NASHVILLE, TN, November 2022 –– SAE Insitute Nashville is proud to announce the appointment of Alex Thomen as Audio Program Chair. In his new role, Thomen will oversee all aspects of the Audio program’s operations on campus, including oversight of program faculty, technology, facilities, retention, and student satisfaction.
Alex Thomen is a composer, producer, arranger, keyboardist, and audio engineer. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from Kansas State University and a Master of Music in Commercial Composition and Arranging from Belmont University.
Thomen began playing, composing, and producing at a young age. Using his brother’s Casio WK-1800 and a copy of Cakewalk Professional, Thomen began his journey as a music producer. He has been pursuing music composition, music technology, and education ever since he first learned how to sequence a MIDI drum part.
Thomen has had the opportunity to work alongside world-renowned musicians in the Nashville area, such as drummer Keith Carlock (Steely Dan), bass virtuoso Jeff Berlin, and keyboardist/composer Michael Whittaker. From 2018 to 2021, he worked at The University of Miami as an on-campus Music Production Specialist. There, he had the opportunity to collaborate with Emmy Award-winning composer and professor Carlos Rafael Rivera (The Queen’s Gambit, Godless) regarding production technology resources for music students.
“The audio world is an incredible, global industry full of wonderful people and powerful, new technologies,” says Thomen. “I know how excited students are when they walk into their first class to start their career journey. My goal is to maintain and foster that excitement throughout students’ time at SAE Nashville. I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge with our students and working together with our faculty to continue providing the best education for future audio professionals.”
In addition to his composition and production work, Thomen writes educational content for aspiring engineers and music producers. As an Avid Certified Instructor, he has had the opportunity to author learning content for ProMedia Training, the #1 largest authorized AVID Pro Tools training organization in the U.S. In addition to tutorials and video content, he co-developed the “MIDI Production in Pro Tools” curriculum and teaches Pro Tools certification courses.
Located on Nashville’s famous “Music Row”, SAE Institue Nashville was the second SAE Institute campus to open in the US region and has been providing Audio education since 1999. For more information about the campus, get in touch by phone at 615-244-5848 or by emailing nashville@sae.edu.