WOODWINDS, BRASS, PERCUSSION

CHAIR OF THE WOODWINDS, BRASS, PERCUSSION DEPARTMENT

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!

DR. RILEY BAHIN is a low brass musician and music educator from Missoula, Montana, currently living in North Carolina. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Trombone Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado Boulder, his Master's in Music in Euphonium Performance from the University of Georgia, and his Bachelor of Music in Euphonium Performance and Music Education from the University of Michigan.

Riley has held the position of Principal Trombone with the Great Falls Symphony in Montana, and has also performed with the Charlotte Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra, and throughout Colorado with the Ensemble Flatirons Brass Quintet.

Riley is a passionate and active educator, recently serving as the Visiting Lecturer of Low Brass at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. At UNCC, he taught trombone and euphonium lessons, Brass Techniques, Music Business, and led the Charlotte Trombone Collective. He has also taught private lessons to students of all ages, both in his private studio and at elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the country.

Outside of music, Riley enjoys exploring the outdoors, cooking, and relaxing with his tuxedo cat, Scully.

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.

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).