James Nelson
Senior Instructor - Guitar, Bass, & Ukulele
Ballantyne & Indian Land Studios
James was born in Charlotte, North Carolina where he stayed until he moved
to Madison, West Virginia around the age of 9. Tiring of not amounting to
much beyond being the best darn scrambler of the egg in West Virginia, at
the age of 13, he heard "Eruption" by Van Halen, and he then knew what he
wanted to do. James' guitar journey began with learning the classics like
"Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry and "Wild Thing" by The Troggs. From
there, his eyes were opened to various genres that he grew to love including
Blues, Funk, Jazz, Rock, Southern Rock, Progressive Rock, Heavy Metal, and
even the occasional Post-Modern Polka-Pop Jazz-Fusion song with hints of Glam Metal. James' main guitar influences stem from the likes of Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Gary Moore, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, and David Gilmour.
Other than now being the best darn scrambler of the egg in North Carolina, James has a decade of experience under his belt teaching beginner to advanced players, including several notable local Carolina musicians such as Kelly Flusk and Adam Nelson of Something Clever and Brain Baker, formally of Shadow of Myself. Additionally, James has earned quite the reputation as being a reliable fill in guitarist for bands such as Blackwater Drowning (Heavy Metal) and The Reticent (Progressive Rock/Metal), where he has the privilege of working with Grammy nominated band director, Chris Hathcock. He also plays in two bands with fellow co-instructor, Cole Millward. One of which is Ozai, a progressive rock/metal band from Charlotte, and FM Encore, which is a cover band also comprised of co-instructor, Garrick White and co-worker, Mikayla Marlow. He also co-owns Giant Spoon Productions with Cole Millward, which is an audio recording enterprise.
James offers a laid back and fun environment for learning where he can pass on his approach to playing music using practical music theory in a variety of musical styles ranging from Rock and Blues to Jazz and Funk. Whether you want to become the next Eddie Van Halen, or you just want to play "Basket Case" by Green Day, James' mission is to help you achieve your goal.
Simcha Goldwurm
Piano-Keyboard Instructor
Ballantyne Studio
Simcha is a Brooklyn native who performs, composes and produces
classical and jazz piano with his own twist. His earliest memory is
driving his toy car around the courtyard at the age of 2, singing to the
delight of the neighbors. His sister gave him a keyboard lesson at the
age of 8 and he’s been obsessed since. He spent his teen years as the
lead cantor at his synagogue. At the age of 17 he started classically training, eventually writing and producing his own music albums.
Simcha graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Government, and is a high school social studies teacher. In Cornell he took piano lessons and theory courses, and he continued his studies afterwards studying with online piano sensation, Joshua Kyan Aalampour. He is passionate about education and community, and leads a music production club at West Mecklenburg high school.
His inspirations come from the greats like Beethoven and Chopin, Nina Simone and Steely Dan, and AC/DC and Beyonce. While grounded in instrumental music he works with R&B, folk, indie and EDM musicians to produce beautiful sounds. He believes that music is the language of the soul and that everyone can be a musician when they find their personal groove.
Ryan Fosnow
Office Administrator
Ballantyne Studio
Ryan has spent most of his life behind the drum kit. He studied privately for close to a
decade performing in school orchestras, jazz, and marching bands. He has also taught
for several years at our Indian Land studio, prior to stepping into an administrative role
at our Ballantyne studio.
Originally from Chicago, Ryan is an active player in community at church as well as
numerous cover and original bands. He formerly toured nationally with bands such as Classic Journey Live, a tribute to the band Journey, and is now the drummer for Boubon Sons.
Kaitlyn Hayward
Senior Instructor - Vocal and Piano
Ballantyne Studio
R&B Band Jam Session Director (Saturdays)
Kaitlyn Hayward was born and raised in Charleston, SC. She currently resides in Columbia,
SC, and teaches high school choir in Chester. Kaitlyn has a music degree from Winthrop
University.
Kaitlyn started her musical journey at the age of 7. She began taking piano lessons and
singing in the elementary school choir. From there, she continued piano lessons for
approximately 10 years (as well as continuing lessons at Winthrop University). She also has experience with other instruments; including alto saxophone (7 years), tenor saxophone (4 years), and marching/concert percussion (4 years).
At Winthrop University, Kaitlyn took voice lessons with some of the most prestigious vocal instructors in South Carolina. She was in the Winthrop University Chorale, where she served as the alto section leader, and the Winthrop University Chamber Choir. Though she is classically trained; she is also a jazz, neo-soul, and R&B vocalist. Some of her influences include Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott.
Kaitlyn is passionate about her craft and is so excited to be able to share her skills with her students. She is also honored to be among this winning staff of instructors.
