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Nina Olsen received her bachelors of music in clarinet performance, University of Denver; masters of music in woodwinds, clarinet specialist, University of Michigan; doctor of musical arts in clarinet performance, University of Minnesota. Nina is a member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, performs regularly with Thursday Musical and freelances in the Twin Cities area. Olsen is chair of the Wind, Brass and Percussion department at MacPhail, where she teaches clarinet and saxophone. She is also an adjunct instructor of clarinet at Carleton College and teaches at the International Music Camp in Dunseith, North Dakota.
Joel Abdella, oboe
Bob Adney, percussionist and teacher, has been a part of the Twin Cities music community for 30 years. In that time he has played with virtually every musical organization in the area. He has a discography of over 20 cds performing with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and the Dale Warland Singers. He has accompanied the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra on 4 national tours and two tours of Asia. In Fall 2006 he will join the Minnesota Dance theater in the touring production of Carmina Burana and in May 2007 he will join the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra on their tour of the West Coast, playing works of Ravel and Ligeti. During the summer he is the timpanist for the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra at Lake Harriet, Minneapolis. He regularly freelances with the Mount Olivet Lutheran and Bethlehem Lutheran Churches of Minneapolis and Wooddale Church of Eden Prairie. In addition he is a founding member of the Minnesota Percussion Trio (1987)(minnesotapercussiontrio.com). This group has played in over 550 schools and continues to play throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Adney teaches at Northwestern College (1979), Gustavus Adolphus College (1996) and the MacPhail Center for Music (1976). He has served on the faculties of Hamline, Augsburg, St. Thomas, St. Katherine, St. Cloud State, St. Benedict, Carlton and St. Olaf. He is the author of several self-published instructional books for percussion as well as a handful of arrangements and original compositions for percussion ensemble. Adney was the recipient of the 2001 Faculty Composer Commissioning program via MacPhail Center.
Scott Agster is a freelance trombonist, teacher, composer, and arranger in the Twin Cities area. Scott performs as a full-time member in many local ensembles of different genres including Jazz Quintet (Snowblind), Brass Quintet (Century Brass Quintet), Salsa (Salsa Del Soul), New Orleans Brass Band (Jack Brass Band), Hip-Hop (G8), Blues (Tom Hunter and the Blue Frenzy), and Big Band (Bella Gala Big Band). Scott has also had the opportunity to work and perform with many acclaimed artists including Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, Dave Douglas, Phil Woods, Nicholas Payton, Stefan Karlsson, Slide Hampton, and Paul McKee. Scott has performed internationally at venues such as the Danville Kentucky Great American Brass Band Festival (2008), the Durham Brass Festival in England (2007), the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands (2006), the Iwawa Jazz Festival and Sopot/Gdansk Festival in Poland (2005), the King's Palace in Thailand and the Vancouver Jazz Festival (2004), and the International Trombone Festival in Finland (2003). Aside from performing and writing for professional groups, Scott has developed a teaching style that extends from one on one lessons and masterclasses, to large ensembles. At the University of North Texas he earned a Bachelors of Music in the field of Music Education K-12. Scott's interest in teaching extends from beginners to college students and adults. He currently teaches the Borroughs Elementary Blue Band as well as the Concordia University Jazz Ensemble. Scott is currently pursuing his D.M.A in Trombone Performance and is classified A.B.D. with Tom Ashworth at the University of Minnesota. For more information on Scott’s activities and sound files of his playing, search www.scottagster.com.
Trudi Anderson, flute, received her Bachelor of Music degree from Augsburg College and her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University. In addition to her work at MacPhail, she is a flute instructor at Augsburg College. Trudi has performed as substitute flute/piccolo with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, principal flute/piccolo with Masters Orchestra in St. Paul, Orquestra Filarmonica de Merida in Venezuela and the American Wind Symphony Orchestra in Pittsburgh, PA.
