AFTA offers an impressive instructional faculty covering a diverse range of musical disciplines with an abundance of professional experience and accomplishments.
From piano lessons for beginners through advanced voice training, our music instructors have rich and diverse backgrounds in performance and teaching.
Organ, Piano, and Percussion Lessons
Tate Addis – Piano and Organ
Tate received a Bachelor of Music (piano) degree from Wichita State University, and a Master of Music and Artist’s Certificate (piano) from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance under Robert Weirich. While in Kansas City, Tate served as organist at Second Presbyterian Church from 2008-2013. He graduated from Yale University’s School of Sacred Music in May of 2015 with a Master’s in Organ Performance. >>MORE
David Bruce – Percussion
David Bruce is percussion/drum set instructor at Montreat College. Additionally, he has taught private concert percussion lessons and drum set lessons to over 100 students, many of whom have received honors in All-County, All-District, and All-State competitions. He is a percussionist with the Asheville Lyric Opera, the Asheville Community Theater and the Haywood Arts Regional Theater. >>MORE
Clark Sorrells – Piano and Voice
Clark Sorrells holds a Bachelor of Music from Carson Newman University, Jefferson City, Tennessee and a Master of Music from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Clark has taught private piano lessons and voice lessons for over 30 years. He is an accomplished performer in both disciplines, and a published composer of solo piano and choral works. Besides teaching music lessons at AFTA, Clark is Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Asheville. >>MORE
Karen Sorrells – Piano
Karen Sorrells is Director of AFTA as well as Associate Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Asheville where she leads and works with various choirs, as well as playing piano for worship. For several years, Karen has taught at the Fine Arts Summer Academy with the Annie Moses Band in Nashville, TN. Karen spends a lot of time working with children’s choir, but has also taught at the college level. She has taught private piano lessons for over 30 years. >>MORE
String Lessons
Michael Di Trolio – String Bass
Michael Di Trolio is a member of Asheville Symphony, Roanoke Symphony and Opera, and Western Piedmont Symphony. He has held the positions of Principal Bass with Paradise Symphony (CA) and Associate Principal Bass with the Fayetteville Symphony (NC). He regularly appears with other orchestras throughout the Southeastern United States. His chamber music activities have included performances with Charleston Symphony and Asheville Symphony’s educational outreach string quintet. In 2008 Michael was invited to play as Guest Principal Bass with the Amman Symphony in Jordan. >>MORE
Frances Duff – Cello
With her professional experience, a Master of Music degree, and certification in the Suzuki teaching method, Frances is certainly a talented cello teacher. She began her cello studies in junior high school and moved on to the prestigious Conservatoire de musique de Quebec in Montreal and then McGill University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music. She is currently principal cello and assistant principal cello with local Symphony orchestras. >>MORE
Josh Goforth – Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar, and Banjo
Josh is an award-winning Master Fiddler whose passion is encouraging a love of traditional music through teaching fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass and banjo lessons. Goforth is already much in demand as a music teacher and performs full time as well. He has performed all over the world and received a Grammy nomination in a collaboration with David Holt. One of his goals is to increase youth interest in traditional music. >>MORE
Lelia Lattimore – Harp
Mrs. Lattimore is happy teaching harp to students of all ages, from those needing to select their first instrument, to those preparing for auditions and recitals. Lelia has been a professional harpist for 30 years. She is the principal harpist with the Asheville Symphony, the Hendersonville Symphony, the Brevard Philharmonic and the Johnson City Symphony. As a freelance musician, Mrs. Lattimore has shared the stage with musical greats such as Ray Charles, Robert Goulet, CeCe Winans and more. >>MORE
Bryan McDowell – Banjo, Fiddle, Guitar, and Mandolin
Bryan McDowell is a person predictable only in his consistent excellence. Fiddler, vocalist, and master of stringed instruments, his reputation is solidifying as a musician of great interest on the acoustic scene. With his move to Nashville in 2013, Bryan grounded his career in a 4 year tenure with Claire Lynch. He has logged considerable time on the road with bluegrass notables Sierra Hull, Alison Brown, Ron Block, & Molly Tuttle, and shared the stage and studio with an ever-expanding list of legendary names from the realm of roots and acoustic music. >>MORE
