Who We Are | GuitarCurriculum

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Who We Are

Dr. Matthew Hinsley
Executive Director
Bio
 

Dr. Matthew Hinsley was trained as a classical guitarist and vocalist at the Interlochen Arts Academy, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the University of Texas at Austin. Beyond performing and scholarly pursuits, Dr. Hinsley has cultivated two primary professional interests: to enhance the way young classical guitarists are trained in America, and to transform the way arts organizations serve our diverse communities.

As Executive Director of Austin Classical Guitar, Dr. Hinsley has raised well beyond $1,500,000 in support of broad concert, outreach and educational programming. He was a lead author in the ACG's curriculum that serves thousands of young students throughout North America, and founded the ACG performance outreach program.

Dr. Hinsley's private studio has produced students who have three-times advanced to the final round of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International youth competition, including the winner in 2006, and who have appeared in the finals of, or won, many other national and international youth competitions. Dr. Hinsley's primary classical guitar instructors were Stephen Aron and Adam Holzman.

In 2008 his increasingly popular book, Classical Guitar for Young People, was published by EnvisionArts. He recently published his second book Creativity to Community: Arts Nonprofit Success One Coffee at a Time.

Travis Marcum
Director of Education and Outreach
Bio
 

Recognized as one of the premier classroom educators for the classical guitar, Travis Marcum has been teaching middle and high school students across Texas since 2005. As the Education and Outreach Director for Austin Classical Guitar, Travis works with over 900 guitar students in 16 schools across central Texas. In 2008, he co-authored the first intensive classroom, classical guitar curriculum now published online at GuitarCurriculum.com. The curriculum is currently being utilized in school districts across twenty US states and four countries.

As a guitarist, Travis studied with Professor Adam Holzman at The University of Texas at Austin. He has performed across the United States and has placed in regional and international solo guitar competitions. Travis received his bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Texas at Austin. He studied orchestral and band pedagogy with the intention of bringing these proven traditions of music teaching to the guitar classroom.

As a classroom guitar teacher, Travis has directed some of the most accomplished ensembles in the nation including the Guitar Foundation of America’s “Featured Youth Ensemble” at the 2008 convention in San Francisco. He also directed the McCallum Fine Arts Academy Chamber Guitar Ensemble from 2006-2008 during which time the group won the UT Brownsville National Guitar Ensemble Competition each of the three years.

Travis is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Music and Human Learning at UT Austin with a research focus on the benefits of music education for at-risk and detained youth.

Jeremy Osborne
Assistant Director of Education
Bio
 

Jeremy Osborne has been teaching classical guitar in middle and high school classrooms of central Texas since 2008. As the Assistant Director of Education and Outreach for Austin Classical Guitar, he works with nearly 900 students in 16 programs throughout the Austin Area. Jeremy has directed many nationally recognized guitar programs, and has led them to multiple first place wins at the UT Brownsville National Guitar Ensemble Competition. Jeremy worked to organize and prepare students for the first ever pre-college ‘Youth Festival’ which was a component of the 2010 Guitar Foundation of America Festival and Competition. He assists in developing the internationally utilized GuitarCurriculum.com; which is the first online intensive classroom classical guitar curriculum.

Jeremy holds a Masters in Classical Guitar Performance from the University of Texas at Austin as well as a Bachelor in Strings Performance from Columbus State University. He is a two-time winner of the Georgia Music Teachers Association Competition, a performer in the Festival della Chitarra in Cervo Italy and has competed in several other prestigious guitar competitions.

Prior to his work with the guitar society, Jeremy was a founding faculty member of the Little 5 Points Community Music Center in Atlanta, GA; where he developed music education and outreach for at-risk inner city youth. He is a strong advocate for guitar education in the public schools, and believes it to be a viable frontier not solely for the guitar, but music education in general.