About Us

Centrally Rooted was founded by Callie FitzGerald. Her belief is that growth, exploration, and supported discovery of self encourages the positive development of brain health. Stemming from a moral idea of self love being critical to happiness, the hope is to offer a safe and supportive community with multiple avenues of expression to grow and learn.

Donations

Centrally Rooted humbly and gratefully accepts any donations to help promote our mission and support our scholarship fund.

Centrally Rooted is operating as a non-profit (501(c)3)).

If you are making a donation greater than $250 and hope to seek a donation letter for tax purposes, please contact Callie. Thank you for your contribution!

Donate

Meet the Team

Callie FitzGerald

Founder, CEO, & Teacher

is a board certified music therapist and the founder of Mindful Musicians. She has degrees in music education, vocal performance, and music therapy. She is as equally fascinated with neuroanatomy as she is with psychology and self-growth. Through her lens of neurologic music therapy and her life experiences that have taught the importance of self-love, she has created this program base and has big visions for what is to come.

Brion Bowman

Rooted Lessons Manager & Teacher

Piano & Voice

is a self-taught pianist and has been performing since childhood. In high school, Brion was actively involved in Musical Theater, Iowa All-State Choir, and Song Composition & Audio Engineering. He attended The School Of Music Vocations located in Creston, Iowa. He was selected to be a music camp advisor/demonstrator, where he discovered his love of educating. Now, he is honing his skills as a Private Music Instructor at Centrally Rooted & as a local solo performer.

Jill Klinebriel

Program Coordinator & Mindful Musicians Teacher

began studying the piano at the age of 5 and hasn’t taken a break since! She studied classical piano performance at Michigan State University and earned her degree in musical theater performance from Western Michigan University. Jill has performed and taught in educational and community circuits in New York City, Montgomery Alabama, and the tri-state area since 2002. Jill is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Dubuque and music directs “kids take the stage” summer series at the Bell Tower theater.

Naomi Noel

Rooted Lessons Teacher

Piano, Voice, Percussion, Saxophone, Guitar, Ukulele, Flute

was born and raised around Dubuque, Iowa and has been involved with music since the age of 8, when she started piano lessons. She graduated from Western Dubuque High School, and is currently pursuing a degree in music education at Clarke University. Beyond piano, Naomi began flute lessons at age 10, started guitar and ukulele around age 11, took up electric bass, tenor saxophone and percussion throughout high school. She was pit section leader in marching band and concert band first chair flute section leader. Naomi actively participates in all instrumental ensembles at Clarke University, playing flute in Wind Ensemble; tenor saxophone, bass, and piano in Jazz; and double bass in Orchestra. Naomi enjoys sharing her love of music with others and cannot wait to be a future educator of music.

Luke Boyle

Rooted Lessons Teacher

Guitar

has lived in the Peosta, Iowa area all his life. He has been playing guitar since he was nine years old. Attending his first live rock concert (Fall Out Boy) inspired him to start lessons. He also played percussion in the Drexler Middle School band for 4 years, participating in multiple ensembles and concerts. Outside of school, Luke has played guitar in multiple concerts including at The Smokestack in Dubuque and the Galena Center For The Arts. He also plays the drum kit and bass guitar. Luke plans to participate in the Western Dubuque Jazz Band throughout high school and to create music with his own rock band. Through lessons, Luke hopes to inspire a love for the guitar in others similar to what he possess.

Dan Caraway

Rooted Lessons Teacher

Adult Guitar

is a musician and teacher living in Dubuque Iowa. He began playing guitar at 9 and started studying classical guitar in college. He subsequently studied with several of the region’s best classical guitarists and began teaching professionally in 1993 offering private and class instruction at Grinnell College, Cornell College, Iowa City Guitar Foundation, Dubuque Guitar School, as well as various after-school programs.

He has performed here and abroad with various classical, folk and popular groups on guitar, 7-String guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin and voice. He has several recording credits on 7-String and classical guitars.

Megan Gloss

Yoga & Rooted Lesson Teacher

Voice

began her yoga journey at the encouragement of a friend and fellow musician in 2016 at B-1 Yoga in Dubuque. A longtime opera singer with local and regional ties to the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and Madison Opera, she noticed an almost immediate shift in her vocal performance and, with piqued curiosity, decided to explore this new dynamic and its correlation to her instrument. As COVID-19 put the kibosh on much of her scheduled performances in 2020, it also created space for her to complete her Yoga Teacher Training. Megan has since authored multiple articles on the connection between yoga and music for Classical Singer magazine. Teaching at B-1 Yoga, Megan can be found leading traditional vinyasa classes, as well as helping yogis settle into a deep and meditative candlelight yin practice. When not on her mat or on stage, she also is the features editor at the Telegraph Herald, where she covers all things arts and culture, as well as oversees Her magazine.