Amanda Sanchez
Senior Instructor - Vocals & Flute
Ballantyne & Indian Land Studios
Amanda was born in Westland, Michigan, and grew up in Orlando, Florida.
Her father exposed her early on to a multitude of musical genres that
molded her appreciation and love for music. At the age of 8, she began
learning the flute and would sing and play at her church. By age 11,
Amanda started taking lead roles in her school plays such as Cinderella
(Rogers and Hammerstein), Constanze (Of Mice and Mozart) and Crystal
(Little Shop of Horrors).
Throughout high school, she was involved in Show and Concert Choir where she absorbed music theory, sight reading and the importance of unity. Her choir director, Dr. Jeffrey Redding (2019 Grammy award winning music educator of the year) instilled the importance of hard work and dedication along with the joy of moving an audience with stage presence, dynamics and passion.
Amanda now resides in Ballantyne, North Carolina, with a degree in nursing. She is currently the lead singer of "Smokin Gunn," "The Amanda May Project," and "Tin Man's Heart" (Heart Tribute Band). In 2021, she recorded her first single, "Overcomin," that can be found on all digital streaming platforms.
"Teaching is a gift that can inspire passion and purpose. What you learn can be put into everything you do, not just music, but your life in general - your grades, your home situation and what you go out to do in the world."
Briana DiMaria
Senior Instructor - Piano & Clarinet
Indian Land Location
Briana was born in Clifton, New Jersey. She started her music journey at age 4
when she heard "Hey Bulldog" by The Beatles and tried to mimic what she heard
on the piano. Her parents quickly started her in piano lessons, and she was
playing Beethoven by age 7. She moved to Fort Mill, South Carolina, with her family
by age 11 where she started playing Clarinet in the school band. In high school, she
participated in many activities such as marching band, jazz band, percussion
ensemble, SC All State Band, and was chosen to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade with Macy’s All American Marching Band. After high school she took classes at Winthrop University learning many skills such as music theory, aural skills, and more. She played in the Winthrop University symphonic band as a music performance major. She fostered a love for music that drove her to teach her passion for the past 5 years and continues in hopes that she can pass along the same love for music to the youth of tomorrow.
She has a wide range of musical influences including Dave Brubeck, Steely Dan, Tchaikovsky, Stevie Wonder, Periphery, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Dirty Nill, Led Zeppelin, Lianne La Havas, and many more. She looks forward to sharing her passion and knowledge to young musicians for the years to come.
Andrew Richmond
Senior Instructor - Guitar, Bass, Piano, Ukulele & Music
Ballantyne & Indian Land Studios
Andrew is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and lived in Nashville before moving to the greater
Charlotte area. He has been playing guitar almost his whole life and teaching since
high school. Andrew is also an audio engineer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
He has had the opportunity to work with music industry professionals at some of
the top studios in Nashville, and even has his own recording studio here in South
Carolina. His biggest guitar influences are Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John
Mayer, and Johnny Greenwood. Although mostly interested in Rock, Blues, and Indie
music, his taste in music is broad and he's always willing to learn something new!
Drew Wilkerson
Senior Instructor -Drum/Percussion, Piano & Guitar
Indian Land Studio
Drew is a South Carolina native, originally from Cheraw, and now currently
located in Rock Hill. Starting at the age of 9, Drew has been playing drums
and guitar for 12 years. Since the age of 14 Drew has performed with bands of
many genres including rock, country, jazz, and reggae.
Drew has also performed for shows at Carowinds including The Brass Brigade
(D & G Entertainment) , Turn It Up! (D & G Entertainment), and Blood
Drums (Street Drum Corps). Drew is a graduate of Winthrop University, where he has studied both drum set and percussion for 3 years.
Some of Drew’s inspirations include drummers such as Travis Barker, Thomas Pridgen, Tony Williams, Matt Gartska, Jojo Mayer, and Joey Jordison.
Charles Trotter
Senior Instructor - Guitar, Bass, Piano, & Ukulele
Indian Land Studio
Charles is a native Carolinian with 20 plus years experience in private,
group and classroom music instrument education focusing on many
styles of music from classical, jazz, blues and rock. Charles has a
Bachelors degree from the University of South Carolina. Charles has
developed guitar programs at Charlotte Catholic High School, Christ the King High School, and British International School of Charlotte.
Eric Sneed
Guitar Instructor
Indian Land Studio
Eric is a Charlotte native with over 25 years of musical experience. He began playing
trumpet for his middle school band in 1997, then switched to guitar in high school
after developing a love for rock and metal. After high school he attended Carolina
School of Broadcasting where he completed courses in audio and video production,
and later attended USC Lancaster majoring in music education. He has spent the last
several years teaching guitar, bass, and ukulele to students of all ages and skill levels.
