Piano

Madeline Holly-Sales

Piano and Voice
Madeline has been singing and playing the piano since childhood. She studied classical piano for 10 years and was involved in choirs and musical theater throughout high school and college. Her move to Brazil in 2001 initiated an in depth study into classical and contemporary voice technique. She has performed in Brazil, Turkey, Austria, Germany and the United States. Madeline and her husband lead the group Beleza Brasil, combining the sounds of samba, funk, soul, jazz and bossa. They released their first CD in 2006.

Amberlyn Sasser Roa

Piano and Voice
Amberlyn Sasser Roa began studying classical piano, music theory and voice at the age of five. She enjoys both classical and popular music styles. Through the years she has performed with various choirs, including the North Carolina State Choir, in addition to earning positions in both district and regional vocal groups. Amberlyn has also been the pianist for several choral groups. In 2002 she was given the honor of “Most Talented Musician” because of her extensive musical involvement. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish from the Virginia Commonwealth University. Amberlyn continues to pursue her passion for vocal and piano performance welcoming the opportunity to share her talent with students of varying ages.

Thomas Gunn

Guitar (electric and acoustic), bass and piano — piano beginner to intermediate
A graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston with a degree in film scoring, Thomas has been teaching music locally since 1997, at the same time performing in multiple bands spanning the east coast. Thomas is a highly accomplished fingerstyle guitarist and songwriter, with 20 years of experience in the recording, performing and producing of music. Recent projects include the release his debut solo album “Sleeping Giants”, an executive producer credit on Portuguese singer/songwriter Jose Maria’s newly released “Any Day Now”, and special guest opener for blues legend John Hammond during his last live concert in Charlottesville.

Seth Green

Bass, Beginning guitar, piano, drum set and songwriting
Seth Green has been playing the bass since he was 12 years old and realized that he had dozens of friends who played guitar, but he’d never met a bass player. Since then Seth has held down the low end for a variety of bands, covering a wide array of styles. As a touring musician, he has performed in 10 of the 13 original colonies as well as more recently settled cities like Chicago, IL and Nashville, TN. He has also toured overseas in Mali, Japan, South Korea and Guam. In addition to bass Seth teaches beginning guitar, piano, drum set and songwriting.

Direct yourself to www.myspace.com/sethgreenmusic for a small sample of his recently recorded repertoire.

Rick LaRue

Violin, guitar, bass, mandolin, viola, cello and piano

Rick LaRue is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Music with violin as his principal instrument. Over the years he has taught violin, guitar, bass, mandolin, viola, cello, and piano. He has performed with fiddle legend Vassar Clements, jazz great Ira Sullivan, former Dizzy Gillespie bassist Chris White, and Grammy award winning band The Mavericks. In addition to being a member of the Miami Symphony and Lynchburg Symphony he has recorded with the Florida International University Jazz Band and Celtic rock band The Volunteers. He has also directed orchestras and taught strings, jazz band, guitar, improvisation, fiddling, and music theory in Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York private and public schools. Rick currently performs with the Lynchburg Symphony, The Acme Swing Band www.swingco.net, The Toad Mamas contradance band www.toadmamas.com, The Bella/LaRue Jazz Project, guitarist Peter Richardson, and the The LaRue/Donahue Classical Duo. He teaches the following styles on all string instruments including guitar: classical, jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, and Irish.