VINCE FARIS

Piano, Guitar, Percussion, Improvisation, Jazz Styles, Theory

Master Level Teacher

Vince Faris started playing music at age 15, on a piano that came into the household after his mother remarried. Vince was fascinated with the instrument, and soon immersed himself in music. He always had an interest in popular music and jazz, and taught himself to play the guitar from the music theory he learned at his piano lessons. While still in high school, Vince served as musical director for a short-lived cable access show in Green Bay.

Vince attended UW-Stevens Point and majored in Music, where he studied theory and composition with acclaimed composer Charles Rochester Young. He also played and toured with the UWSP Jazz Ensemble, earning money on the side as a 'cocktail' pianist. Vince met Chris Collins while at UWSP, and the two worked together in the Computer Music Center (or CMC), an innovative lab where students used software to augment their traditional music education.

Vince began teaching piano for the Conservatory for Creative Expression, and informally taught guitar lessons from his home while continuing to pursue his interest in popular music writing. Vince graduated from UWSP with high honors in 2000 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a piano emphasis.

Inspired by his work in the CMC, Vince moved to Madison in 2000 to study Recording and Music Technology at the Madison Media Institute. He graduated from the program in 2001, then moved to Fort Wayne, IN where he worked in sales and tech support for Sweetwater, an industry leader in music technology retail.

While in Fort Wayne, Vince continued to play and write music for a wide variety of styles, ranging from contemporary Christian music to disco to celtic rock to jazz fusion. He moved back to Madison at the end of 2004, and currently writes and plays keyboards for the Madison 'Prog-Jam' band Space Camp (www.spacecampband.com).


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