Our Teachers

DIRECTOR OF MUSIC EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR - PIANO

Hannah Adams began taking piano lessons when she was 7 years old. When she turned twelve, she became the pianist at her church. Hannah found such joy in using her abilities to praise and worship the Lord, that she realized that this was one of God’s purposes for her life.

After she graduated high school in 2013, she immediately opened her own piano studio and began teaching. At that time, Hannah realized that she wanted to further her music education. She began advanced piano training where she learned more in-depth skill and technic for four more years.

Hannah's passion for music is to uplift and glorify the name of her Savior Jesus Christ. She wishes to pass on a love of music to each of her students and to equip them with greater skills and abilities to praise God!

INSTRUCTOR - PIANO & KINDERMUSIK

Mattie moved to Western North Carolina in 2018 where she later received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Western Carolina University (2021). There she studied piano under Dr. Andrew Adams and organ under Dr. Lillian Pearson.

Mattie enjoys working with students of all abilities and strives to build a creative and safe environment for students to learn in.

INSTRUCTOR - BALLET 1 & 2

Briella is fifteen years old and has been dancing since she was four. She lives in Highlands, NC with her parents and four younger brothers. Briella has attended Community Bible Church for many years and she loves the people and community there.

She started taking ballet at the Rabun Gap School in Dillard, GA. After two years of ballet and one year of tap, she then started taking ballet from Julie Hughes at Creation Music & Arts. There were times when she wanted to stop the long practices and difficult lessons, but she is so thankful that she stuck with it. She now loves ballet immensely.

Briella has been practicing diligently for years to make the achievement into Pointe and she hopes to encourage other girls to reach and achieve these goals as well. She not only takes ballet from Julie Hughes but also from Sarah Shepard at the Inspire Dance Studio in Franklin.

Briella is glad that she can use her skills as a dancer to glorify the Lord and she is thankful that He has gifted her in this regard. Briella hopes that the Lord will continue to use this in her life.

INSTRUCTOR - INTRO TO BALLET

Kate Haner lives in Scaly Mountain with her family of seven. She is a junior in high school and has taken dance classes for ten years, two of which included being an assistant teacher at Creation Music & Arts. Especially enjoying the style of ballet, she hopes to inspire each student with the same joy and delight she has found in it.

She sees teaching as a beautiful opportunity to teach the children how to glorify God through movement, while also building their grace and confidence. Her goal is to share the love of Jesus to her class in this next year, and is excited to see each child grow and learn from Him!

INSTRUCTOR - GUITAR, BANJO & MANDOLIN

Mike grew up in Atlanta GA, where he took up guitar in high school as therapy for a broken arm, and to play for the local Young Life youth ministry at his high school. He attended Furman Univ. in Greenville SC (BA in History 1978) and Union Theological Seminary in Richmond VA (Doctor of Ministry 1982). He has been an ordained Presbyterian Minister since 1982, first in the Presbyterian Church USA, and later
moving to the new biblically-oriented ECO Presbyterians in 2016. Mike served churches in Miami FL, Marietta GA, Huntersville (Charlotte area) NC, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island SC, and Fayetteville, NC.
He retired from full-time ministry in October 2019, and moved permanently to Cashiers in December 2019. He has also been a Licensed Realtor in SC since 2003 and later in Cashiers. He married Gina Jones in 1985 and they have two sons Chris (31) & Kevin (29). Mike has been playing guitar since he was 14,
and specializes in group singing songs and bluegrass flatpicking. He has studied with many
championship bluegrass pickers like Steve Kaufman, Mark Cosgrove, Molly Tuttle, Tim May, Bryan Sutton, and more. He also plays bluegrass mandolin and banjo. He hopes to figure them out some day.
Mike also likes football, hiking in the mountains, landscape gardening, computers, Civil War & other history. Favorite Quote on his Facebook Timeline: There are 2 Lessons In Life: 1. There is a God; 2. You Are Not Him.

INSTRUCTOR - DRUM SET

Bill has been involved in many musical projects over 30 years, stemming from Pittsburgh to Miami, Sarasota, and the mountains of North Carolina.

Bill started playing drums at the age of 9 and started marching with a drill team/drum & bugle corps in McKeesport, PA for 11 years. Shortly after, he took to the drum kit and has never stopped playing. He continued his journey into Miami, Florida where he played as the drummer for a 9 piece international multi-genre band playing reggae, sick-calypso, Caribbean jazz, pop, funk and other genres and played at many venues throughout the Miami area.

Today, Bill has taken to electronic music production utilizing midi and electronic software to integrate digital drums and triggers to perform a live one man show with music and video projection. Though most of his schedule currently is DJ’ing in North Carolina and Florida, Bill continues to produce his one man drum show for upcoming events.

Being an avid music lover, Bill’s influences include, Funk, Reggae, drum-n-bass, Prog-Rock, Electronica, Jazz Fusion, EDM, 80’s New Wave, Jazz, Soul, Hip Hop, Rock, Metal, Big Band and more. He never stops seeking out what’s new and exciting in the world of music.

INSTRUCTOR - BALLET 3 & 4