1993, where he runs a successful private teaching studio, and is in great demand as a performer. He has taught on the faculties of Capital University, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Otterbein University. In 2023 he was invited to develop a brand new classical guitar studio at The Ohio State University School of Music. Since 1996, Karl has been invited each summer to teach at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He has been on the board of the Columbus Guitar Society for 30 years, currently serving as Vice-President. He has performed in a variety of styles throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including appearances at Chicago’s Ravinia and the Chautauqua Festival. His playing is featured on over a dozen full-length recordings, including 3 solo CDs featuring premiere recordings of works by M.A. Zani di Ferranti and A.M. Bartolotti. He has collaborated with British guitarist, Stanley Yates, on two recordings of important works by 19th-century composer, Ferdinando Carulli. His recording, The Frame, with flutist Kimberlee Goodman, features a work dedicated to the duo by composer Garrett Shatzer. He has presented lecture recitals for the Austin Peay Guitar Festival, The College Music Society, The Cincinnati Guitar Society, The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, GuitarFest at Capital University, The Washington DC Classical Guitar Society, Early Music in Columbus, and The Guitar Foundation of America. He holds performance degrees from The University of South Carolina and The Cleveland Institute of Music. 

Bob Gillespie is Ohio State University Professor Emeritus of string education and string
pedagogy. Under Dr. Gillespie’s leadership, Ohio State University received the 2015 Institutional String Education Award as the premier string education university in the
country. Dr. Gillespie is a past national President of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). He has guest conducted orchestras in 49 states, Canada, Asia, and he
has presented over 350 string teaching sessions at professional conferences. Dr. Gillespie is
a leading researcher and author on string pedagogy and string teaching. He has published over 70 articles in professional journals and received the Distinguished Scholar Award
from The Ohio State University in 2002.
Dr. Gillespie is co- author of the method book series, Essential Elements for Strings, the leading string instrument method teaching series in the US with sales of over twelve million copies to date. He is co-author of the text, Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building A Successful School Orchestra Program, the String Clinics to Go video series, the Teaching
Music Through Performance in Orchestra books, and the Rockin’ Strings series. Over1,700 teachers have attended the annual summer Ohio State University String Teacher
Workshop that Dr. Gillespie founded and directed for 35 years. In Columbus, OH, Dr.
Gillespie conducts the Columbus Symphony Chamber Strings Youth Orchestra. Dr. Gillespie has received the Paul Rolland Lifetime Achievement Award from the
American String Teachers Association, the University of Michigan School of Music alumni
Hall of Fame Award, and the Medal of Honor from the Midwest Clinic for “distinguished services to instrumental music education and continuued influence on the development and improvement of bands and orchestras in America.”