Red Wing Student Guitar Show at MSC Southeast features guitars, mandolins & more built by college students on May 7

Every year the Guitar Repair & Building students at Minnesota State College Southeast in Red Wing have the opportunity to hear their newly-built guitars and other acoustic instruments played in concert for the first time at the Student Guitar Show.

NEW THIS YEAR: This year's event will take place in the evening, on Monday, May 7, 2018 from 6 to 8 pm, making it possible for more area students and working adults to attend!

Jerry Kosak, Phil Heywood, Mike Cramer and Brian Wicklund will play the brand new acoustic instruments, giving students the thrill of hearing their instruments played on stage by expert professional musicians.

STUDENT GUITAR SHOW

Minnesota State College Southeast, Red Wing campus
Monday, May 7, 2018
6:00 to 8:00 pm
308 Pioneer Road, Red Wing, MN
Free and open to the public

As the academic year comes to a close, students in the college's lutherie programs are completing an array of new stringed instruments:

• First year Guitar Repair and Building program students build a flattop steel string guitar and have the option to build an electric guitar or bass. 
• Second year Guitar Development and Production students build at least one arched instrument -- such as an archtop guitar or a mandolin -- as well as acoustic and electric instruments of their own design. Their instruments may feature complex finishing techniques and inlay work. 

Spencer Connell is a first year student from Nashville, TN. He is a self-declared "Martin Nerd" and is building a dreadnought he calls a "cowboy guitar." Holding the work in progress, he says, "It's styled after an early D-18, 12 frets to the body, slotted headstock, mahogany back and sides, spruce top." We can expect a big sound from this instrument!

Mitchell Ogle is in second year guitar student and has developed a high level of skill, as shown in the inlay he designed for one of his guitars. "I decided to come to MSC Southeast from Vermont because it was the most in-depth program I could find, and I wanted to follow my guitar building passion to the greatest extent I could," he says. "My fingerboard inlays depict a progression of several different maple leaf species and an outline of the state, all cut from mother of pearl." 

About the Performers

Phil Heywood
Fingerstyle guitarist Phil Heywood has been based in Minneapolis-St. Paul since the mid-1980s, performing locally and regionally while also establishing himself in the greater guitar and acoustic music world. In 1986 he won the National Fingerpicking Championship, and followed up in 1987 by winning the American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival Competition. He plays with a bluesy swing and tone, lyricism, and groove.

Jerry Kosak
Jerry Kosak is a formidable guitarist from St. Paul who regularly performs, composes, and teaches in all styles --- roots and blues, rock, classical, and jazz. Dedication to and study of the wider continuum of music has enabled him to develop his own unique voice as a player and composer. He is equally comfortable with an acoustic, nylon string, electric, or resonator guitar in his hands.

Mike Cramer
Guitarist Mike Cramer is a music major from the University of Northern Iowa. His award-winning flatpicking technique has earned him championship titles in both the Minnesota State Fair Flatpicking Competition and Wisconsin's Upper-Midwest Flatpicking Contest. A fluid and powerful guitarist, Mike is as comfortable playing jazz standards as he is playing Bill Monroe instrumentals. He plays guitar in The Good Intentions and performs in a duo with Brian Wicklund.

Brian Wicklund
A veteran of top national bluegrass bands including Stoney Lonesome, The Barley Jacks, and Brother Mule, Brian Wicklund is an award winning musician and accomplished performer on many instruments, including mandolin. He is an expert teacher and the founder of American Fiddle Method and Fiddle Pals. He and Mike Cramer won first place in the 2017 Minnesota State Fair Americana-Roots Duet Contest, presented by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association.

MSC Southeast instructors visited Cuba, giving talk about experiences on May 1

Cuba: Education and Culture

with Lynne Rabuse, Jeanne Handke, and Debi Niebuhr
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Room 205, Minnesota State College Southeast, Winona Campus
1250 Homer Road, Winona
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Minnesota State College Southeast instructors Lynne Rabuse (Spanish) and Jeanne Handke (Massage Therapy), along with retired instructor Debi Niebuhr (Massage Therapy), recently traveled to Cuba for ten days as members of a Witness for Peace delegation.

The emphasis of the trip was culture, education, the environment, and US-Cuban relations. In a talk on May 1, Lynne, Jeanne, and Debi will share the knowledge they gained about Cuban education from their travels. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Lynne Rabuse at [email protected].

Quick trip to Kentucky yields $430,000 in-kind donation through cooperation with Lockheed Martin

Use of supplemental semi-trailers provided by Rihm Leasing made trip possible

On Sunday, April 8, Truck Driving instructors Mike Swanson and Tom Gierok drove 680 miles to Lexington, KY in two semi-trailer trucks. On Monday morning, the trucks were loaded up with materials donated by Lockheed Martin via the Department of Defense, and driven all the way back to Winona in one day!

One truck seemed to be mostly empty... except for thousands of pounds of metal in pallets on the floor. "Actually, this truck is full by weight," said Tom Gierok.

Welding instructor Casey Mann has big plans for some of aluminum and other metals. "Some of the metal will be used on campus to build projects. We need tables, and our students will be working on a trailer that auto body and auto technology can use for hauling cars around." 

As Casey Mann pointed out, "New aluminum is worth two dollars a pound, and these pallets weigh 10,000 to 11,000 pounds each. That's means each pallet is worth $20,000, easily!"

"We will use metal in this truck across the vocational technical programs," said Travis Thul, Dean of Trade and Technology. "The other truck is full of fasteners and components that we can use in everything from Construction Technology to CNC Machine Tool. Anything we don't use, we can share with our partner high schools."

Special thanks goes out to Rihm Leasing, the company which provided two supplemental semi-trailers that allowed the haul to take place.

"It makes sense that we would partner with an institution that does truck driver training," said Tim Carroll, Director of Business Development, Rental Fleet Operations, of Rihm Leasing. "We are a leasing company, so we don't hire truck drivers, but without qualified truck drivers there would be no demand for our product."

Travis said that Lockheed Martin is always trying to find good uses for decommissioned materials. "They are willing to help transfer incredibly valuable materials, but there are very few organizations that have the resources to go pick it up! That's where our heroes, Mike and Tom, come in, as well as Rihm Leasing. We are extremely fortunate to be able to take advantage of donations like this."

Photos

Above: Tom Gierok and Casey Mann show off a truck full of aluminum and other metals.
Below: Tom Gierok, Tim Carroll, Travis Thul, and Casey Mann pose between the trucks that made the cross country trip to Lexington, KY.