Music Faculty

Dr. Francis "Frank" Cook teaches a wide range of courses at LCCC, including applied tenor and bass trombone lessons, music theory, and music history. He also serves as the director of both the LCCC Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble, as well as co-director of the Cheyenne Brass Band. In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Cook is an active performer across the Front Range, regularly performing with Opera Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Symphony, the Loveland Opera Theater, Larimer Chorale, Greeley Chorale, Wyoming Symphony, Cheyenne Symphony, and the Colorado Jazz Orchestra. He currently serves as the second trombonist with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, a seat he has held since 2008. 

Dr. Cook earned his Doctor of Arts degree from UNC, and his Master of Music, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from Ithaca College. His primary applied teachers have included Nat Wickham, Hal Reynolds, Mark Kellogg, and Mark Babbitt. His conducting instructors have included Ken Singleton, Stephen Peterson, Larry Doebler, and Keith Kaiser.

Michael Lange serves as a faculty member and Director of Fine & Performing Arts at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, WY. In this position he oversees the Surbrugg/Prentice Performing Arts Auditorium, the John Clay Fine Art Gallery, and the academic programs in theatre, visual arts, and music.

For the previous decade, Lange served as the Executive Director of the Wyoming Arts Council helping strengthen Wyoming communities by supporting and investing in the arts. Prior service includes working in student affairs at the University of Wyoming where he led co-curricular student development initiatives. Lange is a former trustee for the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and is the recipient of the 2017 Northwest College Alumnus of the Year.

Lange is also a musician and composer, performing mostly in the jazz idiom, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Master of Public Administration, and is currently completing a Doctor of Education focused on the social and economic value of arts & culture in rural spaces.

Bethany Smith-Jacobs holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. At LCCC, she currently directs Collegiate Chorale and Cantorei and teaches a variety of music classes. 

As a classically trained soprano, she performs operas and recitals throughout Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Bethany has had the pleasure to sing with companies like the Boulder Philharmonic, Rimrock Opera, Loveland Opera Theater, Denver Opera Collective, and Opera on Tap-Colorado. She is also the Music Director and Lead Vocalist at the First Christian Church in Cheyenne. Bethany recently performed the role of Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen with Rimrock Opera in Billings, MT and will be returning to play the title role of Cinderella in the Spring of 2024.

John Fritz is a composer, music theorist, and conductor from Cheyenne, Wyoming. He received his Bachelor of Music in composition from the University of Northern Colorado in 2010. His instructors included Dr. Paul Elwood, James Vaughn, and Dr. Russell Guyver.

As an adjunct professor at Laramie County Community College (LCCC), John conducts the Chamber Orchestra, teaches all levels of aural theory, and gives private instruction in composition, double bass, and clarinet. He began his position at LCCC in fall of 2022.
Prior to his employment at LCCC, John served as the Director of Music at Cheyenne First United Methodist Church from 2018-2022. There he directed the vocal and handbell choirs as well as orchestras for Easter and Christmas cantatas. He also performed as a cantor, clarinetist, bassist, and pianist.

John frequently performs as a bassist with the Cheyenne All-City Children’s Chorus and Cheyenne Little Theatre. He has had numerous compositions performed by the Cheyenne All-City Children's Chorus, Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, and the Cheyenne Chamber Singers.

Saxophonist Rex Amend grew up in Riverton, Wyoming, where he was influenced by the sounds of his musical father at a young age. In high school, Amend received multiple musical recognitions, including selections to the Wyoming All-State Jazz Band and the Wyoming All-State Concert Band, and won the Maestro Award at the Anaheim Music Festival in Anaheim, California. He also played extensively throughout the state of Wyoming as part of his father’s family band, which featured Rex and his brother, Tom Amend.

From 2009-2013 Amend attended the University of Wyoming, earning a degree in Music Education. During this time, he was an active freelance musician. From 2010-2013, Rex was a member of the GRAMMY® nominated blues band Blind Dog Smokin’. While with Blind Dog Smokin’, Amend played dozens of shows and festivals around the Rocky Mountain Region, including multiple performances during prime-time slots on the main stage at the Snowy Range Music Festival alongside blues legends, Billy Branch and Bobby Rush.

