Bret Nelson played in several Minneapolis bands as a singer-songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist during the 1980s. After graduating from the University of Minnesota and the Teach For America Institute at the University of Southern California, he wrote original music for the film “The Soccer War” in 1991, played keyboards for singer-songwriter Laura Adams from 1991-1993, and has played bass domra in the Los Angeles Balalaika Orchestra since 1997 (Los Angeles Balalaika Orchestra: http://www.russianstrings.com), as well as the Balanova ensemble (Balanova: http://www.megbarnes.com/balanova/). The orchestra does have a YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/RussianStrings
He has been a music teacher at Dana Middle School in San Pedro, CA since 1992. Under his direction, the Dana Middle School Guitar Ensemble was the only Los Angeles Unified School District music group to perform at the California Music Educator’s Association State Conference at the Sacramento Convention Center on March 18, 2004.
He has a California Professional Clear Credential for Secondary Music Instruction, and completed his Master of Arts degree in Music Education from California State University, Long Beach with a 270-page master’s thesis titled, “A Study of Class Piano Instruction in the Los Angeles Unified School District.”
Currently, in addition to being the owner/operator of Eastview Music Studio, he is a full-time piano instructor at Dana Middle School, where he was chapter chair for United Teachers Los Angeles from 2006 to 2009. Bret is also an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, Music Teachers’ Association of California, California Music Educators Association, National Educator Association, and California Teachers Association.
His son, Alexander Nelson, graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance and a Master’s in Arts Administration. Christopher Nelson, his youngest son, is a violin performance major at Chapman University.
