Education
- MM, Jazz Guitar Performance, New York University (NYC)
- BMus, Jazz Guitar (Calgary, Canada)
Experience
- For the past 7 years as a music teacher, I’ve had the privilege of teaching guitar as an adjunct instructor while earning my Master’s degree at NYU, giving private lessons to students of all ages and skill levels, teaching in classrooms, and conducting jazz guitar clinics with groups of students at high schools, workshops and music festivals. I love working with beginner and advanced musicians alike, and I look forward to discovering my students’ personalities and interests so that we can grow in our love of music together!
Bio
Joel is currently based in New York City, where he recently completed his Master of Music under jazz guitarist Peter Bernstein. He also had the pleasure to study with such musicians as Ari Hoenig, John Scofield, Brad Shepik, and Chris Potter. Prior to his studies in New York, Joel earned his Bachelor of Music from Ambrose University in Calgary, where he studied with guitarist Ralf Buschmeyer. In the summer of 2019, Joel was a participant at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Jazz and Creative Music Workshop under the direction of Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey.
Joel has collaborated with many of Calgary’s leading jazz musicians and has played in large ensembles including the Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble, the Prime Time Big Band, Sonuskapos Jazz Orchestra and the Westwinds Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed with Calgary’s leading improvised music society, Bug Incision. He can be heard playing on the Nate Waters Quartet album, Fact Contrafact, which has received radio play on Alberta radio stations since its release in 2017.
In addition to his career in jazz performance and teaching, Joel has written and presented academic papers on musical topics, is an avid martial arts practitioner and instructor and takes lessons in Byzantine chant!