• Meet Your Faculty


  • The performing arts faculty and staff members at Mt. Hood Community College are recognized for their accomplishments as performers, composers, educators, producers, directors and stage designers. Our collaborative instructors are here to help you perfect your technique, encourage your creative spirit and give you a chance to shine. Please contact your faculty advisers to find out more about our excellent program.

    Music Faculty/Advisers

    Dan Davey
    Dan Davey, Music Faculty/Jazz Band

    Music Faculty/Jazz Band
    503-491-7010
    Daniel.Davey@mhcc.edu
    Office AC 2129

    Dan Davey is the Director of Jazz Studies and Instructor of Music at Mt. Hood Community College where he oversees the jazz program, directs the primary jazz ensemble and teaches several core music courses and jazz combos. Dan is a Boston native and holds degrees from the Berklee College of Music and Sam Houston State University. He is the Jazz Chair for the Oregon Music Educators Ensemble and founded the Oregon State Jazz Championships. Dan is an active clinician and guest artist around the country and an active performer on piano, trumpet and organ. Aside from music, Dan loves spending time outdoors with his wife and his son! Learn more about him at www.danieldavey.net.

    Danielle Davey
    Danielle Davey

    Music Faculty/Wind Ensemble
    503-491-7157
    Danielle.Davey@mhcc.edu
    Office AC 2132

    Danielle Davey is the Director of Bands and tenured Instructor of Music at MHCC where she directs the MHCC Wind Ensemble, coaches chamber ensembles, teaches core music courses, and organizes the private lessons program. Since her tenure, she and her colleagues have developed a comprehensive instrumental music program geared towards the advancement of students in music education, performance, composition, production, and engineering. Mrs. Davey created an undergraduate conducting class and started the MHCC Collegiate chapter of the National Association for Music Education (C-NAfME). Recently, the MHCC Wind Ensemble was featured as a performing ensemble at the 2023 Oregon Music Education Association (OMEA) State Conference.

    Prior to her appointment at MHCC, Danielle taught instrumental music for 10 years at all grade levels in Oregon, Minnesota, and Massachusetts. Her bands received numerous Superior ratings and first place awards in concert, marching and jazz.? 

    An Oregon native, Mrs. Davey earned her Bachelor of Music Education Degree from the University of Oregon where she earned the Outstanding Undergraduate Woodwind Performance Award. She concluded her Master’s Degree in Conducting from the American Band College of Sam Houston State University in 2010 and now serves on their assessment faculty. Her primary conducting teacher was Robert Ponto.  

    Each summer, Mrs. Davey organizes and runs the Oregon Band Directors Association (OBDA) new music reading session. She is an elected collegiate level representative for OBDA and is a board member for the Western International Band Clinic University Honor Band (WIBC-U). Additionally, Mrs. Davey plays clarinet and serves as the Associate Conductor with the Portland Wind Symphony.  

    Mrs. Davey is an active clinician, adjudicator, and honor band conductor around the country. She maintains memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, the Oregon Music Education Association, the Oregon Band Directors Association, and the National Band Association. In her spare time, Danielle loves to camp, solfege pop songs, and spend time with her family.

    Kevin Lambert
    Kevin Lambert, Music Faculty/Symphonic & Chamber Choirs

    Music Faculty/Symphonic & Chamber Choirs
    503-491-6024
    Kevin.Lambert@mhcc.edu

    Kevin Lambert, Choral Director and Music Instructor at Mt. Hood Community College, teaches courses in piano, music fundamentals, and music theory in addition to directing the Symphonic and Chamber Choirs. He recently served as music director and arranger for the MHCC productions of RENT, Footloose, The Drowsy Chaperone, and UrineTown. Kevin earned his Master of Music in Conducting from Portland State University and his Bachelor of Arts in Music, Cum Laude, from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

    Kevin taught music at secondary schools in Houston, Texas and Kerala, India before moving to Portland. An avid arranger, Kevin worked in the studios of Indian film composer AR Rahman, producing choral/orchestral arrangements performed in a sold-out concert at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As a classically trained pianist, he has also performed for the late Dave Brubeck and Coretta Scott King. From 2010-2017, Kevin served as the music director for Milwaukie Presbyterian Church, and in May 2016, Kevin received the MHCC Distinguished Teacher Award in recognition of his outstanding achievement as an instructor.

    Clay Giberson
    Clay Giberson

    Music Faculty/Electronic Music Production
    503-491-7157
    Clay.Giberson@mhcc.edu
    Office AC 2128

    Clay Giberson - An innovative voice in the contemporary jazz scene of the Pacific Northwest, keyboardist and composer, Clay has released five recordings on the premier jazz label Origin Records. He has taught music technology and jazz piano for fifteen years and likes to help students investigate the possibilities of electronic and acoustic music.

    Tim Gilson
    Tim Gilson

    Music Faculty/Bass, Jazz Combos, String Ensemble
    503-491-7157
    Timothy.Gilson@mhcc.edu
    Office AC 2128

    Tim Gilson has been a mainstay in the Northwest for many years. He has played with many nationally acclaimed artists including Mose Allison, Ritchie Cole, Bud Shank, Herb Ellis, Julian Priester, John Handy, Ernestine Anderson and many others. He toured Japan in 1993 with the Mel Brown Quintet with special guest artist Chuck Findley on trumpet; then in 1994 he moved to Madison Wisconsin where he served as Principal Bassist with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Since returning to Portland in 2002 Tim plays regularly with the Mel Brown Trio, the Mel Brown Septet and occasionally with the Oregon Symphony backing guest artist such as Dee Daniels, Byron Stripling and Herbie Hancock. Tim has also accompanied several guest artists including Wycliff Gordon, Antonio Hart, Matt Wilson, Ingrid Jensen and Wynton Marsalis during their tours of the Pacific Northwest.

