Meet Our Pro Staff

An Oshkosh WI native, Andrew is currently teaching in an active violin studio in the Fox Valley while also directing Rock Infused Orchestra and actively performing with "Symphony on the Rocks" and "Arlington String Quartet".  Andrew taught Orchestra at all levels for Menasha School District.  Andrew has played violin for the Oshkosh Symphony, Fond du Lac Chamber Orchestra, the Lawrence University Orchestra (Appleton WI) and the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra. Andrew also played in Barritz, France  with jazz violinist Randy Sabien and Brisbain, Australia in the International Workshops Orchestra. Andrew has held positions as Orchestra Stage Manager and Librarian for the Oshkosh Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Oshkosh Symphony and the UW-Oshkosh Symphony.  Andrew has studied violin with Klara Fenyo Bahcall (Oshkosh WI), Ferenc Fenyo (Budapest, Hungary), Stephan Tran Ngoc (Paris, France) and Anton Miller (New York). Andrew has appeared on and under stages in musical theater productions throughout Northeast Wisconsin. You  may see Andrew judging music festivals for the Wisconsin State Music Assoc. or performing with a number of different groups offering music from classical to jazz and rock 'n roll.

Originally from Alberta Canada, Phil Smyth has distinguished himself in the music scene in Wisconsin as a versatile guitarist, violinist, and educator.    His performance credits include; 3 summers as guitarist with the Milwaukee based show, KIDS from Wisconsin, Concertmaster of the UWSP symphony orchestra, 2011 UWSP concerto competition winner, member of award winning Wisconsin based country bands Tuscan Road, Grand Union, and Raised Reckless,  and guitar player and fiddler in the popular world beat Canadian fiddle band Barrage. With Barrage, Phil has played in venues all over the world and worked with thousands of middle school and high school students along the way during their educational events.    Phil currently resides in Neenah with his wife Jenny and daughters Hannah and Elaina. He is the orchestra director for the Neenah School District during the week and Grand Union bands resident auxiliary instrumentalist on the weekend.

Betsy Jacobson-Holtz  earned her Bachelor’s Degree in 1992 from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, in Instrumental Music Education and her Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in 2000. She has been teaching private violin, viola, and cello lessons for over 20  years.  Mrs. Holtz developed her love for  music at a young age, beginning Suzuki violin studies at the tender age of four as a Suzuki violinist and studied with master teachers including Sarah Hirsch, Mark Bjork, and Cindy Marvin. She has performed with Rob Gonzalez and the Moody Blues. She has performed  worldwide including Germany, Austria, Canada, Hungary, Mexico, Norway, and Finland. From 1992 to 2009, Mrs. Holtz was  thrilled to exercise her passion for music education as an orchestra director for the School District of La Crosse, Wisconsin. She began this tenure teaching elementary and high school orchestra, but spent the final twelve years teaching at the middle school  level.   In Pennsylvania from 2009-2013,  Mrs. Holtz remained active as a musician. She performed with local ensembles such as the East Stroudsburg University Concert Chorale, The Singing Boys of Pennsylvania, and Anthracite Philharmonic. She was a violinist and teacher with Penn Strings and other  ensembles as well as an adjudicator for music festivals.  Although new to the Fox Valley, Mrs. Holtz is happy to be back in Wisconsin and happier yet to be working  with middle school orchestras again. She can be found at Shattuck and Horace Mann Middle Schools, riding her bike, or going out for ice cream with her family.

Cellist Michael Dewhirst holds degrees in music education and cello performance from Ithaca College. He has performed internationally, notably with Orquestra do Norte, a Portuguese touring orchestra. Locally, he serves as Principal Cello in both the Civic Symphony of Green Bay and UWGB Festival Orchestra. He also performs with the Manitowoc and Fox Valley Symphonies. He was a co-founder of the Chicago Miniaturist Ensemble and is a founding member of the miniaturist group a very small consortium, based at UWGB, and the cello/soprano duo "I/You", with Soprano Courtney Sherman. A versatile musician, Dewhirst performs on electric cello weekly with the praise band at Celebration Church, seasonally with Vic Ferrari "Symphony on The Rocks" (a symphonic rock band), and as an itinerant jazz bassist with Gypsy Trip. An active proponent of new music, Dewhirst has performed and premiered works in New York, and across the Midwest, including Ball State University, University of Chicago and St. Paul, MN.   In addition to maintaining a busy private studio, Dewhirst serves as Adjunct Instructor of Cello, and String Techniques at UWGB and as a clinician and low string specialist with UWGB Summer Music Camps, the Green Bay Youth Symphonies, and most recently, Rock Infused Orchestra.

Deanne Carloni grew up in a very musical family. She began playing the violin in third grade and since then her love of music has never stopped growing. Deanne Carloni graduated from UW-Whitewater with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education, a General Music Certificate, and a Minor in Spanish. While at UW-Whitewater she was a recipient of the ASTA Student Exemplary Service Award and the Richard Gaarder Award. 

