Music Lessons

Abby Weyant is a graduate of James Madison University with a Bachelor in Music Education, and Minnesota State College - Southeast Technical with an AAS in Band Instrument Repair. Abby has worked for JMU as an instructor for the Summer Band Camps. She has also worked for George Mason’s Summer Woodwind Camp as a flute ensemble and mixed woodwind ensemble instructor, and performed in the pit orchestra for various musicals. Abby holds a flute studio in Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties, and is the Director of the Fredericksburg Innovative Flute Ensemble – FIFE.

Abby is currently a member of the UMW Philharmonic Orchestra, Spotswood Baptist Church Orchestra, and Fredericksburg Community Band.

Abby has been a repair tech at KBI Music Shoppe since June 2015 and a flute instructor at KBI since January 2016.

Bio Coming Soon

Amberle Fong is a graduate from the University of Mary Washington with a BA in Music Performance, specializing in piano, and a BS in Biology. She has received honors upon graduation from Mu Phi, a fraternity aimed at equipping and promoting future music educators of America. She has been teaching since 2007 and has taught a wide range of students ranging from beginners to current concert performers. She has performed on stages such as EMU's Bach festival and has sung with the Shenandoah Choral Society for many years. She is currently working on a solo project playing through Tchaikovsky's Seasons concurrently with the month at hand.

Blair Ashby is a graduate of James Madison University with a Bachelor in Music Education and Mathematics. As an oboe musician, Blair enjoys sharing her love for music with beginners as well as more advanced players. She performs with the Fredericksburg Community Concert Band and the Mid Atlantic Wind Symphony.

Blair marched 3 years with the Marching Royal Dukes at JMU, playing trumpet. She is also a member of the Band Service Sorority-Tau Beta Sigma.

Fredericksburg based Tenor Cody Davis-Meadows has been training singers since 2016. He received his BA in Music from Longwood University. He has had the opportunity to study with vocalist and pedagogues Jamison Walker, Michael Hix, and Christopher Swanson. Cody has taught with the Longwood Center for Community Music and the Stevens School of Music. He has had the opportunity to spend six seasons with the Farmville Summer Garden Opera where he has sang the roles of Parpignol (La bohème 2016), Commissario, and La cena e pronta (La traviata 2019). Cody currently resides in Fredericksburg, Virginia with his partner Dianne, their two daughters Vivienne and Lorraine, and their three cats Luna, Percy, and Kingsley. He looks forward to training the next generation of singers while sharing his love for music with them.

Daniel "Dan" Fong is a graduate from the University of Mary Washington with a BA in Music Performance, specializing in guitar, and a BS in Business Administration. He has been teaching for over a decade and has worked with hundreds of students in the Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania counties. He has proficiency and has taught many stringed instruments including Mandolin, Ukulele, Electric Bass, Classical Guitar, Steel String Acoustic Guitar, and Electric Guitar. Daniel has played saxophone with a local brass band, Elby Brass, for the last 5 years and is currently working on a duet project with harp, guitar, and percussion. He is also the proud owner of a local steel handpan manufacturing business, www.ajnadrums.com.

Damien received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Horn performance from West Virginia University and his Master of Music degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. His primary teachers have been Dr. Virginia Thompson and Bill Caballero, principal horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony. After moving to Virginia, he accepted a position as the adjunct horn instructor at the University of Mary Washington where he also plays with the Philharmonic Orchestra as Principal Horn. An active performer and teacher, Damien teaches all over the area and has performed with numerous ensembles and performers over the years including the Seneca Chamber Winds, Fairfax Symphony, Johnstown Symphony, Washington Sinfonietta, Piedmont Symphony where he is currently principal horn, Tony Bennet, Itzhak Perlman, Sir James Galway, and Joshua Bell to name a few. In addition he has performed multiple times overseas in places such as Paris, London, Milan, Venice, Lucerne, and Brussels. Most recently he performed with the UMW Philharmonic in Ireland playing the third Movement of the Richard Strauss Horn Concerto #1. He resides in Fredericksburg with his wife, Annamarie.

After graduating from James Madison University with a degree in Music Education, David joined the Fredericksburg community to help develop a community-based music program while on staff with The Salvation Army. During that time he has been an active trumpet teacher and performer, playing in such diverse groups as the Rappahannock Pops Orchestra, the UMW Faculty Brass Quintet, the Fredericksburg Big Band, Elby Brass, and The Salvation Army's National Capital Band. Currently he is the Band Director at Fredericksburg Academy.

