Camp Con Brio
String Camp of the Rockies
2026 HIGH SCHOOL FACULTY
Kristin Miller
HS Director
Kirstin Miller is the orchestra teacher at D’Evelyn Jr./Sr. High School in Jefferson County Public Schools. Originally from New York, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam.
In 2006, she moved to Colorado to pursue a master’s degree in Music Education at the University of Colorado Boulder while beginning her teaching career in Jeffco, where she has taught for 20 years.
Mrs. Miller is the co-founder and co-conductor of the Jeffco Community Orchestra, a summer ensemble that provides adults with the opportunity to continue playing their string instruments in an orchestral setting. She is an active member of the Colorado chapter of the American String Teachers Association, where she also serves on the board. She also performs as a violinist with the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra.
Outside the classroom, Mrs. Miller enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters, connecting with friends, reading, crafting, and taking dance fitness classes.
SHAWN MURPHY
VIOLIN I INSTRUCTOR
Shawn Murphy is currently in his third year directing orchestras at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. In January of 2023, Rocky’s full symphony will perform for a clinic with string pedagogue, Scott Laird, at the Colorado Music Educator’s Association Conference (CMEA). The same group was chosen to play in Orlando as part of the American String Teacher’s Association’s National Orchestra Festival in March of 2023. For six years previous, Shawn directed orchestras at Thompson Valley High School and Walt Clark Middle School in Loveland, Colorado, where he was awarded an Inspiring Students Award in his first year and was nominated as Thompson School District teacher of the year. His teaching career began with high school and middle school orchestras in Afton, Wyoming, then moved to Fort Collins where his middle school orchestra program increased from 85 players to over 230 in three years.
Mr. Murphy serves frequently as a guest clinician, adjudicator, and conductor for Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah honor ensembles and performance festivals. He has previously been the High School Orchestra Director and Violin Teacher for Camp Con Brio, is the Northern Colorado Representative for CO-ASTA, has been honored to serve as a member of the Colorado All-State Orchestra board of governors since 2015, and will serve as All-State Orchestra Chair starting in 2023. Along with his Thompson Valley music colleagues, he presented a clinic at the 2018 CMEA Conference.
Shawn holds a BME in Instrumental Music and a Master of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. He was first violin in the Graduate String Quartet at UNC and served as concertmaster of The Loveland Orchestra.
Mr. Murphy spent a year in Germany with his wife, Amy, where they studied German at the Goethe Institute and the Universität Leipzig, and music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig. In August, 2017, they began their parental journey with the birth of Baby Ben, whose supernatural cuteness made the baby sleeplessness more tolerable, and whose little boy insights and observations enrich our days (and sometimes the nights, still)!
CHAELI FISCHER
VIOLIN II INSTRUCTOR
Chaeli Fischer is a musician and educator in the Northern Colorado area. She received her Master of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado in 2017, where she studied viola with Dr. Christopher Luther. In 2015, she graduated from UNC with a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree where she studied violin with Margaret Soper Gutierrez, Shawn Murphy, and Richard Fuchs. Chaeli also explored other passions in her undergraduate degree, including Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Spanish. She served as an officer of the UNC chapter of the American String Teachers Association for five years, and assisted in recruiting for the UNC String Project. Chaeli enjoyed performing and studying with professors at UNC, including the University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Russell Guyver.
Mrs. Fischer now plays violin in the Elevation String Quartet, and teaches elementary music, middle school orchestra, and recently started a Mariachi ensemble in Greeley-Evans School District 6.
KYLE RUPLEY
VIOLA INSTRUCTOR
Kyle Rupley is a Colorado-based musician and educator. He has taught in the Cherry Creek Schools at Cherokee Trail High School for nine years and managed his own private teaching studio since age 17. Under his direction, CTHS ensembles regularly earn excellent and superior ratings, and he works to enable all his students to continue and develop life-long engagement and success with music.
Kyle holds undergraduate degrees in viola performance and music education (BM, BME) from Metropolitan State University of Denver and a graduate degree in performance (MM) from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. He also completed post-graduate work in conducting and performance at the University of Maryland Baltimore County as a fellowship recipient in the Baltimore Symphony Academy Program.
He performs regularly all along the Front Range with orchestras including the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Stratus Chamber Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra of the Springs.
