Faculty

Steve Jennings
sjennings@mcnallysmith.edu
Ensemble Deparment Head
Faculty Member Since: 2009
Primary Department: Ensemble
Secondary Department: Percussion
Formal Education:BA in Music from Luther College

Professional Experience: As a drummer, Steve has explored many musical styles in the past 24 years including:  jazz, rock, r & b, soul, gospel, country, funk, bluegrass, and classical. He works with modern rock songwriter David Levin, the electric bluegrass band Over & Back, jazz / blues vocalist and actress Regina Williams, and leads his own modern jazz ensemble Story City.  Steve has performed and/or toured with such diverse artists as blues guitar legend Ron Thompson, the Platters, Yukiko Isomura, Jevetta Steele, Dan Aykroyd, Denis DeBlasio, Brian Gallagher, the Coasters, Connie Evingson, Julius Collins, John McCutcheon, and the late Bobby Peterson among many others.

Steve is the Director for the St. Cloud Area Jazz Bands, teaches privately and has mentored young musicians from Minnesota to Mexico. He has also studied with John Vidacovich, Ed Soph, & Phil Hey. With a BA in Music from Luther College, Steve is pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership from Augsburg College.   
 

Aaron Barnell
Primary Department: Ensemble
Secondary Department: Percussion
Formal Education: BS Music Performance, University of Wisconsin, River Falls

Professional Experience: Dan Wilson (Semisonic), Peter Ostrusko, A Prairie Home Companion Radio Show, Bill T. Jones/Arne Zane Dance Company (NYC), Dance in the Dark (Southern Theater Mpls), Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (Washington DC), Composed original score for the feature film Strange As Angels and Theater Production The House That Crack Built, Trans World Aire Media Installation with film maker Craig Baldwin (Walker Art Center, Mpls). Other teaching experience: Concordia College (St Paul, MN), Jazz Camp West (San Francisco), World Cultures Magnet (St Paul, MN), Seward Montessori (Mpls), Cottage Grove Junior High (MN), Crestview Elementary, Guest Artist Teaching: Walker Art Center, Carlton College, Breck High School. Other training: Private study with : Afro-Caribbean Drumming Scholar and Master Drummer John Amira, Cuban Master Drummer John Santos, Frame Drum Master Glen Valez, Brazilian Master Drummer Nana, Ghanaian Master Drummer Sowah Mensah, MacPhail School for the Arts (Mpls), Eastern Music Festival (Greensboro, NC).

Steve Faison
sfaison@mcnallysmith.edu
Assistant Department Head, Ensembles; Director of Outreach
Primary Department: Ensemble
Secondary Department: Voice

Professional Experience: Steve is one of the most versatile performers in the Twin Cities, working as an instrumentalist, guitar, bass, percussion, vocalist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer in sessions and live performances. Steve has performed locally, nationally, and internationally, and is best known for his vocal work with Samoa and Moore by Four. He has studied under such notables as Fran Colby, Ed Shaughnessy, Owen Clark, and Ron Keezer.

Charles Fletcher
cfletcher@mcnallysmith.edu
Primary Department: Bass
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:M.M. Suny New York, B.A. Bucknell University

Professional Experience: An accomplished electric bassist, Charles brings his 4-string, 5-string, and 6-string fretted and fretless bass talents to a wide variety of performances. He has worked with accomplished acts, including Jimmy Valentine, Lamont Cranston, Doug Maynard, Mick Sterling, and the TC Jammers, among others. Charles has also performed with regional and national jazz groups Northcoast and Glen Helgeson’s Axis Mundi.