In May of 2015, Amend graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California with a master’s degree in Jazz Studies. At USC, Amend was awarded outstanding member of the Concert Jazz Orchestra, and studied with Bob Mintzer, Bob Sheppard, and Russell Ferrante. Amend also worked as an Academic Advisor for the USC Thornton School of Music, and served as Assistant Director of the Los Angeles Youth Jazz Ensemble — a big band made up of the greater Los Angeles area’s finest high school jazz musicians. From 2015-2022, Amend was an adjunct Professor in the Cypress College Music Department, in Cypress, California. He taught courses in Music Theory, Music Appreciation, and Jazz History. Additionally, he taught a studio of nearly 40 private woodwind students each week at the famed Palos Verdes Music Teaching Center, Amuse Music Center. Upon moving back to Wyoming with his wife and daughter in 2023, Amend now teaches Saxophone and Intro to Music at Laramie County Community College.

Román Carranza is a native of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He started his musical training early and continued his studies at the renowned school for young talented musicians Victoriano Lopez Conservatory in Honduras. During his early years as a young player, Mr. Carranza participated in several music festivals and workshops around Central America, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States of America.

Furthermore, he became one of the youngest members of the late San Pedro Sula Chamber Orchestra -- Awarded as the top string group in Central America under the baton of maestro Jose Iglesias Carnot (Cuba) -- and later became a young member of the Honduras' Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Carranza holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music performance from Northwestern State University of Louisiana and was the two-time winner of the Concerto Competition at NSULA in 2013, and 2015. He is currently a Doctoral candidate in Violin Performance and String Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado.

Additionally, Mr. Carranza's musical journey throughout the years of music making has been actively focused on working as a music educator, strings teacher, and active orchestra musician. He has worked and collaborated as a teacher of youth string orchestras in the US and Honduras. He was a member of the Rapides Symphony Orchestra LA, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra LA, Acadiana Symphony LA, Lake Charles Symphony LA, Texarkana Symphony AR, El Dorado Symphony AR, Longview Symphony TX, and Marshall Symphony TX.

Mr. Carranza is currently a guest artist and volunteer at the Uremu Project -- whose focus is to provide and develop musical training for children in high-risk areas of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He is also an active string educator and music and performer in the musical scene of Northern Colorado.

Mr. Carranza enjoys spending his free time exploring the culinary arts and long walks with his beloved and beautiful wife Wendy. 

Arts advocate and cellist Stephanie Flores Guerrero has performed in the cello sections of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, Castleton Festival, and Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. Stephanie won the University of Wyoming Cello Festival Soloist Competition in 2019 and was an honoree in the Wyoming Symphony Solo Competition and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Concerto Competition.

In 2018, Stephanie received the Hixson-Lied grant to study with the principal cellist of the London Symphony, Rebecca Gilliver. She has also received extensive chamber music mentorship from the Chiara Quartet, Danish Quartet, Ying Quartet, AlpenKammermusik, and Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival faculty.

In addition to classical music, Stephanie played backup for Michael Bublé’s 2019 U.S. Tour. Furthermore, Stephanie is dedicated to teaching music in community programs such as Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – Orchkids, Bath Elementary Suzuki Violin Program, UWYO String Project, and “El Sistema”- inspired programs in Mexico. Stephanie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance from the University of Wyoming and an M.M. in Cello Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Currently, Miss Flores serves as a Cello instructor at Laramie County Community College. Additionally, she is an Executive Director for the UW Cello Festival.

Susie Fritts’ Horn career has taken her around the world as both performer and teacher, beginning with the Melbourne Symphony and the Elizabethan Trust Opera Orchestras in Australia. Ms. Fritts lived in Germany for six years, performing in orchestras including Landestheater Detmold, Staatstheater Kassel, Gürzenich Cologne Opera, Philharmonia Hungarica, and off-stage Horn with Bayreuth Wagner Festival Orchestra. She also enjoyed playing in Hunting-Horn groups. 

Susie’s previous domestic orchestral experience includes positions with Jacksonville, Kansas City, New Mexico, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, as well as Staunton (original instruments), Bellingham, and Eastern Music Festivals, and the Santa Fe Opera. She also served as Principal/Solo Horn with the United States Army Field Band in Washington, D.C. 
Susie currently is the Associate Principal Horn of the Greeley Philharmonic and freelances in Northern Colorado. Ms. Fritts has taught Horn on university faculties in Virginia, New Mexico, Montana, Colorado, and Florida. She loves inspiring young musicians and has coached the Horn and Brass sections of youth orchestras wherever she has lived.

