Meet Vernon Neal, a new voice at YourClassical MPR

You might be hearing a new voice lately on YourClassical MPR. Vernon Neal recently joined us as a board operator, managing the soundboards in our studios during live broadcasts and making short on-air announcements.

“By nature, I’m a question-asker,” he says, “so I’m the most excited to learn more about our organization and hopefully, pick up some techniques on not sounding like a ball of nervous energy on air!”

Neal was born in Belize and raised in Los Angeles. Arriving in the Midwest as a teenager, he discovered an insatiable interest in learning how to create music and taught himself how to play various instruments. 

“Classical music had the biggest impact on me as a young metal-head, when I first heard Paganini's Caprice No. 24,” he says. “It opened up my musical world to alternate tunings, finger-style playing and finding ways to use my guitar dually as a percussive instrument.

“Classical was my entry point into the world of analytical music-listening. I believe that for a younger audience, classical has the ability to inspire the blessing and curse of always feeling the need to tap along to a piece to determine the timing and wonder, ‘How does anyone get this good at music?’”

Among his favorite composers, he cites the music of Niccolò Paganini, George Bridgetower and Danny Elfman. (“Yes, Danny Elfman — huge Beetlejuice fan here.”)

This passion for music was temporarily tempered by a foray into entrepreneurship and competitive athletics; he successfully ran his own business for nearly a decade. He owned a strength and conditioning gym created for people of underestimated backgrounds to feel capable and whole.

As a Black business owner, community leader and athlete, he found 2020 to be a time of deep reflection. During the fall of that year, he began pursuing a degree in audio engineering and live sound from the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis. He completed that degree earlier this year. 

He also built a freelance audio-production business fusing hip-hop, jazz, pop and metal. He sharpened his chops in live sound and started working as a TV production assistant. He remains committed to building community and uplifting underrepresented groups through the healing power of music.

When he’s not obsessing about music theory, he loves to drink coffee on his deck with his wife and cat. He is excited to bring his passion for people with him as he steps behind the microphone as a board operator for YourClassical MPR.

“Classical music was the catalyst for my desire to become immersed in music,” he says. “I'm excited to be a part of a team dedicated to reaching audiences of all ages and backgrounds. I'm just happy to be here.”