School of Rock - Silver Spring, MD

Location & Contact Info

Our Silver Spring school is located in downtown Silver Spring near the corner of Colesville Rd. and Georgia Ave, across from the American Film Institute (AFI).

DC/Silver Spring SOR
8634 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910

For enrollment information or general information please call our DC-area hotline:

DC-Area Hotline	703.850.2100
DC/Silver Spring School:	301.589.7625
Fax:	703.232.1048
Email:	nova@schoolofrock.com

Faculty & Staff

Colin Behram

Colin Behram is the Music Director in our Silver Spring school and specializes in teaching drums. Colin has worked as a drummer, composer, recording engineer and producer in the DC area for the last several years and is a product of the best musical influences to come out of Washington DC. Due to his father being a musician and fixture on the DC Music scene (he played guitar in the seminal Washington DC band Razz, Artful Dodger and Johnny Bombay and the Reactions) Colin's early years were spent in recording studios and at various gigs learning his craft in real-life settings and at the feet of name musicians such as Ju Ju House (Drummer with EU, Arrested Development, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan), and Kent Wood (Keyboardist for EU, Rare Essence, Chuck Brown and session player for acts such as Britney Spears, Eva Cassidy and Roberta Flack).

Thru these early experiences Colin has "graduated" from his own "School of Rock" to become a world class drummer in his own right and musician's musician. Recently, when The Howling Mad (ex-Razz) needed a drummer to fill in for gig at the 8X10 in Baltimore, Colin was the first and only choice for some very choosy musicians. He turned in a remarkable performance which earned the praise of his peers, including producer Frank Marchand of Waterford Digital studios. Frank has worked with artists such as Good Charlotte, Bob Mould, The Shins, The Decemberists and Brendan Canty among others. Frank gave Colin the gift of a destroyed drum microphone - a casualty of Colin's fiery and intense performance.
Colin enjoys the admiration of the Washington DC musical community of which he is an integral part. He has a well-deserved reputation for being a superb drummer, musician and teacher. Colin continues to perform and record with his band, Natural Remedy, who are expecting a new album release in mid 2009. cbehram@schoolofrock.com

Manuel Contreras

Manuel Contreras is a guitar player, music teacher and composer with over 15 years of experience. Manuel is a native of Italy. He started taking guitar lessons at the age of 14 in his hometown Gaeta (LT), focusing on the styles of his musical heroes: The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, S.R. Vaughan and Kurt Cobain. In 2001 he moved to Rome to study at the "Guitar C.A.P. s.t." with Gianfranco "Nick" Diletti (one of the first Italian graduates from the Musician Institute in L.A.), and after three years was awarded the Professional Certificate in Contemporary Music.

In the summer of 2009 Manuel left his country for the US where he continued attending either private lessons or workshops, regarding all the musical styles. He had the honor to study and play side by side with the best Italian and International musicians: Mark Stanley, Frank Gambale, Massimo Varini, Mimmo Langella, Guthrie Govan, Simone Sello, Alessandro Benvenuti, Lorenzo Feliciati, Umberto Fiorentino, Alberto Lombardi and Stefano Micarelli. In addition to guitar studies, Manuel also earned the Professional Diploma in Journalism and Music Criticism from the "Accademia della Critica" (Rome) in 2005.

Since the 1994, Manuel has always been involved in numerous rock bands as well as in recording projects, playing throughout Italy in the best clubs and working as a sideman or a composer for short film music. As a journalist he collaborated with "Chitarre", the best Italian magazine for guitarists, reviewing books, writing long specials articles and working on guitar instruction columns with Gianfranco “Nick” Diletti. He has always loved to teach music and help his students achieve their "rock and roll dream". For almost 10 years he's been a very patient and friendly teacher, with an unmistakable laid-back style. He proudly joined the Silver Spring School of Rock in November 2009 and is now working mostly on his own instrumental project: a psychedelic mix of funk, blues and rock and roll.

Crystal Cloonan

Crystal Cloonan is the Branch Assistant at the DC/Silver Spring School of Rock, where she keeps the kids in line, the parents informed and the music teachers on-time. Crystal has a strong background in business communications, marketing promotions and interpersonal relations in the music, broadcast and entertainment industries. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland. Her past work experience includes media relations for Brotman, Winter Fried, online research for Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations, promotions assistant for Infinity Broadcasting’s “Ron & Fez Show”, promotional sales for Ultrasound DeeJays and currently, in addition to her work at the School of Rock, she is a bartender at Washington DC’s famous EyeBar. In addition to her many roles at the School of Rock, Crystal is also the arbiter of taste for rock fashions for our students and staff.