Paul Babcock, percussion instructor, director of Rimshots!. Paul has been a percussion instructor for over 20 years and for the last 17 at MacPhail. During this time at MacPhail, Paul has worked with hundreds of students of varying ages and levels, and taught in numerous settings ranging from lessons to ensembles, to classes with young children and clinics and residencies throughout the state. Paul created the innovative curriculum for the class Percussion for Children of which many graduates went on to successful student careers in percussion. His work with ensembles has taken performing groups throughout the Twin Cities, the United States and abroad. In January 1996, the percussion ensemble Rimshots! was formed and has since recorded two CDs, performed over 250 concerts, toured France, Boston and Chicago, has won several awards, and were featured on the public radio show “From the Top” with Christopher O’Riley. Their group has also worked with over 60 nationally recognized percussionists and musicians in recordings, clinics and special rehearsals. Paul can be seen frequently throughout the Twin Cities as a freelance percussionist in both jazz and classical settings. Paul is also the Executive Vice President at MacPhail.
Marjory Black, French horn & solfege instructor at MacPhail Center for Music, holds a bachelor of music from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master of music from the University of Minnesota. She has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and is a member of the Minnesota Woodwind Quintet and the Mill City Brass Quintet and has performed with the Minnesota Chorale, Oratorio Society and Greater Twin Cities’ Youth Symphonies. A former member of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Denver Symphony and Honolulu Symphony. She is also on the faculty at Hamline University where she teaches French horn.
Josh Cameron, trumpet , is a freelance performer and teacher in the Twin Cities area. A Minnesota native, Josh graduated from Anoka High School where he was intensely involved in the music department. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in performance from St. Olaf College where he participated in the orchestras, bands, even a couple choirs and also played lead trumpet in the Jazz Ensemble. Josh recently completed his Master of Music degree in performance at the University of Minnesota, playing in the wind ensemble and orchestra, lead for Jazz I Big Band as well as performing with a jazz combo and brass quintet. He has studied under such teachers as Martin Hodel ( St. Olaf), David Baldwin (U of M), and Gary Bordner (SPCO, U of M), has toured internationally with various ensembles and performed in such places as the Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center in New York, and Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, once as a featured soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra.
Josh Carlson, percussionist and instructor, received his Bachelor of Arts from Gustavus Adolphus College. While an undergrad, he studied percussion with Bob Adney, timpani with Peter Kogan, and drum set with Dave Hanzel. He plays regularly with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Minnesota Ballet Theater, Duluth Festival Opera, Minnesota Percussion Trio, Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church’s Minneapolis and West Campuses, and the Northern Lights Music Festival. When not wearing a tux he can be seen playing drum set with his funk/jazz group Organ Donors around the Midwest. In addition to MacPhail, Josh is the percussion instructor at Wayzata High School, and is the percussion coach with Minnesota Youth Symphonies.
Stephen Grove, instructor of tuba, received his Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University and his Master of Music from Baylor University. His principal teachers include Arnold Jacobs, Abraham Torchinsky, Paul Kryzwicki and David Kirk. In addition to MacPhail, Stephen has also taught at Baylor University. He has performed such festivals as the Spoleto Music Festival, Waterloo Music, Aspen Music and Eastern Music. He is currently the principal tubist with the Duluth Superior Symphony and former principal tubist with the Waco Symphony and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra.
Paula Gudmundson, flutist, is an active recitalist and freelance musician in the Twin Cities. She has been a teaching artist at MacPhail Center for Music since 2001. Along with individual instruction she conducts Flute Ensembles, teaches in several Community Partnerships and is involved in the Early Childhood Music Program.
Ms. Gudmundson is an active performing artist in Vocal Essences’ Witness Program. Paula is also a former Board Member of the Upper Midwest Flute Association (UMFA) and former Chair of the Visual Documentation Committee of the National Flute Association. She is also a teaching artist at the St. Paul Conservatory of Music and the International Music Camp in Dunseith, ND.
