Encore: Music U reopens on Green Bay’s east side

Matthew Day

Staff

December 15, 2025

GREEN BAY – Classes are back in session – and jam sessions are back in classrooms – at Music U: Student to Stage following a seven-year hiatus.

Owner/Instructor Kelly Klaus said the music performance, production and management school enjoyed its first rockin’ run from about 2010-18 on Green Bay’s west side. 

However, as of last month, Kelly said the school reopened at 3257 Main St. on the city’s east side.

Kelly said his son, Andrew Klaus, is among Music U’s veteran staff – “people who have worked at the highest levels in our market.”

These teachers, he said, bring a range of instrumental, vocal, technical and career expertise to the school, offering everything from traditional music lessons to concert coaching, sound and light production instruction, recording guidance and marketing/promotion support. 

In 2026, Andrew and Kelly said Music U will revive its popular ensemble program, wherein participants are organized into bands based on ability level – each with a dedicated instructor – and then rehearse songs to perform as part of a public showcase. 

“We’re finishing the circle here, from start to finish,” Kelly said. “If you just want to come and get 30-minute lessons, that’s fine. But we’re going to encourage you to be involved with playing in a group so you get the full idea and knowledge base of what it is to play in a group – to interact with other human beings, if you will. It’s much more than a private lesson. It’s a music experience.” 

A U-nique option 

Beyond offering lessons for guitar, piano, bass, drums and voice – with more instruments to come – both Kelly and Andrew said Music U differs from traditional options for music lessons. 

First, though a small retail section will be available for basic items – i.e., guitar strings and picks, drumsticks, instrument cables, etc. – they said it’s noteworthy that the school doesn’t operate out of a music store. 

The Klauses said due to this distinction, Music U teachers will be able to access their classrooms at earlier or later hours as well as on weekends – whenever works best to accommodate students’ schedules.  

In music store settings, the father-son duo said instructors are typically limited to teaching during store hours, with few currently offering lessons beyond afternoons to early evenings Monday-Thursday. 

Kelly said the flexibility is better for students, while also allowing full-time music teachers – who are essentially independent contractors – to take on more students and earn more income. 

“Back when I started teaching in the mid-to-late ’80s, Saturday was the biggest day not only at the music store, but for lessons – it was the day,” he said, adding that he intends for ensemble rehearsals to take place on Saturdays. 

With the new building, Kelly said the classrooms are “beautiful,” featuring more space, sunlight and technology than average instruction rooms. 

So teachers can conveniently reference recordings of songs students are learning, Kelly said “every room is going to have a computer terminal, access to YouTube, Spotify or streaming music sites and all the things [teachers might] need.”

Compared to a music store – a scenario where at its worst, lessons feel like an excuse to bring in potential shoppers – Andrew said the atmosphere at Music U is much more sociable. 

“[Instructors] all get to know each other’s students,” he said. “When people come into the building, there’s this homey vibe. The kids know each other, and we know all the kids.” 

This sense of familiarity, Andrew said, is fueled by Music U’s ensembles. 

In turn, he said the ensembles fuel students’ practice habits by breaking them out of what can become boring, routine or impractical lesson work. 

“The ensembles add a layer over, ‘Hey, let’s spend the next four weeks working on these songs – let’s get them good,’” he said. “It gives them something to do in their private lessons – something to work toward.” 

Kelly and Andrew said Music U’s sense of community and added motivation of performing music in a band setting leads to more passion for playing and – as music teachers and parents of students could only dream – more desire for students to practice their instruments throughout the week. 

“Here, you’re going to actually play,” Kelly said. “That’s the difference.” 

Setting the stage 

Like all of Music U’s instructors, Kelly and Andrew said they bring life-long experience to the school. 

Kelly said both he and Andrew have won Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) awards and have devoted virtually their entire careers to music, whether performing in original, cover or tribute bands, teaching – guitar for Kelly, drums and piano for Andrew – and, in Kelly’s case, recording music and producing live music performances. 

With the first incarnation of Music U, as well as its second go-round, the Klauses said they’ve been able to apply all their knowledge, talent, connections and musician empathy toward the school.  

