Crystal Buck-Riese, Piano, Voice - Crystal began singing publicly through her church in Kansas City at the age of 5.  After beginning private voice and piano lessons while in high school with Terri Harris, Crystal quickly found her love of opera and classical voice. Crystal attended the University of Missouri in Kansas City Conservatory of Music for a semester before transferring to Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana studying voice with Dr. Laurel Thomas and piano with Dr. Jeffrey Jacob and graduated magna cum laude receiving honors on her senior music comprehensive presentation of Guillaume de Machaut and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and double minor in piano and modern languages.

Crystal's awards and honors include 1 ratings at state solo competitions, four year member of the Kansas district, regional, and state honor choirs, third place at the Indiana NATS in 2006, two year Saint Mary's College choir board president, founder and president of the Saint Mary's College Modern Language Recital Series, founder and vice president of the Saint Mary's College Music Club, and her participation with the Rome Festival Opera in 2007 where she performed the role of Barbarina. Crystal has performed various roles include Soir Angelica from Soir Anglica, Miss Sweetsong from Impressario, Christine from Phantom of the Opera, and an understudy for Leonora at the world premier of the opera Witness.  Crystal has worked with various conductors including Dr. Nancy Menk, Maestro Fitz Maraffi, Dr. Eef Eily, Maestro Tsung Yeh, and Dr. Carol Neiss.  Crystal is currently studying voice with Dr. Valerie Errante and in addition to teaching at Farley's sings with the Madison Opera and the Four Seasons Theatre. 

Katie Butitta, Piano, Voice - Katie Butitta hails originally from Neenah, Wisconsin where as a child she sang in numerous church choirs and community concerts with her family. In addition to voice, she began playing the piano at age eight and also cello at the age of ten. Lessons on both instruments continued until the beginning of college, when singing became her primary focus.

She spent her first year of college at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, then transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to finish her bachelor's degree in vocal performance while studying voice with Dr. Sarah Meredith. In 2003, Katie was among the first UWGB students to travel to Florence, Italy and perform in a concert organized by the Del Bianco Foundation, whose mission is to encourage the mutual exchange of knowledge between young students of the arts.

Also during her time at UWGB, she was chosen as recipient of the Wisconsin Arts Council Scholarship, competed in both the Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition and the Wisconsin NATS Competition, and was chosen to be a soloist three years in a row in the UW-Green Bay Honors Recital. With a minor in arts management, Katie graduated magna cum laude in December of 2004.

In Spring of 2005 she moved to Madison with her husband to begin her graduate studies in music at the University of Wisconsin, studying with Julia Faulkner. During this time, Katie performed in several UW Opera productions such as Le Nozze di Figaro, L'enfant et les sortileges, and Hansel and Gretel. She was also seen in many local productions with Stoughton Opera (Amahl and the Night Visitors, Die Zauberflote, and Little Women), and the Madison Savoyards (Patience, The Sorcerer, and The Mikado).

Since earning her masters degree in 2007, Katie has been seen in the Madison Opera chorus in six of their recent productions and is currently studying with Wendy Rowe. She is delighted to have been cast in Opera for the Young's 2010-11 tour of Pirates of Penzance, which will soon be seen in schools all over the midwest. Though classical has been her focus of late, Katie also loves to perform in both musical theater and jazz styles.

Michael Butkus - Bomier, Piano - Michael has also played guitar, electric bass, saxophone, trombone and keyboard. His academic music background includes private lessons as a child with well-known educator Ruth Schoening, a BM degree in composition from UW-Madison, master classes in jazz improvisation in NYC with Barry Harris and Hal Galper, and graduate work with John Downey at UW-Milwaukee.

Michael performs throughout Southern Wisconsin so look for his groups in entertainment listings, or visit www.michaelbb.info for updates.

Jacey E. Faulkner, Piano - Jacey E. Faulkner began her piano performance studies at the age of four. Throughout her career, Jacey has had the opportunity to perform at notable venues, such as Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Oxford University in England, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Scotland. She was a featured soloist at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah as part of the Temple Square Concert Series. Jacey received yearly scholarships, attending the University of Utah School of Music wherein she received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance in 2003, and then completed her Master of Music in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano in 2005, graduating summa cum laude. While at the University of Utah she was named as the Presser Scholar in 2001, the single highest honor awarded to one music student per academic year. She received recognition not only as the winner of various competitions, but also as a peer review judge of the Gina Bachauer International Artists competition, and piano double on the hit television series, Everwood. She has studied with Steinway Artists, prominent conductors, and Carnegie Hall Artists including Susan Duehlmeier, Leon Fleisher, and Joseph Silverstein.

Jacey began teaching in 2001 at the Preparatory Division of the University of Utah School of Music and joined the faculty at Farley's House of Pianos in 2009. In addition to teaching, Jacey enjoys using music to benefit patients in elderly care facilities as well as hospitals, organizing and performing concerts. She volunteered and co-created the Utah Healing Arts Program, a service organization providing music therapy to patients and their families at prominent hospitals in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Amanda Horn, Piano - Amanda holds a BM in piano performance, an MA in music theory, and an MM in piano performance and pedagogy from the Pennsylvania State University, where she studied piano with Timothy Shafer and held teaching assistantships in class piano, applied piano, and music theory. In 2008, the University of Wisconsin-Madison awarded her a University Fellowship to begin a Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance and pedagogy under the guidance of Jessica Johnson and Christopher Taylor. Recent performance highlights include a 2010 summer recital tour as pianist of Madison-based Duo Mendota and a 2008 solo performance at Carnegie Hall in the annual Adamant Music School showcase recital.

Janet Jones, Piano - Janet has taught piano for 30 years to students of all ages. She studied piano with Dr. Bob L. Bennett and Ena Bronstein at California State University at Fresno where she received a Master of Arts in Music. From Bronstein, student of Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau, she learned the "Arrau Technique", developed and perpetuated by pedagogue, Rafael De Silva. Janet also studied accompanying and chamber music with Tait Sanford Barrows.

She studied piano teaching with Margaret Talcott in 1980 and has taught from that curriculum for the past 30 years. Janet is licensed to teach Musikgarten classes for infants through age five with their parents.

In October, 2009, Janet received her Master of Arts Degree in Education (Curriculum and Instruction). She has written a book, The Pleasure of Piano Teaching: A Curriculum Guide, describing the piano teaching curriculum she learned from Margaret Talcott and Jane LeCount.

Janet also combines storytelling and music to teach music history, theory, and appreciation.