Faculty

Centrum Faculty

This skilled creative collective could wrap their arms around the globe. Much respect, big hugs.

Photo of Rex Kinney

Rex Kinney

STG Associate Director of Education

Rex Kinney (he/him) is the Associate Director of Education overseeing education initiatives and productions at Seattle Theatre Group. He is a dance educator, producer, choreographer and teaching artist. His goals are to be able to highlight the vibrant stories of our artists and provide a space that all learners can discover an environment that is surrounded by community, imagination and creativity.…

Photo of Valerie Kirchhoff

Valerie Kirchhoff

Voice

Valerie Kirchhoff (aka “Miss Jubilee”) is a vocalist and bandleader born and raised in St. Louis. Valerie grew up singing in church and school choirs, and discovered a passion for early jazz and blues while in her teens. She formed her first band in 2007 and has been a staple of the St. Louis music scene ever since.…

Photo of Caleb Klauder

Caleb Klauder

Faculty

Raised on Orcas Island, WA, then on to college and the 30 years to follow in Oregon, and then back to Washington again, Caleb is a true north-westerner. Yet
his maternal family roots lay in East Tennessee. These deep family roots contribute to his music through old memories, bringing you the strong singing and spirited attitude that gives his music a cutting and sweet edge. Caleb has written many songs, some that are performed by others and some that are becoming standards at jam sessions in the bluegrass scenes across the US, Canada, and in Europe.

Photo of Wolfram Koessel

Wolfram Koessel

Cello, American String Quartet

Since his Carnegie Hall debut in 1994, Wolfram Koes­sel (cello) has performed as a cham­ber musician, recitalist and soloist through­out the world. The Strad praised his “ex­cep­tion­al­ly attractive cello playing.” As a soloist he has per­formed con­certos through­out the United States as well as with Japan’s Osaka Symphony Orchestra and or­ches­tras in Ger­many and South America.…

Photo of Victoria Kolasinski

Victoria Kolasinski

Victoria “Viggy” Kolasinski is a fingerstyle ukulele player/teacher born and raised on Long Island, New York. Under the username @jiggywithviggy, Viggy makes fun and kinetic ukulele tutorials on her social media pages and has grown a cumulative audience of over 300k followers! She’s been playing the uke for 10 years and teaching private lessons, workshops, live shows, and online for four of those years, bringing with her a youthful energy and her silly stage presence.…

Photo of Steve Kovalcheck

Steve Kovalcheck

Faculty

Guitar

Guitarist/composer/educator Steve Kovalcheck has a diverse musical background. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Kovalcheck grew up in a rich musical environment. While his roots are in hard rock, he became interested in jazz in his late teens, and has gone on to work with well known artists including Jeff Hamilton, Joey DeFrancesco, Terrell Stafford, Grammy Award winner Howard Levy, Jeff Coffin, Pat Bianchi, Lewis Nash, Danny Gottlieb, Adam Nussbaum, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, and Ingrid Jensen, to name a few.…

Photo of Tom Krueger

Tom Krueger

New York
Social dance (with Caitlin Romtvedt)

Tom Krueger (aka TK) is a filmmaker and fiddler living in New York’s Hudson Valley. Currently the executive director of Tempo Kingston Performing Arts Center. His love for all styles of music and dance runs deep, evident by the fact that he’s often one of the last stragglers out on the dance floor.

Photo of Abe Lagrimas Jr.

Abe Lagrimas, Jr.

Past Faculty

Abe Lagrimas, Jr. is a musician, composer, educator, and author who plays the drums, vibraphone, ukulele, and studied at Berklee College of Music. He competed in the highly prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Drums Competition and has worked with many different artists such as Eric Marienthal, Eric Reed, Kamasi Washington, Katisse Buckingham, Lalo Schifrin, Barbara Morrison, Michelle Coltrane, Jake Shimabukuro, Kenny Endo, and continues to be an in-demand session musician.…

Photo of Stephanie Land

Stephanie Land

Afternoon Workshop Faculty

Stephanie Land is the New York Times bestselling author of “MAID: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive,” called “a testimony…worth listening to,” by the New York Times and inspiration for the Netflix series “Maid,” and its sequel “CLASS: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education.” Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and many other outlets.…

Photo of Susan Landgraf

Susan Landgraf

Afternoon Workshop Faculty

Susan Landgraf is a poet and journalist. She has published more than 400 poems, essays, and articles in numerous journals and magazines. Most recently her poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, Nimrod, Calyx, The Bellingham Review, Literary Mama, Kestrel, Margie, and The Sow’s Ear. She is the author of What We Bury Changes the Ground (Tebot Bach, 2017) as well as The Inspired Poet (Two Sylvias Press, 2019), a book of writing exercises.…