- (360) 688-9911
- TIA Olympia, WA
- TIA Seattle, WA
Sean-David McGoran
Instrumental Music
SD is a multi-instrumentalist and music educator with nearly 30 years of experience as a seasoned educator. He teaches group classes in piano and winds, and private lessons in Trumpet, Piano, Saxophone, Improvisation, Theory, and Composition. As our primary winds faculty member, SD also teaches Euphonium, Trombone and Recorder.
Sean-David is a graduate of Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA) where he studied jazz composition and performance with jazz greats like Phil Wilson, Greg Hopkins, Jeff Stout, Lin Biviano, and Hal Crook. “SD” also studied jazz improvisation privately with Jerry Bergonzi (world-renowned jazz artist and educator) for over a year and a half while in Boston. Sean-David served for six years in the U.S. Army Bands both in the US and abroad. He has experience playing professionally in a variety of environments; small groups, big bands, orchestral, musical theatre, and in churches, but jazz music is his passion as a musician. Sean-David is also a skilled and educated composer often writing new music to serve community. SD also holds two masters degrees and a doctorate with a project focus on facilitating and serving the community through a local nonprofit music academy. As an educator, in addition to teaching music in private and small group formats, SD has served as an adjunct faculty member/professor for nearly 20 years and continues to do so simply for the joy of it. SD is also the co-founder and director of TIA.
Sean-David authored The Tuned In Musician. Tuned In is a book for musicians and artists who seek not just to create art, but also to be tuned in better to those the music serves. SD began teaching band at Christian Faith School (Seattle, WA) before enlisting as an Army Bandsman, and has been teaching music professionally for over twenty years both through private music lessons and groups. Today, when SD is not teaching and directing operations at TIA he is often writing new music, recording horn parts for commercial recording projects like this one that Jenna co-wrote with friend Jonathan Waller and recorded the vocals on (which was contracted to be a part of a network television program), and spending time with his family. SD is looking forward to helping you or your child discover your musical voice!
Piano
Sean-David loves to teach piano and is one of our busiest piano teachers! In fact, all of our academy’s most advanced piano students are working with SD for good reason, because SD has a unique ability to train them and challenge them with exciting, broad, and challenging repertoire, styles, and techniques. SD works with beginners, jazz piano players, very advanced classical pianists, and piano teachers!
Saxophone
As a multi-instrumentalist, SD works with many saxophone students as well as piano and other wind instruments! Weekly, SD works with students on alto, tenor, and bari. With over twenty years working as an educator, SD would love to lead you on a journey through the saxophone. One of SD’s passions on sax is finding and developing your own sound approach. SD plays sax regularly on commercial recordings (along with trumpet and trombone as well).
Trumpet
As a trumpet player and brass specialist, SD has a passion for jazz music for sure, but by no means is that his only focus on trumpet study or playing. In fact, SD’s primary concern with trumpet players is developing a consistent, robust, healthy sound and approach on the horn. In his own journey, SD has devoted himself to study and practice of various different methods and approaches both historic and modern including of course the works of Clarke, Arban, and Bill Adam, one of the greatest trumpeters and educators of the 20th century, and most recently, the works of Larry Meregillano including The Compression Training System.
Not tied to any of these individual works or systems as the only approach to the trumpet, SD is committed to help you find the approach that works best for you and your personal goals and loves exploring everything our there from historical to contemporary approaches to the trumpet. In fact, listening to The Trumpet Gurus Hang Podcast, a podcast devoted to discussions with the world’s top trumpet players, manufactures, educators, and technicians is on SD’s calendar weekly as a part of his ongoing study and journey.
What kind of students does SD work with? Every kind. SD loves teaching both beginners and advanced students, mostly he just loves teaching students that want to learn! SD has trained and prepared students that have gone on to record portfolio projects for Stanford University submission, students that have gone on to Berklee College of Music and now run their own recording and production studio, he teaches medical doctors, retired engineers, and even local band directors and music teachers. Just recently one of SD”s students was selected as a guest DJ on KNKX! And he would love to work with you too!
SD, who is also our director, like many of our faculty, is currently full and on a waitlist.
