WOODWIND, BRASS, PERCUSSION

CHAIR OF THE WOODWIND, BRASS, AND PERCUSSION DEPARTMENT

JAMES LANE, originally from Wilmington, NC, earned his BM in Music Education and a BA in Trombone Performance from UNC Wilmington. He earned his Master of Music degree in Trombone Performance from UNC Greensboro where he has been a graduate teaching assistant. Jim is currently starting his DMA in Trombone Performance at UNCG. As a trombonist, Jim has played all across North Carolina with groups such as the Joe Brown Band, Too Phat Brass , Big Night Dynamite, the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and many productions with Opera House Theatre Company. Jim has also played with artists such as Capthia Jenkins, Ryan Shaw, and Camille Thurman. In early 2022, Jim traveled with the UNCG Jazz Ensemble I to perform in the Jack Rudin Jazz Competition in New York at the Lincoln Center.

VICTORIA BLALOCK is a music educator and performer dedicated to empowering all students through music education. She holds degrees in Music Education and Flute Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she studied with Dr. Erika Boysen.

Victoria's teaching career began in the classroom, where she taught K-5 General Music. In this position, she discovered her passion for teaching young musicians, particularly beginners. Beyond the classroom, she is an active performer in the chamber duo Flobone, specializing in engaging concerts for residents in retirement facilities around the state.

Victoria has also extended her teaching throughout the community by serving as the flute instructor for multiple band programs. Additionally, she maintains a private studio in the Greensboro and Burlington areas, teaching flute students of varying levels and ages how to develop confidence and master music fundamentals and flute performance. Driven by her own background, Victoria is passionate about bridging equity gaps in musical education and instilling a lifelong love of music in her students. Her professional journey is guided by the belief that every aspiring musician, regardless of background, deserves the opportunity to learn music.

In her spare time, Victoria enjoys spending time with her cat, Pumpkin, taking him on walks and lounging on the patio together.

KENNY BUTLER is currently the Band Director at Guilford eLearning University Prep in Guilford County, NC. He is also the director of the Randolph Community Jazz Band, in Randolph County, NC. He regularly performs and records as a freelance trumpet player throughout the central part of North Carolina. Mr. Butler marched trumpet with the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps in 2006. He has a Bachelors and Masters of Music in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2008/2012). He worked as band and choir director at Southwestern Randolph Middle School from 2015-2020. Mr. Butler also worked at Southwest Guilford High School as their Marching/Jazz/Concert Band Director (2008-2015). Under his direction at these 2 schools, the concert bands, choirs, jazz and marching programs received numerous Superior Ratings and Grand Champion Awards. During Mr. Butler's appointments at these various schools, students regularly participated in UNC-G and UNC-P honor bands, All County, All District, and All State programs. Mr. Butler plays acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and drum set for First United Methodist Church in Asheboro, NC (his home church). Mr. Butler is happily married to his wife Susan and has 2 school age children, Joshua and Lauren. Ask Mr. Butler about video games as he is an avid gamer.  

CODY CHESSOR is an active performer and educator in North Carolina. He currently performs with, and is a founding member of, Greensboro Chamber Brass. With GCB, he performs in educational concerts for schools throughout central NC. He is also a substitute tubist for Basses Covered, the Tuba and Euphonium pop music ensemble. Cody's other performing engagements have involved Sinfonia da Camera, Blue Ridge Orchestra, Urbana Pops Orchestra and Nevada Street Brass.  Cody is an advocate for the Tuba and looks to expand its repertoire through commissioning new works. His latest commission was "Does It Rain On The Sun?" by Adam Summey.  Cody holds degrees from Appalachian State University (BM), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (MM), and is currently studying at University of North Carolina at Greensboro (DMA) where he is a Graduate Assistant.

MATTHEW COVINGTON is a native of North Carolina and has been immersed in classical music all his life beginning with singing and going to hear his mother play violin in symphonies. He followed this passion for music to UNC-Greensboro on the oboe where he studied with Ashley Barret and has also performed in masterclasses for Joseph Robinson, Mark Ostoich, Jacqueline Leclair, and Andrew Parker.  Now, Matthew holds positions with orchestras across NC including the Greensboro Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, Carolina Philharmonic, Fayetteville Symphony, and Piedmont Wind Symphony; he also enjoys engaging in many types of chamber music.

CHRISHAWN DARBY is an in-demand drummer/percussionist and composer who performs all around North and South Carolina. Originally from Orangeburg, South Carolina, he graduated from the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and
Humanities in May of 2013. Chrishawn received his undergraduate degree in
Music Performance with a focus on Jazz Studies from the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro in 2017, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in
music at North Carolina Central University.

From 2016 to 2019, he worked teaching private lessons and percussion classes at Greensboro Academy, and teaching marching percussion at Edisto High School in Cordova, South Carolina.

He has performed with Grammy-nominated and award-winning artists and
groups such as Shana Tucker, Allison Williams, Brandon Lee, Chad Eby, Steve
Haines, Mondrae Moffett, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Mint Julep Jazz Band, and
many others. When not playing on the road, he also teaches in person and virtual
private lessons to children and adults of all ages and experience levels.