Danny Zanger

is a local Dubuque Songwriter and Composer. Danny studied Songwriting at McNally Smith College of Music and Composition at Clarke University. Songwriting and Composition have always been a passion of his, writing his first songs at the age of 12. Danny has been a part of several groups over the years as a keyboard player, vocalist, and songwriter including the R&B/Funk outfit, One More Day and the Indie Rock group, Thank You Pizza. Currently, Danny performs his original music in the Dubuque area as a singer-songwriter and with his jazz group— The DZ Combo. Danny believes that well crafted music opens the mind to new perspectives, thoughts, and feelings— that music is a key to understanding and the human connection.

Malia Eugene

Hailing from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, Malia Eugene began piano lessons in early childhood. She was a three-time winner of the Minnesota Music Teacher Association (MMTA) piano competition, and earned consecutive perfect scores at the Minnesota National Federation Competition. She played violin throughout middle school and high school, and was first chair viola with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony (GTCYS). In 2018, Malia began studying voice under Sandra Partridge and was a soprano for the Minnesota All-State Lutheran Choir. She discovered her love for opera and musical theatre, and is now earning her Bachelor's of Arts in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.

Tony Quinn

is living a dream teaching guitar and music. He loved playing and singing music from a young age, but (perhaps mistakenly) decided it wasn’t “practical” to study music in college. He ended up in law school and practiced law in Dubuque for 24 years, with another five years of teaching paralegals at NICC, as well. To keep his sanity, though, he never stopped singing and playing guitar, and he has been a part of too many rock, blues, country, a capella, church, stage musical and gospel performances to count since he returned to the Dubuque area after law school. All told, he has been playing guitar for 45 years. He also has much experience in meditation and other mental wellness and growth practices, and believes in the importance of nurturing those practices from a young age.

Jeremy Jones

has been playing bass guitar for over 30 years, Starting way back in the 90's he toured for 14 years with the christian rock band Sons & Daughters and more recently has played with such musicians as Elizabeth Mary, DZ Combo, DR band, The Struggle, and more. He has been both an elementary and middle school music teacher, along with offering private lessons. In 2022-23, he had the honor of serving as the Show Band Director for Wahlert Catholic High School Impulse.

Madison Mond

was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa. Under the vocal and piano instructor from her grandparents, John and Nancy Lease, she has been immersed in the music world from a young age. She got her start in musical productions at the age of four in Clarke University’s production of, The Secret Garden, where she first met Callie Fitzgerald and Jill Klinebriel. She went on to participate in more musical productions at the Grand Opera House and Bell Tower Theater and began performing the national anthem for numerous events at the age of nine. Once in middle school and high school, she continued her love of music with involvement in show choir and musicals. She recently graduated from the University of South Dakota, majoring in Medical Biology with hopes of admission into medical school in the future. She believes her foundation in music has fundamentally shaped who she is today and is excited to share that experience with others.

Ana Maria Locke

is a clarinetist, artist, and educator based in Iowa city. Ana Maria is a graduate of Troy University and UNC School of the Arts. Her passion for education and music lead her to serve in several nonprofits such as ArtistCorps, Please Pass the Love, and now Centrally Rooted. She has found so much joy working at Centrally Rooted where she is able to organize, draw, design, and create every minute of the day. When she isn’t in her study working on a new project, she can be found exploring Iowa or just listening to some tunes at home while crafting with her husband and 4 year old.

Guest Team Members

Joe Klinebriel

Justin McDermott

Michael Giese

Shannon Patterson-Giese

Drama teacher

Dance & Drama Teacher

David Barba

David Barba is an artist from Prior Lake, Minnesota with several mural projects located in Dubuque, Platteville, Lancaster, and Cuba City, Wisconsin. Dave comes from an art therapy family as is reflected in his passion for helping inspire others to pursue their creative goals. He is currently working as the Director of the Dubuque Area Arts Collective and hosts First Fridays art shows monthly at The Smokestack at 62 East 7th Street, Dubuque, IA.