Deanne has taught Summer Orchestra lessons in Mukwonago and Oshkosh, she has taught K-8th grade General Music in Milwaukee, and is currently teaching middle and elementary school Orchestra (violin, viola, cello, and bass) in the Oshkosh Area School District. Deanne also has an active private studio of violin, viola, cello, and bass students that she has been teaching for five years. She is also a passionate advocate of Arts Integration. This is Deanne’s sixth Summer as a Violin Coach for RIO.

Deanne Carloni has been very active performing in the community through being a member of the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra, Concord Chamber Orchestra, Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, Ripon College Orchestra, and the South Shore Chorale and Orchestra. She has also been a coach for the Oshkosh Youth Symphony Orchestra, and she has played in PIT Orchestras for musicals such as Singin’ in the Rain, Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables, Ragtime, Shrek the Musical, Cinderella, and Into the Woods.

Deanne Carloni is always seeking to learn more and challenge herself to be a better musician and teacher so that she can pass on her knowledge to her students. This is evident through her involvement in the Christian Howes’ Creative Strings Workshop, The Reiner Family’s Fiddle Hell Camp, and Julie Lyon Lieberman’s Strings Without Boundaries Camps, all of which have an extensive emphasis on improvisation, composition, and learning music by ear in the fiddle, jazz, rock, and Klezmer styles. She is passionate about contemporary styles and learning music from around the world. One of her favorite experiences was getting to work with internationally known fiddlers Liz Carroll and Kiana June Weber. When she is not teaching, she loves to play contemporary styles on her violin, compose, read, watch superhero movies, cheer for the Milwaukee Bucks, and she is a competitive ballroom dancer.

Eden, a performer and teacher with over 20 years of combined experience, currently teaches violin across the Fox Cities. In May 2022, Eden returned to her home in Wisconsin, having graduated with her master’s in Violin Studies and Musicology from Houghton University in Western New York. While at Houghton, Eden served as Concertmaster of Houghton Symphony

Orchestra from 2020-2022. Between 2014-2019, Eden lived in South Korea where she taught English and performed with various musicians in concerts across the surrounding area, including a 10 day tour across the Gobi Desert where she and a team of musicians brought music to nomads and isolated communities with limited access to live music.

Between 2011-2014, Eden

served as Assistant Concertmaster of Liberty Symphony Orchestra while studying English and violin performance at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Eden enjoys performing and

teaching a wide variety of musical styles from classical to fiddle, folk, and rock. When not

teaching, recording, or performing, Eden may be found cozied up in a coffee shop with a good book on musicology, at her home studio composing music, or spending an afternoon around a table playing board games with family and friends.

Mr. Wucherer has been with Rio since 2007, first acting as a cello and string bass coach, then later directing the Preamped and Extreme groups. He thoroughly enjoys his summers working with students in RIO!

Mr. Wucherer is currently the Music Director and a founding member of the Central Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra in Stevens Point. He is also part of the orchestra staff for the Howard-Suamico School District. For the past seven years he has taught at Lineville Intermediate School, and recently joined the music department Bay Port High School as Director of the String Orchestras. Prior to his work in Howard-Suamico, Mr. Wucherer taught with the Oshkosh Area School District for ten years as a Middle School Orchestra Director and spent several years as the Coordinator for the Elementary Strings Program. 

Mr. Wucherer attended UW-Oshkosh for his Bachelor's of Music in Cello Performance and went on to attend Butler University in Indianapolis for his Master's of Music. He also holds a Master's of Education from Marian University in Fond du Lac. As a performer Mr. Wucherer has a wide resume over nearly 30 years, performing with many orchestras throughout the state including the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, The Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, and The Water City Chamber Orchestra and others. Mr. Wucherer also spent three years as the Director of the Waupaca Area Orchestra, giving numerous performances at the Gerold Opera House in Weyauwega.

Sarah Koenigs first joined RIO as a violin coach in 2023, and was hooked right away!

Sarah has been teaching violin and viola privately for 20 years, and is Suzuki certified but with a traditional Classical background and bluegrass aspirations.

She holds a degree in violin performance from Lawrence University's Conservatory of Music, and is a member of the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with other area orchestras including Manitowoc Symphony, Weidner Philharmonic, Oshkosh Symphony, Sheboygan Symphony, and was section leader of Green Bay Civic. She has been privileged to share the stage with great performers such as Itzahk Perlman, Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, and Marie Osmond. She has also performed with homegrown talent such as Boogie and the Yo-Yoz, Corey Chisel, Hillary Reynolds, and Mollie B. 

