Dr. Penniman (cello, guitar, harp-guitar, electronic music, piano, viola da gamba, theory & composition) has a uniquely diverse musical background. As a performer and music director, he has been involved in many projects over the last 4 decades, across many musical genres, cultures, and time periods; from songs and dances of Medieval Europe performed on period instruments, to the computer music and electronic wizardry of the current era, playing to audiences large and small, in venues of all types. 

Throughout his active performance career, however, teaching has always been the centerpiece of Dr. Penniman’s work. He earned his Doctor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music's Historical Performance Institute, received a Master of Music in Historical Musicology from Florida State University, and a B.A. in Music from Marylhurst University near Portland, Oregon. He taught for ten years at Wells College in Aurora, NY, where he was awarded tenure, has served as Director of the Music Program in the Communication & Fine Arts department at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO, and as adjunct faculty in Music History at Ithaca College Conservatory in Ithaca, NY. His classroom teaching repertoire includes Western Music History, Music Theory, American Popular Music History, Studio Recording, and choral and chamber music ensemble direction. He offers private instruction in cello, viola da gamba, guitar, electronic music, and theory/composition.

In 2013, Dr. Penniman left formal academe in order to better devote his energy to private instruction and performance coaching. As a “leader of horses to water,” his teaching philosophy does not adhere to a single school or approach, but draws from the depth and diversity of his own experiences and observations, encouraging the student to define their own goals, and guiding the student in understanding how brain and body learn through focused, mindful, gradual processes of errors and their correction, moving ever closer to the attainment of those goals. 

All levels and ages welcome. Dr. Penniman offers 30 minute, and when available 45 minute and 1 hour lessons.