Faculty

Important Information
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REGISTER NOW FOR PRIVATE LESSONS AND SUMMER 2026 CLASSES!

Online education also available.

- To inquire about Classes or Lessons, go to the Contact Us tab, ad fill out either the Student or Adult Musician form. Note: both section's Submit button is specific to that section.

- Summer classes: Performance Combo, Jazz Theory and Jazz Instrumental Techniques classes begin the week of June 1.

- Private lessons can begin at any time, upon confirmation of instructor availability.

- Classes and private lessons are available year-round in all instruments.

- Vocal lessons are available in all styles.

- Scholarships awarded for students taking two or more classes or a combination of private lessons and classes.

Contact Us!

- All classes and lessons are held late afternoon and evening and meet once per week.

- Convenient location just off I-235, 8th Street
exit in West Des Moines.

SUSIE MIGET - Founder; Jazz Theory and Improvisation, Bass, Piano, Guitar, Trombone, and Voice

Susie Miget is a bassist, pianist, vocalist, guitarist, trombonist, composer, arranger and an expert in jazz theory and improvisation. Her education began early as both of her parents are jazz musicians, arrangers and music educators. She studied at Fontbonne College, Eddie Brauer Studios and Mel Bay Studios in St. Louis. She majored in trombone and voice at Murry State University, and bass and composition at Drake University.

Susie began performing at age six with her sisters, also musicians, in the St. Louis area for numerous television, radio and concert appearances. She has performed with many jazz greats over the years and also led many successful jazz groups of her own. She is highly respected as a musician, educator and composer and continues to perform regularly. Susie has received many awards as a musician, composer and educator over the years including the 2014 Jazz Educators of Iowa Hall of Fame Award, the CJC Jazz Hall of Fame induction - musician and educator in 2009 and several National Association of Jazz Educator performance awards.

Susie began her private studio teaching in 1974. She has taught as Director of Jazz Studies at Central College and jazz bass instructor at Simpson, Southwest Community and William Penn Colleges. She has taught as a clinician at many colleges, high schools, junior high schools and summer jazz camps and adjudicated many jazz competitions.

In 1995 Susie founded Creative Music Studio. Susie is proud of the history of great jazz and jazz education in Iowa, in both the professional world of jazz performance and the exceptional jazz programs in our junior high and high schools. She has enjoyed working with the many great jazz musicians and jazz band directors over the years to expand the knowledge of this great art form. Many of her students have been accepted into prestigious college jazz programs and become nationally known jazz artists.

Susie is dedicated to truly helping students to become individual artists. She believes in the combination of technique, theory, a good overview of jazz through listening, and most of all, the development of your own, individual, artistic expression. Susie also very much enjoys sharing and perpetuating the art of jazz through teaching our young musicians.

DAVE REZEK - Director; Trumpet, Jazz Theory & Improvisation, Jazz Techniques, Performance Combos

Dave Rezek, a Des Moines native, received his Bachelor of Music Education degree with a jazz specialization from the University of Northern Iowa and his Master of Music degree in Jazz Trumpet Performance from New England Conservatory in Boston.

Dave has worked as a professional musician throughout the Midwest, New England and New York City. When living and working in NYC, he played with many jazz greats in both innovative large and small jazz groups, including the Grammy-nominated big band "Darcy James Argue's Secret Society". He also played in pit orchestras for many Broadway shows, which included a highlight onstage performance at the 2006 Tony Awards show with the cast of Jersey Boys, which took home the award for Best Musical.

He leads his own original music septet, Dave Rezek's Alpha State Agents, was the Artistic Director and bandleader of the Des Moines Big Band from 2016-2025, and he also performs as a member of several of Iowa's top jazz ensembles including the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra, the Paul Lichty Jazz Orchestra, and the Brian Martin Big Band. He has performed in shows at The Des Moines Playhouse and the Civic Center. His experiences have covered all styles from jazz to salsa, Broadway musicals, fusion, R&B, and classical. Dave has taught for many years and is a much sought-after musician, educator, clinician, festival adjudicator and arranger. Additionally, he was the director of Roosevelt High School's Jazz Orchestra for several years, was on faculty at the University of Northern Iowa's Summer Jazz Combo Camp from 2022-2025, and he was inducted into the Community Jazz Center Hall of Fame in 2023.

As a private teacher, Dave has helped numerous high school students get accepted into the Iowa All-State Band, Orchestra and Jazz Band, as well as their respective District or University Honor Bands, with his unique spring/summer audition preparation system; he has helped many college-bound students successfully audition and get accepted to their desired degree programs and/or ensembles at top colleges and universities; and he has coached college graduates and adults with preparation towards their goals, from auditioning for membership into community ensembles and/or improving their overall trumpet and jazz improvisation technique.

Dave believes that the biggest rewards in music are freedom of expression, emotional and community connection, heightened creativity, self-confidence, inspiration and enlightenment. Dave helps students on their trumpet journey first by arming them with a better understanding of the physical components to playing trumpet and various techniques that can make trumpet playing much more efficient, and therefore easier and more fun! It is through the student's commitment to daily practice of material that addresses flexibility, technical facility, airflow, tone production, musicality -- and especially when combined with music theory, active listening of recordings, and absorbing the improvisational and performance styles of the jazz & classical greats -- that they will experience the confidence, joy, success and kinship that will lead them to those rewards.