He currently plays lead guitar in a metal band which has played numerous venues in the Carolinas and toured the Northeast. Eric also enjoys playing jazz, classical, and blues, and secretly loves playing pop and country music with his students. His favorite guitarists include Guthrie Govan, Jimmy Bruno, Dave Davidson (Revocation), and Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah).
Jake Rasbornik
Guitar & Keyboard Instructor
Ballantyne Studio
Jake Rasbornik was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a
multi-instrumentalist and has experience playing guitar and drums in blues,
jazz, rock and church bands . In 2009, he attended Musicians Institute of
Music and has primarily focused on playing guitar and creating original music.
Jake has been playing and recording music for 20 years. Some of Jake's inspirations throughout the years have been Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chuck Loeb, Lynne Rasbornik (his mother a vocalist) and many many others. He is always excited to teach and continue to learn in the world of music.
Eric Esposito
Senior Instructor - Guitar, Bass, Ukulele
Band Director - Jam Session (Saturdays)
Director of Active Adult Programs (Group Classes)
Indian Land Studio
Eric has been teaching guitar for almost 20 years. A jazz-trained musician, he also
has a special affinity for rock music and R&B. Eric has played guitar and bass in
numerous successful bands in both the New York City and Charlotte areas over the
last 25 years, and is currently in several bands that perform across the East Coast.
He has a B.A. in Music Education and Performance from the Five Towns College
in New York.
Donna McPherson
Senior Instructor - Piano & Violin/Viola
Ballantyne & Indian Land Studios
Donna has been playing piano, violin, and viola since early childhood. As a
13 year old, she played with the East Carolina University Symphony. During
high school she attended the Governor’s School for viola. While earning her
BA at NC State, she continued performing, playing with the local civic
orchestra and numerous chamber music ensembles.
Donna performed with the Johnson City Symphony while living in Tennessee, and joined the Charlotte Civic Orchestra after moving to the Queen City. While homeschooling her four children for more than 23 years, Donna also taught private lessons in violin, viola, and piano. Some of her favorite musical influences include hymns, fiddle music, and everything Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky. Donna also enjoys music by The Police, Billy Joel, and Christian artists Michael W. Smith, Michael Card, and Steven Curtis Chapman.
Haley Meyer
Songwriting/Vocal and Guitar Instructor
Ballantyne Studio
Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Haley embarked on her musical
journey at the age of four, diving into choir and musical theater with fervor.
Throughout high school, she shone as the lead in multiple productions and
earned prestigious honors, including membership in the ILMEA state honors
choir and jazz ensembles, as well as the esteemed Louis Armstrong Jazz
Award at 18.
Under the tutelage of renowned instructors like Dr. Dorothy Jean Lloyd, a
UCLA and Juilliard alum, Haley began her classical training at the Music Institute of Chicago at 16. Graduating from Berklee College of Music at 23 with a Professional Music diploma, she concentrated in music business/management, songwriting, and performance.
Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of artists such as Hozier, Jon Bellion, Adele, Lizzo, and various jazz and R&B legends, Haley’s music reflects a fusion of these influences as she forges her unique path in the music industry.
Denise Forbes
Senior Instructor - Violin & Piano
Ballantyne & Indian Land Studios
I am a creative shepherd that actively performs (violin, vocaI artist, and wordsmith)
and possesses a MM in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of
Music on bassoon. I also worked at The Juilliard School. As a private teacher, I have
positively impacted the lives of young creatives in bassoon, strings, voice, piano and
in dance. I have codified what I have developed as a performer and teacher to
impart to student artists and contribute their whole child evolution.
Ashlee Davis
Guitar Instructor
Indian Land Studio
Ashlee Davis, originally from South Florida, has cultivated her musical
passion from an early age. Ashlee picked up the guitar at 12 years old
shortly after moving to Waxhaw, NC, initially teaching herself. Her
dedication to her craft led her to pursue formal music education where
she deepened her knowledge of theory and technique at the Ballantyne
School of Music.
At the school, Ashlee's involvement in Jam Sessions marked the beginning
of her collaborative journey, where she quickly found a new passion in live
performance. Now, as an aspiring audio engineer, Ashlee is advancing her expertise further through a Bachelor’s degree in Music Business from Berklee Online.
Cole Millward
Senior Instructor - Bass/Guitar/Music Production
Ballantyne Studio
Cole Millward has been involved in music in some capacity for almost his whole life.
Participating in various choirs and ensembles in church as a child, he became serious
about pursuing music at the age of 15 when he was introduced to the bass guitar.