Devante L. Lucas graduated from Longwood University with a BA in Music and a minor in German. He is an educator, arranger, and songwriter in the Fredericksburg area. He graduated from Massaponax High School, where he was accepted into Virginia’s All-State Chorus (2010), and taught himself piano and ukulele. While at Longwood, Devante studied under Dr. Jennifer Capaldo and Dr. Lisa Edwards-Burrs and performed in the top ensemble, Camerata Singers, all four years. Through the Camerata Singers, he had the opportunity to perform with the Lynchburg Symphony and the Richmond Symphony multiple times.

Although he has experience with a variety of choirs, Devante’s passion lies in working with men’s choruses. In college, he worked with the University Men's Chorus founded High Street Harmony, Longwood’s sole all-male a cappella group. After college, Devante was offered to lead Bene Voce, Thornburg Middle School’s men’s chorus. He is currently working with multiple choirs in the Fredericksburg area.

Eddie Steenstra is also the Band Director at Stafford High School, where he directs the 3 Concert Bands, 2 Jazz Ensemble, 2 Percussion Ensembles, and Marching Band among other duties. He attended the Ithaca College Whalen School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree, majoring in Music Education and Trombone Performance. He returned to Ithaca College for his Master of Music degree, majoring in Bass Trombone Performance. Eddie has played trombone locally with the Rappahannock Pops Orchestra, Fredericksburg Big Band, University of Mary Washington Philharmonic, and other various ensembles. In addition to teaching at KBI Music Shoppe, Eddie is the Adjunct Instructor of Trombone at the University of Mary Washington.

Gene Mills is currently the band director at Post Oak Middle School in Spotsylvania. Gene attended received his B.A. in music education from Fairmont State University in West Virginia in 2006. Before returning home to the Fredericksburg area in 2015, he spent nine years as director of Bands at Scott High School and Madison Middle School in Boone County West Virginia.

Jim spent most of his life and musical career in Texas. His father worked in Houston at NASA. There Jim attended Clear Lake High School and earned the distinction of 1st chair euphonium in the Texas All-State Symphonic Band in 1977. He attended West Texas State University where he was principle euphonium in symphonic band and played bass trombone in the marching and jazz bends. His teaching career began in 1981. He has worked as a band director and low brass instructor with Ft. Bend ISD, Alief ISD, George West ISD and Stafford Co. Schools. His bands have been state finalists at both the middle school and high school levels on multiple occasions as well as earning the prestigious Virginia Honor Band award. Many of his low brass students have earned all-state honors. Jim believes that every student can succeed and have fun while doing it.

Luke Gray is a multi-instrumentalist who specializes in violin, viola, bass, mandolin and Chapman Stick. He has many years of teaching experience, having taught at such places as Creative Music Academy, Roberson’s Music, Fredericksburg Area Young Musicians, Forte Music Studios and Potomac Arts Academy, as well as various Spotsylvania and Stafford public schools. He is fluent in many styles of music including jazz, rock, classical, country, and Celtic. He performs regularly as a Freelance Musician as well as occasionally with orchestras and bands, including Mary Washington Philharmonic, Rappahannock POPS, Riverside Dinner Theatre, Whiskey Django Foxtrot, Fredericksburg Jazz Collective, and Christian Youth Theatre. His debut album, “Solid Yet Free” received a feature on Stick.com. Luke hopes to expand the musical horizons of his students with all things that are able to be achieved through music.

Michael Geddes has been a guitar instructor for over 40 years. He began musical training at the Hartford Conservatory of Music and continued his musical education as a trombone major with a minor in guitar at Hart School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1971 he began master studies with concert guitarist Andrew Caponigro in Boston. He studied voice at The Carbonell Conservatory of Music in Tampa, and James Madison University in Virginia. From 1990 until 2001 he was an adjunct guitar instructor at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and in 1998 became certified to teach the Suzuki Method of teaching children the guitar. He has been teaching in the Spotsylvania, Stafford area since 2001

As a professional performer and singer, Michael incorporates his rich musical experience into a very unique and successful comprehensive teaching method. This method teaches right and left-hand guitar technique, music reading, ear training, vocal performance, and musical theory. His annual recitals include students performing guitar pieces and singing songs as well.

