Instructor: Joanne Graf

Joanne Graf came to music through her love of singing, from junior choir in church to semi-professional groups around Louisville. She has a bachelor's degree in music education, with a concentration in piano and a minor in voice, from Northwestern University. She also has a master's of music from Northwestern. Her first teaching job was as a general music instructor in Chicago for high school students with mental and physical disabilities. She taught choral and general music in public middle and high schools around Louisville. She also taught private piano lessons for ten years. 

Joanne started playing classical violin when her son began Suzuki lessons and continued for ten years. She fell in love with folk music in 1998 as a contra dancer. She is a Louisville Folk School charter student and has been in countless fiddle classes. She loves the welcoming community surrounding the Folk School and is excited to help students train their ears. As a teacher, her primary goal is to give people a positive experience with music: to help students not only make their own music but also to make music their own.