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| Instrumental Music Faculty
PIANO
Mrs. Jean Barnes, Piano  Mrs. Jean Barnes | Mrs. Jean Barnes joined the Gaston School of the Arts faculty in 2006. She has taught piano and music for 22 years. She has been a member of the faculty of Gaston College and has taught with Gaston County Schools. She has taught music to all ages from three years old and up. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education/Church Music from Sacred Heart College in Belmont, NC and did graduate work at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC. Her philosophy of teaching music is that it increases creativity, self-expression, coordination, confidence and patience. Mrs. Barnes is married and has one daughter. |
Mrs. Genie Evans, Piano  Gastonia's mayor Jennie Stultz (left) presents Genie Evans with the key to the city at Mrs. Evans' 97th birthday party in February, 2006. | Mrs. Evans is a great cultural resource for our community. She is 100 years old and has been teaching piano for more than 80 years. She has taught at the Gaston School of the Arts in Gastonia since 2000. She is a native of Odessa, Ukraine, where she studied at the Odessa Conservatory of Music. She moved to Czechoslovakia at age 14, where she was accepted into the prestigious Prague Conservatory of Music. She was a concert pianist and teacher in Europe before moving to the United States in 1940. She was a professor of Piano Performance and Pedagogy at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia from 1961 through 1985. She is a recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, a humanitarian award given for “heart, mind and conduct” and also received the Senandoah Arts Council’s award for music in 1994. She has introduced countless students in the United States to the European classical style of music instruction developed by Polish pianist Theodor Leschetizky, a legacy of teaching that goes back to Chopin. Locally, she is a member of the Federation of Music Clubs, where she has presented seminars on the Leschetizky method. Mrs. Evans has two grandchildren and five great grandchildren. |
Mrs. Yulia Helm, Piano | Mrs. Yulia Helm has taught piano and music theory to children and adults at the Southern Park Music School in Charlotte since 2002, and at Gaston School of the Arts since 2008. She has also been an accompanist for the North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte and at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. She has also worked with the Charlotte Symphony’s Education Department on several projects. In her native Uzbekistan, Mrs. Helm taught piano students in grades kindergarten through high school from 1995-1998, while performing as the primary pianist for the Orchestra Bayanisti Ekaterinburga. She holds a 1998 degree in music with top honors from the Ural State Conservatory in Ekaterineburg, Russia. She is married and has two sons. |  Mrs. Yulia Helm |
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Mrs. Carolyn Rhyne, Piano 
Mrs. Carolyn Rhyne, Piano, with one of her students who received a gold cup for superior ratings from the NC Federation of Music Clubs. | Mrs. Rhyne has more than 32 years of experience teaching piano, and has taught at Gaston School of the Arts since 1987. She taught piano and was chorus accompanist at Gaston College for many years and was organist and choir director at Armstrong Memorial Presbyterian Church for 30 years. She also served at Temple Emanuel in Gastonia as organist for 12 years. She is now organist and choir director at Lutheran Church in Kings Mountain. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Montreat-Anderson College and won a Brevard Music Camp Scholarship and a full A.G. Myers Textile Scholarship for college. She encourages her students to participate in the NC Federation of Music Clubs’ Festival each year, where most earn either superior or excellent ratings. She holds recitals in December and May. |
Mrs. Jan Siler, Piano and Woodwinds  Mrs. Jan Siler with piano students who received gold cups for superior ratings from the NC Federation of Music Clubs. | Mrs. Siler has taught at Gaston School of the Arts for 22 years and has more than 35 years of experience teaching piano, clarinet, flute, saxophone, oboe and bassoon. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas and a Master’s of Music in Clarinet Performance from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Md. She has performed with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and the Western Piedmont Symphony as both 1st and 2nd clarinet. Mrs. Siler’s students participate yearly in the NC Federation of Music Clubs Festival, with the majority receiving either superior or excellent ratings. In her 20 years at GSOA, more than 60 of Mrs. Siler’s students have been selected for all-state, all-district and all-county bands and nine have won scholarships for college music study. Mrs. Siler holds recitals in December (or January for students trying out for All-District Band) and in May. |
Mrs. Barbara Westmoreland, Piano 
Mrs. Westmoreland with her student who is now a graduate of the NC School of the Arts. | Mrs. Westmoreland has taught at Gaston School of the Arts since 1987 and has more than 35 years of experience teaching piano. She has performed with the Greensboro College Orchestra Glee Club and the Charlotte Oratorio Singers. She holds a degree from Greensboro College in Greensboro, NC where she majored in Religion & Philosophy and minored in Music & Education, studying piano, organ and voice. She is organist at Pisgah Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. She encourages her students to participate yearly in the National Federation of Music Clubs Festival, where most receive superior and excellent ratings. Her students present recitals in December and May. Several of her students have won scholarships for college study, and one was admitted to the North Carolina School of the Arts. Mrs. Westmoreland is married to Rev. Jim Westmoreland and they have two sons and four grandchildren. |
STRINGS Ms. Valerie Freeman, Violin
Ms. Valerie Freeman and her students after a recital.
