Alan Wales, Music Instructor
Music has been a part of Alan's life since his father first put a guitar in his hands when he was three years old. Ever since then he has continued to make a music part of his daily life, professional and recreational.
In high school Alan pursued his fierce dedication to the guitar by studying with some of the world's most gifted classical guitarists at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. He received training from such well known classical guitar artists as: Michael Nicolella, Yale graduate and multiple award-winning guitarist and Kevin Gallagher, Julliard graduate and the only American classical guitarist ever to win first prize in the prestigious Francisco Tárrega Guitar Competition in Spain.
After this Alan continued his studies at the University of Whitewater with George Lindquist. Alan also had a busy schedule singing in both the Chamber Choir and Vocal Jazz groups throughout his four years of high school. Alan also competed in both guitar and vocal competitions throughout high school and was awarded with trips to the Wisconsin State Music competition on 12 pieces in both guitar and voice in 4 years. Alan also developed a love for musical theatre in his time at high school and that led him to his collegiate educational decision.
In college Alan decided to pursue a dual-degree in theatre and business. It combined his love for acting, singing, and guitar, all together in one area of study. In college Alan sang in both Chamber Choir and Vocal Collective for his entire four year career. He studied voice with nationally acclaimed instructors: Jeffrey Douma, Assistant Professor of Choral Music at the Yale School of Music, and Timothy Adams, Director of the Chicago Chamber Choir, and University of Baylor graduate. Alan also appeared in over 16 productions on stage at both Carroll College in Milwaukee, WI and Rockford College in Rockford, IL. Some of his credits include "The Count" in Phantom of the Opera and "Burl" in the musical review Smoke on the Mountain. He also regularly participated in Opera Workshops and performed songs from such operas as: The Magic Flute, and the Marriage of Figaro. After all of this experience and enrichment Alan graduated in the spring of 2006 from Rockford College and decided to make the move to Minneapolis to pursue his love for theatre and music. Since arriving in the Twin Cities Alan has begun pursuing his acting and singing career. He has worked with the National Theater for Children in Minneapolis and was seen as "Spike Spauldeen" in Song of Singapore at the Lowry Theater in downtown Saint Paul in 2008. He will be appearing in two shows this coming year with Minneapolis Music Theatre at the Illusion Theatre. During all of this involvement with music and the arts Alan has always maintained a small group of guitar and voice students that he has enjoyed teaching immensely. With every student he is reminded of the joy of learning how to sing or play an instrument for the first time. He uses Suzuki method with younger children wanting to learn music, but he also has experience teaching rock, folk, and classical methods as well with students of all ages. His voice method is a process based focus that teaches students the correct physical techniques needed to sing and can be applied to all styles of music.