Dr. Melodie Galloway holds the rank of Full Professor and is the Director of Visual & Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina – Asheville, where she is also Director of Choral and Vocal Studies. She 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 major works, opera and musical theater. In 2012 she was an invited conductor at Carnegie Hall, leading 200 singers and orchestra and in 2017 she conducted the Eastern European premiere of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living with choirs and orchestra in Vienna, Prague and Salzburg. As the Director of UNCA’s Asheville Singers, she has been invited to perform as part of the Holiday Open House Performances at the White House from 2006-2022, including a private audience with President and Mrs. Obama in 2012.
Areas of research include the choral/orchestral music of legendary jazz artist, Dave Brubeck; choral pedagogies for vocal health; music and wellness; and the migration of Celtic music to Appalachia. She is in demand as a clinician, conference presenter and consultant for arts advocacy.

Laurel Ahrnsbrak is an experienced nonprofit and association professional with a background in fund development, association membership, events planning and stakeholder engagement. She has more than fifteen years of nonprofit staff, volunteer, and board leadership experience. Her professional history includes work with Sponsorship Specialists, a consultancy focused on building corporate partnership programs. She focused on fund development and member engagement with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, an association of foundations and other funders dedicated to nonprofit success. She started her work in development with the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, a hybrid service nonprofit and professional association. She also served on the board of directors of Gateway Community Development Corporation, a local nonprofit dedicated to smart and community-positive growth, where she served as president, vice president, and interim executive director, led a strategic planning effort, and chaired the fund development committee.

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).