Meet the Instructors

AsheLee Bonham Gahagan

Cello, Chamber Music

AsheLee Bonham Gahagan, founder and lead instructor, has been teaching music for over twenty-five years, both privately and in public school.

She earned a Bachelor of Music in cello performance at East Carolina University (NC), and continued Masters studies in cello performance at Converse College (SC), as well as American University in Washington, DC, where her focus was on Arts Administration.

Her career began in Wilmington, NC, where she was a middle school string orchestra teacher and private cello instructor at the Wilmington Academy of Music. She decided to explore her passion for arts administration and soon moved to Washington, DC. While there she worked as communications manager for the American String Teachers Association, and for several years was the editor of a scholarly music journal, American String Teacher. After leaving ASTA, she relocated to New York where she performed in various orchestras and chamber music groups, and founded music studios in Brooklyn and Maplewood, New Jersey.

In 2017, she and her family settled down in North Carolina where she leads a music school located in Holly Springs. AsheLee has experience conducting youth orchestras and served as clinician for summer camps in North Carolina and South Carolina. She has performed with chamber ensembles and orchestras, including the Brooklyn Community Symphony Orchestra, Long Bay Symphony, and Wilmington Symphony Orchestra. Professional associations include Music Teachers National Association and the American String Teachers Association.

Sofia Castalia

Violin & Viola

Sofia Castalia has been teaching violin, viola, and piano since 2006, and has been teaching and mentoring at universities, high schools, and youth theaters since 2012.

She organized and taught masterclasses and technique workshops for beginner and intermediate level violinists, and taught music, choir, and theater an elementary school. Her degree is in violin performance, and she has led an extremely active performance career that has included many different musicals, operas, orchestras, and chamber groups including Cirque du Soleil, and performances in musicals such as Ragtime, Beauty and the Beast, and Les Miserables. She enjoys focusing on many different aspects of music while teaching, including music theory, music history, acoustics, technique, practicing effectively, and the art of performance. She believes that each student is an individual with unique goals and learning styles, and strives to empower each student to succeed in reaching their goals.

Sean Sullivan

Piano & Guitar

Sean Sullivan is a North Carolina native and began his studies in music at the age of five, taking piano lessons. He has gone on to study piano with Steinway Artist and Meredith music faculty Dr. Kent Lyman, Dr. Richard McKee of Campbell University, and Grammy-nominated Dr. Adrien Re, also of Campbell University. Sean won first place in the Concerto IV category of the 2021 Young Artists competition, with his performance of George Gershwin’s Concerto in F. 

Sean began his guitar studies in 2018, studying under local Triangle musician and performer Michael Krause. He has attended multiple music workshops and festivals at various North Carolina universities. Sean is a recent graduate of Campbell University where he studied classical and jazz piano performance and was a member of multiple ensembles and bands, as well as an accompanist for instrumentalists and vocalists. Sean has been teaching private music lessons and group classes since 2022. He aspires to a career in musical performance and is passionate about sharing the joy of music with others.

Karis Pelikan Sullivan

Voice & Piano

Karis Sullivan is a California native but has spent most of her life in North Carolina. She was born into an extremely musical family and has always loved music . She began studying the piano at age six, and it continued to grow into a lifelong passion, and she has participated in several major piano competitions, festivals and choirs.

Karis is currently studying music at Campbell University working towards a Bachelor of Music in Piano Pedagogy and studying under Dr. Hexin Qaio. Karis also serves as the manager for the Campbell University Concert Halls and helps organize and manage events such as large instrumental and vocal concerts. She performs with the University Choir and the Campbell Voices scholarship choir, and also with the Campbell jazz ensembles under Grammy-nominated Dr. Adrien Re. Karis finds so much joy in teaching and passing on her love of music to others.

Katie Zobel

Voice & Piano

Katie has been teaching piano and voice for the past five years to students of all ages and experiences.  She loved music from a young age, earning a music education degree from Catawba College in 2019. She is trained in Kodaly and Orff-Schulwurk methodologies, attending a variety of workshops related to them over the years. 

