Music instruction: Jon Vriesacker

Jon is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and has worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller. He studied at the Berklee College of Music with Matt Glaser and has a Bachelor of Music degree from UW-Madison. Jon also has significant experience playing jazz, bluegrass and other improvised styles. He has soloed with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and been featured with violin legends Johnny Frigo and Johnny Gimble. Jon has played on promotional materials for Lands' End and Miller Brewing and can be heard on recordings from Willy Porter, Freedy Johnston and Garbage. Jon also played on "Al Otro Lado del Rio" from the movie The Motorcycle Diaries, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2005.

Jon has been a Solo and Ensemble judge and a clinician at schools and string festivals. He also spent a semester teaching string improvisation at Wichita State University. He teaches classical violin, viola, jazz playing and fiddling.