Dr. Jay Fuchs
Department Head, Music Theory
Faculty Member Since: 1992
Primary Department: Music Theory
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education: Ph.D. Music Theory and Composition, University of Minnesota; M.A. Music Theory and Composition, University of Minnesota; B.A. Voice, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Professional Experience: 20 years as a band leader, singer and piano player; 15 years as a college teacher; composer of orchestral and choral works: author of a Music Theory book; and recently served as a music consultant to the Science Museum of Minnesota on their exhibit called Wild Music, which is about music in nature.  Jay has been a teacher at McNally Smith College for over 15 years, leading the Music Theory Department for over 10 years. He earned his B.A. degree in vocal performance at Minnesota State University in Moorhead, then went on to earn a M.A. and Ph.D. in Music Theory and Composition at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Jay is very active as a performer, doing close to 100 gigs each year.  He leads the popular Twin Cities’ band Metro Jam and, along with Erin Schwab, is a popular cabaret singer and piano player.  In his spare time he writes music, mostly choral compositions. Jay has written several music textbooks as well. His Music Fundamentals book is the primary textbook used for the first semester of music theory at McNally Smith College. 

Dave Jensen
djensen@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 1999
Primary Department: Brass and Woodwinds
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education: Summa Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music

Professional Experience: Dave Jensen is a member of Hornheads, a Billboard magazine award-winning a capella jazz group. As a group, they have released three solo albums. They have also recorded eight concept albums for Target corporation. As a horn section, they have recorded for artists in the US, Japan, Argentina, Denmark, Portugal, and the UK. From 1991 through 2001, the Hornheads recorded nine albums with Prince and the New Power Generation. This includes three Gold, and two Platinum albums with international sales of more than twenty million. During this time, they toured and performed with Prince throughout the world. Before Prince, Dave spent three years on tour with the Artie Shaw Orchestra. This included the PBS special “Ballroom Dancing” with Bobby Short and Juliet Prouse. His trumpet and flugelhorn can also be heard on the recordings of Chaka Khan,”Come to my house”; Larry Graham, “GCS 2000”; Mandy Moore, “Coverage”; Mavis Staples, “The Voice”; Phil Upchurch, “Love is Strange”; Tevin Campbell, “Get Ready”; Pedro Abrunhosa, “Tempo”; Carmen Electra, “Carmen Electra”; Ricky Peterson, “A Tear Can Tell”; Ben Sidran, Bruce Henry, Prudence Johnson, Debbie Duncan, Lucia Newell, Connie Evingson, Dave Graf, George Avaloz, Klezmerica, Pete Whitman’s X-Tet, The Steeles, The JazzMN Big Band, and others. Dave works as a musician for Broadway shows. He has also performed Duke Ellington’s “Nutcracker Suite” with the Minnesota Orchestra. Performances with touring artists have included Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Billy Eckstine, Natalie Cole, Rosemary Clooney and many others. He graduated Suma Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music.

Jerry Kosak
jkosak@mcnallysmith.edu
Department Head, Guitar
Faculty Member Since: 2003
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education: M.M. Northern Arizona University, B.M. Arizona State University

Professional Experience: Performances with Don Ross, Tommy Emmanuel, Andy McKee, Walnut Valley Festival, and the Canadian Guitar Festival.  Former guitar instructor at Northern Arizona University.  Winner of the Zeitgeist Eric Stokes Song Contest 2000 and 2001. Jerry has an artist endorsement from National Resophonic Guitars and Petros Guitars, is a recording artist with Candy Rat Records, and has release 2 CD's Many Dances and Sounds Like This.

Peggy Larson
plarson@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 2005
Primary Department: Voice
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:MA in Ethnomusicology, Bethel University, Minnesota; BA in Vocal Performance, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN

Professional Experience: Peggy Larson has an extensive career as a jazz singer, voice teacher, and choral director specializing in improvised jazz and world music.

Based in the Netherlands for many years, Peggy is known her work with own her own avant-garde jazz band and numerous other Dutch jazz groups. She is recognized as a leader in choral music and founded the ground-breaking improvising jazz choir Tamam and world music group Peggy’s Angels. She has toured in many European countries and appears on numerous recordings.

In Minnesota, Peggy gives both group and private voice lessons, directs choirs, and has continued her work in world music with a Master’s Degree study of diverse European vocal music styles.

She taught voice and vocal pedagogy at the Amsterdam and Rotterdam Conservatories for many years and returns to the Netherlands every summer to teach her sold-out workshops for  Buitenkunst.

