Teacher Biographies

Jimmy Lawrence, M.M.
Piano, Guitar, Drum Set
Logic Pro X

Teaching music since 2001, he opened High Desert Music in 2008 to support a small community in Oregon with music products, lessons, and repair services. In 2011, he moved to Nampa, Idaho and opened Exodus Music LLC while pursuing a triple bachelor's degree in music education, theory/composition, and applied piano at Northwest Nazarene University, graduating with honors. He recently earned his master's degree in music composition from Azusa Pacific University - the culminating project was a recital of original compositions for various ensembles, including: percussion ensemble, string quartet, jazz piano trio, big band, and NNU's Jazz Revival. Jimmy organized, scouted, rehearsed, and directed the ensembles, produced a visual presentation including musical score timed to a recorded performance, and also performed in the jazz trio and big band as the pianist. More recently, he was the Graduate Jazz Teaching Assistant at Boise State University, helping to organize and operate the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, and has now completed his second master's degree in music education. He has experience teaching concert and jazz band, classical and jazz piano, drum set, percussion, guitar (electric, acoustic, and classical), violin, banjo, composition, music theory, and has provided collegiate music lecturing. He is now the band director at South Middle School in Nampa, Idaho.

He has performed in many various ensembles in different genres, and is an active performer-composer and arranger. His ensemble experience includes: Piano in the APU Graduate Jazz Ensemble; Guitar and composition for progressive-metal band 3rd Party Pandemic; Trumpet in the University of Oregon Top Campus Band; piano for NNU Jazz Revival; Marimba for NNU's percussion ensemble; Co-host for Nampa jam-sessions; Various jazz ensembles in the Treasure Valley, including the Dave Gluck Band; Solo classical and jazz piano and percussion recitals; Percussion for Man of La Mancha; and many others. He also won the Joyce A. Chaffer Trust competitive piano scholarship two consecutive years.

Married with three children, he enjoys playing Minecraft and Pokémon with his kids, creating strategic exercises and resources for aspiring musicians, and of course, performing, composing, and teaching! He is also interested in the accordion, video game music, and keeping up with trends in music technology.

Dave Gluck, M.F.A.
Percussion, Drum Set, Composition

David currently teaches percussion and composition at the Idaho Arts Charter School in Nampa, Idaho. Previously, he was the Music Specialist at Lake Ridge and Ronald Reagan Elementary Schools in Nampa during the 2013-14 school year. Currently, David also serves as adjunct faculty at Northwest Nazarene University, The College of Idaho, and College of Western Idaho. From 2000-13 he was a full-time Professor of Studio Composition at the State University of New York at Purchase College.

As a founding member and percussionist of the internationally renowned Rhythm & Brass, The Dallas Brass and Madera Vox, he has been critically acclaimed by such publications as the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and Downbeat Magazine. His music has been featured on the BET Network, NPR and in Jazz Player Magazine. He has 10 recordings on the Koch, Summit, d’note, Bear Claw and Skinny-Tie labels. He is published by Hal Leonard and Universal Editions and has recently co-authored the book “Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Musical and Athletic Performance” with former New York Yankee, Bernie Williams.The book’s foreword is written by Paul Simon.

David is sponsored by the Yamaha, Zildjian, and Innovative Percussion Corporations, and has been a featured performer and clinician throughout the States, Japan, Thailand, Australia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Italy, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Canada. He has had works premiered at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and the Salvador Dali Museum, with a recent commission from the United States Air-Force Band.

Jared Sene, B.A.
Upright & Electric Bass, Brass

​Jared Sene is the director of bands and orchestras at Lone Star Middle School in Nampa, Idaho as well as a private instructor for trombone and double bass students. Sene holds a B.A. in Music Education at NNU, with a focus on trombone and double bass. While at Northwest Nazarene University, he performed in various ensembles, notably NNU’s top jazz ensemble, Jazz Revival. He now regularly performs on the double bass and trombone in ensembles including the David Gluck Band, the Moody Jews, the Jack Hale Band, the Treasure Valley Swing Band, the Jenna Rose Trio, and others. Jared and his wife Adriana live in Nampa. He enjoys golfing and researching useless information about cars.

Ashley O'Dell, B.A.
Voice

Ashley O’Dell is a recent graduate of Concordia University Irvine, earning her B.A. in Music Education and Vocal Performance along with a minor in Technical Theatre. She graduated Cum Laude and as a member of Omicron Delta Kappa National Honors Leadership Society. For two years, Ashley served as the Departmental Music Tutor at CUI for Music Fundamentals, Music Theory, and Aural Skills. During this time, she also worked as a Choir Intern at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, leading the soprano section and co-directing the children’s choir. To end her senior year, Ashley researched and wrote a thesis on how vocal anatomy is used in Musical Theatre and how to teach adolescent voices in this genre in a healthy way. Additionally, she studied the evolution of vocal technique in musical theatre and displayed this information through an hour-long lecture-recital. Having experienced vocal injuries in the past, Ashley is a major advocate for vocal health and knowledge of vocal anatomy.

Ashley has experience in the following genres: Classical (English, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, French), Jazz (Ballads, Standards, Bossa Nova), Sacred Music, CCM, Musical Theatre (English Operetta, Golden Age, Sondheim Song, Pop, Rock, and Pop-Opera), Opera and Operetta. Her ensemble experience at Concordia University includes: First Soprano in Concordia Choir (SATB), First Soprano in Donne di Canto (SSAA), Piano and Voice in the Americana Ensemble, Voice in the Jazz Combo and Jazz Orchestra, Soprano in the Chamber Music Ensemble, and Soprano in Opera Workshop. At the 2020 Inaugural Ball for CUI’s President, Ashley was the featured student vocalist to perform with the Jazz Orchestra. She also participated in Concordia University’s made-for-TV concert “All is Bright! A Concordia Christmas 2020.” She had the opportunity of recording “Joy to the World” with the Americana Ensemble for this Christmas Special. Ashley has performed at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California in 2017 for “Reformation 500: An Evening of Word and Song” and in 2018 for “Out of Darkness, Light!” Aside from music, she is actively involved in theatre having been in over fifty productions as an actor and behind the scenes. A few of her favorite productions include Alice in Wonderland (Queen of Hearts), Hairspray (Prudy Pingleton), The Christians (Congregant), Xanadu (Back of House Engineer), Beauty and the Beast Jr. (Assistant Director, Music Director, Sound Board Operator, Mic Technician), and She Stoops to Conquer (Props Master). Most recently, Ashley designed and directed a two-week Fine Arts Camp for American Heritage Girls where they put on an entire musical and completed all requirements through cap activities to earn their badges in Music Appreciation, Music Performance, and Theatre.

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