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.

Andrew Myers, percussion instructor 

Andrew recently graduated from Augsburg College with a Bachelor’s degree in music performance. He has had a plethora of firsthand percussion performing and teaching experience and holds an in-depth knowledge of performance techniques, orchestral, and ethnic percussion.

Additionally, Andrew has been teaching percussion for the past four years privately and is the founder and percussion teacher of the Minneapolis School of Music. Andrew has used his leadership skills as percussion section leader in Augsburg’s Concert Band andSymphony Orchestra, manager of the Augsburg Gospel Praise Jazz Ensemble, founder of Augsburg Percussion Ensemble, and conductor of the 4 Community Theatre’s production of Honk!

Andrew has also has experience in research, as is evident in his creating unique research (Jamaican percussion; Stories: Excerpts from the Lives of Marv Dahlgre n and Elliot Fine) and his internship opportunities (Barnhart Percussion Services; Steve Lund Music). Andrew has performed in numerous orchestras, concert bands, jazz bands, pit and chamber ensembles, and soundtrack recordings, and conducted several ensembles and performances. 

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.