TBD
Cello INSTRUCTOR
JAY MCGUFFIN
STRING BASS INSTRUCTOR
Jay McGuffin is currently the Director of Orchestras at Castle View High School and Castle Rock Middle School. He has taught instrumental music in DCSD since 2002. His primary instrument is String Bass. Mr. McGuffin grew up in Colorado Springs and played his first Castle Rock Middle School. He has taught instrumental music in DCSD since 2002. His primary instrument is String Bass. Mr. McGuffin grew up in Colorado Springs and played his first professional gig at age 13. Performing with the Colorado All-State Jazz Band and becoming the principal bassist of the Colorado All-State Symphony in 1995 officially boosted him as a career bassist. Mr. McGuffin was a member of the Boulder Philharmonic from 1995-1997. He also competed and won first place in the Rocky Mountain International Double Bass Solo Competition in 1999.
Having studied for five years with Paul Erhard and Edward Krolick, he graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2000 with Bachelors degrees in both Music Education (B.M.E) and Music Performance (B.M.). Mr. McGuffin has performed with such musicians as William “Bug” Barbie, Frank Fanelli, Itzhak Perlman, and Dave Grusin. His musical influences are primarily Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Scott LaFaro and Victor Wooten. He has been a member of the Double McGuffin Jazz Quartet on Bass and Vocals since 2002, performing regularly with his father since 2005 and has been the leader of the group since 2008. Mr. McGuffin has always believed: “Those who can, perform. Those who can do more, teach!”
JONATHAN WEST
CAMP DIRECTOR
Jonathan West is a Colorado-based music educator. While growing up in Colorado Springs, Jonathan began playing the cello with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association and the horn in his public school program.
While studying for a Bachelor of Music Education degree at The University of Northern Colorado, Jonathan took cello lessons from Gal Faganel. As a member of the University Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Russel Guyver, Jonathan played for soloists Rachel Barton Pine, Peter Stumpf, and Robert deMaine.
At the outset of his teaching career, Jonathan was a teaching assistant during the inaugural years of the UNC String Project, a weekly after-school program for beginning string students in the fourth and fifth grades. This program helped solidify Jonathan’s love for teaching. Jonathan was featured in an article about the program’s success: “Colorado Teacher Shortage Presents Opportunities For Some Future Educators” by Stephanie Daniel on KUNC.org. As a young conductor, Jonathan was selected for the Colorado Music Educator Association 2019 Conducting Clinic and participated in the master class with Larry Livingston. For the 2021 CMEA conference, Jonathan was invited to speak for a panel session “Mixtures for Success,” discussing how new teachers are surviving teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jonathan is in his 6th year as Director of Orchestras at Creighton Middle School and Lakewood Area Elementary Schools, teaching grades 5 through 8. During his time there, his orchestras have received “Superior” ratings at large group festivals. His students participate in Solo and Ensemble competitions and perform for community organization events like the Lakewood Symphony. Jonathan is now in his 4th season as Director of the Longmont Youth Symphony’s ‘Longmont Youth String Ensemble,’ and is owner and manager of Camp Con Brio: String Camp of the Rockies, a summer youth orchestra camp. Recently, Jonathan and his co-host, Chue Vue, started the podcast “Tired and True” discussing all things strings including pedagogy, philosophy, and how their idea of “winning orchestra” has changed through their careers. Jonathan has recently judged and cliniced several orchestras at various events in Colorado, including the 2024 Nordic Festival in Poudre Public Schools and the 2026 Cherry Creek School District Middle School Honor Orchestra.
KATHERINE GARRAMONE
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Katherine Garramone has been a cellist for twenty years. She has been the Orchestra Director at Parker Performing Arts school in Parker, Colorado since 2020. Katherine discovered her love for music through her own public school orchestra experience in Mapleton Public Schools, with Kelly Benson as her Orchestra Director. While Katherine played the cello in her school orchestra program, and participated in the Front Range Youth Symphony; it soon became not enough for her. She found Camp Con Brio as an Intern, and has never left. Katherine has been with the camp for 10 years, in various roles.
Katherine earned a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in the Performing Arts from the University of Northern Colorado. She earned a Minor in Special Education and Music Education. During her time in college, Katherine had to leave the music school to have surgery on her left arm due to nerve damage. The nerves become too tight in her elbow from over-utilization and long hours of practicing. This made it impossible to play cello and major in music. This would have been the end of her dream of teaching, but she knew her love of music and her love of teaching could not be stifled. Katherine has been teaching for five years and continues to impart her love for music onto her students.