Our mission is to enable students of all ages, interests, abilities, and backgrounds to discover, develop, realize, and express their innate talents. The Music Academy was founded in 1982 by Dr. Ivan Battle in response to the need for a community music school that offered exceptional music education in a structured, well-paced course of study. Starting out with just three teachers and 20 students, today MANC has over 35 instructors and almost 1, 000 students from the Piedmont and surrounding areas.

In order to both reflect and serve the community and the state, The Music Academy offers a comprehensive, culturally diverse curriculum including classical study, a jazz education center, folk/bluegrass lessons, gospel piano, a rock music program, Latino music, and early childhood music. The positive response to this more diverse offering has resulted in increased diversity among teachers, students, and volunteers who more truly represent the rich mix of cultures of the Piedmont.

Highlights and features

Brass, Cello, Viola, Violin, Voice, Percussion, Woodwinds, Piano, Guitar

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Ben Blozan

Ben Blozan, piano faculty member at The Music Academy of North Carolina, received his Master of Music in Accompanying and Opera Coaching from TempleUniversity, his Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Illinois, his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from Warren Wilson College, and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from UNCG.

Kellie Burgess

Kellie Burgess, Executive Director of The Music Academy of North Carolina, received her Master and Bachelor of Music degrees in cello performance from the Universityof North Carolinaat Greensboro. Before transitioning to her current role, Kellie held the position of Dean of Faculty; chaired the String and Early Childhood departments; and was the Artistic Director for The Music Academy of NC Cello, Violin, and Viola Competition.

Susan Fancher

Susan Fancher’s performing career has taken her around the world both as a soloist and as the soprano saxophonist of the Red Clay, Amherst, Vienna and Rollin’ Phones saxophone quartets, performing music ranging from Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic transcriptions, to original compositions for saxophone, to jazz, tango and other popular musical styles. She appears on over 20 CD recordings on Innova, Philips, Parmaand other labels.

Karen Hayden

Karen Hayden, Mezzo-Soprano, holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She has been a voice instructor at The Music Academy of North Carolina since April 2011, after having previously taught at Greensboro Performing Arts.

Aaron Mood

Aaron Mood, piano faculty member at The Music Academy of North Carolina, received his Master of Music degree in piano performance from the Universityof North Carolina at Greensboro and his Bachelor of the Arts degree in music from Allegheny College, where he graduated magna cum laude. Currently, Aaron holds the position of Staff Accompanist at Winston-Salem State University, and teaches piano at the Music Academy of North Carolina.

Peter Shanahan

Peter Shanahan is the flute teacher at The Music Academy of North Carolina and is on the music faculty at Guilford College. He performs as a freelance musician with the Charleston, Winston-Salem, Western Piedmont, Salisbury, and Greensboro Symphonies, as well as with the Carolina Chamber Symphony and Southwest Florida Symphony.

Amy Zigler

AMY ZIGLER, piano faculty at the Music Academy of North Carolina and Instructor of Music History at Salem College, earned her Ph. D. in Musicology with an outside cognate in Piano Performance from the University of Florida, her Master of Music in Piano from Belmont University, and her Bachelor of Music in Piano from the University of Alabama.

String Competition

Sophie Wang, of Irmo, SC plays Polonaise De Concert, Opus 4 by H. Wieniawski. Recorded on March 5, 2011 using a Flip Video camcorder.

The Music Academy of North Carolina

www.musicacademync.org

String Competition Middle School Category Winner

Chloe Harvel, from Kingsport TN plays Zigeunerweisen, by P. Sarasate on the Winners' Concert. Recorded on March 5, 2011 using a Flip Video camcorder.

Antonela Frasheri

Apr 06, 2019

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MANC is life changing- the group of teachers and staff are amazing. Everybody is dedicated, friendly and professional. This institution cares about students and faculty/staff by going above and beyond (compared to other places).