President : Carmen Granger is an orchestral musician throughout the southeast. She has performed with many symphonies and opera companies in Arkansas, Virginia and North Carolina. In the Summer of 2016, she won a job with Opera in the Ozarks in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where she was assistant principal viola and performed many various operas as well as solo repertoire and chamber music. In the summer of 2015, she received a scholarship to attend the Brevard Music Institute where she studied viola with Scott Rawls and worked with conductors Keith Lockhart and Ken Lamb. While at the Brevard Institute, she had the pleasure of being able to study chamber music with Alistair MacRae and got to work with many of the programs’ student composers and was a part of many chamber and contemporary music concerts.
Carmen is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s in Music Performance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) where she is a scholarship student of Dr. Scott Rawls. She is currently the principal viola of the Symphony Orchestra and performs with many different smaller ensembles within the school, including being the resident violist of the school’s contemporary music ensemble, Present~Continuous, the Gate City Camerata, Casella Sinfonietta and the UNCG Opera Orchestra. She has also had the pleasure of getting to work with Philip Glass, Molly Ringwald, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg during her time at UNCG. Carmen also enjoys playing the violin in the UNCG Sinfonia where she is one of the rotating concertmasters, and in the Fall of 2015 got to work with Turkish rockstar, Demir Demirkan.
Carmen is also a music educator in North Carolina. She is the President for the Gate City American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and teaches for the Community Arts Collaborative. Although her passion is performing, she also loves teaching private lessons and enjoys learning new ways to teach. Getting to perform in masterclasses has helped to improve her teaching style as well as her technique. She has performed for violists Michael Strauss, Pamela Ryan, and Elias Goldstein to name a few, as well as the Friction Quartet, Deadalus Quartet, and Decoda Quartet. Performing operas and musicals is Carmen’s true passion, but she loves being able to perform with so many symphonies and work with so many talented musicians.
Carmen is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s in Music Performance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) where she is a scholarship student of Dr. Scott Rawls. She is currently the principal viola of the Symphony Orchestra and performs with many different smaller ensembles within the school, including being the resident violist of the school’s contemporary music ensemble, Present~Continuous, the Gate City Camerata, Casella Sinfonietta and the UNCG Opera Orchestra. She has also had the pleasure of getting to work with Philip Glass, Molly Ringwald, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg during her time at UNCG. Carmen also enjoys playing the violin in the UNCG Sinfonia where she is one of the rotating concertmasters, and in the Fall of 2015 got to work with Turkish rockstar, Demir Demirkan.
Carmen is also a music educator in North Carolina. She is the President for the Gate City American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and teaches for the Community Arts Collaborative. Although her passion is performing, she also loves teaching private lessons and enjoys learning new ways to teach. Getting to perform in masterclasses has helped to improve her teaching style as well as her technique. She has performed for violists Michael Strauss, Pamela Ryan, and Elias Goldstein to name a few, as well as the Friction Quartet, Deadalus Quartet, and Decoda Quartet. Performing operas and musicals is Carmen’s true passion, but she loves being able to perform with so many symphonies and work with so many talented musicians.
Vice President : Jessie Lewis is currently undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in music education under Dr. Rebecca MacLeod. Her primary instrument is the violin, which she began playing at the age of 11. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia where she performed in numerous honors orchestras, youth orchestras and received the Director’s Choice Award for orchestra. She is currently volunteering at The Salvation Army’s Boys and Girls Club in Greensboro, where she teaches group violin lessons and teaching private lessons in the Peck Alumni Leadership Program.
Secretary : Emily Cramton is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in music at UNCG. She studies viola under Dr. Scott Rawls and enjoys playing in the university symphony orchestra. Emily is originally from Charlotte, where she was highly involved in orchestra at school as well as the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra. Her primary musical interests are in research and music studies, and she had the opportunity to present her research paper on Darius Milhaud at the Honors Music Research Symposium in Spring of 2016. Emily also enjoys teaching privately and has experience teaching in the Peck Alumni Leadership program as well as teaching a few students in the Charlotte area.
Treasurer : Matthew Laird is a sophomore Music Education major at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Born in Bowie, Maryland, Matthew grew up in Durham, North Carolina, where he attended Riverside High School. Matthew actively studies and performs on bass guitar and violin.
Matthew began studying violin with his father, Scott Laird, at the age of six, and continued his studies with Shelley Livingston through middle and high school. Throughout high school, Matthew played in many honors orchestras including the North Carolina All State Honors Orchestra, NCMEA Eastern Regional Orchestra, UNCG Southeast Strings Festival, and the Durham Public Schools Strings Festival. Matthew has attended the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, the Florida State Summer Music Camp, and the Lamar Stringfield Summer Camp. While attending Interlochen, Matthew studied for three summers with Francesca Anderegg, Violin Professor at St. Olaf College. Matthew is an experienced private violin and viola instructor, teaching lessons to students ranging from ages three to 30.
In addition to classical violin, Matthew has played bass guitar in diverse musical situations and studied for two years with Damon Brown. Matthew has played in musicals at Interlochen Arts Camp, jazz combos, church bands, and with many local artists and bands including Stolen Reputation, The Broad Street Collective, Tim Husk, Willie Painter, and Adam Sampieri. Matthew also has performed improvisatory styles on violin with The Freeway Revival in various venues and festivals around Asheville, North Carolina.
