About us

Elena Keil is the founder of Evergreen Conservatory of Music. Her pedagogy, knowledge and experience date back from when she started playing piano at 4 years old, toured with Vesna Children’s Choir across Europe, and her training at Gnessin’s Russian Academy of Music. She holds unparalleled standards for music education and performance, revolutionizing the music culture and development in the community of Evergreen and beyond. Students who have studied with Elena have attended top music programs in the US. Elena is driving towards positioning Evergreen Conservatory as a prominent musical education landmark in the country and the world.

www.ElenaKeil.com

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” --Leonard Bernstein

Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Jenny Thompson is a Zwischenfach (currently mezzo & soprano) vocalist who has been enamored with classical music since she was a little girl. She remembers her first profound musical experience, when a beloved music teacher took her first grade class on a field trip to the Hollywood Bowl to sing onstage. After that, she was inspired for life, forever establishing a great reverence for music educators everywhere and the desire to contribute unifying art to a divided world. 

She began her voice journey with Ms. Ania Balon-Kurpiewski, former singer with the LA Phil and music director at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Tujunga, California, where Jenny was first awestruck by sacred music. In 2015, Jenny then went on to study Opera at the Frost School of Music in Miami, Florida under the outstanding tutelage of Dr. Nobleza Pilar and Ms. Jeanette Thompson, both Fulbright Scholars and barrier-breaking artists. There, Jenny also studied under the notable direction of Alan Johnson, Jeffrey Buchman, Dr. Corin Overland, Dr. Coreen Duffy, Kevin Short, Anita Castiglione, Alberto De La Reguera and Dafnis Prieto. In 2017, Jenny performed in multiple concerts and master classes in Salzburg, Austria during the esteemed Salzburg Festival, markedly for world-renowned soprano Helen Donath. 

In 2018, she sang for Miami's premier jazz radio station, WDNA, as a member of the Frost Latin Jazz Orchestra, a multiple Downbeat award winner that year. While living in Miami, she performed the role of Fraarte from Handel's Radamisto with Miami Music Festival, under the baton & studio of renowned soprano Sandra Lopez-Neill. During the festival, Jenny performed in master classes for Helden tenor Alan Held and vocal pedagogue, Manny Perez. Ms. Thompson also sang under the baton of Michael Rossi for a performance of Act II from Wagner's Lohengrin at the New World Center in Miami Beach, hosted by the Miami Wagner Institute. Upon discovering a love for teaching that same year, Jenny vowed to be a lifelong learner and music educator for decades to come. 

Jenny's next chapter in voice performance and pedagogy serendipitously landed her in the Master's Voice Program at the Lamont School of Music in Denver, Colorado, which she graduated from in March 2022. There, Ms. Thompson zeroed in on her evolving fach (lyric coloratura mezzo/soprano) and staple repertoire in the studio of Catherine Kasch. Jenny has also collaborated with multifaceted pianists Sahar Nouri and Beth Nielsen, notably to perform music by minority composers like Florence Price. Fascinated by the stories of underdog Black American composers like Price, Ms. Thompson has pursued and presented her research on Black American classical composers at various conferences and lecture series, earning her the opportunity to present at the National MLA Meeting in 2021. You may read about "Bias in the Canon: An Exploration into Whitewashing in America's Classical Music and Its Forgotten African-American Past" here:

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/musicology_student/46/

Ms. Thompson actively performs in the area, most recently joining Opera Colorado as a mezzo soprano at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House (May 2022).

Last year, she sang the role of Zweite Dame from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Lamont Opera Theater. In addition to DJing and writing in her "free time," she remains a globally inspired teacher & researcher dedicated to the expansion of musical expression. Inspired by the Colorado music community, Jenny's vision for teaching blends groundbreaking voice science with holistic wellness, which she uses to build confident singers with solid technique, enhanced bodily awareness, artistic expression, freedom of the breath, and most importantly, vocal health. She currently resides in Denver, where she continually strives to bridge her passion of music with her love of service through education, research, and performance. Jenny has been actively teaching various age groups in her private studio throughout the Greater Denver area since moving here in 2019. 