Trish Ferrett

Trish Ferrett comes to us with over 35 years of musical training... starting with piano lessons from the wee age of 5 years old (after her parents quickly tired of her playing TV commercials by ear on the family piano). Despite the classical training, it quickly became apparent to her family that she wouldn't be happy with the standard repertoire... and the only way to get her to practice was to give her Rock sheet music. With Elton John's Greatest Hits as her first "real" music book, she quickly morphed into a singer/pianist performing in local talent competitions, musicals, high school revues, and the occasional restaurant gig (because she was a much better player than a waitress). Trish went on to study voice and piano at James Madison University, and fell in love with concert promotion and production while working with the University's Program Board--working with artists such as Public Enemy, The Fixx, The Temptations, Echo and The Bunnymen, 10,000 Maniacs, Gwar, Bruce Hornsby, The Smithereens, EU, Little Feat, The Moody Blues, Randy Travis, Reba McEntyre and Alabama. Combining her love of the music business with her own musical talent, she graduated from JMU with a Bachelor of Music Degree, concentrating in Music Industry. Trish went on to earn her MBA from the University of Mary Washington. Trish works by day in Human Resources for the American Red Cross National Headquarters, but also plays (with her awesome drummer husband, Brooks) over 50 shows a year with Prime Time, one of the area's leading wedding/mitzvah/corporate party/you name it, we'll play it cover bands. She's also a member of the Alexandria Singers, reminding everyone that choral music is not only very cool... it works like a charm in learning how to pick up harmonies when singing in a band. If she's not there, you can find her at a concert somewhere...

Mick Rabaa

Mick Rabaa comes to the School of Rock with a wealth of musical knowledge--specifically in the context of the high-energy rock band--and also brings years of teaching and performance experience gleaned from every corner of the globe.

Mick, a native Ohioan, was classically trained in piano from the age of three, continuing on until high school, where he began to play keys and sing in rock bands. After high school, he attended the Berklee College of Music, during which time he also played and sang in several professional Boston ensembles, among them “The 55th-Century East Coast Jazz Gorillas”, “Mr. Happy”, and the Berklee Progressive Rock ensemble. At Berklee, Mick studied electronic music synthesis with seminal thinkers in the field, including Tom Rhea and Pierre Boulanger, sang the part of Judas in "Jesus Christ, Superstar", and played in several of the school’s infamous cafe shows, all the while exploring the infinite depths of musical theory.

After Berklee, Mick moved to Asia, working and traveling in the region for years. While gaining experience and sitting in with rockers in Bangkok and jazzers in Hanoi, Mick also found time to collaborate with LRD and the Innocent Bystanders, a popular Western rock band in South Korea, doing shows around the peninsula at American military installations and private events. He also worked with several Korean pop musicians, including BoA, Kim Mok-Kyun, and Wax. He appeared on the 2003 Korean Music Video awards backing up Wax, and also performed on piano on live Korean national television.

After years as a vagabond, itinerant keytarist-for-hire, Mick returned to the US, and attended graduate school at American University here in DC. He earned his Master’s degree in International Relations in May 2008—this is, of course, not relevant to Mick’s musicianship, but it does speak to his patience. During grad school, Mick focused heavily on recording/producing original music--writing all the songs, playing all the parts, and learning the ins and outs of studio methods and recording techniques.

Mick’s teaching method emphasizes ear training and actual practice. Whether singing or playing, Mick encourages the student to develop his or her own unique voice--a process which can only be actively realized, never passively inculcated.

Music is Mick’s first and most enduring love, and he truly enjoys the opportunity to help his students become the hard rockers, jazz-funk jammers, avant garde power-screamers, digital crooners, and knob-tweaking analog time-warpers of the future!

Zvi Sharibi

Hailing from Israel, Zvi Sharabi has been teaching and performing on the guitar for over 10 years. His experience as the lead guitarist of The Syndicate awarded him national attention, as their songs were aired on the hottest radio stations all over Israel. With more than 20 years of training under his belt, Zvi Sharabi has worked with world-renowned guitarists, including Erez Netz, of Infected Mushroom, and Israeli guitarist Guy Be’er of Hayehoodim. He has taught at several Israeli music schools, both on an individual basis, and in producing youth bands.