Guitar Cities - Music Lessons Worldwide!

	A graduate of Hope College in Psychology and Music, James Lenger has been teaching guitar and bass professionally for 18 years and has given over 60,000 lessons during that time. After years of touring with The Green Room, James founded Guitar Cities in Chicago. James uses a unique, cerebral approach to teaching the guitar and bass guitar, which is catered to the each of the student's goals and tastes, making it a fun and personable experience. Since starting the school in Chicago, he has expanded the schools to New York, San Francisco, and London (with co-director of the European schools, Richard Perkins). James instructs in Chicago and seasonally in the other Guitar Cities locations.
	Richard Perkins is one of the UK's foremost guitar instructors having taught many hundreds of students across the UK and Europe. As an innovator of guitar education he has written many fun and engaging programmes of study for students of all ages and abilities, including guitar courses, band workshops and performance clinics. Renowned for his inventive approach to teaching the guitar, Richard is versed in all styles of music and his blog "I'm a guitarist, get me out of here!" can be found here. Richard is the owner of the Bath Guitar School, a seasonal tutor at Guitar Cities - London, and co-director of the Guitar Cities schools in Europe.
	Jason Steele has been playing guitar for nearly 20 years and teaching for over 10. In 2007, Jason released his debut CD, Some Wonderful Moment, resulting in a great deal of positive attention in the jazz world, as evidenced by recent reviews including: Downbeat, Jazz Times, Jazz Review, and All About Jazz. Jason instructs all styles of guitar. A link to his website can be found here. Jason instructs in Chicago.
	Jon Mendle received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where his teachers included Sergio Assad, David Tanenbaum, Lawrence Ferrara, Marc Teicholz, and Dusan Bogdanovic. He has toured with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, and made his Carnegie Hall debut while still a student at the age of 19. His first album, entitled "L'Infidele," was produced by his teacher, Latin Grammy winner Sergio Assad, and released in January, 2011 on In A Circle Records. He is also a member of the San Francisco Guitar Quartet and The Pacific Guitar Ensemble, and has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Germany. He has been teaching guitar since 2004, and has given master classes at the Dresden Music Conservatory (with the San Francisco Guitar Quartet) and Modesto Junior College. His primary goal in teaching is to help foster a lifelong love of music in his students, and he finds great joy in sharing his musical knowledge and insight. Click here to watch Jon perform. Jon instructs in San Francisco.
	Originally from Switzerland, Davide Pezzini graduated from Berklee College of Music with degrees in bass performance and arranging & composition. He's been teaching bass and guitar for over 10 years. Davide tours nationally with several tribute acts and plays locally with many singer/songwriters. Davide instructs in Chicago.
	Adam is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received the Herb Pomeroy award for excellence in jazz composition. He works as a sideman for a number of up and coming singers and singer/songwriters including Sam Shin (Making the Band 4) and Christine PLG (The Sing-Off), and is also an active musical theater musician. Adam currently is pursuing an MM in jazz composition with Jim McNeely at the Manhattan School of Music. Adam instructs in New York.
	A professional musician and composer for twenty years, Mohammed (Mo) Nazam is also a respected music educator. He has toured and recorded with a variety of internationally renowned artists including Pete Brown (co-writer with Cream), "The Jazz Warriors" and "BBMak". Having re-discovered a love for simplicity, he now plays mainly blues and rock. For most of the 90's, Mo is a regular contributor to the prestigious magazine, "Guitarist" including presenting video lessons and accompanying transcriptions with Fusion giants Al Di Meola and Mike Stern. He has written two songs for the renowned "Rockschool" curriculum, and has presented video lessons on "Rockschool" grade pieces for "Total Guitar" magazine, the best selling guitar instruction magazine in Europe. Influenced by Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, George Benson, Bill Nelson, Pat Metheny, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, John Scofield, Todd Rundgren and a plethora of other great musicians, Mo remains an enthusiastic and somewhat obsessive lover of music in all its forms (and the guitar especially!) be it Classical, Jazz, Blues or World. Mo instructs in London.
	Forrest Weeks is an award winning graduate from Columbia College Chicago in downtown Chicago with a BA in music/ instrumental performance. He is an experienced performer and instructor and has been playing guitar for over 17 years in addition to instructing guitar for 7 years. Forrest teaches all styles of guitar with an emphasis on rock/metal, classical, jazz, sacred/gospel, and blues. A link to his website can be found here. Forrest instructs in Chicago.
	Troy received his BFA in music performance, and has since toured in most of the United States as well as Mexico, Kenya, and Australia. He predominantly performs as lead guitarist with 'St. Van Cortlandt & the 101', 'Marcellus Hall', and as a freelance guitarist with several other New York based artists. He has performed on and executive produced numerous albums and currently works as the main session guitarist for the Pilcrow Media record label here in NYC. Troy instructs in New York.
	Marcel received his Bachelor’s degree in Performance from the Berklee College of Music where he studied with Matthew Garrison, Esperanza Spalding and Anthony Vitti among others. Since then he has toured nationally as a guitarist and bassist with productions of the shows "Cabaret" and "Bye Bye Birdie," as well as having appeared on numerous recordings. Marcel has been teaching both guitar and electric bass for seven years. Marcel instructs in New York.