Along with the rest of the staff, they said they’ve been able to create an environment for improving personally, collaborating in groups, cultivating passion for music and starting new projects – as well as new careers. 

Andrew and Kelly said Music U wasn’t just a response to “the music store model of giving lessons” – but also to address broader gaps in music education.

“[Music U] is a place where kids can come and get that extra help… for your gifted kid to come in and really advance their skill set,” Kelly said. 

As a professional live sound technician, Kelly said Music U also serves as a resource for audio training.  

“I plan on having… an area where I’ll have four, maybe five different mixers set up, where you can bring your crew and we can sit them down, each at their own desk, and run virtual playback,” he said. “In other words, [we’ll play] recorded tracks from a live show into each mixer, and we can teach them how to EQ (equalize), compress the kick (drum) and how to get a good vocal sound on it, [etc.]” 

Kelly said the goal with Music U has always been to revive the sense of community present in music stores where he worked as a manager decades ago – an atmosphere he feels was undercut by the advent of mail-order magazines and, later, online retail. 

That advent, he said, led to a trend of buying products for slightly lower prices, but at the expense of working with staff to fully understand the equipment. 

These are just some of the factors, Kelly said, that have led to an overall decline of interest in musicianship. 

“I hope we can rebuild music, and young people wanting to be involved in it, by having a really cool place for them to come and congregate and do it,” he said. 

Reprise 

With “take one” of Music U, Kelly said his goals were becoming a reality, as musicians of all ages and ability levels learned, grew together and eagerly participated in ensembles – with many since going on to form professional regional bands or work in the industry around the country. 

Unfortunately, he said the earlier venture ultimately closed due to a mix of health crises affecting his family as well as other staff. 

However, as he and Andrew continued to work full-time with music, Kelly said his dream for Music U never faded.  

When the building on Green Bay’s east side became a viable new home for the school, Kelly said he seized the chance – but hardly for his own sake. 

“I’m 58 years old – most people would be thinking about retiring at my age,” he laughed. “I’m so busy with running sound and playing music, I didn’t need to do this – I didn’t need to reopen Music U – [but] I felt like our area needed it.” 

After much remodeling, Kelly said “take two” of Music U opened in November. 

Waiting in the wings 

Though instrument lessons and sound production instruction – a.k.a. “Roadie School” – have commenced at Music U, Kelly said he considers the building’s renovation only about 60% complete. 

He said ensembles will kick off in early 2026 – which will be open to all manner of musicians, not just those who take lessons at Music U. 

Kelly said he foresees an expansion of the ensemble program in the future as well, which has typically catered to relatively advanced students. 

“A real vision… is to have a beginner ensemble, intermediate ensemble, country ensemble, pop ensemble – more themed, so kids and adults can take a look and say, ‘Man, I really want to be in that,’” he said. 

Kelly said the ongoing build-out will also include video production services, with a studio for creating music videos as well as promotional content for bands/artists. 

The video component, he said, will be part of teaching bands to market themselves – “artist development.” 

Kelly said Music U will also feature a video game/relaxation area, as well as spaces for musicians and parents to do work, homework, compose songs, etc. 

With ample room at the new location, he said artist clinics, equipment and recording workshops, seminars on music theory and history, lessons for additional instruments (orchestral, etc.) and classes geared for homeschool students are all part of the plans for Music U. 

No matter the exciting options on deck, Kelly and Andrew said the school will always be centered on creating real music in real time with in-person collaborators – a refreshing concept in a digital and often-secluded age. 

“Everything comes back to the experience…,” Andrew said. “The whole reason this place was created is because we care.” 

Andrew and Kelly said music can help impart confidence, accountability, creativity and coordination, particularly in a more social setting like Music U. 

Kelly said he’s especially enjoyed teaching adults lately – “it’s cool to see people in their 50s and 60s realize they can still learn something.” 

He said providing kids with a positively stimulating hobby – one which could become a career – is also highly rewarding for him and relatively affordable for new musicians. 

“Have you looked at what a hockey stick costs?” he laughed. “Parents are not afraid to spend money on their children when they know it’s going to be something they love to do, gives them this skill set for the rest of their lives and they’re doing it with professional people who care.” 

To learn more about Music U: Student to Stage, visit musicugreenbay.com.