Nate our Richards Rock Academy Founder/Owner officially opened doors in March 2009. He has been playing guitar for 30+ years and has studied with numerous guitarists in the area, including Glenn Lyons, Dr. Jeremy Lyons, Tony D’Addono, Gary Grisafi and Barry Benedetta. He completed his Music K-12 certification and dual degree in Music Education/Music Composition with a performance minor in classical guitar at West Chester University studying with Professor Glen Lyons (graduated magna cum laude). He was first chair and President of the WCU Guitar Ensemble and performed several solos and concerti during that time. In addition, Nate won a national and regional composition competition for his classical guitar piece Rhapsody, earning him a premiere performance at the State University of New York Potsdam Classical Guitar Festival and a featured master class taught by world-renowned guitarist David Tannenbaum at SUNY. He was also selected as a participant for several regional competitions for other works and won a memorial scholarship for his work in music theory at WCU. He studied composition with Robert Maggio, Mark Rimple, Larry Nelson, and James McVoy.
In addition to classical guitar, Nate is a respected rock/metal/shred guitarist and teacher, and has had almost 25 years experience teaching students of all levels, styles, and ages. He is open to the student’s needs and interests, tailoring the lessons and researching/selecting the best resources to help students accomplish their goals and exceed their own expectations. His students show measured success and enjoyment of music and develop into independent musicians. Several of Nate’s students have gone on to music colleges such as Duquesne University, West Chester University, Delaware University, Temple University, York University as well as having performed in successful local rock and metal bands.
During the 2014-15 school year, Nate started Richards Rock Academy™ – the studio rock band program. Being proficient in piano, drums, bass, and violin himself, Nate specializes in compiling groups of musicians that have created and recorded original EPs and have done many shows notably, at the legendary Trocadero Theatre and Hard Rock in Philly. In addition to creating the successful rock band program, he has written a comprehensive curriculum for electric guitar students called the Rock Guitar Mastery Program™.
Currently, Nate teaches, guitar, ukulele and general music classes at Garnet Valley Middle School in Glen Mills, PA. He has been working over the last several years to build a strong guitar lesson program at RRA, the rock band school Richards Rock Academy, and develop online resources for an integrated approach to guitar lessons. In addition, Nate earned his master’s degree in classical guitar performance at West Chester University.