Ms. Freeman has taught violin at Gaston School of the Arts since 2003. She has played violin since the age of 6, which she learned by the Suzuki method. Her repertoire includes classical, Celtic and bluegrass, and she has performed professionally in solo and group settings for over 22 years. She has studied violin with John Singleton of the Community School of the Arts in Charlotte for many years. She holds a degree from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio with an emphasis in Music, English and Mathematics, has completed courses toward a M.Ed in Counseling Education at UNC-Charlotte, and also holds a degree in library science. She holds recitals for her students twice a year.
Mr. Darin Aldridge, Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Bass, Fiddle 
Mr. Darin Aldridge and student | Mr. Aldridge has been teaching guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass and fiddle since 1995 and has been teaching at Gaston School of the Arts since 2004. He has been a songwriter, vocalist and musician since high school. He and his wife, Brooke Justice, just released a CD, “I’ll Go With You”, that has been number one on the Gospel Roots Chart. Mr. Aldridge was a member of the band “The Country Gentlemen” for many years and has been nominated four times for the SPGMA Awards in Nashville, TN, as “Mandolin Player of the Year”. He is a Pinecastle recording artist and released several CDs, including two solos “In Time” (2000) and “Call It A Day” (2004) He has recorded several other CDs as a member of “The Country Gentlemen” including “Songs of the American Spirit” (2005) which won Best Album of the Year at the SPGMA Awards. He performed with “The Country Gentlemen” at the Presidential Inauguration and Ball in Washington, DC, in 2005. After the death of “The Country Gentleman’s” legendary Charlie Waller, he formed a new band called “The Circuit Riders” with some of the band’s former members. In spring, 2007 and 2009 he was invited to play in the prestigious “Merlefest” bluegrass festival, attended annually by 80,000 people, in Wilkesboro, NC, which was begun by Doc Watson’s son Merle. Mr. Aldridge plays in a variety of styles including bluegrass, country, jazz and blues. He believes in giving students the basics in music education to find the style of music they prefer, and encourages them to participate in yearly recitals.
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Mr. Jim Lincomfelt, guitar Mr. Jim Lincomfelt and student | Mr. Jim Lincolmfelt joined the Gaston School of the Arts faculty in fall, 2006. He has taught guitar in Charlotte since 2000 and also teaches in York. SC. He has played professionally in many bands as lead guitarist and singer, and has opened for national acts including Keith Urban, Gary Allen and Charlie Daniels. He plays many different styles of guitar music including classical, blues, rock, funk, r&b, jazz, country and children’s music. His teaching encompasses music theory, reading, composition, scales, fretboard logic, improvisation, finger style and pick style. He studied music at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and at Central Piedmont Community College. He is married and has one daughter. |
Percussion
Mr. Brian Cripe, Percussion
Mr.Brian Cripe and student | Mr. Cripe has played the drums since 4th grade, and has also played keyboard, bass, guitar and flute. He has performed abroad in both Canada and Venezuela. He has played with Buddy Rich, and locally with the Frank Love Orchestra and the Stardusters. He played with a rock band for many years while also playing percussion with theatres at Central Piedmont Community College, UNC-Charlotte, Belmont Abbey College, and Wingate College. He has also performed at Theatre Charlotte, Matthews Community Theatre, Ablemarle Community Theatre, Hickory Community Theatre, the Green Room, the Speedway Club, Little Theatre of Gastonia and GSOA Playhouse. He holds a dual degree in biology and high energy physics from Purdue University in Indiana and worked as a Health Physicist at Duke Energy for 21 years before taking his current job with Presbyterian Hospital as Radiation Safety Officer and Physicist. |
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