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Nick Loafman (class of 2006)
Nick Loafman (class of 2006)
A 2006 graduate of OPRF, Nick Loafman is currently Director of Bands at Widefield High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado where he has been since summer of 2020. At Widefield he directs the concert bands, jazz ensembles, and the competitive Gladiator Marching Band. In 2021 the Gladiator Band earned the highest score in its history among other caption awards. After college, Nick’s first teaching job was at Mt. Vernon Township High School in Southern Illinois where he taught from 2010 to 2016. Following this, he taught at Wilton High School in Fairfield County, Connecticut just outside of New York City from 2016 to 2020.
While at OPRF, Nick studied trumpet with Bill Camp and was in Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band 1, the Marching Huskies, and the musical pit orchestras. Nick holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education with high honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He studied trumpet under Dr. Michael Ewald and Ronald Romm (founding member of the Canadian Brass) and performed with the Marching Illini in the 2008 Rose Bowl festivities. While in college he served on the counseling staff at Interlochen Arts Camp, and he was also a counselor for Illinois Symmer Youth Music at UIUC from 2013 to 2015.
Throughout all stages of his teaching career, Nick has remained active as a trumpet player in both classical and jazz avenues, having performed with several jazz bands, as a soloist and chamber musician, and with multiple symphonic ensembles. In Colorado Springs he currently plays with the Little London Winds and the Pikes Peak Philharmonic. He has conducted in workshops with figures like Mark Scatterday, Director of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and composer David Maslanka. He resides with his wife Teresa, who is a trained opera singer and web developer. Teresa recently sang “Misty” with the WHS Jazz Ensemble a few weeks ago.
My whole life path can be traced back to my experiences at OPRF. All the incredible repertoire we performed fueled my passion for music, and the support the community gives to the arts showed me what an outstanding music program should be. Some of my favorite memories include being among the first group of PING! mentors, performing “Carmina Burana” senior year, and serving as a student conductor. I am so grateful for everything I learned from ALL my teachers at OPRF, especially the leadership opportunities Mr. Svjeda gave me!
Ethan Philion (class of 2010)
Ethan Philion (class of 2010)
Ethan Philion is an award-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader based in Chicago. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and DePaul University, Philion has been praised by the Washington Post for his "well honed chops and astounding musicality” and his debut album, Meditations on Mingus, was commended as “a labor of conspicuous love and respect for a musical titan” by Downbeat Magazine. He has performed with an extensive list of jazz artists including Rufus Reid, Greg Ward, Dana Hall, Mark Feldman, Russ Johnson, Howard Levy, Ryan Cohan, Tito Carillo, Gary Bartz, Alfonso Ponticelli, Ernest Dawkins, Geof Bradfield, Dee Alexander, Mark Gross, Alyssa Allgood, Thaddeus Tooks, Victor Garcia, Mike Allemana, Mai Sugimoto, Paul Marinaro, and more.
Philion’s album Meditations on Mingus was released in 2022 and has garnered praise from publications including the Chicago Tribune, JAZZIZ, Jazzwise, WDCB, and more. Esteemed critic Neil Tesser lauded the album’s “colorful obbligatos [and] ingenious wrinkles that—along with dazzling and deeply realized performances from all—lift this album above so many of the year’s Mingus centennial tributes.” The 10 piece ensemble was one of the headlining acts of the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival and has performed across the country.
Philion won the 2019 International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition and was selected as one of the four fellowship recipients for the 2020 Chicago Luminarts Jazz competition. More recently, Philion was selected by the Jazz Institute of Chicago for their 2022 New Works Fresh Voices Fellowship. He was honored with the Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Fellowship in 2015 where he worked with director Jason Moran.
Philion’s original music quartet–featuring Greg Ward, Russ Johnson, and Dana Hall–has performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Constellation the California Clipper, and more. The quartet was selected as one of the 2020 Year of Chicago Music featured ensembles. Philion also leads an acoustic trio featuring arrangements of jazz standards in the Nat King Cole Trio style.
Philion lives with his wife in Chicago and maintains a busy schedule including a weekly residency at the Green Mill, performances throughout the United States with various groups, and frequent performances at Chicago-clubs like the Jazz Showcase, Andy's Jazz Club, Constellation, and more.
“Mr. Svejda and Mr. Pearson modeled a love for music and a work ethic that inspired me to pursue music more intensely as a student and continues to drive me as a professional. I'm so grateful to them both for giving me the opportunity to fall in love with music in general and bass in particular."
