Kim Bemis is the director of Musical Beginnings and the owner of Bemis Piano Studio. Kim has taught piano since 1991 and has been a licensed Kindermusik educator since 1998. Parents and children alike have enjoyed her smile and laughter that is always a part of class and look forward each week to coming to sing and dance with her.

Kim has the conviction that every child is musical and he or she will benefit from being a part of the 7 years that Kindermusik offers. She loves the way the wholechild is affected by the music, movement and activities that are a part of every level of every Kindermusik class. Kim especially likes the Kindermusik philosophy of not forcing a child to do something they don’t feel comfortable doing. Music is supposed to be a fun activity and when a child is ready to fully participate, they will do it with joy! Kim also loves working with the parents to help them feel comfortable in the role of being their child’s most important teacher. Being a resource and sounding board for the parents in her classes is very exciting for her.

Kim studied music education at Butler University with a concentration on piano where she also received her Kindermusik training in all levels of the Kindermusik curriculum. She is a member of the Partnership of Kindermusik Educators, and in the past has served on the executive board, Kindermusik Educators of Central Indiana where she is the past president, and Indiana Piano Teachers Association. She is an active member in her church and has participated for years in the choir and on the vocal team. She has also been music director of several children’s musicals at her church.

Kim has 3 grown children who have given her 5 grandchildren. She and her husband, David, live in Westfield.

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Christina began teaching Kindermusik because she embraced Kindermusik?s philosophy os using music and movement to teach to the whole child. She is continually impressed with Kindermusik?s curricula and home materials that help her families continue the musical experience together at home.

Christina is the proud mom of four Kindermusik graduates and has witnessed how Kindermusik has given her own daughters a strong foundation in music aptitude. All the girls continue to enjoy choir and piano. Two of Christina?s daughters play violin and one plays oboe through their school music programs.

Christina?s degree is from Indiana University. A member of Zionsville United Methodist Church, Christina loves being engaged with children and volunteers regularly in Sunday School and children?s music opportunities at her church.

Christina and her husband, Jeff, and their four daughters live in Zionsville.

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Dorothy is excited about being a Kindermusik educator and being able to share her passion for music with young children and their parents. She strongly believes that through music and movement, children will develop more fully – emotionally, socially, cognitively, physically, and musically. Dorothy also values the Kindermusik philosophy of allowing each child to develop at his or her own pace. Through her God-given talents, Dorothy hopes to bring parents and children together while helping each child develop a lifelong love of music and learning.

Dorothy earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Butler University in voice performance. While at Butler, she had the opportunity to participate in many solo and ensemble performances including Chorale, Madrigals, and Opera Workshop. She has also studied Suzuki violin, music theory, and music history. She continues to be involved in music as the soprano soloist at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church (“Tab”) and can be heard every Sunday morning on WIBC 93.1 FM. In June 2009, Dorothy had the distinct honor of singing in Carnegie Hall in NYC for the 70th Anniversary Celebration of Shawnee Press, Inc.

Dorothy and her husband live in Fishers, IN with their daughter.

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She took piano lessons as a child and took voice lessons throughout high school and college. She was involved in many choirs and musical productions in elementary, high school and college. She continues to be involved in music at her church and also helps with the children's program.

She grew up in Carmel and now lives in Fishers with her husband Scott, 7 year old son, Jeremy and almost 1 year old daughter, Emily Lynne.

She loves teaching Kindermusik because she is able to combine 2 things she loves--music and children

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Laura Newby has been a licensed Kindermusik Educator since 2001 and even before that she worked as an assistant in the Musical Beginnings°ò summer camps and Young Child after school classes. Children respond well to her kind heart and the fun that she brings to class.

Laura had stepped aside from teaching Kindermusik for a few years to concentrate on her piano studio, but is now ready to jump back in with the smaller children to get them ready to some day take piano lessons with her! Laura sees the value in not only exposing little ones to music, but the time that you spend on the floor with the small ones as she has 2 Kindermusik students of her own. Laura hopes to be able to watch the little ones grow and develop as she shares music with them and then to watch the parents blossom as they understand more and more how to bring music into their home and extend that learning time into a bonding time.