A South Hadley, Massachusetts native, Paula’s major teachers include Valerie Watts, Adrianne Greenbaum, Alex Ogle, Ernestine Whitman, Terri Sundberg and Immanuel Davis. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from Lawrence University and a Masters of Music Degree in Flute Performance from the University of North Texas. For more information about upcoming performances check out her website at: www.paulagudmundson.com
Julie Johnson began playing the flute at the age of 10 in Graceton, MN, a small town on the Canadian border. At 15, an Artist-Mentor scholarship gave her the opportunity to study with Susan Nelson, professor of flute at Bemidji State University. At Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN, she studied with Trudi Anderson, and played principal flute in both the orchestra and band. She was also a two-time winner of the Concerto/Aria Competition, and served as principal flute of the Minnesota Inter-Collegiate Honor Band under the direction of Frederick Fenell. In 1999, Julie served as co-principal flute of the Rome Festival Orchestra, having received a Career Opportunity Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to spend a month in Italy performing there. She has also performed with the Duluth/Superior Symphony Orchestra, the Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, has served as principal flute of the Balcones Orchestra (Austin, TX) and was a guest soloist with the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble. In the spring of 2004, she was invited to study with Sibel Kumru-Pensel in Antibes, France, where she was a featured soloist in two chamber recitals. She was a performer at the Fete de la Flute in Menton, France in the spring of 2005. www.julieflute.com
Greg Keel, saxophone, is on the faculty at MacPhail Center for Music, Normandale College in Minneapolis and UW-Eau Claire. Mr. Keel attended the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, Madison and Concordia College in St. Paul. He has performed on the tours of Mel Torme, The Temptations, Andy Williams, The O’Jays, Frankie Valli, Natalie Cole and Bob Hope. Mr. Keel is also a MacPhail resident instructor for the IDDS, MJDS and Henry High School Music Programs. He also hosts Saxophone Day, an annual clinic at MacPhail. Greg’s jazz students have received recognition from Down Beat magazine, with outstanding college soloist winners in the magazine’s Student Music Awards, and as members of the Outstanding College Big Band.
Rena Kraut is Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at St. Cloud State University. She holds positions with the Duluth-Superior and Green Bay Symphony Orchestras, and has also performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kraut holds degrees from Northwestern University and Rice University, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota. A busy teacher and clinician in the Twin Cities, she works with Eden Prairie and Southwest High Schools and with the MacPhail Community Partnership program.
Laurie Hatcher Merz received her B.M. degree from the Eastman School of Music and M.M> degree from the University of Minnesota. Ms. Merz is presently second bassoon in the Minnesota Opera Orchestra. She also free-lances in the Twin Cities area, performing with various groups including the Minnesota Sinfonia and Vocal Essence. In addition to performing, Laurie teaches bassoon at Augsburg College, the MacPhail Center for the Arts and the University of St. Thomas, and sells her hand-made bassoon reeds.
Bill Olson holds a BM in saxophone performance from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a MM from the Eastman School of Music. Bill has performed with such diverse groups as the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Voices, and the Gap Mangione Big Band. Bill has toured Asia as principle saxophonist of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and was lead alto saxophonist with the nationally recognized UW Eau-Claire Jazz Ensemble. In 2002 Bill was the winner of DownBeat Magazine's “Best Classical Soloist" Student Music Award. Bill has attended the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles, and has been a musician onboard Princess and Holland America Cruise Ships. Bill currently teaches woodwind lessons at McNally Smith College of Music and the Minnesota Valley Academy and performs at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre as well as with various local groups including Five By Design.
Sandra Powers has been a member of the teaching faculty at MacPhail Center for the Arts since 1993. She received her bachelor’s degree in clarinet performance from the Eastman School of Music, and master of music degrees and performer’s certificate degree from Northwestern University. Sandra is currently principal clarinetist with the Minnesota Opera, and with VocalEssence as well as doing a wide variety of freelancing, ranging from the 3 tenors, to the Moody Blues. When not immersed in music, Sandra is usually traveling to the western states of the U.S. to rock climb.
