MANC on the West Coast

Our Sustainable Funding team just returned from a whirlwind trip to Seattle, WA, where we were lucky enough to see the view from the Space Needle, eat some fresh seafood, and experience the brief period of summer weather. The majority of our time was spent focusing on how to improve upon things at MANC, and ensure a long-lasting impact in our community.

A few of us had a chance to stop by the Experience Music Project, which is an interactive pop culture museum. Tourists can experiment on different instruments within sound-proof studios, and even record their own Demo CDS. Guitars, basses, keyboards, and other instruments are on display, including a special gallery featuring 50 extremely rare guitars used by famous musicians like Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, and George Harrison. A massive piece of artwork piled high with guitars is entitled, "Roots and Branches".

The most interactive part of the museum is the "On Stage" area, where you and your friends or family can get on stage and play along with an automated instrument. Our Music Academy folks chose to set the guitars on the manual setting and put their training to work!

Thanks to Jonathan Holley for the details.

Success from an alum!

Congratulations to Sam Gingher, who took first place in Brevard Music Center's piano competition on August 1st! Sam performed Bartok's Piano Sonata (1st movement), Bach's French Suite No. 2, Chopin's Nocturne in F Major, Op. 15, and Griffes' Roman Sketches ( "Clouds).

You can check out Brevard on Facebook here, and Sam's MySpace Music page here.

New Teachers!

We're excited to announce the following new faculty at MANC:

Mr. Todd Ayers
Todd Ayers, percussion faculty member at The Music Academy of North Carolina, specializes in drum set instruction for students. Todd attended Greensboro College and received his Bachelor of Music Education degree in percussion. He frequently performs in rock and jazz bands throughout the triad. He can be reached at (336) 691-0672, ext. 206 or email: tayers@musicacademync.org.

Dr. Melanie Crump
Melanie has her Bachelor of Music in Choral Education, Master of Music in Choral Directing, and Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Appalachian State. In addition to being honored with the Voice Recital of Distinction Award from ASU, she was also winner of the concerto-aria competition. She later completed her Doctorate in Vocal Performance at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Melanie has extensive operatic performing experience, and has been nominated for The Excellence in Teaching Award at Guilford Technical Community College and at Mount Olive College. She can be reached at (336) 691-0672 ext 210 or by email at mcrump@musicacademync.org.

Ms. Lena Timmons
Lena completed her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Performance degrees at Baylor University in Waco, TX. While at Baylor, Lena also pursued a degree in Music History, under the direction of Dr. Jean Ann Boyd. In August of 2008, she began her doctoral work at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as a student of Dr. Alexander Ezerman, and as a member of the UNCG Liberace String Quartet. She can be reached at (336) 691-0672 ext 228 or by email at ltimmons@musicacademync.org.

Congratulations!

Guitar student Chris Staton has been accepted into the University of North Carolina School of the Art's High School program! This program offers young artists (grade 8 through college) a chance to focus on their art and prepare for a professional career in the arts, while also providing a broad, well-rounded academic education.

Although the school was not accepting new incoming students in his grade level, they made an exception for Chris based on his talent and skill as a guitarist. Chris studies with Master Teacher Kevin Dollar, who has been with The Music Academy since 1995. You can read Kevin's bio on our webpage here. Visit his website at http://www.swingtriade.com/ to learn more about his performances in the community, including his work with Swing Triade, a trio specializing in gypsy jazz.