Through the bass, music changed from a mild interest to an outright obsession for
Cole. He quickly found himself playing in bands and forging relationships with other
Charlotte musicians, and he began to develop the knowledge and skills that would
lead to a fulfilling career in music.
Cole attended Central Piedmont Community College at 18, eventually graduating
with an associate degree in fine arts with a focus in music composition and
performance, along with special commendations from the music department’s leadership. While at school and motivated by the growing needs of his own songwriting, he developed an interest in audio engineering. He spent his time between classes studying the basics of audio and learning how to record, mix, and master music. After completing his time at CPCC, he worked at GAT3 Studios as an intern. There, he acquired a proper education in audio from Grammy-winning engineer Glenn Tabor and the team at GAT3.
Since then, Cole has built a livelihood by traveling the many avenues available to music professionals. He puts his knowledge of music to use by teaching guitar, bass, and music theory to students of all ages at Ballantyne School of Music, by regularly performing gigs all over the Carolinas, and by continuing to compose music for his original projects. Not forgetting his audio skills, he also works as a contracted live sound engineer, and is the head engineer and co-owner of Giant Spoon Productions, a recording studio in Charlotte.
Cole is grateful for the immense positive impact playing music has had on his life, and he actively seeks to share the joy of the art with aspiring musicians.
Garrick White
Senior Instructor - Drum Set/Percussion
Ballantyne Studio
Garrick was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has lived here his whole life. His family has
a history of musical talent. His grandmother and aunt played and taught piano, and his father
taughtGarrick how to play drums "basically since I was able to hold a drum stick!"
"I have had a musical interest from a very early age, also playing guitar since I was 10 years
old, but my main interest and focus was percussion. I started taking percussion in elementary
school learning bells, xylophone, marimba, conga drums, steel drums, timpani, snare and bass drum. I
continued my musical education throughout middle and high school, studying music theory,
rhythm, notation and marching percussion. My high school marching band competed in national
stage marching band competitions, placing very high in all band of America finals, as well as the battery or drum line, placing in the top ten nationally several times."
Garrick says that he loves 80's hair bands and rock genre music including Guns and Roses, Led Zeppelin, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Metallica, and more. "My father took me to a Boston concert in sixth grade, and I have grown up loving this style of music. My main musical influences were drummers like Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater and Neil Peart from RUSH. I love working with kids and love music, so that's what motivated me to become a drum instructor at Ballantyne School of Music."
Abby Yarbrough
Senior Instructor - Vocals & Piano
Ballantyne & Indian Land Studios
Abby grew up in Petaluma, California, before spending her teenage years in Fairfax, Virginia,
and later in Pullman, Washington. As the child of two musical parents, she began singing at
a young age, as well as taking piano lessons. She earned a BA in Music from Washington
State University, where she was involved in various choirs, operettas, musical theatre,
electronic music production and jazz composition. Her choral composition “I Walked Alone”
was performed by the WSU Concert Choir in 2019. After graduating in 2019, she began
teaching voice and piano lessons to students of all ages.
As a classically trained musician, Abby emphasizes the importance of vocal health and enjoys working on a variety of genres with her students. She is influenced by a variety of musical artists, including Kacey Musgraves, Jhené Aiko, Stevie Wonder, Queen, The Chicks and more. Abby believes in creating a welcoming learning environment, where mistakes are embraced.
Senior Music Instructor - Guitar, Bass, Drums
Jam Session Director (Sundays)
Ballantyne Studio
Madison is native to Union County and began his musical journey at the age of 14.
He was an avid athlete until he found his musical soulmate - the guitar. He learned to play
his instrument the best way he knew how - by copying his heroes. He drew from influences
such as Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Andy LaRocque (King Diamond), Darrell Abbott (Pantera),
Jeff Waters (Annihilator), Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing (Judas Priest), Tom Scholz (Boston),
and Joe Satriani. Though the majority of his favorites reside in the Heavy Metal genre, he also enjoys
Classical Music, Old School Country (George Jones, Hank Williams Sr., Willie Nelson, etc.) and
Classic Rock.
Madison was a self-taught musician until he began college at Wingate University. While persuing
his degree in English/Literature, he took musical theory and guitar classes every semester. Madison is an extremely experienced musician. He has been in bands since he was a teen, has recorded albums, and tours with his heavy metal band, Final Curse. His dream is to make it onto the cover of a notorious guitar magazine some time in his lifetime. "Then, I could die happy."
Our Teachers
Ballantyne School of Music provides award-winning instruction to our students. Our instructors are motivated by their love of music and the passion to transfer their knowledge and skills to others so their creativity and talent can shine.