Matthew is currently a member of the University Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia at UNCG and studies violin with Marjorie Bagley. Matthew loves to teach and perform music and is always open to new and unique musical situations. Outside of music, Matthew is an avid lacrosse player and enjoys spending time outdoors.
Matthew began studying violin with his father, Scott Laird, at the age of six, and continued his studies with Shelley Livingston through middle and high school. Throughout high school, Matthew played in many honors orchestras including the North Carolina All State Honors Orchestra, NCMEA Eastern Regional Orchestra, UNCG Southeast Strings Festival, and the Durham Public Schools Strings Festival. Matthew has attended the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, the Florida State Summer Music Camp, and the Lamar Stringfield Summer Camp. While attending Interlochen, Matthew studied for three summers with Francesca Anderegg, Violin Professor at St. Olaf College. Matthew is an experienced private violin and viola instructor, teaching lessons to students ranging from ages three to 30.
In addition to classical violin, Matthew has played bass guitar in diverse musical situations and studied for two years with Damon Brown. Matthew has played in musicals at Interlochen Arts Camp, jazz combos, church bands, and with many local artists and bands including Stolen Reputation, The Broad Street Collective, Tim Husk, Willie Painter, and Adam Sampieri. Matthew also has performed improvisatory styles on violin with The Freeway Revival in various venues and festivals around Asheville, North Carolina.
Matthew is currently a member of the University Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia at UNCG and studies violin with Marjorie Bagley. Matthew loves to teach and perform music and is always open to new and unique musical situations. Outside of music, Matthew is an avid lacrosse player and enjoys spending time outdoors.
Faculty Advisor : Dr. Scott Rawls has appeared as soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Europe. Recent chamber music endeavors include performances with Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Ray Chen, Gary Hoffman, Lynn Harrell, Bella Davidovich, Vladmir Feltsman, Garrick Ohlsson, and the Diaz Trio. His solo and chamber music recordings can be heard on the Centaur, CRI, Nonesuch, Capstone, and Philips labels. A strong proponent of new music, Rawls has premiered dozens of new works by prominent composers. Most notably, he has toured extensively as a member of Steve Reich and Musicians since 1991. As the violist in this ensemble, he has performed the numerous premieres of Daniel Variations,The Cave and Three Tales by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot, videographer. And under the auspices of presenting organizations such as the Wiener Festwochen, Festival d’Automne a Paris, Holland Festival, Berlin Festival, Spoleto Festival USA and the Lincoln Center Festival, he has performed in major music centers around the world including London, Vienna, Rome, Milan, Tokyo, Prague, Amsterdam, Brussels, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Under the baton of maestro Dmitry Sitkovetsky, he plays principal viola in the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.
During the summers, Rawls plays principal viola in the festival orchestra at the Brevard Music Center where he also coordinates the viola program.
Dr. Rawls currently serves as Associate Professor of Viola at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is active as guest clinician, adjudicator, and masterclass teacher at universities and festivals in America and Europe. He holds a BM degree from Indiana University and a MM and DMA from State University of New York at Stony Brook. His major mentors include Abraham Skernick, Georges Janzer, and John Graham.
During the summers, Rawls plays principal viola in the festival orchestra at the Brevard Music Center where he also coordinates the viola program.
Dr. Rawls currently serves as Associate Professor of Viola at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is active as guest clinician, adjudicator, and masterclass teacher at universities and festivals in America and Europe. He holds a BM degree from Indiana University and a MM and DMA from State University of New York at Stony Brook. His major mentors include Abraham Skernick, Georges Janzer, and John Graham.
Faculty Advisor : Dr. Rebecca MacLeod is Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she directs the string education program and conducts the UNCG Sinfonia. Prior to joining the UNCG faculty, she was the assistant artistic director and conductor of the Tallahassee Symphony Youth Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra in Tallahassee, Florida. A native of Pennsylvania, she taught elementary, middle, and high school orchestra in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania and was orchestra director and chair of music activities in Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Dr. MacLeod is published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, String Research Journal, and the Florida Music Educators Journal. She currently serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Research in Music Education and the String Research Journal. She was recently elected to the American String Teachers Association National Board. Her research on working with underserved populations, vibrato technique, music teacher education, and music perception has been presented at the International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition, Music Educators National Conference, National Association for Music Education National Conference, American String Teachers National Conference, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Society for Music Teacher Education, and several music educators state conferences.
Dr. MacLeod received her undergraduate degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and her MME and PhD from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a frequent guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States.
Dr. MacLeod is published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, String Research Journal, and the Florida Music Educators Journal. She currently serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Research in Music Education and the String Research Journal. She was recently elected to the American String Teachers Association National Board. Her research on working with underserved populations, vibrato technique, music teacher education, and music perception has been presented at the International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition, Music Educators National Conference, National Association for Music Education National Conference, American String Teachers National Conference, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Society for Music Teacher Education, and several music educators state conferences.
Dr. MacLeod received her undergraduate degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and her MME and PhD from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a frequent guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States.