	Dan DeWitt began playing guitar in 1995 when his parents bought him an electric guitar. His early tastes included classic rock, blues, and jazz and within his first few months he was experimenting with slide guitar, effects, and taking the BART to San Francisco and Berkeley to perform in the streets to overcome his stage fright. Dan received his BA in Music from Sonoma State University where he studied classical guitar with Tom Leisek. In the 2001-2002 school year Dan participated in the CSU study abroad program and was given a chance to study classical guitar with Professor Andreas Higi at the Staatliche Hochsschule fur Musik in Trossingen, Germany and travel Europe with a mini disc recorder doing field recordings of every musician he encountered. Dan began performing and teaching professionally upon his return from Germany in the summer of 2002; his career has taken him from playing dive bars in blues and rock bands to the most prestigious wineries in Napa and Sonoma Counties as a classical guitarist. Dan teaches all styles of guitar and electric bass and likes to balance theory, technique, and ear training with improvisation and having fun. Click here to watch Dan perform. Dan instructs in San Francisco.
	Jonas Eli received a Bachelor's degree in contemporary music from the University of East London. He keeps a busy schedule of playing with many varied artists including a Django Reinhardt trio, "Tzigauners", pop act "AWSA", folk band "Away With The Faeries" and many more. He has years of performance experience which has seen him perform in countless venues in UK and Europe. He also has years of experience playing in the studio and has performed on many recordings. Jonas has made several appearances on TV and radio for BBC, ITV, Absolute, Radio 1 and many more. Having received LRSL teaching qualifications he is comfortable teaching in any style of contemporary music on the guitar or bass guitar. Jonas instructs in London.
	Dan Larson received his Bachelors of Arts in Music with a focus in Classical Guitar in 2007. He has studied in Cordoba, Spain at the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra/Cordoba where he attended Master class study with David Russell, Manuel Barrueco and Pavel Steidl. Dan was also granted a scholarship to study at the Conservatory in Santiago de Compostela, Spain under Jose Luis Rodrigo. Currently, Dan gigs with his band Conductive Alliance and has received his masters degree from Roosevelt University where he studied with Denis Azabagic. Dan instructs in New York.
	Tim Norton is a multi-instrumentalist native to Hartford, Connecticut. He attended the renowned Berklee College of Music and has received several scholarships. In recent years, Timothy has worked with such notable artists as Ralph Peterson, George Garzone, Danilo Perez, Vitali Imareli, Jimmy Greene, Joe Lovano, Julian Shore, Godwin Louis, Darren Barrett, Alan Palmer, Cedric Hanriot, Josh Evans, Alex Conde, and many more. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree Timothy has been touring with several bands, playing at clubs and major jazz festivals throughout North America and Europe. When Timothy is not playing he spends his time composing music for his own group and teaching music to others, sharing his gift of music with the world. Tim instructs in New York.
	Scott Williams was raised in Naperville, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, and developed an interest in music at an early age. He began studying the piano at age 6 and violin at age 9, and thanks to the influence of artists such as Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans he began directing his studies toward jazz. Scott's early music education came at the Grammy Signature Award winning music department of Neuqua Valley High School under the direction of Charles Staley and Jonathan Lauff. There he studied music theory and performed for 4 years with Neuqua Valley Jazz Orchestra. In addition to winning the school's 2004 Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, Scott also was named to the IMEA All-State Jazz Ensemble in 2003 and 2004, and played with the Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage where he had the opportunity to perform with musicians such as Jamie Aebersold, Victor Goines, Terell Stafford, and Mark Colby. Scott began studying jazz piano with Chicago-based pianist Larry Novak when he started attending DePaul University in 2004; he also received classical instruction from Jupiter Trio pianist Aglika Angelova. While playing for DePaul's Jazz Orchestra in 2005 and 2006 under the direction of Kirk Garrison and Tom Matta, and the critically acclaimed DePaul Jazz Ensemble in 2008 led by Robert Lark, Scott has also been fortunate enough to receive instruction from Tim Coffman, Bob Rummage, Mark Colby, Bobby Broom, and Bob Palmieri. In 2007 Scott joined the Frank Catalano Band and has had the opportunity to open for Stanley Clarke at the Blue Note in New York in March of 2007, and continues to perform weekly at Andy's Jazz Club and The Green Mill in Chicago with Mr. Catalano. Scott currently resides in Chicago and received a BM in Jazz Studies from DePaul University in 2008. He has performed for many different groups ranging from the Deen Anbar Organ Trio, to La Costa Theatre's productions of "The Last Five Years" and "A New Brain," to solo piano performances for private events, while continuing his work as a private instructor for students of all ages since 2007. Scott instructs in Chicago.
	David Agee was born and raised on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He received his B.A. in Production Studies in the Performing Arts (Audio Engineering) from Clemson University in 2008. Upon graduating, he moved to Chicago where he received his M.M in Jazz Studies, Performance, from DePaul University in 2010. David is on faculty at Niles West High School as percussion instructor. As a freelance musician in the Chicago area, David performs with groups such as the Mulligan Mosaics Big Band, JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, Lowdown Brass Band, and has played venues including the Green Mill, the Velvet Lounge, and the Jazz Showcase. David instructs in Chicago.