MIR Music is proud to offer in store lessons
with Professional Teachers
Please click on the teachers' names below to find out more information.
If no contact information is listed, please email us at mirmusic1@gmail.com
Ron Hurst (of Steppenwolf) - Drums
Sharon Donaldson - Violin
Valerie Blaha - Piano and Guitar
Patrick Nearing - Trumpet
John Gross - Saxophone
Mark Petteys - Banjo, Guitar
Krys Turner - Guitar
Randy Hartley - Guitar
Lydia Andreeva - Piano
Daniel Hanley - Piano
Matt Koski - Recording Engineer
About the teachers at MIR MUSIC...
Ron Hurst - drums
Ron Hurst has been the drummer for John Kay and Steppenwolf since 1984.
He also plays and has recorded with John Kay and Friends, Kay's most recent solo project.
A seasoned touring veteran, Ron's credits also include performances with Chuck Berry and
Charlie Daniels' "Volunteer Jam" Band, as well as guest appearances with Greg Allman and the Doobie Brothers.
When called to task, Ron also stepped in to play with The Guess Who and Three Dog Night
(when last minute emergencies prevented their respective drummers from performing.)
Ron currently resides in Portland, Oregon, where he has quickly established himself as an accredited drum instructor.
When not on tour, Ron stays busy balancing teaching and session work with various international projects.
Ron's work with John Kay and Steppenwolf has made him a well sought after commodity in the music industry.
back to top
Sharon Donaldson - violin, fiddle
Sharon Donaldson started playing violin at the age of 9 in a school program in Arizona.
She then started private lessons with Pamela Joseph.
As a young adult, she moved to Oregon, got married and had four children.
During that time she continued to play violin and discovered Celtic music.
She learned to play Scottish and Irish music in the traditional way (by ear) and also joined the Scottish Fiddle Club of Portland
which played for the Scottish Country dancers and at the Portland Scottish Highland Games.
Sharon has also played in a couple of bands, and continues to perform in small ensembles for weddings and parties.
These ensembles play in various genres ranging from classical to Celtic to old time and ragtime, and even classic rock.
Sharon has been teaching violin/fiddle to children and adults since 1998.
back to top
Val Blaha - piano, guitar
Born and raised in southern California, Val Blaha started began her study of piano at age 6
and performed starting at age 7 at a multitude of venues including school recitals,
local public and private events, piano competitions, national conventions and churches.
At age 12 she received the Individual Achievement Award from the Motion Picture Council of Southern California.
During her teens she performed as a soloist and accompanist and also studied music theory, hymn playing, guitar and voice.
At US Santa Barbara, Val studied under Wendell Nelson and Thomas Russell,
concentrating on piano accompaniment for 3 years in the Bachelor of Music program.
She went on to get an MA in Anthropology from Western Washington University.
In 2001 she decided on a career change and devoted herself to teaching music, playing guitar,
piano, mandolin and washtub bass, songwriting, and small-scale farming.
Val believes that music is an integral part of life,
and that love and appreciation for music can be deepened by a good learning experience.
The discipline and skills learned from the study of music can also help students excel in other areas of life.
Val works with students from age 6 on up, and enjoys working with adult students at all experience levels.
She has found a great deal of difference in how students learn best and so she uses a variety
of method books and teaching approaches.
She also focuses on practice techniques so that students learn how to learn.
To contact Val about lessons, rates or availability, send email to lessons@valblaha.com
or go to her website valblaha.com
back to top
Patrick Nearing - trumpet
Patrick Nearing has been playing trumpet and teaching in the Hillsboro/Portland area since 2002.
It is Mr. Nearing's feeling that music has filled his life with happiness
and afforded him many wonderful opportunities to grow personally as well as musically.
It is Patrick’s sincere desire to share the gift of music with his students,
so they may also expand their hearts and their horizons through the world of music.
