Guitar & Strings Teachers
Get to Know Us
Richard N. Fustino
Years Teaching at Matts: 54
Teaches: Guitar, Bass, Ukulele, and Music Composition
Education History: Studied at Fredonia, University of Buffalo and ECCC
(majors included music composition and social studies)
Craig Haendiges
Years Teaching at Matts: 30
Teaches: Guitar, bass, ukelele, banjo and mandolin.
Education History: Studied under Ernie Coralo and Ralph Parker
Julie Beiter
Years Teaching at Matts: 3
Julie has been playing cello since she was 9 years old and has since continued sharing her love for music and picking up all different instruments to play and songs to sing! Julie has been with Matt’s Music since October 2017 and teaches strings with us here! She is also a general music, chorus, and orchestra teacher in the KenTon school district.
Jonah Krull
Years Teaching at Matts: 6
Jonah Krull is a long time friend of Matt's Music, with over a decade of experience in guitar, bass, vocals, songwriting, and audio production. He spent his college years studying at various schools across the county (including Nashville, Tennessee), honing his craft to a professional level. Jonah has been teaching guitar, bass, and other stringed instruments at the store for the past 6 years, and now offers songwriting lessons to help students explore their creative side. He is also the head of the Matt's Music Studio, which provides high quality recordings as well as lessons in audio recording, music production and live sound.
Abi Chilton
Abi started playing guitar at age 9 as a Matt's Music student. Since then, she has studied a variety of musical styles and picked up other instruments along the way. She graduated from Belmont University in 2020 with a bachelors degree in audio engineering while minoring in classical guitar performance. Abi holds a strong passion for music production and is always eager to work on new musical projects.
Ed Croft
Ed started his career playing in the New York City subways with famed blues musician Carolina Slim. From there, he began playing local shows with his rockabilly band, The Moonshiners. Upon graduating from high school, he pursued a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from SUNY Fredonia, which he completed in 2013.
It was here that Ed had the chance to perform and study with local legends such as Tom Gestwicki, John Bacon, Bruce Johnstone, and more, including an orchestra concert with Yo Yo Ma. Before he'd completed his studies at Fredonia, he began a career as a touring musician starting with two years traveling with celtic rock band The Town Pants, and touring for another two years with bluegrass band The Jakobs Ferry Stragglers.
In between national shows, music festivals, and local showcases, Ed received his Masters degree from Bowling Green State University where he studied under Jeff Halsey, David Bixler, and Chris Buzzeli. Ed was also able to perform with Mike Stern, Dave Samuels (of Spyro Gyro fame), Gary Smulyan, Tim Hagans, Jimmy Heath, and Conrad Herwig during his time in Ohio.
Now, Ed resides in Buffalo, NY where he is making a big impression on the local music scene. He can be seen every Tuesday at KO Bar and Grill with Grace Lougen from 7 to 10pm.
As a freelance bassist, Ed has performed with Buffalo jazz greats Darryl Washington, Greg Millar, Rey Scott, and Bobby Jones. He has also shared the stage with Buffalo Music Hall of Famers such as Doug Yeomans, Mary Ramsey, Ray Hangen and Joe Rozler.
Ed won the 2018 JazzBuffalo Poll for Best Acoustic Upright Bassist (repeat from 2017), Rising Star, and the John Hunt Jazz Artist of the Year awards. The results of these awards are decided on by residents of the city of Buffalo and all of Western New York.