Nathan Gredler is a band director and brass teacher in the Fredericksburg area. He has taught middle school band and high school marching band in Stafford County since 2014. A graduate of James Madison University, Nathan studied euphonium with Kevin Stees. Nathan performs with the Mid-Atlantic Wind Symphony on euphonium and trombone and the Fairfax Swing Jazz as a trombonist. In addition to euphonium and trombone, Nathan also teaches tuba and trumpet. He is a current candidate for the Masters of Music Education degree offered online through the University of Florida.

Kaylee Payne is a sophomore at the University of Mary Washington where she is double majoring in music and computer science. Her primary instruments are viola, violin, and piano. Kaylee is currently principal violist with the University of Mary Washington Philharmonic. She has previously studied the viola and violin with Ron Barricklow, William Wassum, and Jim George. She is currently studying viola with Dr. Steven Schmidt in Richmond and violin with Kristen Presley at UMW. Kaylee also grew up playing piano. Her primary teacher was Amy Shirk, who instilled in her a love for music theory and for teaching music. Over the years, Kaylee has played the viola and violin with various local youth and adult orchestras. She participated in regional orchestras on both viola and violin, and in 2014, she was the All VA State Orchestra's first chair violist. In addition to playing viola in the UMW Philharmonic, she is also the violist for the UMW String Quartet and the Payne Quartet. She is also employed as the pianist for a local church in King George. Kaylee looks forward to sharing her love of learning and playing music with her students.

Coming Soon

Michael Huffman is the trumpet professor at The University of Mary Washington and a freelance musician in the Fredericksburg area. He has played music professionally for over a decade and has performed in many styles ranging from baroque to jazz. Throughout his career he has performed in multiple national competitions, two international tours, and numerous concerts with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Allen Vizzutti, Steve Turre, Gary Bartz, Terrell Stafford, David Childs, and Richard Sebring to name a few. He completed his undergraduate studies at James Madison University and obtained a Master’s degree from SUNY Purchase under the tutelage of Jon Faddis. He was a featured soloist at the 2015 DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and has performed at some of the premier jazz clubs in NYC. Alongside an active performance schedule he is very passionate about spreading love and reverence for all genres of music through education

Randy Bradley is a percussionist and educator in the Richmond & Fredericksburg area. He has extensive background in many fields of percussion, including marching, drum set, world percussion, and concert percussion. He has studied with various teachers, including; Dr. Kristopher Keeton, T. Howard Curtis, Dr. Michael Schutz, Danny Raymond Jr., Tony Martucci, and Mike Boyd.

Randy was also a member of the Carolina Gold Drum and Bugle Corps from Greensboro, North Carolina, where he marched in the snare line from 2006-2008. As a performer, Randy has performed with many groups around Richmond and Fredericksburg as a freelance percussionist, and tours extensively with the band Murphy’s Kids performing up and down the east coast.

As an educator, Randy is a current member of the Vic Firth Education team, as well as a performing and education artist for Sabian Cymbals. He serves as an active arranger and consultant for many percussion programs throughout the area, and maintains a studio of private students each week.

Taylor is currently the Band Director at Rodney E. Thompson Middle School in Stafford, VA. At RTMS, he directs the 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Concert Bands and the RTMS Jazz Band. In the fall, he also serves on the instructional staff for the Mountain View High School Marching Wildcats.

Taylor graduated from James Madison University in 2014 after spending four years under the tutelage of Dr. Janice Minor. While at JMU, Taylor held numerous positions in the Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and various chamber ensembles. He also was a member of the Marching Royal Dukes for four seasons and spent his senior year as one of the Drum Majors for the band.

Will Gillespie is a saxophone/woodwinds player and educator, originally from Pittsburgh, PA. He has a B.S. in Music Education, and an M.A. in Music Performance, both from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with Dr. Keith Young. He taught high school band and guitar for 4 years in Kingman, Arizona, before moving back east. He performs and teaches all styles of music.

Toby Fairchild is a Fredericksburg, VA based musician who performs locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. In addition to performing, he also teaches drums and percussion. He has had the opportunity to work with many well-known musicians, such as Keller Williams, Victor Wooten, Bob Weir, Eric Marienthal, James Moody, and J.J. Grey, among others. He has recorded on over 40 albums and has contributed to numerous tracks for other musicians. He is skilled in arranging, composing, producing, recording, and engineering. Toby received his music education at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he studied classical percussion. In his lessons, he covers orchestral percussion (such as concert snare drum, marimba, and accessory percussion), marching percussion, hand drumming (including conga drums), and all styles of drum set