After School Music Faculty

Brad Bradshaw, director

 Brad joins Friends School of Minnesota this year. He recently completed his doctor of music degree at the University of Minnesota, and is currently on staff at the House of Hope Choir School where he conducts and teaches voice.

In addition to teaching, Brad has an art song recital and performing career and has collaborated with the renowned Lyra Ensemble, Bemidji Symphony Orchestra, Thursday Musical Society, the Rochester Aria Group, Voices of Vienna, and the Schubert Club. He has appeared frequently with the Minnesota Bach Society and  St. John’s Oratorio Chorus and Orchestra. As a professional leader in the Motet Choir at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, Brad has appeared with members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra as the tenor soloist in numerous chamber works.

Brad lives in St.Paul where he has a private teaching studio.

Dhaivyd Hilgendorf, percussion instructor 

 In 1991, Dhaivyd Hilgendorf moved to Northern California to study tabla (East Indian drums) at Ali Akbar College of Music. After six months, he discovered that Egyptian doumbek master Vince Delgado lived just down the street and was taking private students. Dhaivyd studied with Vince until he was gigging so often with local folk band Straw Coyotes that he didn’t have time for lessons. He has been drumming ever since, playing primarily hand percussion--the West African djembe and Egyptian doumbek. He has played in several Middle Eastern dance troupes. He also sings, plays guitar, and has dabbled with the cornet and a variety of string instruments. During the day, he is the school’s special events coordinator and library media specialist. 

Andrea Olson, piano instructor

Andrea Olson is a graduate student in piano education at the University of St. Thomas. Before coming to Friends School, she was the music director at a local church and taught piano out of her home.  She graduated magna cum laude from Concordia College in Moorhead, where she majored in music and minored in religion and environmental studies. 

Andrea and her husband, Zac, own a home on Dayton Avenue in St. Paul and enjoy cooking, gardening, visiting friends and relatives, and walking with their border collie, Maya. She is excited to teach at Friends School and looks forward to working with students, parents, and faculty over the coming year.  You can learn more about Andrea Olson at www.olsonpianostudio.com.