Cat Ranch…..the origin story.

We are Chris and Carrie, the owners of the Online Academy of Music. We’ve been performing music professionally and teaching for 30+ years. We recently moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to our new dream house…well…a yurt actually….to Meeker, Colorado.…AKA the cat ranch…not big cats…but our 2 house cats Captain and Tennille. They make an appearance daily in just about all of our classes we teach. All the students know them by name :)

The scenic banner on the top of this page is the view from our back deck.

To live and own a home in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most expensive places on the planet (and to be musicians), we both have worked as performers and teachers, had several side hustles, and worked 7 days a week for the last 20+ years. We were grateful to have made it work, but we were both feeling ready for a big change. We wanted a change of pace, to slow down, be our own bosses, have a lower cost of living, get away from the big city, and continue to pass along our joy for music to others.

During the pandemic, we both transitioned from in-person lessons to online teaching. Like everyone, we switched gears and adapted. We decided to expand that idea and turn it into an online school. We wanted to create a place where students of all ages and experience levels can get connected with great teachers no matter where they live.

Chris teaches private lessons on Trumpet, Piano and is on the faculty for the group piano classes. He has been playing the trumpet and piano for 37 years and teaching for 30 years. He has played trumpet in every possible genre and ensemble you can think of. National touring broadway shows, symphony orchestras, opera companies, ballet companies, experimental modern music ensembles, brass quintets, played lead in jazz big bands, rock bands, mariachi bands, wedding bands, church services, corporate parties, worn crazy costumes, recording session work and been the dance captain of many a horn section.

For his full bio check out the private trumpet/piano lessons page…heres’ the short version :) He has performed with Seth Macfarlane, Huey Lewis and The News, Smash Mouth, George Clinton, Carlos Santana, The Temptations, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Michael Feinstein, Debby Boone, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, Kevin Spacey, Tim McGraw. National touring broadway shows of Beautiful (World Premiere), Wicked, Kinky Boots, Book of Mormon, Mary Poppins, Young Frankenstein, South Pacific. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Oakland Ballet, Beach Blanket Babylon, Sacramento Music Circus, United States Air Force Commanders Jazz Ensemble, San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus and Dave Eshelmans Jazz Garden Big Band.

Carrie teaches private lessons on Horn, Piano, Flute, Music Theory and is on the faculty for the group theory classes. She studied Music Education and Music Therapy at the University of Georgia where she received her Bachelor of Music, and later at Yale University where she received her Masters in Horn Performance, studying with Paul Ingraham. For many years Carrie has been both a teacher and advocate of community arts education through her work at the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) in Mountain View, CA. She taught private and group classes in horn, music theory, ear training, and music history, as well as coordinated many of the school’s programs. In July 2014 Carrie was named Music School Director at CSMA where she oversaw all aspects of the school including private lessons, music classes, Music4Schools, Corporate Arts Program, and CSMA’s Tateuchi Hall. Combined these programs serve over 15,000 students per year.

In addition to her work in community arts programs, Carrie taught musicianship at the San Francisco Conservatory Pre-College and serves as a member of the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) College of Examiners. She also serves as an RCM U.S. representative, guiding teachers and schools in the RCM curriculum as well as giving presentations throughout the U.S.

As a horn player, Carrie has played with many of the Bay Area’s regional orchestras and theaters; including Oakland Symphony, Monterey Symphony, West Bay Opera, and Broadway by the Bay.

This is what our Yurt will look like, in case you were wondering.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you in class!