Tim McWilliams – Banjo, Guitar, Mandolin, and Ukulele
Tim McWilliams is an accomplished musician embodying the diverse roots music traditions of Western North Carolina. Upon receiving his M.A. in Appalachian Music: Roots & Influences from Appalachian State University in 2014, Tim launched his professional music career with a three month cross-country tour. Since then, he has performed full-time as the leader his group, The Tim McWilliams Band, as well as a solo artist. >>MORE
Andrea Pettigrew – Violin
Andrea Pettigrew began studying the violin at the age of 10 and makes her living as an orchestral and chamber musician throughout the Southeast. She is a member of the Asheville Symphony, the Savannah Philharmonic, and the Greenville Symphony. Andrea maintains a thriving private teaching studio in Asheville and Hendersonville made up of students of all ages. She has 25 years of teaching experience and is also recently certified in Suzuki Pre-Twinkle and Book 1 training. >>MORE
Karen Pommerich – Violin and Viola
Karen Pommerich is an active chamber musician and orchestral performer. Locally, she is a violinist with Asheville’s Opal String Quartet and a violist in the Asheville Symphony. She also performs frequently with the Charlotte Symphony and is a member of IRIS Orchestra (Germantown, Tennessee) and the Colorado Music Festival (Boulder). Previously she played full-time for 16 seasons in the 1st violin section of the Jacksonville Symphony, and she has served as Principal 2nd Violin of the Sarasota Opera and Tallahassee Symphony. >>MORE
Ben Smith – Cello
Benjamin Smith, a native of Spartanburg, SC, holds a B.A. in Music from Florida State University, an M.M. in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami. He is an extremely active professional cellist in Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, performing with many orchestras, chamber ensembles, and in solo performances. Mr. Smith is an Adjunct Instructor of Cello and Chamber Music, and directs the String Camerata at the University of North Carolina Asheville. >>MORE
Hannah Sorrells Tyler – Violin
Hannah Sorrells Tyler, currently a resident of Nashville TN, grew up in Asheville. She began her violin studies with Mary Daniels, former concertmaster of the Asheville Symphony. In 2014 she received her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. During her collegiate years she performed in the American Prize winning ensemble, St. Olaf Orchestra under esteemed conductor, Steven Amundson. In May of 2017, she graduated from Belmont University with a Master’s degree in Classical Violin Performance, serving as concertmaster of the Belmont Symphony for both years of her study. >>MORE
Jerry Sutton – Guitar, Banjo, and Ukulele
Jerry Sutton brings to AFTA a life-time of playing experience and uniquely personal teaching style for students of the 6-string guitar and the 5-string banjo. Family and friends alike cite him as an important musical mentor. He can be heard on recordings with his father, Grover Sutton, with the Hominy Valley String Band and the Pisgah Pickers, as well as with his son Bryan on Sugar Hill Records. >>MORE
Katie Waldren – Hammered Dulcimer and Lap Dulcimer
Katie found her musical voice on the lap dulcimer in 1971. Swept up by the dulcimer’s uniqueness, Katie began integrating its sound with other instruments at churches & coffee houses from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest. In 1979, she relocated to NC, immersing herself in the musical culture of Madison County. She founded The Western North Carolina Dulcimer Collective in 1981 and began her series of Mountain Dulcimer Companion books. >>MORE
Natalya Weinstein – Fiddle
Natalya Weinstein is an accomplished fiddler, singer, and teacher in a variety of styles including bluegrass, old-time, and klezmer. While classically trained in her home state of Massachusetts, Natalya has made Asheville her home since 2004. She currently performs with her husband, John Cloyd Miller, in the duo Zoe & Cloyd, and the Americana trio Red June. Natalya comes from a musical family: her father is a master jazz pianist and her grandfather, originally from Russia, was a professional klezmer musician. >>MORE
Woodwind and Brass Lessons
Rosalind Buda – Bassoon
Bassoonist Rosalind Buda, is an active chamber musician, orchestral musician, and teacher in Asheville, NC. In addition to teaching at Academy for the Arts, Rosalind is adjunct professor of bassoon at Brevard College, Mars Hill University, Gardner-Webb University, and has been a guest teacher at Eastern Tennessee State University. As a teacher, she helps students gain confidence, develop good practice techniques, form personal goals, and seek out performance experiences. >>MORE
