An award-winning guitarist, Klondike Steadman also shares his passion for music as an educator, entrepreneur, and author. Klondike founded the Educational Outreach Programin 2001 as an outgrowth of the Austin Classical Guitar Society. The low-income high-school students who receive expert, private, free guitar instruction in this program go on to give public concerts regularly as soloists and in guitar ensembles. In 2003, Klondike received the prestigious Studio Fellowship Award from the Music Teachers National Association and launched the Orpheus Academy of Music with his wife, Wendy Kuo. As the co-founder and director, he has built one of the most successful and innovative music programs for kids in the country. In addition to his line of method books, The Complete Guitar, he has also collaborated with Orpheus Academy faculty to create an approach to private music instruction called Adventures Through Sound that uses singing, movement and folk songs to teach guitar and piano students. Among the many students Klondike has taught over the years who continue to make music as adults, several have won prizes in national competitions, been accepted to prestigious music departments, and gone on to significant music careers in classical, popular, and folk genres. But these accomplishments are no more significant than those who have formed bands with friends, play regularly at church, or just play to relax after a hard day at work.
