School of Rock - Vienna, VA

Location & Contact Info

Our Vienna school is at the center of Vienna, just off Maple Ave. (123), next to Town Hall and across Center St. from the Vienna Public Library.

Vienna SOR
111 Center Street South
Vienna, VA 22180

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

DC-Area Hotline	703.850.2100
Vienna School:	703.242.2184
Fax:	703.232.1048
Email:	nova@schoolofrock.com

Faculty & Staff

Robert Caporal

Robert was born in Columbus Ohio and grew up in Dayton, Ohio. Starting on Piano at 5 years old and playing until 12 years old laid the foundation of a life of Rock! After being heavily influenced by his Dad's record collection of Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones, he switched to drums. Five years of drumming contributed to a strong rhythmical sense that would later help his guitar playing. Robert took up guitar at the age of 17 after listening to his sister play guitar to the classic rock hits of the 70's. His sister was his first of many teachers through his life. The love of rock lead guitar came after hearing and learning the classic double stop riffs of T-Bone Walker and Chuck Berry. Now 30 years later, Robert's passion for guitar is stronger than ever. With a love of learning, playing and teaching; a guitar will be by his side until the end. For those about to Rock he salutes you! Robert favors: PRS Guitars, Fender and Marshall Amps, Fulltone effects, GHS Strings and Dunlop Jazz III picks.

Bill Grier

Bill Grier started playing drums when he was thirteen and living with his family in Taipei, Taiwan. He had formal training with Bill Reichenbach who played drums with Charlie Byrd for years. Bill spent ten years in Los Angeles playing at famous venues like the Troubadour on Sunset Strip. He's played around the DC area for the last several years and currently appears locally with the band Cover Story. Bill loves playing drums and even more, loves teaching drums to the next generation of musicians.

Clint Greenlee

Clint Greenlee teaches bass and produces shows at Vienna School of Rock. Born and raised in Alexandria, he has been playing music since the young age of ten. He currently plays bass for the DC based band The B-Film Extras and plays out venues such as Jammin' Java, Rock n' Roll Hotel, and 930 club. The group expects to release their first full length album in January 2011. Clint enjoys all aspects of teaching young musicians and is pround to see his students lay down the groove. Clint is a graduate of the School of Rock program and is currently working on his Bachelor's Degree in music.

Dave Magazine

Dave has toured internationally over the last several years, sharing the stage with the major-label artists and working in the studio with the likes of Dan Rappaport and Sal Villanueva (Thursday, Taking Back Sunday - Warner Bros.). He endorses Genesis Drums and Ernie Ball Strings, and runs an artist and production management company founded independently. He has taught drums for several years and loves meeting new students.

Mandi Meros

Mandi has been a vocal coach to members of many DC and Baltimore area original and cover bands in her years teaching. She also has taught privately at Dematha High School in Hyattsville, MD since 2006, where many of her students have achieved goals including All State Chorus, Superior ratings at District and State Solo and Ensemble festivals and major roles in musicals and other productions. Mandi has had a variety of experiences with teaching adults, teenagers and children, and she is well versed in both classical and contemporary styles of music. In addition to teaching, Mandi is the lead singer for Reflex ? a very popular 80s cover band. She maintains a busy performance schedule with recent appearances at well-known venues such as the 9:30 Club, the State Theatre and Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts. She appears regularly at many popular DC-area clubs, as well up and down the east coast. Mandi holds a bachelor of music degree from James Madison University and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Music Teachers National Association. She is certified in all three levels of Somatic Voicework, the LoVetri Method, a method of voice training that ensures students learn to perform and respect all styles of music including Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM). She also has received a nomination for a Contemporary A Capella Recording Award as Best Female Soloist from the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America. Following matriculation from university, Mandi relocated to Nashville, TN and spent several years working for Creative Artists Agency. There, she gained valuable music industry experience which she gladly passes along to her students. Mandi constantly pursues new opportunities for musical and professional development, and currently studies voice with Edrie Means Weekly. She is thrilled to be working with the very talented students at School of Rock.

Ben Pape

Ben Pape is a classically trained musician and major label recording artist who cut his teeth in the DC area Punk Rock scene during its peak in the 1980s playing bass in the seminal band, Scream, with a young Dave Grohl behind the drum kit. Before long he found himself in Hollywood, CA recording with The Four Horsemen, produced by Rick Rubin (Def Jam Records, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, etc.) and engineered by Brendan O’Brien (Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, etc.).

Ben has toured the world playing music and has made several MTV appearances. He has recorded and performed a wide variety of musical styles from classical to country; Mozart to Metallica. His unique combination of education and industry expertise enables him to impart to his students a full spectrum of musical skills and wisdom.

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!

Carl Schmeig

Carl has played in a variety of bands around the DC area and is currently a member of Bob - a rock band based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Carl is influenced by virtually all genres of music, but he has found his home in Bob's familiar yet refreshingly different approach. Since the formation of the band in 2004, Bob has developed a reputation for producing music that resonates in your head and leaves you wanting more. Combining undeniably moving phonics with a stage show that is unsurpassed, Bob is a band you have to see live to fully experience. Bob will blow you away each and every time they perform. Carl is on the road with the band every weekend and he is delighted to be able to work with rock music's next generation of incredible bass players.

Jack Simchak

Jack Simchak studied music and the guitar at Skidmore College where he earned his bachelor's degree in Music. He is a veteran of many gigs in the upstate New York music scene. As a member of the band Bipolar he won the coveted Northern Lights Battle of the Bands competition which led to opening for national touring acts including LoPro, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace and Puddle of Mudd. Jack is a songwriter and his work has appeared on several CDs released by Bipolar. Jack is currently woodshedding like a madman to prepare for future graduate study.