Hyland Heights Music Academy

It's March, which means spring is on its way! To commemorate the new month, as well as the early Easter holiday this year, we've prepared new desktop and phone wallpapers for you to enjoy. All the earth truly has something to sing about this month: He is risen!

We want to introduce you all to our violin instructor: Maddie Kirk! We'll let her take it from here:

Hello, my name is Maddie Kirk!
I have a bachelor's degree in Instrumental Music Education from Liberty University with a minor in Violin Performance, as well as several years of experience teaching private lessons. I have experience and am able to teach violin, viola, cello, and bass lessons.

In my lessons, I use both technical and pedagogical research to mold to the needs of the student, and provide a firm technical foundation. Not only will we learn music through fun activities, but we will explore it and our instruments through a biblical lens.

My aim as a teacher is to develop rhythm, intonation, interpretation, and musicality by utilizing a variety of learning styles. Not only this, but I lead students to become independent learners by asking questions to promote critical thinking skills.

Music is a multifaceted gift that God has given us. Whether we use it as an offering to him, or service to others, may we remember this and be thankful.

We had five great vocal students perform with festivity this past December at our Recital!

Please congratulate our students: Sam Lloyd, Emmerson Lipka, Claire Sanders, Cameron McCue, and Kaity Orme!

Whether you like the cold of winter or not, surely you can love the beauty that its weather can bring.

Please enjoy these wallpapers with our year's theme verse!

Happy December! 'Tis the season for festivity, so we hope you enjoy these wallpapers with our theme verse! Merry Christmas!

Happy November! Here's our new monthly wallpapers with our theme verse: Psalm 96:1. Hope these get you in the mood for Thanksgiving!

What's your favorite hymn?

A heartfelt thank you to Neil & Melinda Wilson for their generous donation of this Vibraharp.

We are excited about the potential and opportunities this beautiful instrument opens up for our Academy.

Thank you, Neil & Melinda, for blessing the Hyland Heights Music Academy.

Say hello to our trumpet instructor: Ed Parker!

Ed is born and raised in Central Virginia. He began playing trumpet in 1976 while attending Brookville Middle School under the direction of Mr. Kelley Shoemaker. Ed studied under Mr. Mark Camphouse while attending Radford University where he earned a bachelor's degree in music and played in many ensembles. Following college Ed moved to Raleigh, NC and worked in the music industry. While there he played with the Raleigh Civic Band as well as the Raleigh and Durham Symphony Orchestras. Prior to his return to home to Lynchburg in 2003, Ed lived, worked, and played trumpet actively in Danville, VA. He currently serves as the Director of Liberty University’s Hancock Welcome Center and is pursuing a Master of Music Education degree at Liberty University.

Ed enjoys taking part in multiple performance opportunities across Central Virginia. He has shared his love for music with multiple congregations in our area as well as the Alluvion Stage Company, Liberty University Theater, Liberty University Symphony Orchestra, Liberty University Jazz Ensemble, and in August of 2021 took part in two Collingsworth Concert DVD recordings at Liberty University under the direction of Mr. Bradley Knight. Examples of his performance may be found here: https://www.eptrumpet.com/.

Over the decades Ed has enjoyed teaching younger generations trumpet and is looking forward to continuing that service with the Hyland Heights Music Academy.

Happy October! Anyone looking forward to the autumn leaves?

As fall starts taking hold, we'd like to share with you wallpapers for this month with our theme verse. Feel free to use these for your desktop or phone.
We hope you enjoy them!

We're excited to announce another instructor of ours. Please welcome one of our Vocal/Piano Instructors: Hope Dornfeld!

Hope Dornfeld is a graduate of Liberty University, holding a Master’s degree in Music Education (Vocal Performance) and undergraduate degrees in Voice and Theology. She has been teaching private voice and piano lessons in the Lynchburg area since 2019 in addition to accompanying students at Liberty’s School of Music. When she’s not giving music lessons, you can find her teaching research courses for the department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Liberty, baking, crocheting, or working on a music history research project. She particularly enjoys incorporating elements of music history into lessons.

She loved music as a young child and is thankful for the opportunities that she had to participate in homeschool choirs in Michigan and serve musically in the local church. Her goal in teaching is to pass on her love for music while sharing God’s truth and grace with her students. Psalm 96:2 “Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.” To God be the glory!

Learn more about us and register at our website:
https://www.hhbc.net/musicacademy

Our theme verse for this year is Psalm 96:1 -

"Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth."

