Joyful Noise Faculty

Dr. Gina Mashburn Caldwell, of Marshall, is a graduate of the North Carolina School for the Arts (BM), Boston University (MM), and Catholic University of America (DMA). Before returning to North Carolina and founding Joyful Noise, Caldwell was professor of violin and viola at Shepherd University (WV) and Atlantic Union College (MA) and director of the String Department for the Arts Education for Children Group (Maui). Caldwell has performed solo and chamber recitals as well as taught master classes across the United States and Costa Rica. She has taught students of all ages for 20 years, has performed with numerous orchestras across North Carolina, and is currently Acting Principal Viola of the Symphony of the Mountains and a member of the Asheville Symphony.

Pia Cash spent her childhood drawing and writing stories, and soon found that art class was where she truly felt inspired. It was a natural choice for her to study art education so she could provide the same creative outlet for other children and teens. After receiving a B.S. in Art Education from Appalachian State University, she taught in the public schools of North Carolina and New Mexico while also volunteering for various community arts organizations. Over the years Pia has always kept a personal art space at home, working primarily in mixed-media, fiber arts and painting. Since becoming a mother, Pia has had to be creative in how she incorporates art into her life. This has inspired her to explore early childhood art and the many ways it can enhance a child’s growth and development. She hopes to share this knowledge with other parents and young children through Joyful Noise.

Marie Cole (Cello, Music Mind Games, and Early Childhood Music) has a B.M. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a M.M. from the University of Connecticut, both with an emphasis in cello performance. She performs regularly with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra (TN), Symphony of the Mountains (TN), Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra (NC), and the Brevard Philharmonic (NC). Marie has taught cello, Music Mind Games, and early childhood music for over ten years in the various regions she has lived in. These places include Asheville, NC, Washington, DC, Rockville and Frederick, MD, Cumberland, PA, and Manchester, CT. During the summer Marie teaches Music Mind Games and early childhood music classes at the Blue Ridge Suzuki String Camp (VA) as well as Music Mind Games and chamber music at the Joyful Noise Summer Music Day Camp (NC). Other summer camp teaching experiences have included teaching Music Mind Games at the Alexandria Suzuki Guitar Institute (VA) as well as teaching cello and Music Mind Games at the Peaks to Plains Suzuki Institute (CO). She currently resides in Weaverville where she teaches lessons and classes at her home studio and lessons online as well as substitutes for music and elementary teachers in the Asheville City Schools and for Emmanuel Lutheran School. She also performs around the area at such places like Lake Lure and the Biltmore Estate. Visit www.musicalsunflower.com.

Susi Gott, fiddler, dancer, singer, songwriter, is a long-time veteran of Appalachian history, dance and musicianship. A prize-winning fiddler (Fiddler’s Grove 1978, 1985) and songwriter (MerleFest 1996), she toured with Nashville’s Eddie Adcock and Talk of the Town in the mid-1980’s, participating in the Masters of Bluegrass tour, accompanying Bill Monroe, Jim & Jesse, Ralph Stanley, and Mac Wiseman, with appearances at the Lincoln Center and on multiple TV and radio programs. In the late 1980’s, she began a 20-year stint with various French artists, touring Europe-wide, composing movie scores, and performing at Paris’s Olympia Theatre. Assistant Director of ETSU’s Old-Time, Country, and Bluegrass Music Program in the late 1990’s, and instructor at the Swannanoa Gathering’s Fiddle Week, she has extensively taught bluegrass, old-time and Celtic fiddle styles, bass, guitar, banjo, songwriting, vocal harmonies, string band, clogging, and performance skills. Currently based once again in her native Madison County, Susi leads the Junior Appalachian Musicians for the Madison County Arts Council and directs a culinary school featuring note-by-note cooking, founded on building and developing flavors as chords. Visit www.schoolofculinaryarts.org.