Steve Roehm has been teaching music in the Twin Cities since 1995. In January 2004, he joined the MacPhail faculty, where he teaches percussion, Cargill Scholars and the youth and adult rock ensembles. Steve’s ten years of professional performance experience includes touring the country with hard rock, funk, pop, and swing groups. Locally, you may have heard him perform with Matt Wilson, Vic Volare and Volare Lounge Orchestra, The Flops, Dan Schwartz, Clay Moore. His recent/current projects include Rhombus (bass and vocals), Your Neighborhood Trio (vibraphone), and Electropolis (drum set and percussion.) As a studio musician, he has recorded for Dan Wilson, Chan Poling, Ashe & Spencer, and many others. Steve’s six years of formal jazz education at the University of North Texas included music theory, arranging, and performance on drum set, vibraphone, marimba, piano and percussion.
Kelly Rossum is gaining an international reputation as a creative force in the definition of modern jazz. It is difficult to describe his style as anything but unique – combining the traditions of swing, bop, and free jazz with the innovations of electronica, ambient, and trance music. He has appeared on over 20 CD recordings as well as studio sessions for Asche & Spencer. His most recent release as a leader is titled Line; and both Electropolis and the Out To Lunch Quintet have recently released eponymous CDs. He currently coordinates the jazz program at MacPhail Center for Music. Visit www.krossum.com for more information about Kelly and his performance schedule.
Takako Seimiya, Candidate for Doctor of Music Degree, trumpet performance, University of Minnesota. Takako has performed numerous subscription concerts and recent recording with Minnesota Orchestra. She was selected for a tour of Japan with the Minnesota Orchestra in 2001. Also played various kinds of Ensemble, Summit Hill Brass Quintet, Jazz Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Brass Choir and Orchestra. Have been teaching over 100 students in various high schools and music studios. Has taught as an adjunct faculty for trumpet at St. Cloud State University and currently as an adjunct faculty at Concordia University – St. Paul.
Eric Strom has been an educator at MacPhail since 1998. He teaches private lessons, Percussion Ensemble I, Percussion for Children (an introductory course for second and third grade students) and works with several community partnerships including Inter-District Downtown School, Minneapolis Jewish Day School, Whittier Community School for the Arts, Emerson Spanish Immersion Learning Center, Cargill Scholars, and MetLife Programs. He is also Director of the Kennedy Percussion Group at Kennedy High School in Bloomington which explores music performance through concert percussion literature and percussion traditions around the world such as Ghanaian drumming, frame drumming, and has established Minnesota’s premiere high school taiko ensemble.
Strom is President of the Percussive Arts Society, Minnesota Chapter - a music service organization promoting percussion education, research, performance and appreciation throughout the world. He is a member of the Minnesota Percussion Trio and the sibling percussion duo Times Two, and is founder of the Impulse Percussion Ensemble. He has performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), is a former member of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps and can be heard on the debut CD releases of Bobby Llama and the Snakehips.
Jim ten Bensel has been a mainstay in the Twin Cities music scene for many years. His interests range from classical to jazz and he is the current director of the Minneapolis Trombone Choir. He has played with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, Henry Mancini Orchestra, the Moldy Figs, and for the past 25 years, has been the lead trombonist in the Minnesota Orchestra Big Band. Voted best mainstream jazz trombone by the Minnesota Music Academy in 1986, he currently teaches a jazz combo at MacPhail Center for the Arts as well as teaching private trombone.
Christopher Thomson has been playing music since he was 6 years old, first on piano, then discovering saxophone at age 11. He has been in love with music ever since. After studying at Lawrence University and the University of Minnesota, Chris toured the United States, Canada, Caribbean, and Japan with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for just over a year. Since returning to Minneapolis, the past 5 years have been dedicated to performing with and developing original music projects such as Afrobeat band Yawo and Les Fils Attivon; working with jazz groups Spirit of Chanhassen, Enormous Quartet, and Kelly Rossum Quintet. Of late, Thomson’s main projects include a collaboration with Tim Glenn and three modern dancers, a commission by the Jerome Foundation to compose a piece for the JazzIsNow Orchestra.