Sarah is currently music librarian for the FVSO Youth Orchestras, and coaches violin sectionals there. She is orchestra director at St. Francis Xavier MIddle School, and on weekends she performs celtic/irish fiddle music with "Sarah & the Hus-Band." Sarah lives near Hortonville with her 3 children, and when not making music loves to read and ride her bike. 

Anna Herrera graduated Summa Cum Laude from her Bachelor’s degree at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, where she also received her Master’s degree in Cello performance under the studio of Dennis Parker. Anna is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.

Other career development certifications she has include Suzuki Teacher Training and CelloBello’s CelloKids Teacher Training Seminar. She has also participated in summer festivals and seminars such as Domaine Forget, the National Summer Cello Institute and Feldenkrais for Musicians, and Eastern Music Festival as a String Orchestral Fellow. Anna is an active member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin.

Anna is currently one of the cello coaches for the Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra and cello teacher at the Neenah District Suzuki program. Besides being a passionate teacher, Anna is also an active musician in the area. She performed with many ensembles in the Baton Rouge area such as Opéra Louisiane, Louisiana Sinfonietta and the New Orleans Opera. She was the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and a member of the cello section of the Baton Rouge Symphony. Back in her hometown, she would also perform with the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra and the Caracas Municipal Orchestra.

Kristine,  general and instrumental music teacher for Lakeview Elementary.  A 2004 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh with a Bachelor's Degree in instrumental  and general music education and 2009 graduate of Concordia University with a Master's Degree in Educational Administration with a principal's license, Kristine has a passion for teaching and learning. 

Growing up in Neenah, Tabatha began playing violin as a seven-year-old. She first joined RIO in the summer of 2011 as a young, eleven-year-old. In high school, Tabatha played in the Oshkosh Youth Symphony and the Neenah High School Orchestra. As a senior in high school, Tabatha joined the alternative string group Touch of Class at Neenah High School, and as a part of the group, she traveled to and performed in several venues throughout China. Since graduating from high school, Tabatha has continued her academic career at the UW-Green Bay where she has participated in the UWGB orchestra. In the summer of 2020, Tabatha participated in a global collaborative string project directed by producer and music director Dean Marshall, playing with and learning from musicians all around the world. Having been a part of RIO for nearly half of her life, Tabatha can’t wait to continue her participation in the coming summers. 

Dr. Steven Schani "the party" received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College - Conservatory of Music and his Doctorat of Musical Arts Degree from University of Kansas City Conservatory of Music. His major instruments are Viola and Violin.

Schani is the life of the party both on and off stage.  His electrifying personality lights up the room.  His off the wall techniques and practices prove to keep things interesting and keep some of us guessing and others asking "why".

Schani-man can be seen performing with the Green Bay Civic Symphony, LaCross, Fox Valley, Manitowoc and Waupaca Symphonies.  In addition to this he performs with Vic Ferrari and Symphony on the Rocks as well as solo engagements across the Mid-West and sometimes in outer galaxies!

Come and learn how to balance your instrument on your head!

Amy Johnson graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Therapy.  Amy has worked in long-term care facilities since 2003 upon completing my internship.  Haveing played piano since third grade, Amy enjoys using this talent in several different ways.  She can be seen behind the keys at two different churches, playing for weddings and funerals, accompany students for Solo/Ensemble, engage the Elders she work for, and of course, rockin' it with RIO!

Lauren Harvath is a rising star in UW Stevens Point's music education program where she studies Instrumental and General music education. Lauren is also a member of the American String Teacher Association and a member of the collegiate National Association for Music Education. Lauren has been with RIO since 2016. As an aspiring orchestra director, Lauren can't wait to work with the students involved with RIO this summer! Some of Lauren's performance experiences include touring China with ensemble Touch of Class, serving as concertmistress for the Oshkosh Youth Symphony, performing with the WSMA state honors orchestra, and performing with the UW Stevens Point symphony orchestra. When she's not playing violin, Lauren enjoys learning new instruments, and slinging lattes as a barista.

Harpist Rochelle “Rockie” Dabel has appeared with numerous ensembles throughout Wisconsin. Starting her studies at the age of eleven, and being self-taught for the first seven years of her career, she was invited to perform with the Wausau Symphonic Band and Orchestra at the young age of sixteen, and has appeared with the Fox Valley Youth Symphony, University of Wisconsin – Fox Valley Band, and countless pit orchestras throughout the region. She is also a freelance harpist, continually performing for weddings, parties, and private events throughout the year.

Originally from Wausau, Wisconsin, Rockie moved to Appleton, Wisconsin in 2010 and received her Associate of Arts and Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – Fox Valley in 2013. She maintains a private teaching studio in the Fox Valley region. Her primary instructors include Nancy Watts, Leila Ramagopal Pertl, and Serena Kamps. 

In her free time, Rockie enjoys spending time with her family and is an avid runner who has completed several marathons and half-marathons throughout the region.