BRENT DAVIS, currently the director of bands at Mendenhall Middle School, graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Performance. He has also completed a Masters in Music Performance in Saxophone at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

He is an active MENC, NCMEA, JEN and CDBA member. While at Mendenhall
Middle School, band students have performed at many band festivals and community events. The students and bands have performed and participated on the local WFMY2 channel, Greensboro Grasshopper baseball games, retirement homes, Greensboro Cultural Arts Center, The Music Academy of North Carolina Masterclasses, UNCG School of Music Masterclasses, All-County Band, All-District Band, All-State Bands, MPA festivals, and Carowinds Theme Park Music Festivals. In 2012, the Mendenhall 8th grade band commissioned and premiered "Gate City Snapshot" by composer Nathan Daughtrey, and in 2017 the 8th grade band premiered "Such Small Things" by composer Nathan Daughtrey as well.

In 2023, Mr. Davis received "Teacher of the Year" at Mendenhall Middle School, and
also was a semi-finalist for GCS Teacher of the Year. Mr. Davis has created and led the GCS Middle School Jazz Festival since 2017.

When not enjoying the sounds of band music, he is spending time with his
family and enjoys fly-fishing and cheering on his favorite baseball, soccer, and football teams. He is always looking forward to teaching new students how to perform and appreciate music throughout life!!!!!!!

Clarinet instructor, Dr. CATHERINE KEEN HOCK serves as the Assistant Director of the UNCG School of Music. Cat is a founding member of the award-winning reed ensemble Quintet Sirocco, and is also a member of the Piedmont Winds, the bass clarinetist for the Fayetteville Symphony and Salisbury Symphony Orchestras, and teaches on the woodwind faculty at the Music Academy of North Carolina.  Cat also enjoys sharing her love of music history as program essayist and lecturer for the Eastern Music Festival.

Cat completed her DMA in clarinet performance at UNCG in 2012 where she was a graduate teaching assistant for the clarinet studio and jazz studies program. She completed a cognate in jazz studies and a Post-Baccaleureate Certificate in Historical Musicology during her doctoral studies.  Cat also earned a MM in Clarinet Performance from UNCG in 2007, and a BA with Honors in Music Performance and a minor in International Studies from Wake Forest University in 2005.

Cat made her international recital debut, performing in Hangzhou, China in September of 2018.  She studied clarinet with Kelly Burke, Edwin Riley, Anthony Taylor, Michael Waddell and Eileen Young. Cat’s clarinet students at MANC range from young beginners to advanced performers.  School aged students have routinely auditioned into their All-County and All-District Honors Bands, and have been accepted into the North Carolina Governor’s School for Music, the Canon Music Camp at Appalachian State University, the North Carolina Youth Wind Ensemble and the Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra. 

Cat is currently accepting new students into her studio! To learn more about Cat, visit her on the web at www.catkeenhockclarinet.com.

CRYSTOL LEWIS is currently a doctoral student in saxophone at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Crystol earned a Bachelor of Arts from Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Shortly after, she began her graduate studies at UNCG, earning a Master of Music and Post Baccalaureate Certificate in saxophone from UNCG. Her primary teachers are Daniel O’Reilly and Dr. Steven Stusek.

Crystol is a member of the National Saxophone alliance and has performed solo works by Maslanka, Noda, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert and others. Crystol enjoys performing and taking part in different styles of music from classical to pop, jazz, musical theater and more.

When not teaching, Crystol loves to spend her days back in Myrtle Beach where she grew up.

DR. REBECCA LIBERA, bassoon faculty, currently performs with the Quintet Sirocco, Fayetteville Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, and Western Piedmont Symphony, and has also performed with the North Carolina Symphony, Greensboro Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and the Arizona Wind Symphony. Never content to sit still, Rebecca is also an arts administrator, teacher, performer, advocate, hearing specialist, researcher, health nut, and recreational athlete. As the Executive Director of Music for a Great Space, a local arts non-profit organization, Rebecca has a deep commitment to bringing great chamber music to the great spaces of Greensboro and to providing educational opportunities to music lovers of all ages. Before relocating back to the Piedmont Triad in 2011, Rebecca was a K-8 Elementary General Music and Band teacher in Phoenix, AZ. Also a published author, her articles have appeared in the Journal of Band Research as well as Arizona Music News. In addition to her music teaching and performance, Rebecca is an Occupational Hearing Conservationist and a Hearing Instrument Specialist, working for a private audiology practice in Greensboro. When relaxing, Rebecca has become a recreational runner and always enjoys a hike in the NC mountains. Dr. Libera is a two-degree graduate of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (MM 2006, DMA 2009) and her undergraduate dual degree in music performance and music education is from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY (2004).

GILSON FEARNOW is a free-lance drummer/percussionist and private lessons teacher. He earned his Masters in Music from UNCG in 2019 and shortly thereafter joined the 208th Army Band based in Concord, NC. While at UNCG, Gilson taught undergraduate students weekly lessons, coached percussion ensemble, and was the NCPAS solo competition winner (2019). His performance experience is varied; ranging from playing with local singer-songwriter Jessie Dunks to performing with the many local symphonies. Gilson is a section member of the Salisbury Symphony and regularly subs with the Greensboro Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and the Charlotte Symphony. 

Gilson hails from Richmond, VA and has lived in Greensboro since 2017. He has educated students of all ages through numerous private studios between Virginia and North Carolina since 2013. While not teaching, performing, or writing music, Gilson likes to spend time outdoors playing disc golf!