Callie Edmonds

Voice & Piano

Bio coming soon!

Gina Patalano

Voice & Piano

Hailing from Miami, FL, vocalist and pianist Gina Patalano has been actively involved in music since she was 5 years old. Gina participated in both private and group performances with the North Carolina Theatre (NCT) and attended Appalachian State University to study Music Performance at the Hayes School of Music. There, she honed her skills for opera before transferring to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she received a Bachelor's of Music with a concentration in Songwriting.

Gina's skills in advanced music theory and analysis, ear training, classical and contemporary songwriting, opera, and vocal pedagogy have allowed her to become a well-rounded musician and instructor. She fosters a creative and innovative environment for her students and utilizes the multi-faceted experiences garnered over her years of study to bolster her teaching skills. Her ultimate goal is to help cultivate the individual talents and unique spirits of each and every one of her students through music.

Molly Coley

Voice, Piano, & Ukulele

Molly Coley is a lifelong musician and has been teaching music since 2015. She attended the New England Conservatory in her hometown of Boston, MA, obtaining a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies with a concentration in Voice in 2019. She then relocated to North Carolina to pursue her Master’s degree in Musicology at Duke University, graduating in 2021. She has extensive performance and teaching experience with students of all ages and levels, and across many genres including jazz, classical, musical theatre, pop, rock, and more.

Having been a music teacher in a Montessori school for several years, and with her educational background in theory, performance, and music history, Molly’s passion is creating well rounded and multi-disciplinary musical experiences for her students; providing students with the building blocks of musical literacy and technique and supporting them in using those tools to be creative and express themselves. She believes in celebrating a student’s existing talents, tastes, and interests while guiding them to expand their knowledge and skills, and step outside of their comfort zone. Her goal as a teacher is to foster a lifelong love of learning and self-confidence in her students through musical training.

Niko Lalangas, Guitar instructor at Ashe School of Music

Niko Lalangas

Guitar

Niko Lalangas has been teaching music since 1995. His experience ranges from teaching ages 7 to adults, all ages beginner to advanced. With proficiency in acoustic and electric guitars, he teaches all genres, from pop/rock to country, folk, funk, jazz, classical, reggae, and more.

He began teaching in 1995 in New York at the Westchester Music School under premiere accordionist Professor Carmen Carrozza. Since then, Niko taught at several music schools throughout New York until moving to North Carolina in 2009, where he continued teaching full-time. In addition to teaching in music schools, he’s taught privately and worked with church groups, camps, and organizations such as The Boys & Girls Clubs of America and local hospitals.

Niko’s performance career comes with a variety of eclectic experiences. He performed on stage and in pits for musicals which include: Godspell, Rent, Pippin, Aida, and more. In 2005 he was featured in a television pilot for a show about guitars and has appeared on several local access television shows aired in NY, NJ, CT, and PA, where his original music was featured. Niko recorded in various studios, including The Hit Factory in New York City (across from Sony Records.) An active user of guitar technologies, Niko wrote for a blog featured every month for two years in Line 6’s monthly newsletters. He continues to perform and work as a musician around North Carolina.

Logan Valdmets

Guitar/Classical Guitar & Piano/Jazz Piano

Logan Valdmets received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance with a concentration in Music Composition and a Certificate of Jazz Studies from Appalachian State University in 2021. While studying classical guitar under Dr. James Douglas, Logan also studied guitar and piano in the jazz genre under Anderson Page and Todd Wright.

This led to being featured in the Jazz Band I, and the High Country Jazz Initiative of western North Carolina playing with notable musicians such as Matt Wilson and Wynton Marsalis. Logan also has strong interests in music theory and worked alongside Dr. Jennifer Snodgrass as an assistant as well as a Music Theory Tutor for the Music Learning, Research, and Technology Lab at Hayes School of Music. These experiences shaped his approach towards teaching music as one that incorporates all facets of music with the goal of developing inspired musicians that are prepared for a lifetime of music-making.