Verses like this one show that God desires music from all people. Therefore, not only should all people be making music, but they must make sure that their music is pleasing to God. This requires a life that is both built upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ and dedicated to serving God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Only then can we fulfill our duty of performing music according to the Scriptures.

We're two weeks away before lessons begin this Fall! Learn more about us and register at our website:

HHBC | Music Academy Hyland Heights Music Academy is a ministry of Hyland Heights Baptist Church. We have three main goals with this ministry: 1) to share the gospel with the community through music education, 2) to teach students music according to a biblical worldview, and 3) to hone the skill, technique, and musician...

We would like to introduce another of our instructors. Please welcome one of our vocalist and guitarist instructors: Joshua Gittens!

Josh Gittens received his Bachelor’s of Music in Worship Studies degree in 2018 and Masters of Arts in Music and Worship: Worship Studies degree in 2022 from Liberty University. As a voice student, he studied a variety of musical styles, including classical, jazz, opera, and Contemporary Christian Music. He began leading worship when he was 15 years old and has led professionally for churches, church plants, and various events, around U.S. for over 9 years. He has served in several roles for his worship teams, including as a vocalist, guitarist, pianist, trumpet player, and sound engineer. During his time as a student at LU, he had the blessing of being a worship leader with the School of Music’s House Band, as well as Vision Ministries, a traveling ministry team focused on bringing the gospel to Middle and High School students.

Additionally, Josh is a professional music producer, studio vocalist, recording artist, and songwriter, and is regularly crafting new songs with professional songwriters all over the world from his home studio. He is a current member of SongChasers, a community of professional songwriters and producers hosted by Seth Mosley of Full Circle Music, and Christian Indie Artists and Songwriters (CIAS), a community of Music Artists hosted by Florida-based worship leader and producer, Bryan Bolliver. He believes that inspiration for songs come from the Lord and can be found in every aspect of life.

Josh has served with Hyland Heights Baptist Church since 2021 and is the leader of the Songwriting Cohort for the Hyland Heights Worship Ministry. He and his wife are members of the young professionals Life Group, “The Core”, and enjoy leading worship together both within and outside of HHBC’s ministries. In his lessons, he enjoys creating a personal bond with his students and instilling in them the importance of the role that music plays in our lives. He believes that every student is capable of learning musical skills and is committed to helping each student cultivate them. His lessons include learning music theory, proper techniques for singing and guitar playing, and connecting music education with other areas of life.

When he is not playing music, Josh can often be found taking trips with his wife, entertaining his goldendoodle, or playing video games!

If you want to learn from this talented instructor, registration is available at our website:
https://www.hhbc.net/musicacademy

We would like to introduce to you one of our instructors for Hyland Heights Music Academy. Please welcome David MacPherson, our Percussion Instructor!

David MacPherson obtained his Bachelor of Music degrees in Instrumental Music Education and Percussion Performance at Liberty University in 2021. Currently, he serves as an Elementary Music Teacher at John L. Hurt, Jr. Elementary School located in Hurt, VA. Additionally, during the marching band season, he instructs percussion at Gretna and Chatham High School. David's passion for drumming began at the age of 11, and since then, he has expanded his skills to include orchestral percussion and drum set. He actively participates in various musical styles and settings within the Lynchburg area. This will be his third year attending Hyland Heights. Since joining, he has been active as a drum set player for the worship team and a member of the Core Life Group class. In lessons he prioritizes personalized one-on-one instruction to his students, ensuring that each individual receives a unique and tailored lesson. In his percussion lessons, he incorporates music theory, diverse styles, learning how to play with others and how to be a Christian in a performance environment.

We are excited to have Mr. MacPherson on board here at HHMA! If you are interested in learning all things percussion, you can register at our site here:

https://www.hhbc.net/musicacademy

We are just under a month away from launching our very first semester!
There is still time to register. Please use the link below.

hhbc.net/musicacademy

We also want to introduce you to our Music Academy Director; Alex Harmon.
Alex graduated from Liberty University with a Masters in Music Education and has led various ensembles. His motto is "Music According To The Scriptures."
He plays several instruments, including Piano, Trombone, and Voice. Furthermore, he enjoys a number of different musical styles from classical and jazz, to hymns, pop, and soundtracks. He also enjoys writing music in his free time.

Be sure to reach out to Alex at [email protected] with any questions you may have about the Music Academy.