Julien Kasper

"As a teacher, my greatest desire is to inspire students by example to embark on the quest to find their own artistic voices. I love exposing my students to the nuance and emotion in music that is important to me so that they, in turn, learn to hear and feel more deeply what is important to them."

"My professional background contributes enormously to my teaching because I have such a wide range of experience playing so many types of gigs in so many styles, from dive bars in the deep South to great jazz festivals in Europe, and all points in between. I've also spent a great deal of time in the studio recording as a leader and as sideman/session player. My most important professional assets are that, as an original artist, I am a highly individual stylist, but when called to do so, I can also play more specific genres—jazz, rock, blues, funk, fusion, and country—with an extremely high level of professionalism and integrity. All of this experience factors into giving students a genuine understanding of what will be required of them as professionals."