Carrie Vecchione, oboe, performs in the Twin Cities and around the country in orchestras, as a chamber musician, and as a soloist. She is a substitute with the Minnesota Orchestra. In 2005-06 she was Principal Oboe for the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. She has premiered, among other works, the Concerto for English horn by Timothy Goplerud, and Transformations for Oboe and String Orchestra by Dinos Constantinides. She performs at many national conferences and has soloed in the Carnegie Weill Recital Hall. Carrie has been recorded as soloist in music by Dinos Constantinides, in chamber music by Jay Weigel, and as a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. She can also be heard on various Disney on Ice and Hal Leonard productions and been broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio.
Carrie has taught at St. Olaf College and Ball State University, at the Sewanee Summer Music Center in Tennessee and the International Music Camp at the International Peace Gardens between North Dakota and Manitoba. She has been an adjudicator and clinician on both the local and national levels. She received Doctoral and Bachelor degrees from Louisiana State University, and her Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her teachers have included Joseph Robinson, Earnest Harrison and Mark Ostoich.
Mary Halverson Waldo received her bachelor of arts degree in music from the College of St. Scholastica and her master of music degree from the New England Conservatory. She has been a recorder and flute instructor at MacPhail Center for Music in both the Suzuki and traditional methods for eight years. Her articles have appeared in the American Suzuki Journal, the American Recorder magazine, and the ARTA (American Recorder Teachers Assoc.) newsletter, "ARTAfacts". Mary performs recorder and baroque flute with Trinity Chamber Players and directs the Trinity Episcopal Church (Excelsior) inter-generational orchestra. Her recordings include "Take Me North" with Twin Cities composer, Wynne Ann Rossi and she enjoys historical dance as a hobby.
Janis Weller is an internationally recognized leader and innovator in career development for musicians. As founder/director of The Elision Institute, she provides workshops and residencies, college and career teaching, coaching, and advising for individuals, writes for various publications, and designs curricula for musicians and the institutions that train, support, and employ them. She teaches career development courses at the University of Minnesota School of Music, and is acting Music Business Area Head at the University of St. Thomas. Janis teaches flute and directs the Falcon Flute Choir at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and teaches flute and Performance Wellness at MacPhail Center for Music. She will teach a new keystone course for fine arts students at Augsburg College this fall.
Janis performs throughout the Twin Cities area and has a special fondness for working with living composers. She has premiered over 100 new works in her career, and been part of more than thirty commissions and numerous recording projects.
Janis was appointed the U.S. representative commissioner for the International Society for Music Education Commission on the Education of the Professional Musician in 2005 and will present "Creating a Life in Music: Theory to Praxis" at the next commission seminar in Hanoi, Vietnam in July, 2006. In February 2006, she presented Casting a New Spell: Mindful Teaching and Learning in the Music Lesson at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She recently presented papers on career topics and authentic vocation for the ISME-CEPROM in Barcelona, Spain, and at St. Olaf College and University of Michigan at conferences of the College Music Society. She presented papers at the University of Wisconsin—Madison National Careers Conference 2005. Janis is author of “Bowing for Dollars: Exploring Careers in Music,” and “The Whole Musician: Journey to Authentic Vocation,” along with numerous articles, book chapters, and presentations.
Janis holds an M.A. in Human Development from St. Mary’s University and is currently a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at the University of St. Thomas. She received her undergraduate degree in music education from Luther College, and completed graduate studies in flute and musicology at the University of Minnesota. She is a trainer in Performance Wellness, based in New York, studying with Dr. Louise Montello.
Janis and her husband David are recent empty nesters and parents of two artist sons--an animator in LA and a rock drummer/photographer in the Twin Cities.
