Mike Ciranni has been playing and teaching guitar for nearly four decades. As a versatile, formally trained musician, MIke has performed all styles of music. From his first professional gig at age 16 to now, he has been a member of Matrix, Straight Away, Hot Streak, Fredonia Guitar Quartet, Optional Stop, Terrance Bruce Group, PopShow Band, Spanky Hashman Big Band, Skunk Punks, Greater Finger Lakes Jazz Orchestra, Covers Exposed, and Lakeside Sound. As a freelance guitarist, Mike has also performed with the Greater Rochester Music Educators’ Jazz Band, in the pit band for numerous local high school musicals over the past 25 years, and more.

 

Mike’s first guitar teachers in the Rochester area were Kevin DeFrance and George Collichio. He went on to earn a certificate from the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA, where he focused on jazz studies under the training of Dave Hill. While at Musician’s Institute, he was also fortunate to take master classes with legendary fusion guitarist, Scott Henderson. Mike’s classical guitar training began at Monroe Community College with Tom Fittipaldi and continued on to SUNY Fredonia. While earning Bachelor's and Master’s Degrees in music at Fredonia, Mike studied with Richard Falkenstein and James Piorkowski.

 

Mike has taught private guitar lessons to students of all ages throughout his life, and is currently on staff at Mobile Music in Canandaigua, NY. He has also been a music teacher for 26 years in the Newark Central School District, where he currently teaches Techniques of Audio Recording and Music Production classes. 

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Mike currently lives in Canandaigua, NY with his wife, Pam, two children, Chloe and Jack, and two dogs, Cosmo and Zeus.