Susie earned her B.A. in Music Education at St. Olaf College, her M.M. in Horn Performance at Northwestern University, and studied privately with Gerd Seifert in Germany. She is excited to share her Horn passion with the students of LCCC.

Amy Gunn is an adjunct professor of flute at LCCC. Originally from Michigan, Amy Gunn has studied and performed all over the country.

Amy Gunn holds a Bachelors in Flute Performance and Music Education from Wayne State University as well as a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Armstrong Atlantic State University. Additionally, Gun has completed graduate work in Music Education at Vandercook College of Music and Flute Performance at University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Currently Gunn plays throughout Cheyenne with various organizations, teaches elementary music with LCSD1, and promotes flute pedagogy through her Facebook page Cheyenne Flute Players.

Julie Koenig is a voice and piano instructor at LCCC, specializing in jazz and pop styles. She holds a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Otterbein University (Westerville, OH). While in graduate school at UNC, Julie received a DownBeat Student Music Award for Outstanding Performance in the Graduate Vocal Soloist category. She recently performed at the Five Points Jazz Festival in Denver, CO, and has completed two Midwest tours with her trio.

In addition to her teaching at LCCC, Julie keeps a busy schedule as a freelance musician, and as an instructor at Flourish Music Academy (Greeley). Her first studio album, Renaissance Woman, can be found on all streaming sites.

Learn more about Julie by visiting her website: www.juliekoenigsings.com

Andrew Mrozinsky teaches private lessons in trumpet at LCCC. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Central Washington University and a Master of Arts in Music from Illinois State University. 
He has been a successful private trumpet instructor all over the country, including his home state of Wyoming, but also in Washington state, New York City, and central Illinois. Mrozinsky has guest instructed trumpet master classes and worked with chamber brass ensembles as well.

He currently is an active performer, teacher, and substitute member of several professional and community based groups including the Cheyenne Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, Whitney Center Jazz Orchestra, Greeley Chorale, Cheyenne Brass Band, Capitol City Brass quintet, Cheyenne Little Theatre Players, and others. He has previously played with the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, the Greenwich Village Orchestra, Reina Williams band, and gigged as a freelance trumpet player in New York City.

Landon Peck has been teaching guitar lessons at Laramie County Community College (LCCC) since the fall semester of 2017. He has directed the Guitar Ensemble and is an instructor of Introduction to Music at LCCC.

Building upon a foundation of rock and metal, Landon began studying music theory, classical guitar, and flamenco guitar with Dave Beegle in 2007. He continued his studies in classical guitar with Dr. Richard Busson at Aims Community College, and with Jason Olson at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). Landon received a Master of Music Performance from UNC (2017), a Bachelor of Music Performance from UNC (2015), and an Associate of Liberal Arts from Aims Community College (2012). During his time at UNC, Landon performed guitar in many duets with guitarists and violinists, as well as with a variety of ensembles - including a Baroque basso continuo section, and the Concert Choir. 

Landon regularly performs solo and in ensembles throughout Northern Colorado and Cheyenne. He performed in an alumni classical guitar concert at Aims Community College, on November 9, 2022, where he played a solo set featuring works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Johann Sebastian Bach, and traditional Celtic folk music. He expanded his rock experience by performing rhythm and lead guitar in a tribute concert to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, at the Aims Welcome Center, May 3rd, 2023. 

Currently, Landon’s main musical focuses are teaching, performing, composing, recording, and producing a variety of genres in his home studio, including progressive metal, ambient, and folk. He is cultivating a diverse classical guitar repertoire that emphasizes Baroque, Celtic, Romantic, and modern music. He looks forward to future solo and collaborative projects. 

Outside of musical pursuits, Landon’s primary hobby is reading books and listening to audiobooks across a wide spectrum of genres, both fiction and non-fiction. He resides in Loveland, Colorado. 

Taylor Smith earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Middle Georgia State University and his Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Colorado State University. Originally from Macon, Georgia, Taylor has been teaching percussion at the middle, high school, and college level for most of his career, specializing in percussion ensemble and marching percussion. In addition to teaching, Taylor records music for himself and others through audio and video formats. His applied instructors include Eric Hollenbeck, Shilo Stroman, Miguel Castro, and Leigh Howard Stevens. Taylor has performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention several times and currently teaches percussion at LCCC and around the Fort Collins area.