Joyful Noise is a non profit community arts center that serves Buncombe and Madison Counties. Our mission is to provide quality arts experiences that inspire creativity, cultivate connections to our regional cultural heritage, and enrich the lives of all members of the community. Currently, the organization is offering a variety of instruction in dance as well as on many instruments including violin, fiddle, viola, piano, voice, guitar, flute, double bass, banjo and Kindermusik. Group classes and a variety of performance opportunities are available. The Dance classes currently offered include Beginner and Intermediate Flat foot clogging and Irish step dance for children and adults. Merit and financial scholarships are available for interested students.

Group Classes

Heidi Kulas grew up dancing with three generations of her family in Greenville, Michigan. As a young teenager, she was already competing, performing, touring and teaching clogging, Irish and many other traditional forms of percussive dance. She received a Michigan Dance Heritage Fellowship and then moved to Maryland to be the youngest principal dancer with the international touring company, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, where she directed their Junior Company, arts-in-education programs and community classes. Heidi has performed as a guest dancer with many artists including Nickel Creek, Lunasa, The Duhks, Uncle Earl, Eileen Ivers and Tim O’Brien. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Mars Hill College, where she also served as the 14 time National Champion Bailey Mountain Cloggers captain for two years. She is a member of the All American Clogging team and currently directs, choreographs and performs with the cloggers at Lodge Steak and Ribs Restaurant at Wolf Ridge, www.mountainflavor.com. She is glad to be joining Joyful Noise as a percussive dance instructor.

Adult Mountain Music Classes

Singing Appalachian Ballads
This class will learn to sing 2-3 ballads in each session, drawing from traditional ballads of Western North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia.

Mountain Guitar and Acoustic Bass Rhythm Workshop
This class will involve playing a slow rhythm to a traditional fiddle tune or song with constant coaching and instruction about how to provide the most solid rhythm in a traditional music setting.

Old Time Slow Jam
This class is for people who want to learn how to "jam". The sessions will focus on learning chords to traditional fiddle tunes and how to play in a group with fiddle, bass, bango, and guitar.

To register, call 828-337-6467 or email caryfridley@gmail.com
Classes held at the First Presbyterian Church, 30 Alabama Ave., Weaverville, NC 28787

Individual Lessons

Lessons are offered at the First Presbyterian Church of Weaverville, the Weaverville United Methodist Church, the First Baptist Church of Marshall and the Madison County Arts Council. New additions are being added frequently.
Principal teacher biographies are listed below, however, this is not a complete list.
Call for details.

Violin/ Fiddle/ Viola

Gina Caldwell is a graduate of the North Carolina School for the Arts (BM), Boston University (MM), and has earned a doctoral degree from the Catholic University of America (DMA). Before returning to North Carolina, she was Professor of Violin and Viola at Shepherd University. There she founded the Shepherd Trio, a faculty Ensemble in Residence and the Sheperd University Chamber Orchestra. Previously, she was Director of the String Department for the Arts Education for Children Group (Maui, Hawaii) and Professor of Violin, Viola, and Chamber Studies at Atlantic Union College (MA). In addition to performing extensively in the United States, Dr. Caldwell has performed solo recitals and taught master classes across Costa Rica. Caldwell has taught students of all ages for over 15 years and is an adjunct Professor at Mars Hill College. She has played with many North Carolina Symphonies and is currently a member of the Asheville Symphony.

Natalya Weinstein is an accomplished multi-genre fiddler and violinist. She trained for 15 years as a classical violinist before switching her focus to bluegrass, country, swing, and old-time fiddling. She has been teaching for 10 years and has resided in Asheville for the past 3, performing with a number of local and regional bands, doing session work, and teaching students of all ages. While she focuses on fiddle repertoire with her students, Natalya teaches from a classical perspective. After students gain a level of comfort on the instrument, she encourages them to study whatever fiddle style they're most interested in. Please see her website, natalyaweinstein.com for more information.

Andrea Jackson [bio to come]

Piano

Brad Curtioff is an experienced pianist and teacher, favoring classical, blues, jazz, rock, and bluegrass music. While his collegiate career concentrated on the classical repertoire, Mr. Curtioff has since found his way onstage performing styles ranging from Dave Brubeck to Lynyrd Skynyrd. As a classical pianist, he has performed throughout the eastern United States both as a solo artist and chamber musician. In addition to a private studio, he teaches at A Joyful Noise Community Music School, and accompanies at Mars Hill College.

Piano/Voice

Simone Vigilante began her musical studies on piano at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY at age five. Although she took fifteen years of private piano lessons she fell in love with vocal performance. She graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts (BM in vocal performance), Indiana University (MM in vocal performance), and started her doctorate while at Indiana University. Simone considers herself a performer of various vocal genres including: musical theater, spirituals, opera, American Art Song, Italian Art Song, German Lied, and French Mélodie. Since 2000, she has been teaching private voice and piano students throughout Western NC. In June 2007 she joined NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). This organization gives seminars to teachers of singing and offers various résumé building opportunities for students including: summer programs, competitions and scholarships. Simone has appeared in operatic performances with companies and festivals such as the Asheville Lyric Opera, Indiana University Opera Theater, and the EPCASO program in Italy performing principal roles in Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Cavalleria Rusticana, Die Zauberflöte, and I Pagliacci to name a few. Along with her operatic roles she has been a member of Asheville Lyric Opera's Outreach Program performing concerts throughout Western NC. Ms. Vigilante performed at the 92nd Street Y in NYC for the world premier of Stephen Paulus' opera Hester Prynne at Death. In addition to her involvement as an operatic performer she has also performed as a concert artist with The Brevard Chamber Orchestra. Simone has traveled abroad to perform in Seville, Spain as a soloist at the American Pavilion for EXPO '92 and Paris, France for the Bicentennial Celebration.

Guitar/ Banjo/ Bass/ Appalachain Singing

Cary Fridley has been performing and teaching music in Western North Carolina for over 10 years. This year she released her second solo CD, Down South, which highlights the music of the Southern Appalachian Mountains through ballads, fiddle tunes, and modern country songs. Since 1995, Cary has been teaching private lessons in guitar, singing, flute, bass, and clawhammer banjo. She has worked as the guitar teacher for the Haywood County children's JAM program, and started similar programs in Swannanoa and Black Mountain. She currently performs with her country band in and around Western North Carolina. She also provides historical programs for 4th graders through the Mountain Heritage Center in Cullowhee, NC. Cary has a BA in Music Performance from University of Richmond and a Masters of Music Education from UNC-Greensboro. Please visit www.caryfridley.net for contact information.

Flute

Cynthia Roop enjoys a career that draws on her background both in teaching and in performance as chamber musician, soloist and orchestral player. She serves as the adjunct Instructor of Flute at Mars Hill College, performs as a member of the Faculty Woodwind Quintet, and the Mosaic Flute and Percussion Duo with her husband, Brian Tinkel. She has performed with the Enid Symphony (OK), New Century Ensemble (OK), the Arioso Trio (OK), the Milhaud Ensemble (NE), the Trillium Trio (NC), and has performed solo recitals in Germany and across the United States. Ms. Roop is a graduate from Murray State University (B.M.E.), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (M.Ed.), and received an M.M. in flute performance from the University of Oklahoma. Currently Ms. Roop is Middle School Band Director for Rugby Middle School and is the founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Brio Concert Series.