Community Music Growing at Caperton Center

Fairmont State's Community Music Program at the Gaston Caperton Center in Clarksburg has announced the addition of private studio voice, piano and violin instruction.

Voice lessons will be taught by Artist Teacher of Voice Stephanie Adlington. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, England, with a Bachelor of Music degree and the post-graduate degree in Musical Theatre. Adlington has also trained at Carnegie Mellon University and the Eastman School of Music. At the Royal Academy, Adlington received the Teaching Licentiate for Voice and the Arthur Burcher Prize for Singing. She appeared as Patsy Cline in the 2005 Town & Gown production of "Always" Patsy Cline," which was reprised this summer at the Caperton Center. Most recently, she was selected by the West Virginia Symphony to appear as soloist in the spring of 2006, after she was named the winner of the 2005 West Virginia Young Artists Auditions. Adlington has performed and recorded in vocal arts as well as composition. She teaches at the Caperton Center on Tuesdays.

James Atha has been named Artist Teacher of Piano, beginning in May. Atha has previously been a member of the piano teaching faculty for the Community Music Program. He is a graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College with a Bachelor of Music Education Degree. An accomplished pianist, he has also performed extensively on saxophone in several ensembles, including the WVWC Jazz Ensemble. While performing with the ensemble, he traveled throughout the Eastern United States and Europe, where he took part in the Moscow International Jazz Festival and in a two-week tour of Romania. Atha has held class and studio piano teaching positions at West Virginia Wesleyan College, with Fairmont State's Community Music Program and at Lewis County High School. He performs throughout central West Virginia with several groups and has performed for a number of musicals, including "Anything Goes," "Bye Bye Birdie," "42nd Street" and "Something's Afoot." For the past six years he has performed with country recording artist Nina Sharp, opening for several Nashville acts including Blackhawk, Darryl Worley and Chris Cagle. Atha is currently pursuing a master's degree in Jazz Pedagogy at West Virginia University. He is accepting piano students, beginners to advanced on Thursdays at the Caperton Center.

Charlotte Cobos, Artist Teacher of Strings, has been a violin instructor for several years in the Clarksburg area with the Choral Arts in Clarksburg. She has also been a member of the Artistic Staff of Chanticleer Children's Chorus, teaching rhythm and movement. She is a member of the Arte Strings Quartet, the River Cities Symphony of the Mid-Ohio Valley and a Violinist for Act 2 Theatre Company. She also volunteers for high school theatre productions. She received the Degree for Certification in Music from Trenton State College and a degree in Sociology from West Virginia University. Among her private teachers are Stephen Heyde, Donald Portnory and William Skidmore. Cobos is available for private instruction or partner lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Caperton Center.

Elizabeth Etnoyer, Artist Teacher of Piano, is a candidate for the Master's of Music in Piano Performance at WVU. She is a graduate of Alderson-Broaddus College with a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Music as a piano major. Her background is a diversified one in piano pedagogy, piano literature and performance. She attended the Aspen School of Music and was a successful audition candidate for the Music Teachers National Association Young Artists, the WVU Concerto winner and the Alderson-Broaddus Concerto winner. Her principal piano teachers have been Jeannette Boer, the Mozarteum, Austria; Barli Nugent, the Juilliard School; Virginia Weckstrom, the Cleveland Institute; Gabriel Chodoa, the New England Conservatory; and Marija Sommer and Drs. Virginia Raad and Peter Amstutz of WVU. Etnoyer has taken Master Classes at the Peabody Conservatory, the Aspen School of Music and Alderson-Broaddus College as a student of Leon Fleisher and Leon Bates. She has been a faculty member of the WVU Community Music Program in addition to the Community Music Program at the Caperton Center since 2005. Etnoyer will be accepting students for Friday and Saturday lessons.

Call (304) 366-3758 for registration information, or e-mail anschooley@mteer.com