Brian Garland – Trumpet
Brian Garland studied trumpet performance at the Boston Conservatory earning a Master’s of Music and received a Bachelor’s of Music from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. While living in Boston he performed throughout the city with the Accent Brass Quintet and the New England Philharmonic. As a pedagogue Brian specializes in orchestral studies, classical solo literature, and brass quintet repertoire. >>MORE
Michael Hosford – Euphonium, Trombone, and Tuba
Michael Hosford studied at Oberlin Conservatory and completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Trombone Performance at the Juilliard School, studying with Per Brevig (Metropolitan Opera) and Michael Powell (American Brass Quintet) respectively. He performed with such world-class ensembles as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, and for the Broadway productions of The King and I, 1776, Candide, Les Miserables, The Music Man, Parade, and The Lion King. >>MORE
Taylor Massey – Clarinet
Taylor Massey is in demand in the southeast region as principal clarinet with Symphony Orchestra Augusta and performances with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, and Savannah Philharmonic. Outside of the southeast, he has served as principal clarinet of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta and New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. In addition to orchestral performances, he has been a featured soloist with Symphony Orchestra Augusta on multiple occasions and other reputable ensembles. >>MORE
Frank Southecorvo – Saxophone
Frank Southecorvo teaches all levels of saxophone students and, in addition to teaching saxophone technique, enjoys teaching improvisation. He plays alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, splitting his time between teaching and playing with a variety of jazz, blues, and dance bands. Current bands include: Blind Lemon Phillips blues band, The Asheville Jazz Orchestra Big Band, Up Jumped Three Jazz Trio and Orange Krush Dance Band. >>MORE
Kate Steinbeck – Flute
Kate Steinbeck is recognized across the US and abroad as a passionate teacher, unique interpreter and innovative music producer with repertoire that ranges from Bach to Balinese. She loves teaching and revels in guiding students of all ages to discover the joy of making music and to achieve new levels of accomplishment and self-awareness. Her flute has taken her on many adventures and remarkable journeys. >>MORE
Voice Lessons
Randall Outland – Voice and Opera Workshop
Tenor Randall Outland’s talents as a singer/actor led to his engagements in leading roles in major opera houses in Europe, in Scandinavia, Israel, and in North and South America. His operatic repertoire spans the history of opera, from the works of Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart to the twentieth century works of Richard Strauss, Hans Werner Henze, Leos Janácêk, and Benjamin Britten. Mr. Outland has sung twenty-six roles in thirty-four different productions. He has collaborated with world–renowned conductors, and his stage experience has included work with the most notable stage directors of his time. >>MORE
Clark Sorrells – Voice and Piano
Clark Sorrells holds a Bachelor of Music from Carson Newman University, Jefferson City, Tennessee and a Master of Music from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Clark has taught private piano lessons and voice lessons for over 30 years. He is an accomplished performer in both disciplines, and a published composer of solo piano and choral works. Besides teaching music lessons at AFTA, Clark is Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Asheville. >>MORE
Simone Vigilante – Voice
Simone Vigilante began her studies at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY in piano but furthered her studies in Vocal Performance, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree from the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts. Ms. Vigilante immediately continued her studies at America’s largest operatic training ground, Indiana University of Bloomington, from which she received a Masters in Music degree and completed some doctoral studies. >>MORE
Accompanist
Vance Reese – Faculty Accompanist
Dr. Reese has a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Southern Methodist University, a Masters of Music degree in sacred music from Scarritt College (Nashville), and a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University (DM in ’97) in the areas of organ, sacred music, and music history. Since that time he has performed in the Asheville area as an organist, bassist, and soloist. Recently, Dr. Reese wrote a children’s opera which was produced in 2014. >>MORE