Bass Teachers

Joe Oprea is the Orchestra Director for Lowell Middle school in Lowell, MI. Under his leadership, the orchestras have earned top ratings at Michigan school band and orchestra festivals. From 2015-2018, Joe directed the Encore strings as part of the Lake Michigan Youth Orchestra program. He is also the bass instructor at Grand Rapids Community College. Joe has an extensive background in Music Education, having received a BMEin Music Education and String Pedagogy from Central Michigan University (‘02) and a MM in Bass Performance from Western Michigan University (‘09). He has been a clinician for many various orchestras across the state as well as an adjudicator for Solo & Ensemble and Band & Orchestra Festivals. Joe performs regularly with many area musicians including the Truth in Jazz Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra, the West Michigan symphony, as well as many area jazz musicians. Joe shares his love of music with his wife, Laura and three children, Isaac, Violet & Iris.

Derek Weller is Instructor of String Bass at Interochen Arts Academy.

In addition to his role at Interlochen, Weller is on faculty at Eastern Michigan University, is Principal Double Bass with the Michigan Opera Theater, performs with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and freelances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra, which performs in Carmel, California during the months of July and August

Weller performs chamber music frequently, with recent appearances including the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. He was a member of a select international committee organized to rewrite the Suzuki Bass Method.

Weller is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, and received his Masters and Bachelors of Music degrees from the University of Michigan. He owns five basses: a 300-year-old Italian bass; a 200-year-old French bass; a Kay bass; and two modern instruments made by Aaron Reiley of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Email: wellerds@interlochen.org

Adam Davis is currently Director of Orchestras for Hudsonville Public Schools in Hudsonville, Michigan and has been teaching there since 2006 where he primarily teaches the High School Orchestras.  Prior to coming to Hudsonville, he was the Director of Orchestras for Byron Center Public Schools, Michigan, Director of Orchestras and Jazz Bands for Prospect High School, Mt. Prospect, IL, and Director of Orchestras, Jazz Studies, and Music Technology for Maine South High School, Park Ridge, IL.

During his more than thirty years of teaching, Adam has had orchestras that have performed at the IMEA All-State Convention and Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and jazz bands that have placed and won their classification at the prestigious Jazz in the Meadows Festival in Rolling Meadows, IL.  He has also had articles on teaching jazz techniques to strings and using MIDI technology in the classroom published by The Instrumentalist and Music Educators Journal.  Adam has also given clinics at the IMEA All-State Convention, Michigan Music Conference, and Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

Adam is the proud husband of his beautiful wife, Emily and the proud father of Sophia and Levi.  When he is not teaching, Adam spends his time trying to keep up with his kids or unsuccessfully swinging a golf club.

Spencer Phillips is highly sought after as both an orchestral bassist and chamber
musician throughout the United States and abroad. Recent performance engagements
include a US tour with the Munich Symphoniker, performances with the International
Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, performances with the Michigan Opera Theater,
Solo Bassist with the International Chamber Orchestra led by violinist Dimitri Berlinsky,
as well as recording the complete Beethoven Symphonies with Orchestre de la
Francophonie Canadian, under Jean-Philippe Tremblay. 
Mr. Phillips is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Michigan, where he studied
with Derek Weller. He went on to study with Jack Budrow (Michigan State University)
and Orin O'Brien  (New York Philharmonic) at the Manhattan School of Music, NYC. In
the fall of 2013 Mr. Phillips accepted a teaching assistantship as a doctoral candidate
under James VanDemark, Eastman School of Music. Mr. Phillips was a prize winner at
the International Society of Bassist competition in 2005.
Mr. Phillips is Principal Bass of Symphoria (Syracuse Symphony Orchestra), Tri-City
Opera, and the Binghamton Philharmonic. Mr. Phillips currently holds teaching positions
at Binghamton University, SUNY Broome, and Hamilton College.
When he is not playing the bass Spencer is an avid hockey fan, deadly snooker player,
and was a volunteer fireman for the Brooktondale Fire Department, Ny. He and his wife currently reside in Jamesville, NY.

Double bassist Jonathan Reed joined the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2018 and was promoted to Principal Bass in 2022. Originally from St. Joseph, Michigan, he grew up in a musical family with both parents serving as music educators and professional musicians in Southwest Michigan. He attended Interlochen Fine Arts Camp for several summers in high school and earned his Bachelor of Music in performance at Michigan State University.

While at MSU, he was a member of the Ann Arbor, Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestras. Jonathan furthered his orchestral studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, earning his Master of Music in performance. After freelancing in both Texas and Michigan, Jonathan received a fellowship to attend the New World Symphony Orchestral Academy under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas in Miami Beach, Florida.

Jonathan has attended many summer music festivals on full or partial scholarship including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Vermont Mozart Festival, Wabass Institute, Music Academy of the West, Domaine Forget, and Brevard Music Center. He has performed as a substitute with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in addition to winning trials with both the Stockholm Royal Philharmonic and Royal Swedish Opera in Sweden.

Jonathan is a certified Suzuki instructor and in 2018 was invited to teach at the IberAcademy in Medellin, Colombia, for a week of masterclasses, lessons, and coaching as part of the New World Symphony outreach initiative. Jonathan also taught at the Miami Music Project, an El Sistema inspired program, while living in Miami Beach. He also performs as a member of the Discovery Trio Ensemble.

His primary teachers include Jack Budrow, Timothy Pitts, and Kevin Brown. Jonathan performs on a basses made by French maker Jacques Barbe of Mirecourt circa 1850 and American maker Albert Jackstadt in 2008 (#97) and uses bows made by Roy Quade and Les Korus.

Mr. Tenney is a member of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and is a former member of the Saginaw Bay, West Shore and Jackson Symphonies. Mr. Tenney received his Bachelors of Music Education and Masters in Music Performance from Michigan State University. He studied double bass with Tom Erickson, Jack Budrow and Lawrence Hurst and also received instruction from Gary Karr and Edgar Meyer. His primary conducting instructors and mentors were Leon Gregorian, John Varineau and Dr. Raphael Jiménez. Mr. Tenney’s students can be found in youth and professional orchestras in the United States, Western Europe and Asia. Mr. Tenney and his wife, Wendy Tenney, founded and direct the Lowell Fusion Rock Orchestra which recognitions include an $85,000 grant from the State Farm Advocacy Council to promote music education in America. Mr. Tenney’s ensembles have performed as featured orchestra at the Michigan Music Conference, the Michigan State Capital, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Tenney’s other recognitions include: finalist for Michigan’s ASTA orchestra Teacher of the Year, MSBOA District 10 Orchestra Director of the year and finalist for the state MSBOA Orchestra Director of the Year. Mr. Tenney is currently Professor of Music Education and Bass at Cornerstone University and Director of Music and Arts at NorthPointe Christian Schools, Grand Rapids MI.