Music Faculty
Full-Time Faculty
Bob Kostlan, M.M.
Professor and Program Co-Director
Bob has been teaching music at the college and university level in San Diego for over 15 years. Bob is a composer and performer of experimental and electronic music. Throughout his musical education and career he focused on both extended traditional techniques and contemporary popular genres. This has lead to his composition style as a blending of the avant-garde and vernacular. Bob is proficient in the softwares of Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Reason, Ableton Live, Max, Pure Data, iZotope, Synful Orchestra, QLab, Sibelius, Lemur, TouchOSC, and Garageband for iOS. Bob also builds and circuit bends original music hardware including microphones, effect boxes, guitars, and synthesizers.
Mike Espar, M.A.
Associate Professor and Program Co-Director
Mike Espar is a composer, music producer and educator. His music has been featured in films screened at Lincoln Center and the Sundance Film Festival, and in theaters and concert halls around the country. Notable projects include The Man Who Would Be Polka King (truTV), Mamachas del Ring (Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival), Altamont Now (Winner, Best Narrative, Arizona Underground Film Festival), and Sex Crimes Unit (HBO). He has also composed commercial music for high-profile clients including Heineken, Levis, Fruit of the Loom and Ford Models.
As an educator, Mike is a strong believer in the potential of the media arts to empower, inspire and build community.
Adjunct Faculty
Timothy Gmeiner -- Commercial Music and Music Industry
Timothy Gmeiner is a San Diego, California-based independent hip-hop artist and producer. He has toured internationally under the name "Ill Poetic" and garnered acclaim for his releases from artists and publications such as King Britt, Portishead, Rolling Stone, and Pitchfork. Through his company SoundRzn Design, he has provided audio and visual services for artists, universities and companies of various industries including the San Diego Symphony, Mello Music Group, OWN, and HBO. He has given workshops at various colleges, community centers and music festivals on topics of music production and artist entrepreneurship, and developed these indie artist workshops into an active curriculum at San Diego City College. He has worked as the Assistant Director at the Qualcomm Institute's Audio Spatialization Lab and is currently enrolled in UC San Diego’s Computer Music PhD program where he focuses on audiovisual relationships in virtual and physical spaces. Current projects and collaborations focus on spatialized and interactive compositions in virtual reality, audiovisual live performance and large-scale real-time reactive installations More information can be found at www.soundrzn.com and www.illpoetic.com
Wendy Greene, M.M. -- Piano and Music History
Wendy Greene received her Master’s in Voice from New England Conservatory in Boston, MA. She worked as a soloist at Holy Cross Catholic Cathedral of Boston (home of the Cardinal). In San Diego Ms. Greene worked in the San Diego Opera Chorus, and as a soloist at St.James by the Sea Episcopal Church, and St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church. Ms. Greene directed the music for the Misa en Español (Mass in Spanish) at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral prior to the Pandemic. Ms. Greene directs, sings and plays hurry gurdy with her Medieval trio The Goliards. She also sings with The La Jolla Renaissance Singers and Musica Nova Antiqua. Ms. Greene plays several instruments and has studied four languages. She is an Adjunct Professor of Music at San Diego City College and Southwestern College.
Kurt Kohnen -- Commercial Music and Music History
Adjunct Professor of Music, Performing Artist, Emmy Award-winning audio engineer and music producer, SAG-AFTRA Member and Shop Steward for KPBS TV/FM. Specializing in electro-acoustic composition and performance using Ableton, Reason, Pro-Tools with an emphasis in the Hip Hop and electronic music genres.
Louis Valenzuela -- Commercial Music
Louis Valenzuela is an American jazz guitarist and a leading figure in the San Diego music community. He has dedicated his life to the furtherance of the art form and believes it is essential for the betterment of our existence. In addition to guitar, he plays cuban tres, bass, and oud. Some of the many groups Louis plays with include; JuiceBox, Afro-Jazziacs, The Louis V trio and a Persian band by the name Dornob. He is also heavily involved with the San Diego gospel community. Louis is also a co-founder of music school and recording studio Avant Garde Music Company where he is Chief Engineer and Music Director of the studio’s live production platform AGMClive.