PAUL LICHTY - Trombone

Paul Lichty has become one of Des Moines’ most prolific freelance musicians and composers since moving there in 2020. Now the bandleader of the Paul Lichty Jazz Orchestra (PLJO), music director/trombonist for BYOBrass, and trombonist for the 515 Brass Collective, Paul balances these duties with performing and arranging for a wide array of professional ensembles across Iowa while also working as a middle school band director at Winterset Junior High School. PLJO’s first album, “Dark Soul”, was released in 2021 and can be found on all streaming platforms, BandCamp, as well as Paul’s website.  BYOBrass' newest album, scheduled to be released in 2025, will feature several of his newest arrangements and compositions. In 2024, Paul was recipient of the CJC Des Moines Hall of Fame "Next Generation" award which recognizes an up-and-coming musician who has made an impact on the music scene in Des Moines.

Paul's private lesson instruction focuses on helping students obtain the fundamental, technical, theoretical, and aural skills and their application to improvisation, jazz repertoire, and transcription, with the ultimate goal being to nurture their development of their own voice as a creative musician.

More information can be found at his website: paullichtymusic.com.

TYLER UTTER - Saxophone

Tyler Utter is a professional jazz saxophonist based in the Des Moines area. Originally from Clive, Iowa, Tyler attended the University of Northern Iowa where he studied under Christopher Merz and Michael Conrad. While there, he was a member of the band “Bad News,” which released an album in 2021 entitled, “We Get That a Lot.” In addition, he was a member of UNI Jazz One and toured with the band in South Africa during the spring of 2023.

Since moving back to Des Moines, Tyler has made a name for himself in the local music scene. He's worked with musicians such as Max Wellman, Napoleon Douglas, Paul Lichty, The Des Moines Big Band, and has been forming his own groups, playing many of his original compositions. He's also a core member of “BYOBrass,” a high energy brass band that has toured across the Midwest. After joining the group in 2024, he was featured on the band's second album, “Breathe.”

Tyler's teaching style is all about adaptability. He believes in being receptive to students' goals and helping to achieve them. Whether it be technique, sound production, jazz improv, or theory, he's willing to tailor the lessons to what students are passionate about. All in service of growing that passion into real practical skills the students can use to share their voice with the world. And above all else he believes that music should be fun!

SETH REZEK - Drums, Beginning Piano

Seth Rezek is a percussionist, drummer, educator, and creative musician based between Iowa City and Des Moines. Born in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City and raised in a deeply musical family; his mother Lori Rezek, a classical clarinetist turned French teacher, and his father, trumpeter Dave Rezek, who was playing in big bands and Broadway shows throughout Seth’s infancy, helped to foster an immersive musical and cultural environment from an early age. Currently pursuing a degree in Jazz Studies Percussion Performance at the University of Iowa, Seth has become an active presence within Iowa’s evolving music scene through his work across jazz, hip-hop, musical theater, experimental music, and contemporary performance. Through the University of Iowa jazz program, he has had opportunities to perform alongside internationally recognized artists including Camille Thurman and Stefon Harris, Marion Hayden, and more.

A previous student of Creative Music Studio throughout his middle and high school years, Seth studied jazz theory, improvisation, and combo performance under Iowa Jazz legend Susie Miget. Those experiences helped shape not only his musicianship, but also his belief that music education should encourage curiosity, individuality, deep listening, and creative confidence alongside technical development.

As a performer, Seth appears regularly at venues including Noce Jazz Cabaret, Hoyt Sherman Place, XBK Live, and The James Theater, among others, sharing the stage with established artists like Blake Shaw, Anthony Orji, and Carson Parker, to name a few. He currently performs with several original projects, including Jacob Lampman’s Ego Death, an Iowa-based ensemble blending folk, jazz, improvisation, and alternative influences. Ego Death is set to record their newest EP in the end of June, at Golden Bear Studios in Des Moines. Seth is also an active collaborator with Iowa City hip-hop artist TheZeffster, contributing live drums and percussion within performances that combine hip-hop, live instrumentation, improvisation, and electronic textures. Alongside these projects, Seth leads his own ensembles and collaborates frequently with jazz musicians, spoken word artists, theater productions, and singer-songwriters throughout the Midwest.

Seth’s most notable Iowa musical theater credits include 2023 Tony Winner for Best Orchestration “Some Like It Hot”, the Celtic musical stylings of “Come From Away”, and the infamous “Singin’ in the Rain”. During his time at the NYU Broadway Percussion Seminar in 2023, he studied with acclaimed Broadway drummers Sean McDaniel and Ben Perowsky. His background also includes classical percussion training with Dan Krumm and Aaron Williams (Des Moines Symphony Principle Percussionist), a summer on national tour with River City Rhythm (an open class drum corps based in Minnesota), and extensive study with respected performers and educators like John Kizilarmut, Dr. Michael D’Angelo, Curtis Taylor, Dr. William Menefield, and Dr. Damani Phillips.

As an educator, Seth emphasizes creativity, adaptability, improvisation, and developing an intentional and genuine artistic voice. Drawing from his experiences within both traditional and emerging musical spaces, he encourages students not only to become stronger musicians, but more thoughtful, imaginative, and self-aware artists.

To learn more about Seth, look out for his upcoming release of his website, coming in June of 2026, or reach him via email- [email protected]

CHRIS WALSH - Bass

Bassist Chris Walsh is originally from St Louis, MO and attended Drake University, playing in Drake Jazz One, jazz combos, and gigging around the Des Moines area. He joined the NOLA Jazz Band as it’s primary bassist in 2017 and appears on their 2020 album "Live with Evan Christopher." Chris also plays regularly with local singer Lauren Vilmain.

Chris's teaching is grounded in building a strong foundation of musical vocabulary through listening, transcribing, and analyzing the work of master musicians. He believes in pairing an understanding of the jazz tradition with pursuing what inspires each individual student, helping them develop their unique musical voice. Chris has worked with a wide variety of student experiences, teaching those just beginning their studies as well as those preparing for collegiate and gigging opportunities.