Amanda Horton has been hailed as a “superb vocal artist” with a voice of “great color and vocal expressiveness” (Classical Voice of NC, 2011). She has performed several leading roles with Asheville Lyric Opera, including Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Adina (L’elisir d’amore). On the concert stage,she has appeared as soprano soloist for Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria with various groups in North Carolina, including the Asheville Symphony Chorus and the Carolina Concert Choir. Other regional appearances include Hansel and Gretel with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Lord Nelson Mass at Berry College, Poulenc’s Gloria with the Southern Appalachian Chamber Singers at Piccolo Spoleto, and guest recitals throughout the Southeast. She is an Asheville native, and performs recitals in our area frequently, including as an Artist-in-Residence with the Brio Concert Series in Weaverville, and with AmiciMusic. You may have also seen her on stage at the Altamont, the White Horse Black Mountain, the Hendersonville Little Theatre and recently at Montreat’s Chapel of the Prodigal. Amanda has been a Young Artist with Opera Santa Barbara, and holds opera performance degrees from Furman University and Shenandoah Conservatory. Her 2012 calendar includes the role of Maria in the Sound of Music, in Asheville Lyric Opera’s April production.

Linda Jones, a Raleigh, NC native, moved to Weaverville in June of 2009 with her husband and two daughters. A graduate of Meredith College (BM) in Piano Pedagogy and Church Music and of East Carolina University (MM) in Church Music, she is currently the Director of Music/Organist for First Presbyterian Church, Weaverville. Her musical experience includes adjudicating for piano competitions, accompanying musical theatre productions, directing a community orchestra, maintaining a private piano/organ studio, and working in churches ranging in size from 200 to 2500 members. In her spare time Linda enjoys camping, watching her girls play soccer, gardening and reading.

Oleg Melnikov, a resident of Waynesville, NC, is a classically-trained violin teacher and concert violinist. Born into a musical family in the former USSR, Oleg’s father was a professional trombonist and his grandmother was an opera singer. Blessed with perfect pitch, Oleg was six when he began his violin lessons. The first place winner of state and regional awards, Oleg attended the Rachmaninov Conservatory of Music in Rostov-on-Don on a full scholarship. Oleg performs professionally with various regional orchestras, including the Asheville Symphony, where he is permanent fourth chair, the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of the Mountains (Kingsport, TN), and others. Since 2001 he has maintained an active private studio and taught hundreds of students in Western North Carolina. In addition, many weekends are filled with weddings, studio recordings, and private recitals with his piano trio, Trio Sussurando. In order to ensure the best fit for both the student and the instructor, Oleg offers a complimentary first lesson at teaching his studio at Joyful Noise, that allows students to meet with him and see his teaching methods with no obligation.

Rebecca Morris considers acting to be both an outlet to express our freest most creative selves and a craft that requires discipline and a constant willingness to learn more. A co-founder of local troupe, The Redundant Theatre Company Theatre, she has also worked professionally with the Immediate Theatre Project and North Carolina Stage Company among others. Rebecca has also acted in a wide variety of local, independent movies. She has a BA in Theatre Arts, has studied with Elizabeth D'Onofrio and Timothy Carhart and is thrilled to have the opportunity to teach with Joyful Noise.

Yvette Odell has been teaching Kindermusik since 1994 and in 1998 she became director/owner of her studio in Holland, MI. In 2008 she relocated to North Carolina to be closer to her extended family. For nine years she earned the status of Maestro in the top 5% of Kindermusik studios world wide. Yvette has a master’s degree in music education from Wichita State University In Kansas and her bachelor’s degree in music education from Western Maryland College (now named McDaniel College). Her continuing education involves child development, sensory integreation work and communication skills. She is frequently asked to present at conferences on topics such as child development, parenting, music and learning, sensory integration and homeschooling. She has private flute students, is involved her her church’s music ministry by playing the flute and singing with the choir. Yvette has been teaching music to young children since 1980 and is happy to be bringing her warm and friendly style of teaching to Western North Carolina! Last year she was recognized again as a Maestro in Kindermusik and also the award for top growth of all Kindermusik programs.

Kimberly Perry began dancing as a young teenager, taking Irish, clogging, and step dance classes with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble in Annapolis, Maryland. She danced and performed with Footworks' Junior Company as well as Footwork’s Professional Company. Kimberly holds a BA in Art and Design from Mars Hill College where she danced with the National Champion Bailey Mountain Cloggers. She has performed as a guest dancer with Uncle Earl and Tim O'Brien, and is also a member of Sole Impact Dance Company.

