Meet the Instructors

Chelsea Cline is studying at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. Chelsea has served as Concertmaster of the Hawaii Youth Symphony and has been featured on NPR’s From The Top with both the National Youth Orchestra and the Hawaii Youth Symphony ensembles. Chelsea is very passionate about teaching violin because she believes that music serves as a universal language that can break boundaries, change hearts, and bring people together.

Kimberly Kelsey Epps had been singing and performing for over three decades. She has starred in numerous musical theater productions and landed the lead role in Freedom Theatre’s production of Sparkle. Epps is a Grammy Urban Music Award Recipient and was awarded A Key to the City in both Macon, Georgia and her hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. She has been featured in Teen People Magazine, Creative Loafing, Jezebel and countless others. Having written and recorded with the likes of Randy Jackson, Tim and Bob, Daryll Simmons, High Rock Entertainment group, Kevin DeClue and Danish producer, Troels Neilson, she continues to hone her craft as she helps to bring arts education to the children of this community.

Ryan Johnson is a Saxophone and Clarinet performer who enjoys a rising career as a concert soloist, jazz musician and educator. Ryan is the current Adjunct professor of Saxophone at LaGrange College and has recently accepted the position of Saxophone and Clarinet instructor at Middle Georgia State University. Receiving his B.M.E.D in Music Education from Georgia College & State University and his M.M from Columbus State University, Ryan has burst on to the Georgia scene as a classical and jazz performer. He regularly performs with his Saxophone Quartet (The Legacy Saxophone Quartet) and has enjoyed getting the chance to perform with various big bands and combos in the Georgia area. Most recently, Ryan has performed with the LaGrange Symphony and is looking forward to working with the Otis Redding Foundation to provide a strong foundation for their students in either classical or contemporary mediums.

James Cunningham IV studied Viola Performance with Yizhak Schotten at the University of Michigan (’21) and is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma with Rebecca Albers and Victoria Chiang at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. Cunningham returned this past summer for his fourth year as an Orchestral Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he has sat Principal Viola of the Aspen Opera Orchestra and Assistant Principal Viola of the Aspen Chamber Symphony. Recently, he performed at the 2021 Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy, and regularly substitutes with the Pittsburgh and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Cunningham toured with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA in 2016, has attended the Credo Chamber Music program at Oberlin Conservatory, and is a regular at the Chautauqua Institute in New York.

Reese received his formal musical training at Marshall University in West Virginia under the classification Music performance and jazz studies. Since then he has worked and shared the stage with many chart topping artists such as The Isley Brothers, Van Hunt, Desiigner, Alex Isley, and Kevin Ross, just to name a few. He was also a performer in the 2016 BET hip hop awards. Reese is a recording artist that goes by the alias Reese Soul.