MRC Instructor Info
Shawna Weaver
Shawna sings, plays violin, and keys with a few local bands, including Stardust Collective and Fox Moxie. She is our program director, joining us with several years of education program leadership. She studied music in college, including a tour in China. She is learning to play bass and guitar and enjoys songwriting in her spare time. Fun fact, Shawna is also an author! She recently published a book about climate grief.
Traxx Kavajecz
Hello
Traxx joins the MRC as an instructor after years with the MRC as a student. You may have seen Traxx playing on stage, and we are so excited for him to mentor students in guitar, singing, putting together ensembles, and getting ready for gigs.
Check out Born Too Late, the band he and his sister started that has taken them around the region. Traxx leads our outreach program at elementary schools, and our homeschool program.
Melissa Weisser
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Melissa has been a professional artist and amature musician for most of her life. She has a degree in Communication Art and Design but alongside art, she has worked for many years in the service industry, as an interior designer, and has volunteered with many local organizations. She branched out into Marketing in 2018 and has a passion for growing awareness through creating effective designs and branding, and for planning community events. Melissa also owns and operates the local store, Alt Creative, which serves as a place for over 50 local artists to sell their work and build community through classes and events. She shares her little Duluth home with 2 rescue pups, Lily and Poppy, and their rescue cat, Elsie.
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Shanna Willie
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Shanna began playing drums in 1996 at age 16 and began giving private lessons two years ago. Influenced by her dad and sister playing drums and simply having access to a set, she began. Since then she’s played with lots of groups and people including The Keep Aways, Nordic Waste, The Undesirables, Moon Dogs and Neat Neat Neat. Shanna loves supporting others and feels honored to do so through volunteering at PAVSA and working at Essentia’s Center for Personal Fitness where she gets to teach fitness and yoga classes along with offering personal training. Shanna thinks the drums are super rad and that everybody should give them a try! She enjoys teaching drums with fun, spontaneity, inclusivity, and creativity as guiding lights. She looks forward to seeing you at Sacred Heart on Tuesdays!
Michael Furchert
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Michael teachers improvisation on piano, and is also our trumpet instructor. Originally from Germany, he has 25 years of experience performing on stage across the USA. He's been teaching students of all ages for thirty years and enjoys Jazz, Blues, Rock and Roll, and more. He has a goal of learning to play and teach the ukulele, and hopes to see Bob Dylan play in the Armory when we open in 2026!
Axel
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Axel has a background in classical piano, music theory, guitar, bass, recording, and mixing. With experience in a few bands, and in studios, he's been involved in music his whole life. He loves listening to just about anything (New Wave, Motown, 60s/70s rock, grunge, etc). He teaches beginner to intermediate piano, guitar, and music theory.