Ethan Kay

Guitar

Ethan began playing guitar at 12, influenced largely by 70s progressive rock and the 90s alternative rock scene. He attended Berklee College of Music and obtained a Bachelor of Music in Music Business/Management, graduating with honors.

While at Berklee, he studied jazz harmony, classical harmony, conducting, and guitar under Scotty Johnson, Jon Finn, Jeffrey Lockhart, and Shaun Michaud. Ethan is a diverse performer and composer, and excels as an instructor who guides students through the complexities of music.

Dr. Thiago Bottega

Flute

A native of Brazil, Dr. Bottega is a prize winner in diverse solo and chamber music competitions in his home country and in the United States, such as the Southern Flute Festival, Louisiana Flute Festival, and Fundarte young artist competitions. As a soloist, he has appeared with several orchestras in South America and in the United States. 

He holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree in flute performance and pedagogy and a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Bachelor’s degree from the Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil). He has also participated in numerous tours and music festivals through the Americas, where he performed in orchestras and participated in masterclasses of world renowned flutists, such as Marianne Gedigian, Ransom Wilson, Carol Vincenc, and Rafaelle Trevisani. Dr. Bottega is now a freelance flutist in the NC Triangle area, and recently joined the Raleigh Flute Choir.

Emily Casey

Woodwinds & Ukulele

Emily Casey grew up in Liverpool, a suburb of Syracuse, New York. Emily attended State University of New York at Fredonia, where she received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education with the primary instrument of clarinet. She later went on to complete her Master of Arts in Music Education from University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Ms. Casey recently completed her National Board Certification in Early/Middle Childhood Music. She is currently the Director of Bands at Moore Square Magnet Middle School in Raleigh where she is growing a band program that includes four concert bands, a jazz band, and a percussion ensemble. Prior to coming to Moore Square Emily Casey was the band director at Hunter Magnet Elementary where she revived the band program and started the Junior Band Program with Nuvo Instruments for 2nd grade students. She also taught Ukulele and General Music during her time at Hunter. Emily believes that everyone can find a community in music making and fosters a spirit of family in her studio. She believes that music should be accessible to all students and that everyone can learn how to play music if they simply have the desire to.

Lexi Tornatore

Brass

Lexi Tornatore is an accomplished music educator and holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, obtained in 2015, a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from Messiah College, earned in 2018, and a Graduate Certificate in Music Technology from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2019.

With eight years of teaching experience, Ms. Tornatore has successfully instructed students across various age groups, ranging from elementary general music to high school marching band, including private lessons to many of her band students. Most recently, she served as the middle school band and chorus director at Ashe County Middle School, located approximately thirty minutes from Appalachian State University.

Among her notable achievements, she received a prestigious $40,000 grant in 2021 to enhance her middle and high school band program, reflecting her commitment to advancing music education in her community. In 2022, Ms. Tornatore marched Alto Saxophone in the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day as part of the Band Director’s Marching Band, one of 300 band directors representing the U.S. and only one of two to represent North Carolina.

Trevor Jennings

Drums

Trevor Jennings is a distinguished percussionist, timpanist, and dedicated educator making significant contributions to the classical music scene. He currently holds the position of Section Percussion with the Durham Symphony, and has performed with other various orchestras, including the NC Symphony, Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, and Tar River Symphony.

Beyond his orchestral engagements, Trevor Jennings is an active and sought-after figure in the local music community, teaching and freelancing with passion and expertise. His commitment to musical education and performance excellence is reflected in his dynamic role as an educator and his ability to captivate audiences in various freelance endeavors throughout the region. Trevor holds a Master's degree M.M. in Percussion Performance from Mannes School of Music and a Bachelor's degree B.M. in Performance from Appalachian State University. Known for pushing the boundaries of percussion artistry, Trevor continues to inspire both students and audiences alike with expressive performances and an unwavering dedication to musical excellence.