Tyler (he/they) is a music educator, multi-instrumentalist, music director, vocalist and songwriter, and he is thrilled to be teaching at Blue Tree here in his hometown of Minneapolis! He can remember taking his first music lessons (Yamaha Piano Method) at age 6, and can't remember a time when he didn't love playing instruments, singing or listening to music. From his first experiences playing piano, Tyler has loved the process of learning how to play an instrument and developing a unique relationship with each instrument he added to his repertoire. Tyler has also greatly enjoyed performing on a variety of instruments and in a variety of settings including but not limited to: wind ensembles, marching bands, woodwind chamber ensembles, contemporary bands, pit orchestras, symphony orchestras (playing woodwinds), and contemporary ensembles for church services.
Tyler began his formal voice training as a senior in high school, over a decade after his first piano lessons, but has been active as a singer and/or director ever since. In the last eighteen years, Tyler has performed in the cast of two musicals, sung in at least ten different choirs or other vocal ensembles, taught countless voice lessons, coached a variety of choruses and other vocal ensembles and has served as the music director or associate director for three different choirs.
Tyler graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire in December of 2014 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education (Instrumental and General Music), and has held K-12 teaching licenses in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. Between the spring of 2015 and the summer 2022, Tyler taught in a variety of permanent and long-term substitute teaching positions in public schools in or near the Twin Cities Metro, and he has worked with both neurotypical and neurodivergent students at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. At the end of the 2021-2022 school year, rather than continue teaching in the public school system, Tyler made the decision to focus on teaching music lessons and performing as a professional musician. Dispositionally, Tyler sees every student as having the potential to experience transformational learning, and he works with his students to find a way for them to see and then achieve that potential. He is also passionate about helping his students to develop not just the skills and abilities to play and/or sing at a higher level, but also helping them to develop self-confidence, discernment, and a greater sense of who they are (as a musician and as a person) and how they learn.
In addition to teaching private lessons, Tyler currently serves as the Associate Director of The Great Northern Union Chorus and is a member of the barbershop quartet "Mixed Meter Quartet," the bands "The Most I Am" and "The Rusty Hinges," the backing band for local singer-songwriter "Helen" and the singer-songwriter duo "The Beau Ties." Tyler also performs occasionally as a solo artist, and is involved in the music ministry programs at Unity South Twin Cities in Bloomington and St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
When not teaching, performing or otherwise making music, Tyler loves playing and watching team sports (especially the Vikings, Timberwolves, Lynx and Loons), and spending time with his wife Annalie and their orange tabby cat Wesley.
Tyler primarily teaches piano and voice here at Blue Tree, but he also loves teaching guitar, bass guitar, woodwinds, drums/percussion, beginner brass lessons, songwriting and music theory.