Patrick’s teachers have included the following:
Ira Lee, Professor of Music, University of Oregon
Brad Alison, North Texas State University
Noyes “Bart” Bartholomew, Indiana University
Paul Mazzio, North Texas State University.
In continuing pursuit of musical enlightenment, Patrick is now studying Jazz Theory and Harmony
with James M Gregg, a trumpet player, composer and conductor from Flagstaff Arizona,
and a graduate and recent faculty member of Northern Arizona University.
back to top
John Gross - saxophone
John Gross is an internationally respected musician, and has resided in Portland since 1991.
Among his employers past and present:
Harry James, Stan Kenton, Lionel Hampton, Shelly Manne, Don Ellis, Woody Herman, and Toshiko Akiyoshi.
He performs regularly with the Gordon Lee Quartet, David Friesen, David Frishberg, and the Alan Jones Sextet
and his own groups Belema Bii and the John Gross quartet.
John has taught at universities in the US and Europe
and is the author of "185 Multiphonics for the Saxophone, A Practical Guide" published by Advance Music.
back to top
Mark Petteys - banjo, guitar
Mark Petteys, originally from Pendleton, Oregon, has been playing banjo and guitar since he was eight.
He began performing as a teenager and played throughout the United States,
appearing with Tex Williams, Grandpa Jones, Tiny Moore, Mark O'Connor, the Country Gazette and others.
He worked as a studio musician for Capital Records in Nashville, TN in 1977.
During that time he recorded a solo 5-string banjo album (Country Blue, Roadrunner Records, Las Cruces, NM)
and a duo album with J'Anna Jacoby (Double Barrel Bluegrass, Paradise Platters, Redding, CA).
He was the Northwest Regional Banjo Champion in 1984.
He has led and performed with several bluegrass, swing, and rock groups.
In 2005 he formed Ida Viper, a bluegrass and western swing band with mandolinist Brian Oberlin.
Their CD, “Some of These Days,” was released in May 2006.
He currently performs with Ida Viper and teaches banjo and guitar.
See his website at markpetteys.com and his band website, idaviper.com.
back to top
Krys Turner - guitar
Krys Turner taught herself to read music and began playing guitar at age 5 in Spring Valley, New York.
She studied with Andre Segovia’s teaching assistant, Jose Tomas in the Canary Islands
and has also studied with many great artists including: Sharon Isbin, Brian Johansen, Ricco Stover, Scott Kritzer, and Jeffrey Ashton.
She has performed in the Canary Islands, Spain, and Italy. She has also held concerts here in the northwest.
Khrys has been a student of Jeff Ashton’s for the last nine years.
Krys enjoys teaching adults and children of all ages.
She believes everyone has an inner guitarist waiting for a chance to ROCK and that music should be, first and foremost, fun.
back to top
Randy Hartley - guitar
(Biography coming soon.)
back to top
Lydia Andreeva - piano
(Biography coming soon.)
back to top
Daniel Hanley - piano
(Biography coming soon.)
back to top
Matt Koski - Recording Engineer
Matthew Koski has been playing drums and percussion most of his life, keyboards and bass for the past 8 years,
and has studied audio recording for the last 4 years.
He’s played in everything from rock bands, to orchestras, to street drumming trash can groups.
At the University of Arizona he became deeply involved in the recording arts and received a BA in music Business.
As an Intern for the University Studio as well as Wavelab Recording Studios,
Matthew assisted in recording the music of Paolo Nutini, Devotchka, and Rilo Kiley along side Engineers Chris Schultz, Craig Schumacher, and Nick Luca.
Matthew has several personal recording projects ranging from experimental rock, to rhythmic noise and straight-ahead funk.
He has also composed, recorded and mixed original music for web-based advertisements,
and collaborated as a composer/performer on several other projects.
He is happy to be Engineering for Mir Music and is ready to record your next project,
be it rock, hip-hop, jazz, acoustic, electric, voice overs, obscure, or other.
back to top
|
MIR MUSIC |
