PRIVATE LESSON FACULTY: GUITAR

ERIC ULREICH (guitar, bass) has been teaching guitar for 40 years, including since 2016 at Music Spectrum School. His performing and teaching experience has made Eric one of the most sought-after contemporary guitar instructors in the Washington D.C. Metro area.  With his attention to detail and depth of knowledge of all styles of playing Eric has prepared students for auditions, performances, competitions, and assessments.  He has sent students to some of the major universities and colleges for music study as well as helped them achieve goals on stage. Even so, Eric also is at ease teaching beginning students, adults, and recreational players.  Eric’s teaching philosophy is cultivating interest first. Then, adding aspects of fundamental musicianship skills. Eric teaches all levels and styles of guitar, including contemporary, jazz, rhythm and blues, and classical. He is also a registered Suzuki Guitar Instructor with the Suzuki Associations of the Americas. In addition to teaching guitar, he also teaches electric bass, song writing, theory, and rock band.  He has been on the faculty at the Levine School of Music in DC for the past 20 years. In addition to teaching, Eric is an active performer.  He has headlined at Blues Alley, and performed on stage with legendary artists including Glenn Leonard’s Temptations, Charlie Thomas and the Drifters, The Coasters and The Marvelettes, among others.  He currently performs with the Baltimore-based Junkyard Saints as well as his own band The Eric Ulreich Trio.

Mr. Ulreich teaches on Mondays

Senior Teaching Artist rate:

(instructors with advanced degrees

and/or extensive teaching experience)

$56/30-minutes; $81/45-minutes; $104/hour

SANJAY MISHRA (guitar/composer) is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. The author of Guitar Atlas India, an instruction book commissioned by Alfred Publishing, he plays with an "eclecticism well suited to his multicultural background" (The Denver Post). He composes music that combines Eastern and Western influences. In an interview with The Washington Post, he explained, "I come from a tradition that has a lot of improvisation. Sometimes Western classical music can seem a little rigid, I had to find some middle ground."

Mr. Mishra first came to public acclaim for his album Blue Incantation with guitarist Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead. It is one of Mr. Garcia's rare collaborations in his later years and represents some of his last works.

Mr. Mishra's CDs include Chateau Benares, with guest appearances by musicians from India and the US, including DJ Logic and Keller Williams, Rescue, on which he is backed up by drummer Dennis Chambers (Santana) and tabla Player Samir Chatterjee among others.

He has also composed music for films. His score for the French film Port Djema received the "Lifetime Vision Award" at The Hamptons International Film Festival in New York (Stephen Speilberg-chair). The film was awarded The Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Mr. Mishra primarily records on Akar Music, distributed by City Hall Records, San Rafael, CA. His music has also been released on PolyGram, Philips, Mercury, EMI (India) Ryko, Putumayo, Melodia, and other labels.

Mr. Mishra teaches on Wednesdays

Senior Teaching Artist rate:

(instructors with advanced degrees

and/or extensive teaching experience)

$56/30-minutes; $81/45-minutes; $104/hour

JOSHUA RENNE-BROWN (guitar) obtained his Bachelor of Music Education from George Mason University. He has been teaching guitar in the Herndon area since 2004 including holding the distinction of being Music Spectrum's first guitar teacher in 2013. He taught general music in the Fairfax County Public School system for 10 years, and at both Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church and Temple Olam Tikvah in Fairfax. Additionally, he has worked as a song leader, a choir director, and performed in various ensembles from rock to classical. At GMU Mr. Renne studied Guitar under Professor Larry Snitzler and voice under Professor Debbie Wenner, played in the George Mason University Guitar Ensemble, and sung with the University Singers and University Chorale. In his on-stage work he played the role of Bill Sykes in scenes from Lionel Bart's Oliver!, the role of Bartolo in scenes from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and the part of Sir Joseph Porter K.C.B. in Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. 

Mr. Renne grew up in Northern Virginia, started at H.K. Lee Academy of TaeKwonDo as a child in 1993 and is currently a third degree black belt. In his free time he likes to play board and tabletop games, and spend time in nature and with his family. 

Mr. Renne-Brown teaches on 

Tuesdays and Thursdays

Private Lesson rate:

$51/30-minutes; $74/45-minutes; $94/hour