Born and raised in Michigan, Laura Billups began her musical career in the 4th grade elementary school string program.  While attending Michigan State University to obtain a business degree, Laura was active in various orchestras and chamber groups throughout the mid-Michigan area including the Michigan State University Orchestra.  After moving to Chicago in 1991, Laura worked in the business world for 10+ years but also continued to play with various orchestral groups including: The Chicago Classical Symphony and Evanston Symphony Orchestra.  Laura also played for special events throughout the city.  In 1998, Laura was accepted into the Roosevelt University College of Performing Arts Instrumental Music Education Program and graduated with honors in 2001.  After graduation, Laura accepted the Director of Orchestras position at the University of Chicago Laboratory School conducting all 4th - 9th grade orchestras.  2016 was the year that brought the Billups family from Chicago to the great state of Colorado.  Laura began teaching at Evergreen Middle School in 2017 and currently is the director of the Advanced Chamber Orchestra, 6th grade orchestra and 7th/8th grade sectional rehearsals.  Creating a life-long love for music of all kinds is Laura’s true joy and passion.

Riley Merino, hailing from Littleton, Colorado, has music running through his veins. Inspired primarily by his cousin, a music entrepreneur and lecturer, and mother, a career music teacher herself, he began taking guitar lessons at age eight, learning to read sheet music, play chords, and solo. By age 12, Riley developed a fascination with harmony and creating unique-sounding chords, unlocking crucial knowledge of the fretboard by way of bands such as Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, and other alternative rock bands that utilized alternate tunings and rich chord voicings. Around this time he realized that he could learn songs, melodies, and chord progressions using only intuition and critical listening skills. The songs he played became increasingly technical and complex, and Riley was able to sharpen his skills to a professional level. This interest also led him to begin practicing the piano and eventually undertaking the classical impressionist music of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Erik Satie. 

Upon joining his high school jazz band, Riley was exposed to a new area of performing he had previously been unfamiliar with: improvisation. His private lessons taught him more concrete music theory and scales that he would continue to expand upon to become a competent improviser able to weave melodic and harmonic tapestries in the matter of a moment. This proclivity would see him featured on guitar in the Jefferson all-county jazz band in 2016 and 2017, as well as the Colorado All-State jazz band in 2017. 

Riley would go on to study jazz guitar performance at the University of Colorado Denver, with such accomplished Denver musicians as Drew Morrell, Sean McGowan, and Bill Kopper. Currently, he can be found performing all over Denver on the guitar, bass guitar, piano, and banjo, in various bands and ensembles encompassing jazz, R&B, indie rock, punk rock, bluegrass, and folk music. He has taught thousands of hours of private music lessons since 2019 on all manner of string, woodwind, and percussion instruments and maintained rosters of up to thirty students a week. He also had the incredible experience of assisting the beloved West Jefferson Middle School band and orchestra director Laura Sarche during the covid-19 year of 2021 conducting and sitting in with both, while also pulling aside struggling students to help them develop confidence to play their instrument stress-free and without frustration.

In the classroom, a fun and relaxed environment is Riley's number one priority. He believes that lessons should be a safe space for students to explore the beautiful art that they love. He treats music first and foremost as a language, teaching students to value self-expression through music, and to use it to communicate with the world around us. To this end, Riley engages his students in ear-training practices, listening exercises, and makes plenty of time for a good jam session - because there's nothing more musical than sharing an inimitable experience in real time between two friends. 

Clint Dadian is a professional guitarist who specializes in jazz and is fluent in a variety of styles.  He holds a BA in jazz performance from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY.  He has studied guitar with Rodney Jones, Peter Bernstein, Randy Johnston, Mark Elf and Chris Rosenberg as well as piano with Bruce Barth and David Berkman.  He has served on faculty at Long Island University, Greenwich House Music School and the Village Community School in New York City.  In 2009 Mr. Dadian received a Masters Degree in Jazz Composition with an emphasis on Big Band arranging from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  His compositions for big band have been performed in Europe and the U.S. by bands such as the Air Force Academy big band, The Falconaires.Mr. Dadian is comfortable in settings ranging from solo guitar to big band. He has a warm, rich sound and a flowing improvisational style. While in New York City, he led a six-piece ensemble playing original arrangements of jazz standards. Mr. Dadian has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan with artists such as Houston Person, Etta Jones and Bobby Watson. He currently makes his home near Denver, Colorado where he has taught guitar at the Community College of Aurora and directed band and choir at Academy Charter School in Castle Rock. He performs frequently in the many venues throughout Colorado.

