Griggs Music has provided Eastern Iowa and Northwest Illinois with excellence in musical instrument sales and service since 1903. In 2002 we began providing weekly service to Cedar Rapids area schools and in 2010 we opened our unique and friendly shop on Center Point Road. We invite you to visit our store to see the great selection of beginning band and orchestra instruments and to speak with our knowledgeable and experienced sales representatives who are also talented musicians! Stop by soon. Let’s talk music!
Christin Hart Thompson has been playing violin for over 20 years.She began her studies at age 11 and has been in love with the instrument and classical music ever since. Christin comes to us after spending several years as an orchestral violinist working with organizations such as the Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Symphony, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and a number of other symphonies. She is also a violin teacher and has worked with students ranging from 8 to 60 years of age. Christin is presently working on her Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Memphis in violin performance, and holds degrees from Baylor University, M.M., and the University of North Texas.
Double bassist and electric bassist Richard Wagorcurrently resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mr. Wagor, in earning his BA in music from the University of Iowa and a MM from Manhattan School of Music, has worked with various teachers including Eldon Obrecht, Diana Gannett, Homer Mensch, and Robert Kassinger. Mr. Wagor has also performed in a wide variety of professional settings. Mr. Wagor has played orchestrally as a member of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, as principal bassist with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and as both assistant principal and principal bassist with the Dubuque Symphony. Additionally, Richard has performed as a substitute bassist with the Des Moines Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, the Quad Cities Symphony, the Illinois Symphony, The Arkansas Symphony, the Brazos Valley Symphony, the Delta Symphony, the Kenosha Symphony, the Austin (Texas) Symphony, and others. Mr. Wagor has also played other genres of music with Bobby McFerrin, Sutton Foster, Sachal Vasandani, Five by Design, Leni Stern, Adam Schroeder, Love is Here to Stay: A Gershwin Experience, the Five Seasons Jazz Trio, the Roots of Rhythm Trio, Pat Smith, Jennifer Lee, Tim Daugherty, the Yale Repertory Theater, NOWIS, the Bill Shepherd Big Band, the Rod Pierson Not-So-Big Band, Ben Schmidt, Peter Hart, and the Bernemann Brothers Band to mention a few. As a teacher, Mr. Wagor has formerly held positions with the University of Northern Iowa; the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp; Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa; The Eastern Iowa Arts Academy; and teaches at the Cedar Rapids based Five Seasons Chamber Music Festival each June.
