The Atlanta Music Teaching Artists
While trained at some of the world’s greatest music schools, AMP Teaching Artists are more than just first-rate performers. The AMP Teaching Artists are musicians with social change in mind, with the desire to pass on their talent and art to the next generation and with the ability to play a role in youth and community development. Honing their craft by day and showcasing it in concerts by night, the AMP Teaching Artists spend their afternoons in some of Atlanta’s most disadvantaged communities teaching the young students of the Atlanta Music Project so they can in turn inspire social change in their communities through their own musical abilities and concerts.
Dantes Rameau
BASSOON, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Born in Ottawa, Canada, bassoonist Dantes Rameau is of Haitian and Cameroonian descent. He is a member of the first class of Abreu Fellows at the New England Conservatory. As an Abreu Fellow Dantes spent one year studying El Sistema including two months in Venezuela where he taught, performed and observed. During the Abreu Fellow Program he co-founded the Atlanta Music Project…Read More
James Dekle
CHORAL TEACHING ARTIST & INTERIM SITE MANAGER
J.Dekle is a singer/songwriter/musician/music educator that was born in Statesboro, GA. J.Dekle is dedicated to positive social change through inspirational and motivational entertainment events & productions, as well as music education. Through performance and education J.Dekle hopes to satisfy his personal motto: If I can help somebody, then my living will not be in vain…Read More
Jessica Sherer
FLUTE & SITE MANAGER
An adventurous flutist hailed for her “versatility and depth of understanding” (Composer Eva Kendrick), Jessica Sherer has earned a reputation for taking on many unique and varied musical projects. An avid supporter of new music, Jessica has commissioned and premiered works from many composers including Richard Francis, Eva Kendrick, Richard Applin, Michael Daughterty and Ladislav Kubik…Read More
Elizabeth Oladele
VIOLIN
Elizabeth Oladele has been playing violin for 19 years, and piano for 15 years. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a dual bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Music Performance. She has been a member of the Talent Development Program, sponsored by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She has also been a member of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra…Read More
Amyr Joyner
VIOLIN
Amyr Joyner began playing the violin at the age of five in the Peabody Conservatory’s Young Peoples String Program (YPSP). While at Peabody, Amyr studied with Yoon Mee Chung until December of 1993. In January 1994, Amyr and his family moved to Atlanta and in April of 1995, he resumed his violin lessons with retired Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Violinist, Pat Vas Dias. Shortly after, Amyr went on to study with ASO violinist Raymond Leung and ASO’s Assistant Concertmaster Jun-Ching Lin in the ASO’s Talent Development Program where he was a member for 5 years…Read More
Dr. William Johnston
VIOLA
William Johnston leads a varied career as a violist and educator. Based in Atlanta, he has appeared throughout the country in solo and chamber music performances. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Classical Revolution ATL, an organization dedicated to presenting live performances of chamber music in atypical venues such as coffee shops, bars, and clubs in metro Atlanta…Read More
Kelly King
VIOLA
Kelly King, a native of Florence, SC, began her musical journey on piano at the age of 7, followed by a brief stint in voice lessons, and finally settling on viola. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of South Carolina, studying with Frits de Jonge…Read More
Jessica Kornhoff
CELLO
Jessica started cello at the age of 9 and pursed a Bachelors degree with the late Wolfgang Laufer at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After having her two kids, Taylor and Claire, she decided Martha Gerschefski at Georgia State University would be a great fit for her Masters in Cello Performance…Read More
Christopher Thibdeau
CELLO
Christopher Thibdeau has a diverse background as both a cellist and a conductor. Recently appointed as the conductor of the Georgia Youth Symphony Philharmonia Orchestra, Christopher has previously served as the associate conductor of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra, the assistant conductor of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, the cover conductor of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra and the cover conductor of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra…Read More
Jonathan Colbert
DOUBLE BASS
Born in 1985 in Atlanta Georgia, Jonathan Colbert is a product of the Atlanta Public School System and started playing the double bass in his mother’s middle school orchestra. With the support of his family, Jonathan was encouraged at the age of 15 to study with the Principal Bass of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Ralph Jones. Through this relationship of , guidance, counseling, and professional advisement, his true musical journey began…Read More
Katrina Roman
DOUBLE BASS
Mrs. Roman earned her bachelors degree in music performance and her masters degree in music education from the University of Georgia. She studied double bass with retired principal bassist Grace Sexton of the Florida West Coast Symphony, principal bassist John Miller of the Sarasota Orchestra, and Melanie Punter’s doctoral student at Florida State University: Craig Wensell of the Tango Sur. She studied for her music education degree under the guidance of Dr. Mary Leglar and Dr. Skip Taylor…Read More
Bryan Crumpler
CLARINET
The Crumpler name is usually heard gracing the ESPN sports channels, Sports Illustrated Magazine, and the globules of Fantasy Football and NFL fan forums blogging about big butts. Yes, the All-Star Crumpler‚Äôs have big butts (despite that most of of them literally have made careers as “tight ends”), and the case is no different for 30-yr old, all-star clarinetist Bryan A. Crumpler, the youngest of a family of NFL football stars…Read More
John Bryant
TRUMPET
John Bryant, a native of Asheville, NC, is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the University of South Carolina. John began his study of the trumpet at age 10 and has since studied with Kieg Garvin, Mark Clodfelter, John Rommel, Michael Tunnell, and James Ackley. John holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Master of Music degree from the University of Louisville…Read More
Marc Boehm
TROMBONE
Spanning many fields, Marc Boehm’s accomplishments exemplify a teaching artist at the nexus of performance and teaching. He graduated with his Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and received special distinction as an Outreach Graduation Award recipient for his work…Read More
Aisha Bowden
CHORAL TEACHING ARTIST & ABREU FELLOWS PROGRAM 2012
Aisha Bowden has been a scholar of music from a very early age. She received formal training from Howard University, earning a Bachelors of Music Education with a piano minor. She has performed domestically and internationally, to include Switzerland, Germany and Gabon, Africa…Read More
Grant Harville
CHORAL TEACHING ARTIST
Grant Harville is Associate Conductor and Creative Director of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra and Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra. He comes to the Atlanta area from Wisconsin, where he was Orchestra Director at Ripon College and a doctoral candidate in orchestral conducting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison…Read More
Donna Thompson
MUSICIANSHIP TEACHING ARTIST
Donna Thompson, a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, is a widely acclaimed percussionist who has been playing and performing for over thirteen years. She has performed with the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, World Youth Symphony Orchestra, and was a featured solo performer with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano as well as the Atlanta Wind Symphony…Read More