Abby Lyons (class of 2010)
Abby Lyons (class of 2010)
Abby Lyons - Class of 2010 Abby Lyons is a singer-songwriter and has amassed a following of 50k subscribers on YouTube with videos of her original songs, covers, and music tutorials. She has a substantial following on Instagram (17.6k followers) and Patreon (400 patrons) as well. Lyons has released two studio albums of original songs and her latest, entitled, “I’m Not Famous,” was released in August, 2021. Lyons frequently does collaborations with other YouTubers, including Bernadette Teaches Music and Ricky Somborn.
In addition to recording her own music, Lyons records vocals for film composer, Lorne Balfe, known for his work on movies (13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Mission: Impossible - Fallout), video games (Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty) and TV shows (The Crown). Lyons’ singing can be heard on the upcoming show, The Wheel Of Time, which premieres on Amazon Prime on November 19, 2021, as well as Pennyworth and His Dark Material’s. Besides her vocal work, Lyons is the lyricist for a song composed by Balfe, which will be featured in the British crime show, Pennyworth.
Her original song, “Nightmare in the Morning,” is an integral part of the animated short with the same title, which was recently featured in Short Nite 2, an online film festival hosted by Epic Games through the game, Fortnite Party Royale. The short was broadcast on Disney XD in 2017 and chosen as Vimeo’s Staff Pick in 2016.
Lyons is also known for her ukulele playing and teaching as an instructor on the Fender Play platform, which is a step-by-step online learning program for guitar, ukulele, and bass with over one million paying subscribers. Behind the scenes, she wrote hundreds of lessons and helped design the curriculum used on the site.
Although Lyons mainly focuses her attention on work in the entertainment industry, she has a background in classical music. She received her bachelor’s degree in oboe performance from Illinois Wesleyan, studying on a full scholarship. During her time there, she was also awarded the Theodore Presser Foundation Scholarship and the C. Roland and Marie Ann Hill Scholarship. Lyons continued her studies at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), founded by Walt Disney, and earned her master’s degree in music composition. While at CalArts, her original song was recorded at Capitol Records in Hollywood for the CalArts Jazz CD 26, and she performed at The Troubadour for the CalArts Soundstream.
Lyons recently moved back to Oak Park after living in Los Angeles area for nearly seven years. Currently she continues to share content with her online audience, records remotely for films, and is working on her third album.
“I remember Mr. Svejda was one of my earliest supporters of my composing! He encouraged me to enter the ILMEA composition contest and one of my entries won third place in the songwriting category! It was a big win for me and I’m forever grateful for his incredible enthusiasm.” - Abby Lyons
Dan Coffman (class of 2011)
Dan Coffman (class of 2011)
Dan Coffman received his Bachelor’s degree in Trombone Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Pete Ellefson. He also studied with Larry Zalkind at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where he earned his Master’s degree and Performer’s Certificate.
Dan has performed throughout the DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas, most notably at the Kennedy Center and the DC Trombone Workshop. He has also performed with the Washington Trombone Ensemble at the American Trombone Workshop and Shenandoah Conservatory. Dan has presented recitals and masterclasses at the Catholic University of America, the University of Southern Mississippi, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Prior to joining the United States Naval Academy Band in 2017, Dan was a fellow at the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, as well as a finalist at both the International Trombone Festival and the American Trombone Workshop competitions with the Remington Quartet.
"I took for granted how incredible the OPRF music program was when I was in school. Participating in orchestra, band, and jazz band was a huge catalyst for my success as a professional musician. I cannot thank my OPRF teachers enough for helping me discover my love for music." - Dan Coffman
Dan currently resides in Annapolis, MD with his wife, Dylan, and their dog, Mouse.
Nick Ellman (class of 2009)
Nick Ellman (class of 2009)
Nick Ellman is a New Orleans based performer, composer, producer and educator with a wide range of musical specialties. In 2010, Ellman co-founded the band Naughty Professor playing mostly alto/baritone saxophone and earned a Bachelor of Music, Jazz Studies degree from Loyola University in 2013. Since then, Ellman has toured festivals and venues across the United States and around the globe including Canada, China, Europe and the United Kingdom. Ellman has performed and recorded with a litany of great artists such as Big Freedia, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Sturgill Simpson, Rickie Lee Jones, Ellis Marsalis, Griz, Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter Jr., Ledisi, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Galactic, The Revivalists, Tank and The Bangas, Alex Ebert and more. Nick Ellman’s Electric Clarinet Loops is a new project expanding genres and exploring new sonic territories. Ellman’s mission in music is to create something energized and authentic for people all over the world.
"Music has played such a big role in my life. Before it became my career, it was simply something that I loved. Even now that I have made a fulfilling and exciting career from it, that passion still comes first. Music has helped make me the person that I am today. I am extremely grateful to my teachers at OPRF for sharing their passion with me." -Nick Ellman
Learn more:
Instagram: @nickellman
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