Dr. Melodie Galloway, Artistic Director
As a conductor, artistic director and educator, Dr. Melodie Galloway is known as someone who brings people together through music that captures the beauty of the human experience. As Professor of Music at UNC Asheville, her choirs have performed for numerous state and local events, and for invited performances as part of the Holiday Open House Events at the White House each fall (2006-2022), including a private audience with President and Mrs. Obama in 2012.
In 2025, she was named the Ruth Paddison Distinguished Professor of Music and Drama. Dr. Galloway’s “Exploring Music Migrations as Markers for Cultural Identities” project aims to bridge music and documentary film to explore cultural identities through historical artifacts in the Thistle & Shamrock collection. Hosted by the University of North Carolina Asheville’s Center for Music and Roots, the project investigates music-related migration stories primarily focused on European, Scandinavian, and British Isles immigrant movements to North America while acknowledging the transatlantic slave trade. The project will utilize Fiona Ritchie’s music collection from NPR’s award-winning program, The Thistle & Shamrock, donated to the Center, and emphasize the connection between past and present cultural identities through music. It will involve faculty-student collaborations for research, documentary production, and undergraduate studies.
Dr. Galloway holds a master’s degree from Florida State University in Vocal Performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her experience as a conductor and soprano soloist includes opera, musical theatre, and jazz. Her credits as a conductor include a 2012 Carnegie Hall invited performance featuring 200 singers and orchestra. She led combined choirs and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra (Krakow) in Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living in May 2017 in Vienna, Prague and Salzburg, including the Eastern European première of the work.
Among her original compositions, written as an expression of the acute loneliness and silence caused by the COVID pandemic and the hope of coming back together in song, is Gloria, a work for SATB choir, brass and percussion. This inspiring work received its premiere with the Asheville Choral Society in December, 2022. Her continued scholarship includes the choral/orchestral music of legendary jazz artist, Dave Brubeck; how to combat the effects of aging on the voice; music and wellness; and the migration of Celtic music to Appalachia. One of her recent papers, “Breaking Barriers – Blurring Lines: Genre-homogenous Choral Music of Resilience: Exploring works by Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, Dave Brubeck and Margaret Bonds,” was presented as part of the American Choral Directors Association Southern Regional Conference in Raleigh, NC, February, 2022. She is in demand as a choral clinician, guest conductor, composer/arranger and consultant.
Valeria Raymond, Assistant Conductor
Valeria Raymond is a mezzo-soprano, music educator, and choral conductor based in Western North Carolina. She serves as choral director at Waynesville Middle School, assistant director at Tuscola High School, and assistant conductor of the Asheville Choral Society. Whether she’s in a classroom, on the podium, or on stage, Valeria loves finding and cultivating musical moments that cause performers and audiences to feel a part of something bigger than themselves.
Valeria graduated summa cum laude from Western Carolina University in 2024 with a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Science in Education in Music Education, with a concentration in choral and general music. During her time at WCU, she founded and directed PawCappella, the university’s student-led a cappella ensemble, served as director of choirs at Cullowhee Baptist Church, and worked as assistant director of the University Chorus. Her work as a musician and educator was recognized with WCU’s Outstanding Vocal Performer and Outstanding Emerging Music Educator awards in 2024. In 2023, she was also named a finalist in the North Carolina American Choral Directors Association Undergraduate Conducting Competition.
Valeria’s musical training and teaching experience extend internationally. She earned a Graduate Certificate in Vocal Performance from the Accademia Europea di Firenze in Florence, Italy, in 2025 and completed an international teaching internship at Praxisvolksschule, the International Primary School of Salzburg, Austria, during her undergraduate studies. In 2026, she traveled to France for the Paris Performance Experience, an international musical residency where she deepened her practice of jazz, contemporary music, solo and ensemble performance, and songwriting. Curious and enthusiastic by nature, Valeria loves moving around and discovering the ways different people and cultures come together to practice, appreciate, and celebrate music.
Valeria is thrilled to be part of the Asheville Choral Society and its rich musical community. She looks forward to making meaningful music with singers and audiences across the region while continuing to grow as a performer, conductor, and educator.
Brad Curtioff, Principal Collaborative Pianist
Brad Curtioff is one of WNC’s most versatile musical artists. With an early start studying classical music at Peabody Preparatory in Baltimore, MD, he went on to earn a BFA in Piano Performance from West Virginia University.
Brad is the Staff Accompanist at Mars Hill University, Collaborative Pianist with the Asheville Choral Society, and Music Director at St. Paul’s UMC in Asheville. He performs regularly with many WNC performing organizations: Asheville Community Theatre, Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, Southern Appalachian Chamber Singers, and Asheville Lyric Opera. He also maintains a busy schedule performing with bands such as The Business (Motown/soul), Lazrluvr (80’s rock), Red Echo Lab (original soul/pop), Citizen Mojo (blues/funk), The Big Throwback (classic rock/soul), and Saddletramp (country).