Faculty

Kevin Daley
Kevin.Daley@mcnallysmith.edu
Primary Department: Guitar
Formal Education:Berklee College of Music, Diploma

Professional Experience: As a freelance guitarist, Kevin has worked in a variety of styles and venues ranging from Broadway shows at the Ordway to performances with the New Music Theatre Ensemble and Zeitgeist. Having performed with both jazz and pop groups, Kevin has been a Minnesota Music Award recipient for top jazz-fusion guitarist.

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

Professional Experience:

Jerry has performed on shows with Don Ross, Tommy Emmanuel, Bob Brozman, and Andy McKee. He was a featured performer at major festivals including the Walnut Valley Festival, Canadian Guitar Festival, and National Resophonic Festival. Jerry's teaching experience includes being a member of the faculty at Northern Arizona University and MacPhail Center for Music and he was the winner of the Zietgiest Eric Stokes Song Contest in 2000 and 2001. 

Jerry was the recipient of Jerome Foundation Grant and has received Artist Endorsements from National Resophonic Guitars and Petros Guitars. A member of ASCAP, the Minnesota Guitar Society and the American Composers Forum, Jerry has recorded two CDs of original music for solo guitar, "Many Dances" and "Sounds Like This."

His compositions "Matagalpa" and "Many Dances" garnered him awards. His compositions range in style from classical to blues to modern progressive acoustic. As a performer, Jerry is usually found sharing the stage with his pedal board and rack of gear featuring the Gibson Echoplex.

Mike Krajewski
Mike.Krajewski@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 2007
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: General Education
Tertiary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:D.M.A. University of Minnesota (in progress) - Guitar Performance with a Secondary Emphasis in Music Education; M.M. Georgia State University – Jazz Studies, B.M. Berklee College of Music – Professional Music. Classical guitar studies with John Sutherland.

Professional Experience:

Mike has performed throughout the northeast and metro Atlanta areas in various Jazz, Rock, Funk, Country, Big Band, and Theater groups. An honors graduate from Berklee College of Music and Georgia State University, Mike has been teaching for almost twenty years. He is the author of “The Complete Beginning Guitarist” and well as a wealth of educational materials that will soon be released in an upcoming book.

Before joining the faculty at McNally Smith, Mike taught at Georgia State University (as a graduate assistant), Atlanta Institute of Music and the Lovett School. During the summer of 2009 Mike played guitar for the premier of “Power Balladz” at the Lab Theater in Minneapolis. He maintains an active home studio in Woodbury, MN.

Currently, Mike is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Guitar Performance under Jeffery Van at the University of Minnesota with a secondary emphasis in Music Education under the guidance of Dr. Scott Lipscomb. His interests include advanced improvisational techniques, the integration of technology in music education, assessment in music performance, and curriculum development. Mike plays Kenny Hill classical guitars. He is an active member of the College Music Society, Guitar Foundation of America, and Association for Technology in Music Instruction.

Paul Krueger
Paul.Krueger@mcnallysmith.edu
Primary Department: Guitar
Formal Education:B.M. Berklee College of Music

Professional Experience: Having studied under guitar greats Bill Leavitt, Mike Ihde, and Larry Baione, Paul toured eight years with various shows and rock bands throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has also played with the Chanhassen Dinner Theater Pit Orchestra for the musicals Oklahoma, Cats, Mamma Mia, and The Full Monty.

Tim Lyles
Tim.Lyles@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 2003
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.

Michael Menard
Mike.Menard@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 2003
Primary Department: Music Theory
Secondary Department: Guitar
Formal Education:B.M. and M.M. in Classical Guitar Performance, University of Minnesota with Jeffrey Van and James McGuire

Professional Experience: Michael Menard is an accomplished classical guitarist and guitar teacher with the ability to play and teach many styles of music. Upon receiving his Masters Degree, Michael was asked to return to teach at The University of Minnesota, and continues to do so. He also teaches guitar at the Math and Science Academy in Woodbury, Eden Prairie High School, the Saint Paul Conservatory, and of course McNally Smith College of Music. Michael also has his own studio where he teaches students of all ages. In addition to teaching, Michael plays at a variety of venues all over the Twin Cities. Other teaching experience: Math and Science Academy in Woodbury, Eden Prairie High School, and the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music.

Brian Metreyeon
Brian.Metreyeon@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 2007
Primary Department: Guitar
Formal Education:Studied with Brett Garsed and Scott Henderson while attending Musicians Institute.  Graduated from California State University Chico with a B.A. in music.  Performed throughout Northern California and greater Minneapolis area with funk/rock/r&b bands. In addition to teaching at McNally Smith, Brian also runs a private teaching studio in Minneapolis.