After spending over a decade in Los Angeles as a writer, producer and independent artist, Caleb Schwing has acquired experience and skills in almost every facet of creating music. He's now moved back to His hometown Denver to continue spreading music industry knowledge, and to be the resource he wishes he had in the early stages of his career.

Caleb spent the first decade of his life in Evergreen and cannot wait to come full circle and nurture the love for music that Evergreen gave him growing up.

Matt Burchard is a saxophonist, woodwind specialist, and educator located in the Denver Metro area. He holds a Bachelor's in Music Performance from the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music, as well a Master's in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. Matt is an extremely versatile musician, and performs with classical, jazz, pop, funk, musical theatre, and Latin musical groups throughout the Denver area. Some of his performance highlights include the Central City Opera, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Joe Smith and The Spicy Pickles, the Denver Municipal Band, the Diamond Empire Band, The Orchid Room, Groovealicious, and pit orchestras at the Arvada Center, the PACE Center, BDT Stage, the Aurora Fox Theatre, and Vintage Theatre. In 2014, Matt was named one of Denver's "30 under 30" jazz musicians by KUVO Denver. 

As an educator, Matt has worked with students of all skill levels and ages. He works with students to help achieve their own personal goals, as well as teach them fundamentals they will need to play their instrument at a high level. Matt has taught at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music, the Colorado Conservatory of the Jazz Arts, and Maestro Music Institute. From 2016-2019, Matt ran the after school band program at Most Precious Blood Catholic School. When Matt isn't hard at work with music, he enjoys playing board games, watching movies, and cooking. 

Justis Williams began his musical journey at the age of 11. Instantly taking a liking to the trombone he would enter local competitions, play with youth brass quartets, and play at his local church. Justis would further develop his passion for music at the University of North Texas, where he received a Bachelor of Music in trombone performance as a student of Natalie Mannix. While at North Texas he taught private music lessons cultivating young musicians in the surrounding DFW metroplex. He would go on to Study at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music, where he served as a graduate teaching assistant. In 2020 he would receive a Master of Music in trombone performance under the tutelage of Paul Naslund. The following year he would finish his academic journey with a Performance Certificate from the Lamont School of Music as a student of Richard Harris. Justis has performed with the Colorado Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Colorado Chamber Orchestra, and many other orchestras. During the summers he spends his time playing with the Municipal wind band and jazz band throughout the Denver metropolitan area. As a frequent performer with Inside the Orchestra, he brings the love of orchestral music to children in communities all across Denver. To further his dedication to spreading the love of music, he has been teaching brass instruments to students in Colorado since 2019.   

  I was born in Detroit Michigan. 

From an early age, music was part of my life. My mother sang in the church choir, my father was an amateur boogie-woogie pianist and my grandfather owned a funeral parlor where he was also an organist.

My musical beginnings were as a trombonist but drums and percussion were my passion. In 6th grade, my mom bought me a snare drum and I started taking private lessons. I played in concert and marching band in school from 7th grade through high school as well as rock bands playing for school dances.

I moved to Colorado in 1973 and played in many groups touring the west playing night clubs through 1977 at which time I moved back to Michigan for a short period and continued playing mostly in rhythm and blues groups.

In 1978 I moved to California and lived there until 2014. While in California I played on hundreds of tv and radio commercials, artist recordings, songwriting demos even walk-up music for amusement park ride California.

I have toured North America and Canada extensively as well as Europe, Japan, Australia, and Tahiti.

I have appeared on The tonight show with Jay Leno several times as well as The Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, The Academy of country music awards (ACM), The Grammy awards show The Country music awards (CMA), and others.