    Ryan Meagher
    Ryan Meagher, Music Faculty/Guitar

    Music Faculty/Guitar
    503-491-7157
    Ryan.Meagher@mhcc.edu
    Office AC 2128

    Originally a native of San Jose, California, Ryan Meagher launched his international reputation as a jazz guitarist and composer in New York City in 2003. He has seven albums under his own direction and has performed alongside for a wide range of notable and legendary jazz artists including Randy Brecker, Terell Stafford, John Clayton, Jim Black, David Friesen, Cuong Vu, and many others. He is currently based in Portland, Oregon where he is active in the jazz and creative music scenes as an artist, educator, and organizer. He teaches guitar at the University of Portland and Mt Hood Community College, and runs the jazz programs at Lower Columbia College, and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. In addition to his teaching duties, he is also active as an administrator in important cultural outlets like the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble as their Director of Operations and Director of the PJCE Records label. He is also a co-founder of Montavilla Jazz Festival where he is the Programming Director.

    Kyle Smith
    Kyle Smith

    Kyle Smith is a jazz guitarist and educator living in Portland, Oregon. Kyle is a guitar instructor at Mt. Hood Community College, and also runs a busy private studio serving students of all abilities and musical styles.

    Kyle’s teaching methods help students develop the skills and knowledge that will make them successful as a guitarist and musician. He has a strong track record of helping students audition into university level music programs and prepare for a career in music.

    From 2010-2012, Kyle developed a guitar program for music majors at Spokane Falls Community College and taught jazz guitar lessons, ensembles, and classes at Gonzaga University. He regularly presents clinics at jazz festivals, campus, school events, and music education conferences.

    Kyle earned his masters in jazz pedagogy from Eastern Washington University. While there, he performed regularly with the Bob Curnow Big Band, and appeared on demo recordings for the Sierra Music Publishing Company. Kyle has also performed regularly with the Emerald City Jazz Kings, Swing Shift Jazz Orchestra, and the Jessika Smith Big Band.

    Lessons, articles, and resources are available at www.kylesmithguitar.com.

    Lauren Fraley
    Lauren Fraley

    Music Faculty/Piano
    503-491-7157
    Lauren.Fraley@mhcc.edu
    Office AC 2128

    Lauren Fraley has recently moved back to her home state of Oregon after living in Oklahoma and California, where she completed her research and studies. She holds a doctoral degree in music from the University of Southern California where she studied Keyboard Collaborative Arts with Alan Smith. She has also studied with world-renowned pianist and author Paul Roberts, as well as Lucinda Carver and Diane Baxter. Lauren takes pleasure in working with vocalists and instrumentalists at the piano as well as performing early music on harpsichord. She regularly performs with the Mt. Hood Pops Orchestra and various ensembles around the Portland area. She has taught private piano students of all ages for 20 years, as well as held various music classes for young children. Along with pursuing her love of music, Lauren enjoys being with her husband and two daughters, as they spend time discovering all the Pacific Northwest has to offer.


    Theatre Arts Faculty/Advisors:

    Daryl Harrison-Carson
    Daryl Harrison-Carson, Theatre Technical Director

    Theatre Technical Director
    503-491-7159
    Daryl.Harrison@mhcc.edu
    Room AC2135

    Daryl Harrison-Carson is the Theatre Technical Director and Professor of Theatre at Mt. Hood Community College. She serves as designer for theatre productions and teaches courses in design, stagecraft and history of theatre. Before coming to MHCC, Daryl taught at Central Florida College and Santa Fe Community College.

    Daryl's professional credits include lighting and production work with Oregon Ballet Theatre, Stumptown Stages, Bouand Dance Company, Maine State Musical Theatre, Kennedy Center, Ocala Civic Theatre, as well as lighting design for cruise lines, theme parks and casinos. Her lighting design for Bouand Dance Company's Sideshow was televised on KOPB. She holds an MFA from University of Cincinnati Conservatory and a BS from James Madison University.

    Alisha Christiansen
    Alisha Christiansen, Theater Events Coordinator

    Theater Events Coordinator

    Alisha Christiansen is the Theater Events Coordinator at Mt. Hood Community College. She is the liaison between our community partners and MHCC stage spaces, bringing us all together in shared experiences. She holds a Master's degree in Theatre History & Criticism from Brigham Young University. At MHCC and BYU-I, she's taught courses in acting, directing, voice and articulation, dramatic structure and analysis, theatre history, and her favorite: theatre appreciation.

    Currently, she teaches theatre classes at Park Academy. Alisha volunteers as an admin team member for PDX Playwrights and as a local facilitator for the Portland chapter of Coming to the Table. She's the recipient of a 2022 RACC grant for her new play, R U N. Recent professional highlights include working with Portland Playhouse Summer Camps and directing a disco-themed rendition of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Park Academy.

    Individual Music Lesson Instructors

    In order to sign up for individual music lessons, please contact our Individual Lessons Coordinator, Danielle Davey: danielle.davey@mhcc.edu or 503-491-7157.