Folias Music School Lessons

Under the leadership of guitarist Andrew Bergeron and flutist Carmen Maret, the Folias Music School offers private lessons for students of all ages and abilities. With a specialization in flute, classical guitar, and composition, we offer personalized one-on-one instruction and group activities that focus on music creation as a guide to building discipline, self-love, and cultural understanding. Whether a newcomer to classical music, a beginner, a college student, or returning adult, Folias Music helps bring out your full potential for creativity in music.

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Carmen and Andrew as Teachers

Andrew Bergeron and Carmen Maret are multifaceted musicians, performers, and teachers who are passionate about sharing music as a way to be a better person and at the same time explore curiosities in life and art.

Combined, we have Masters of Music degrees in Music Performance, Music Composition, and Ethnomusicology from Michigan State University, are trained in Suzuki and Early Childhood Music (Music Together), and teach the following courses at the college level: music theory, aural skills, music history, American popular music, music technology, and music business.

We currently offer virtual and in-person private lessons in flute, classical guitar, and composition out of our home which is located in the mid-town neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Andrew Bergeron

Andrew Bergeron’s diverse musical background started with keyboard lessons at age five. He practiced on an electric organ in his parent’s living room before learning electric guitar, percussion, and eventually, the classical guitar. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Music and Philosophy at Grand Valley State University where he studied classical guitar, music composition, and Chinese philosophy, including a summer abroad in Shanghai. Andrew continued his studies at Michigan State University where he completed a Master of Music in composition, and was the recipient of the Paul Harder Composition Scholarship and winner of the MSU Concerto Competition. Andrew Bergeron studied guitar with Brian Morris, composition with Charles Ruggiero and Bob Schechtman, and music theory with Sherman Van Solkema. 

Andrew’s teaching career began at age 24 as a guitar instructor at Grand Rapids Community College, where he also taught Suzuki guitar through the Grand Rapids Arts Outreach Program. As a classroom instructor, Andrew has nearly two decades of teaching experience in music theory, ear training, and guitar classes. He taught for nine years at Grand Valley State University as the 2nd year ear training instructor, and nine years at Aquinas College as the 2nd year theory and ear training instructor. He taught guitar classes at Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State University, and Aquinas College since 2003 while featuring his own compositions and arrangements. Andrew’s tailored teaching methods help a wide variety of people excel in learning the classical guitar and music composition. 

Carmen Maret

Carmen Maret started piano lessons at the age of six and continued her musical education throughout her teenage years singing in choirs and playing flute in concert bands and youth orchestras. She received her Bachelor of Music in flute performance from the University of Missouri­-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and her Master of Music in flute performance from Michigan State University. Carmen also received a Master of Arts degree in ethnomusicology at Michigan State University with a focus on Argentine tango music and dance. Her primary flute teachers were Mary Posses and Richard Sherman. She attended the Eastern Music Festival in 1998 and also studied with Peter Lloyd at his summer flute seminar in St. Andrew’s, Scotland in 1999. Carmen has performed in masterclasses with William Bennett and Julia Bogorad and attended masterclasses with Carol Wincenc, James Galway, and Emmanuel Pahud. Carmen’s jazz improvisation teachers include Bobby Watson and Ron Blake. She also studied tango music with bassist Pablo Aslan. 

Carmen’s teaching career started at the Grand Rapids Community College Arts Outreach Program in 2007 with a focus on Suzuki flute instruction. She has taught applied college flute lessons at Aquinas College and Grand Rapids Community College since 2011, leading both studio flute classes and conducting and arranging for flute ensembles. Her current classroom teaching experience includes a wide variety of rotating topics: a two-semester sequence of the history of western music, MIDI technology, introduction to music entrepreneurship, and basics of music theory at Aquinas College; and American popular music, and introduction to music business at Grand Rapids Community College.