Daniel Bolshoy is committed to bringing the guitar to the attention of audiences everywhere. He is regularly praised for his friendly and informative spoken introductions, and progressive programming of solo and chamber music. His concert tours take him from prestigious international concert stages to remote villages and house-concerts.

Rebecca L. Atkins is a Professor of Music Education (Vocal/Choral) and was awarded the General Sandy Beaver Professorship 2022-2024.  Previously she was the Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Music Education at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (2013-2016) where she supervised student teachers, conducted Women’s Chorale, and taught Choral Methods, Design, Instruction, and Evaluation for Music Education, and Ear-training.

Scott Higgins, is a graduate of the New England Conservatory's Piano Technology class of 1981.  Scott has extensive experience servicing Steinway pianos.  Since graduating from NEC he has served as Piano Technician for the New England Conservatory, Tanglewood, Boston Symphony, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Eugene Oregon Symphony, University of Oregon, University of Memphis, Savannah Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Atlanta Symphony and University of Georgia.  When not working on pianos Scott is an avid mountain bike rider.  

Reid Messich is Professor of Oboe at the University of Georgia, where he is a member of the Georgia Woodwind Quintet. He also serves as Co-Principal Oboist of Memphis’s IRIS Orchestra/IRIS Collective, under Maestro Michael Stern, and as Principal Oboist of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, under Maestro John Morris Russell. Each summer, he teaches oboe and woodwind literature at the MasterWorks Music Festival, hosted at Liberty University.

Emily Gertsch serves as Director of Graduate Studies and Senior Lecturer of Music Theory at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, where she has been a member of the faculty since 2012. She earned a Ph.D. in Music Theory from Florida State University, completing a dissertation on narrative approaches to Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet and Piano Quartet that reflects her interests in prolongational analysis and musical meaning.

Violist Maggie Snyder is Professor of Viola at the University of Georgia, Principal Violist of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, with whom she records for Naxos, and is on the Artist-Faculty of the Brevard Music Festival.

Ms. Toscano is formerly the Principal Timpanist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, a position she won by unanimous decision in May 2007 and held until 2016.  Her dynamic and virtuosic timpani facility brings an energy and rhythmic stability to the stage that has been recognized by colleagues, reviewers, and audience members alike.  Following her first appearance with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, James Reel noted, “…and new timpanist Kimberly Toscano played with both forcefulness and control.”

Joanna Smolko earned a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Pittsburgh (2009), where she studied with Deane Root and worked in the Center for American Music. She currently teaches various music courses at the University of Georgia and the University System of Georgia, as well as working as a private music teacher and academic editor/coach. Her areas of research include popular music, musical borrowing, American sacred music (especially shape-note hymn traditions), American folk music, and the intersections between American history and music.