Background, professional training and performance history
When music first became a part of Corwin’s life, it took the form of a guitar. Since then the guitar, the double bass, the 5-string banjo, and the ukulele have all been instruments in which that music has found a home.
Corwin earned a B.A. in Music from Portland State University in Double Bass. He has performed and recorded on this instrument with northwest folk groups The Bad Mitten Orchestre, Tara Stonecipher, and Misty Flowers, as well as in pit orchestras with the Northwest Theater Group, and the Portland State Symphony. On the 5-string banjo Corwin has performed
in pit orchestras with the Oregon Festival of American Music, as well as regional bluegrass and country music groups. On the guitar he has performed in pit orchestras with the Oregon Festival of American Music as well as several regional ragtime, country blues, and oldtime music groups. In Portland, he was a founding member of the ukulele-punk-rock-cover-orchestra
Toucan Sam and the Fruitloops.
Corwin taught at the Shedd Institute from 2004 to 2009, then at Ethos Community Music Center and the Sound Roots School of Music in Portland from 2009 to 2011, maintained a private studio at Old Town Music in Portland from 2011 to 2012, and maintained a private studio in Bellingham, WA from 2012 to 2013.
Artist statement and teaching philosophy
“I live for the opportunity to help make music a part of people’s daily lives. I believe that anyone regardless of age or experience is capable of having fun making music, and that the process of learning an instrument can be easy. In lessons, I teach the importance of playing by ear and memorization in learning tunes as well as a firm foundation of standardized notation. Within this framework, having fun and teaching tunes that excite the learner are my foremost goals. I work with people of all ages and ability levels.”
Instruments & classes taught
Corwin teaches 5-string banjo, acoustic guitar, double bass, and ukulele.