About

A life-long musical journey at your unique pace

In 2026, Andante Studio celebrated its fifth anniversary of providing lessons to the greater Dane and Jefferson County communities!

Andante Studio was born out of the idea that music lessons can be catered to the unique needs and educational goals of each student. Whether you aspire to play the great works of J.S. Bach and Frederic Chopin, or you simply want to play that amazing song you heard on the radio, from a musical, and even from a video game, my job is to help you realize those dreams - one step at a time!

Andante is a musical term meaning “walking tempo.” We walk together on the path to life-long musical enjoyment and passion! I will equip you with the skills you need to enjoy music both as a player and a listener. I will work with you on developing your technique at the instrument, helping you understand the complex language of music, and help you fine-tune your aural skills so you become a more acute listener and audience participant at concerts and recitals.

Each lesson is custom-designed to work with the student at their unique style of learning. Whether you have fifteen minutes or an hour each day to devote to practicing, I will work with you to find a pace of learning that keeps you positive, confident, and upbeat about the journey! I look forward to joining you on this path – step by step – to realize your musical potential!

Meet Julie Baskinger

Julie has been an active music instructor for over twenty-five years throughout Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and New Jersey. She earned degrees from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music and from the University of Oklahoma where she studied under world-renowned piano pedagogue, Dr. Jane Magrath (Masterworks Classics, A Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature). Upon graduating with a dual-emphasis master’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy, Julie earned a nationally-coveted internship at the prestigious New School for Music Study in Princeton, NJ. Here, she spent a year training and studying under world-renowned lecturer and pedagogy Marvin Blickenstaff (Musical Pathways) and eventually remained as full-time faculty for four years. Upon returning to Wisconsin, she became a Program Director for twelve years at Prairie Music & Arts in Sun Prairie, WI. She taught a variety of classes from early childhood (Musikgarten trained), group piano, music theory, and honors piano (a program she helped implement). She also tailored and created a school-wide piano curriculum, with partnership from the New School, entitled Piano Progressions, which served to unite the piano faculty in common teaching goals, as well as implemented a piano adjudication festival and recital. Julie also taught classroom music K-4 for three years at Charis Classical Academy. Julie’s music students have won state festival prizes, first-place ratings at Solo & Ensemble, and have been invited to prestigious music camps and festivals offered as far as New York City. She also volunteers her time at church playing on Sundays and is a frequent adjudicator for WI District Solo & Ensemble fesitvals. She regularly partners with the Deerfield Community Schools as an accompanist for the MS and HS choir programs. Julie also continues to perform on clarinet whenever possible. Some of her favorite projects have included mentoring young piano students by observing and critiquing their lessons, and she enjoys having students from area colleges observe her lessons at Andante Studio. Julie continues to play clarinet whenever possible. A clarinet performance of hers was featured in an original composition recording for a ballet company performance of The Book of Psalms in Florida. She’s been happily married to her husband, Sam, since 2006. Together, they have a son named Chase (a budding musician on piano and clarinet as well as an avid basketball player), and a sweet and cuddly Westie named Cooper. She enjoys outdoor activities, baking, camping and traveling whenever possible, sudoku and logic puzzles, and daily Wordle competitions with her extended family.