Music Jamboree

One-half of the popular acoustic blues and good-time folk music duo Fox and Branch, Will Branch is a registered Music Together^® ® teacher whose work has brought children and music together for the past 10 years.

Will is the music teacher at New World Montessori School in Brown Deer, Wisconsin and has made his living from music for most of the past 15 years.

He has toured extensively throughout the Midwest with several groups, playing guitar, singing and writing songs for John the Conqueroo, a modern-day jug band, his own group, The Will Branch Trio, and now as part of Fox and Branch with local musician Dave Fox. http://foxandbranch.com/.

The Shepherd Express has called the Fox and Branch show “some of the best porch music this city has to offer…smart and unpretentious.” The duo has produced three recordings, two of them for children, and plays extensively throughout the region at folk festivals, libraries, coffee shops and clubs.

John is a board-certified music therapist, registered Music Together® teacher and he heads up the Expressive Arts Therapies for children and adults with special needs at the Milwaukee Center For Independence.

Spend just a few minutes with John, and it’s clear he has “a passion for bringing communities together through music.” In Music Jamboree’s Music Together® classes, he helps parents bond with their children through singing, playing simple instruments and movement.

“I love to sing and play with the children and to watch their development – and there’s the joy of seeing their parents as they experience their children growing together in harmony,” John says.

John earned his music therapy degree at Western Michigan University. He plays piano and guitar and is a trained vocalist, and loves to perform in local musicals and operas. He has also enjoyed singing with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus.

Sherry Hartman brings her enthusiasm about both music and children to the Music Jamboree Music Together® classroom. And sometimes, she brings along her own children, Sam and Kayla, to share in the fun.

She is a certified music therapist and registered Music Together® teacher, with a background in working with children and adults with developmental disabilities at the Milwaukee Center For Independence.

Sherry holds a bachelor’s equivalency degree in music therapy from Indiana Purdue University Ft. Wayne. She completed her internship at the nonprofit Arts and Services for the Disabled in Long Beach, California.

Sherry has developed intergenerational programs to bring older adults and children together through musical activities.
She plays guitar and saxophone, and has played with community and concert bands, as well as a “big band” in Indiana and Florida.

Nick Scholz is a board-certified music therapist and registered Music Together® teacher, focusing on practice across the spectrum of disabilities at the Milwaukee Center for Independence.

At the Milwaukee Center for Independence, he also works in the School for Early Development and Achievement, Older Adult Day Center, and with several contracted consumers.

Nick earned a bachelor's degree in music therapy and minor in studio art from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and master's degree in Guitar Performance from the University of Wisconsin.