Tim Lyles
tlyles@mcnallysmith.edu
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:Berklee College of Music, B.P.S. Memphis State University

Professional Experience: Tim's career includes a wide range of accomplishments in television production, recording studio session work, producing, arranging, engineering, studio management, and multi-instrumental live performance. Having studied with Memphis area sessionmen and Bill Bresnahan in Boston, his university studies culminated in working with artist-in-residence, Aaron Copland, and visiting artists, Gunther Schuller and electronic music pioneer, Vladimir Ussachevsky. Tim has toured nationally in a 14-piece horn band and shared the stage with Carole King, The Beach Boys, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Merle Haggard, Ann Margaret, and many more. He also maintains a long-running contingent of private guitar students.

Ric Oliva
roliva@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 2007
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:B.M. Berklee College of Music – Contemporary Writing and Production
General Education:Ric has been playing guitar for over 20 years and has been teaching guitar and songwriting since 1997.  Since graduating Magna Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music where he received the Peter Koleta award for Commercial Arranging, he's had the honor of sharing the stage with members of The Sounds of Blackness, The New Power Generation, The Steele Family, and many great local and national touring acts.  He's also had the honor of opening for rock legends Pat Benetar, Peter Frampton, and Huey Lewis and The News.  Before joining the faculty at McNally Smith he was teaching at The West Bank School of Music in Minneapolis and still teaches privately in Bloomington at The Nechville Center for Music and maintains a rigorous performance schedule.

Michael Pilhofer
mpilhofer@mcnallysmith.edu
Department Head, Ensembles
Primary Department: Ensemble
Secondary Department: Music Theory
Tertiary Department: Percussion
Formal Education:M.M. (Education) Eastman School of Music, B.M. (Jazz Studies) University of Miami, Florida

Professional Experience: Professional Musician and Recording Artist for over 18 Yrs, worked with national artists such as: Joe Lovano, Marian McPartland, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, Bill Holman, Wycliffe Gordon, Peter Erskine and Gene Bertoncini in addition to some of finest musicians in the Twin Cities. Other teaching experience: Private Studio Instructor; Mid-West area Clinician & Educator; Adjunct Director of Jazz Southwest High School, Minneapolis Public Schools; Director of Contemporary Music, Maple Grove High School, Osseo MN;  (’00-‘02). Awards and Honors: Jazz Drumset and Jazz Ensemble Teaching Assistantships Eastman School of Music; Downbeat Magazine Award “Best Instrumental Jazz Small Group” (’99), Memberships:  AFM Local 30-73. Other Training: Certifications: K-12 Instrumental Music.

Bobby Stanton
bstanton@mcnallysmith.edu
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:B.M. Berklee College of Music

Professional Experience: Bobby’s extensive career includes playing with James Taylor, Garrison Keillor, Mark O'Connor, the Shirelles, Bo Diddley, the Coasters, the Marvelettes, the Platters, and Richie Havens, to name a few. He has also been featured on “A Prairie Home Companion” and “A Welcome Home Christmas.”

Pete Whitman
pwhitman@mcnallysmith.edu
Department Head, Brass & Woodwinds
Faculty Member Since: 1998
Primary Department: Brass and Woodwinds
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:MM in Jazz Studies University of North Texas; BM in Jazz Studies (UNT).

Professional Experience: Pete has spent over 25 years teaching and playing professionally as a saxophonist, flutist, and clarinetist. He has toured the U.S., Japan, and Brazil with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and has also performed with such distinguished ensembles and musicians as the Minnesota Orchestra, Jack McDuff, Curtis Fuller, the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Jazz MN Big Band, JAZZAX saxophone quartet, Andres Prado and Laura Caviani. Whitman has also recorded extensively as a sideman and has three CD’s out under his name: “Departure Point” (Igmod Records) “The Sound of  Water”(Artegra) and "Where’s When" (Artegra). His latest CD, “Where’s When” features the X-tet, a ten-piece ensemble led by Whitman received a four star rating by Downbeat Magazine (Feb.04).