Laura has studied piano since she was a 2nd grader. Her most recent study was with Lola McIntyre. With Mrs. McIntyre, Laura won many contests, including a state title in the Music Educators National Conference contest when she was a sophomore in high school. Laura also has presented two solo piano recitals in her high school years and then went on to study piano at the college level. Having always had a love for singing, Laura began singing with the Indianapolis Children's Choir as a 3rd grader and continued through the 6th grade. She sang in church choirs, and various Jr. & Sr. High School Choirs, being chosen to sing in the Limited Edition Choir at Westfield High School, their highest ranked choir. Laura also studied voice privately with Kate Roberts for 3 years.

Laura and her husband live in Noblesville with their 2 Kindermusik aged children.

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Mrs. Mindy Lerch has been involved in music her entire life, including desiring to play piccolo from 1st grade! Mindy participated in various honors orchestral and band groups throughout junior high and high school in Kansas, playing the flute and piccolo. Attending Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, Mindy graduated with a degree in music education, and she is trained in level one of the Orff-Schülwerk Teacher Certification.

Mindy taught elementary music for 3 years, and she has given private flute lessons for 11 years. She also helped start and direct a children’s instrumental Orff ensemble at her church, which was part of the children’s choir. She continues to participate musically by playing flute and piccolo with various community groups, including her church praise band and a woodwind quintet.

Mindy has been teaching Kindermusik since 2003, and loves giving young children the chance to rejoice in music with their parents, while also developing all aspects of each child. Kindermusik provides a fun, wonderful way to help establish a lifelong love of learning and music!

Most importantly, Mindy lives in Indianapolis with her husband Aaron and children Hannah, Jadon, and Philip.

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Ellen Gullett is proud to be the newest member of the Musical Beginnings Kindermusik team. For the last seven years she has been has been a Kindermusik mom, participating in classes with her three children. She values the Kindermusik philosophy of engaging the whole child in a developmentally appropriate way, and treasures the quality time she has spent with each of her children in the Kindermusik classroom.

Music and movement have been important in Ellen’s life since she was a young child --from listening to stories of her father’s trumpet playing and watching her mother sing in the church choir to her own introduction to dance and piano at the age of seven.

Growing up in southern Indiana, she studied piano for seven years and continued to play actively as an accompanist for church, school choirs and her college sorority at Indiana University. As a preteen and teenager she enjoyed performing in numerous musical theatre productions. She studied dance continuously for 12 years and still takes recreational classes whenever she can. Ellen holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from IU. After having a rewarding career in communications and public relations, she decided to shift gears and share her love of music, movement and Kindermusik with other young families. She and her husband Steve live in Carmel with their son and two daughters.

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Music has always been a part of Kathleen's life. She began teaching piano lessons while in her early teens, and is in her thirty-third year as a public school music teacher. She played hand bells and sang in several church choirs over the years. Kathleen has been a member of the Anderson Symphonic Choir since it began in 1985. She has served on the Anderson Symphony Guild board, and was the chairman for the National Piano Guild in the Anderson Area for many years. She has been a member of 3 different dance groups, dancing disco, Hawaiian and Tahitian, and Middle Eastern dancing. Kathleen earned a diploma from Sherwood Music School, Chicago, and is an affiliated teacher of their extension facility. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Anderson College, where she sang in the Anderson college Choir, and received her Master of Arts in Education degree from Ball State University.

Kathleen's love of music and teaching children is what drew her to Kindermusik. She likes that Kindermusik classes enables parents and children to share quality time together while making music. She believes as a teacher of Kindermusik, she will be able to provide knowledge and encouragement to each child as they explore and develop the love of music within themselves.

Aside from music, Kathleen has two dogs that visit nursing homes, and is the leader of the Indiana Trigeminal Neuralgia Association Support Group. She and her husband reside in Lapel.