top of page
Instructors
Ben Rector Nathan Holterman
Ben Rector is the founder and owner of King City Guitar and holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Guitar Performance from Portland State University. He is a guitarist, composer/songwriter, performer, multi-instrumentalist and teacher with 27 years-experience as a professional musician. Ben has traveled North America and the World as far as Canada and Pakistan performing and teaching. He has taught for several school districts including Oregon City, Canby, Molalla and Portland and educated in several private institutions. Community activities include giving master classes at benefits for the US state dept's international relations program and being on the board of directors for the non-profit Siempre la Guitatrra music festival. Ben plays a myriad of styles, specializing in Rock, Metal, Blues, Classical, Country and Folk and teaches Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano, Ukulele, and Music Theory.
Nathan Holterman discovered classical guitar in 2003. Since then he has studied with Portland guitarists Pamela Goldsmith and Jesse McCann. He has also performed in numerous master classes for some of the best players in the World, including Manuel Barrueco, Jason Vieaux, and Martha Masters. Nathan has placed in international competitions as a finalist and been a featured artist at events for the Portland Guitar Society. He graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelors of Music in Classical Guitar Performance in 2014. Nathan is also proficient in many other styles of music such as Folk, Blues, Rock, Country, and Fusion and his influences range from Roland Dyens and Paco de Lucia to Jimmy Hendrix and Jeff Beck. His career as a teacher started in 2013, and he has been carefully honing his craft ever since. He teaches Guitar, Bass, Ukulele and Music Theory. While Classical Guitar remains at the center of Nathan's Technique, we are excited to see where his musical journey will take him next!
Reviews
“Nathan is a great teacher, I've been taking lessons from him now for several months and I have learned more than I could have imagined! If you are looking for someone to teach you how to play and make music while learning the theory behind it, I highly recommend Nathan Holterman!” - Josiah,
19 year-old student
​
"My daughter had guitar lessons with Ben for a handful of years. She learned so much so quickly…the recitals blew us away. He formed a band with her and a few of his other students. It was awesome watching them perform at a couple of local venues. I miss watching her play with them and am now just grateful she took her guitar to college with her!"
- Krista Neal, Parent of Former Student
“Working with Ben in a variety of musical and educational settings over our 18 year friendship has always been a pleasure! Ben brings a great skill set of musicianship, real world experience and articulate communication to the table.”
- David Tutmark, Professor of Guitar - Clackamas Community College
"Ben is a tremendous music teacher. Always there to help, he is full of insight into how music works-both theory and practice. He has that rare talent of listening to his students, and then leading them in whatever unique way they need to learn at that time in their lives."
- Ken Hall,
Retired Architect / Guitar Student of 8 years
bottom of page