Prominent artists I’ve played, toured, and recorded for include Dwight Yoakam, Merle Haggard, Lucinda Williams, Jim Messina, Johnny Rivers, Buck Owens, Jefferson Starship, Roger Miller, Kathy Segal, Katie Webster, Eddie “cleanhead “ Vinson, Chuck e Weiss, Ralph Stanley, Tony Furtado, Harold Land... and others.

I’ve played at festivals and venues such as Bonaroo, Coachella, Stagecoach , Montreaux, Roskilde, Glastonbury, Radio city music hall, Pepsi Center, Red Rocks, the Forum, Madison Square Garden, and many others.

Former students are

Mario Calire...CalArts graduate....former Wallflowers, Ozomatli drummer, and active recording drummer in L.A.

Seth Woods...Los Angeles music Academy graduate and University of Miami graduate....drummer for Paul Anka and active educator

Randall Marsh ....drummer for Mudcrutch and Original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Dick Gay....longtime drummer for Clint Black

John Spittle....drummer for Trace Atkins

Tina Curtis ....CalState Long Beach graduate...CalState Northridge masters degree....music educator for Los Angeles unified school district.

Professional equipment endorsements

Tama drums

Zildjian cymbals

Remo drumheads and percussion

Innovative Percussion Drumsticks and Mallets

  Spencer began playing drums at age eight and continued playing in concert bands, marching bands, rock

bands, and jazz bands in and outside of school. He performed his first concert in a band at a local

bar at age twelve. Gradually he gained control of the snare drum by learning rudiments and earned

center snare drum in high school marching band. Early on his favorite drummers to listen to were

rock drummers like John Bonham and Neil Peart, until he heard the album “Time Out” with Joe

Morello on drums, which opened the door to his curiosity for jazz, and later to many other styles. In

2017 he received the Outstanding Senior Award for jazz.

He holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies, from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. As

an educator, he taught private lessons and group ensembles at Music House School of Music in

Kansas City to students of all ages and skill levels. Spencer appears on the albums “Contigo” and

“Modes of Nature” with the Jeff Shirley Trio. In Kansas City, he has performed at notable jazz clubs

including the Green Lady Lounge, The Black Dolphin, The Majestic, Corvino, and The Blue Room.

At the end of 2023, Spencer moved to Evergreen to be closer to family, and to enjoy Colorado. In

Colorado, he has performed at the Denver Botanical Gardens, Snowmass Club Golf Course, Ritz-

Carlton in Avon, St. Julien Hotel in Boulder, and Mile High Stadium. 

Holly Garrity is an actress in the Denver Metro Area who specializes in immersive theatre and early childhood music education. Holly started working as an actress at the age of 9. After graduating High School, she attending the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York City where she was trained in Alexander Technique, Fosse Dance Technique, and Advanced Musical Theatre Theory. She moved to Evergreen Colorado in 2020 and continues to perform in multiple productions a year. Holly has performed in over 40 productions nationwide, including her own two person show in New York at the age of 14. In addition to acting, Holly became a certified Kindermusik Educator and has been sharing her love of music with the children in her classes. She has worked with many institutions including Universal Studios and the Disney Company. 

When I was four years old, I sang before friends and family at a holiday gathering in our home.  I knew then that I wanted to be on stage!  Once seeing Julie Andrews portray Maria in the film “The Sound of Music”, that instinct was totally confirmed.

I attended Emporia State University in Kansas.  Back then, there was no “Musical Theatre” degree, so I started out in opera.  I was fortunate to play the role of Frasquita in “Carmen”, and then my sophomore year that of Marguerite in “Faust”.  But somehow, vocalizing in practice rooms just wasn’t for me.  I switched over to Theatre and enjoyed numerous roles, including that of Laurey in “Oklahoma!”.

I spent the next decade in Colorado, performing in Aspen, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Greeley and Vail.  Once moving to Florida I performed at The Public Theatre of Ft Lauderdale and the Actor’s Playhouse in Miami.  All experience in both states was professional in that I was paid!  I was a member of Actor’s Equity for 25 years, as well.

I am happy to have returned to beautiful Colorado, and look forward to both my time here at the Conservatory, and investigating local theatre groups.