Professional Experience: B.A. California State University Chico

Ric Oliva
Ric.Oliva@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 2007
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:B.M. Berklee College of Music – Contemporary Writing and Production

Professional Experience:

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.

Ric also has 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.

Christopher Olson
Chris.Olson@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 1996
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: Music Theory
Formal Education:M.M. in jazz studies/performance from the University of North Texas; B.M. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in jazz studies and music education/choral emphasis

Professional Experience: Chris has been active on the Twin Cities music scene for well over a decade, performing jazz, classical, rock, pop, and country music with dozens of local, and a few national, musicians.   Prior to moving back to St. Paul, the city of his birth, he was a sought after performer, clinician, and educator in central Wisconsin.  He will be featured in the MSCM faculty artist series as his trio, Framework, releases a CD in February, 2009.  Chris has served on the resource team for the local chapter of the International Association of Jazz Educators, and is a board member with the Minnesota Guitar Society.  Prior teaching experience includes the MacPhail Center for Music, Inver Hills Community College, and the University of Wisconsin.  During the summer, Chris teaches at guitar and jazz camps in Shell Lake, Wisconsin and here at McNally Smith.  He has also been a featured performer and clinician at camps and festivals from Green Bay, WI to Cordoba, Argentina.

Bobby Stanton
Bobby.Stanton@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 1997
Primary Department: Guitar
Secondary Department: Ensemble
Formal Education:B.M. Berklee College of Music

Professional Experience:

Bobby Stanton has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio) shows Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and Dave Brubeck’s music in “A Welcome Home Christmas.” He's contributed articles in several international music publications including Guitar Player Magazine. He's also toured with ABBA’s “Mamma Mia" and orchestrated two musicals in New York and worked as a music consultant on one. 

Other teaching experience: Berklee College of Music, Boston. 

Awards and Honors:

• Awarded the first ever “Ovation” Award, presented by Bill Leavitt and Gary Burton. 
• He has won songwriting awards from BMI and ASCAP. 

Memberships: Twin Cities Musicians Union. 

Bobby's album “ A Classic Guitar Christmas” sold well all over the world. He just finished a cast album for a Broadway musical about the OK Corral called “Sundown”  and is working on online music lessons, and a new book on Fingerstyle guitar. 

Some of the people Bobby’s played with include James Taylor, Garrison Keillor, Mark O’Connor, Richie Havens, Gillian Welch, Greg Leisz, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, Mollie O’Brien, Robin and Linda Williams, Peter Ostroushko, Trini Lopez, Del Shannon, The Shirellas, and Bo Diddley.

Neal Thorgrimson
Neal.Thorgimson@mcnallysmith.edu
Faculty Member Since: 1987
Primary Department: Guitar
Formal Education:B.A. in Music Performance from Metro State University, B.A. Concordia University

Professional Experience: 20 years playing professionally in pop music style bands. Other teaching experience: Schmitt Music teaching private lessons. Awards and Honors: Academic Scholarship for 4.0 GPA in college.  Neal has worked as a music instructor at the Minnesota Arts High School (now Perpich Center for the Arts), the Minneapolis Community Development program, Open U inc., Minnesota School District 283, and has participated in the guest lecture series at University of St. Thomas, St. Paul MN. He received his bachelor’s degree in music from Metro State University, Minneapolis, MN. and while there, was awarded a variety of academic achievement scholarships. He has composed music for local rock musicals, screenplay soundtracks, and industrial videos. He has also done sessions and commercials used for television and radio. Neal has performed at numerous pro sports events including the N.F.L. Super Bowl. For the last 15 years Neal has performed with rock, blues, R&B, reggae, and country/rockabilly groups opening for such international acts as Ringo Starr, Steppenwolf, Bad Company, Foreigner, Jeff Healy, Bad Finger, and R.E.M.

Cliff Wittstruck
Cliff.Wittstruck@mcnallysmith.edu
Dean of Academic Affairs
Faculty Member Since: 1993
Primary Department: Guitar
Formal Education:M.M. New England Conservatory, B.M. Berklee College of Music

Professional Experience: Cliff performed with the R&B group, Inside Straight, opening for such nationally-renowned performers as James Brown, Roy Buchanan, Art Garfunkel, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Sam and Dave, the Minnesota Orchestra, and Sun Ra. Since returning to Minnesota, Cliff has played with Bernadette Peters, Rupert’s Orchestra, Mick Sterling and the Stud Brothers, and the Wolverines Classic Jazz Orchestra. He also performed throughout the U.S., Far East, Mexico, and Caribbean with the group, Synergy.