Kara Poorbaugh is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BM-viola performance and music education), where she studied with John Graham, Louis Bergonzi, and the Ying Quartet. She serves as Principal Violist of the Asheville and Hendersonville Symphonies and also performs regularly with the Greenville Symphony (SC). As violist of the Opal String Quartet, Kara has performed chamber recitals across our region and has helped develop the school outreach programs of the Asheville Symphony Guild and Asheville Chamber Music Society. Kara has been featured as a soloist with the Ballantine Chamber Orchestra, Blue Ridge Orchestra, Raleigh Symphony, Triangle Youth Philharmonic, and Duke University String School Orchestra and participated in summer festivals at Interlochen, Musicorda, and Brevard Music Center. Visit www.facebook.com/opalstringquartet.

Cheryl Renfro began dancing at the age of eight in her home state of Kentucky. For over 20 years she has performed, competed, taught, and toured on prestigious stages such as the Kennedy Center, Kentucky Derby and Grand Ole Opry, in exciting videos for CMT and TNN, and in beautiful locations like Ireland, Spain and Germany. Additionally, she is a national champion dancer and has won numerous grand champion solo, duo, duet and team clogging titles. She is a member of America’s Clogging Hall of Fame’s All American Clogging Team. While earning her degree in Education from Mars Hill College, she performed and competed with the national champion Bailey Mountain Cloggers. Cheryl directs, choreographs, and performs with Sole Impact Dance Company and is happy to be part of Joyful Noise to share her love of percussive dance!

Cynthia Roop is praised for her rich tone, creativity, and musicality as a flutist and has created a career diverse in performance and education. Ms. Roop is the Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Brio Chamber Series, a member of Mosaic Flute and Percussion Duo with her husband, Brian Tinkel, and adjunct instructor at Mars Hill College where she teaches flute, chamber music, and aural skills classes. Cynthia earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Murray State University (1996), Masters in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1999) and a Masters in Music from the University of Oklahoma (2004). In 2008, Ms. Roop completed her Kindermusik certification and holds both Orff I and Orff II certifications. She serves as Children’s Coordinator of Weaverville United Methodist Church leading afterschool music programs for K-4th grade students. Cynthia resides in Weaverville with her husband and daughter Lydia. Visit www.briochamberseries.org.

Matthew Smith is a Virginia native who was raised in a musical family. He has performed and recorded on pedal steel, guitar, and dobro with a wide variety of artists, including Shannon Whitworth, Cary Fridley, Pierce Edens, Jar-E, Seth Kauffman, Tyler Ramsey, and many others. Matthew holds a B.A. in jazz and classical guitar from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. He is also a staff instructor with the JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) program in Black Mountain and teaches a number of styles on guitar, pedal steel, and dobro.

Lynda Sondles has been involved in some form of artistic exploration for as long as she can remember. She colored, drew, scribbled and loved finger paints and playdough. From crayons to paint to pastels to fiber and fabric, Lynda’s artistic life has been an exploration of color and pattern and form. Pastel drawings provide the inspiration for a colorful basket or a quilt or a knitted shawl. The world outside with its vibrant colors and hues of flowers and trees, mountains and rivers and sky and clouds provides endless inspiration for creative work.God gave Lynda the ability to see and to draw and paint and weave colors together into forms that please Him and provide beauty, inspiration, and comfort to others. Sharing this gift with her students is the greatest pleasure of her life.

Carrie Wagner, a native of North Carolina, is a graduate of North Carolina State University School of Design. She has a BA in Environmental/Visual Design. Carrie worked with Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) for 11 years, serving with her husband in Uganda, Americus, Georgia and South Africa. Her work with HFHI covered the spectrum of community grassroots development to international coordination of training programs in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Carrie has practiced photography for 25 years, specializing professionally in portraiture since 2000. She has taught a variety of photography workshops to youth and adults over the past 20 years. Her book, Village Wisdom, which features photographs from her Portraits of Uganda collection, was published in 2010. Carrie lives in Asheville with her husband and two sons. Visit www.carriewagner.com.