Otis Murphy is an associate professor of woodwinds at Indiana University. At age 28, he became one of the youngest faculty members in its history. He is in great demand as an international soloist and clinician. He holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia. His playing has been described as bright, alert with the sweetest tone imaginable.

Melanie Cross Buckner, a native of Montezuma, Georgia, holds a Masters degree in vocal performance and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Mercer University.  She is both an active singer and collaborative pianist.  Music has afforded Melanie the opportunity to perform around the globe.  England, Italy, Japan, and Honduras have been among her favorite destinations.  Beyond performing, she has a passion for teaching and maintains a private studio for voice and piano students.  In addition to her studio, she has been on the music faculty at Macon State College where she taught voice and currently works at Mercer University as a collaborative pianist and classroom instructor.  Melanie has been a member of Coro Vocati, an Atlanta based professional chamber choir as well as music director at various churches in the middle Georgia area.  Melanie is married to Josh Buckner, and they reside in Macon, Georgia.

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Thomas Bandy is currently an opera and vocal coach at the Oberlin Conservatory. From 2008 until 2011 he was Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching at the University of Oklahoma, where he taught lyric diction and seminars on French mélodie . Dr. Bandy was Czech and Russian coach at the summer Taos Opera Institute in New Mexico from 2009 until 2011. During the 2007-2008 school year, he was an Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano at the Oberlin Conservatory, where he directed the vocal and instrumental accompanying programs. During the summer of 2008 he was pianist and coach at the Richard Miller Vocal Arts Symposium at Oberlin. Thomas finished his doctoral studies in collaborative piano in 2007 at the University of Michigan with Martin Katz. He has played in the voice studios of Shirley Verrett and George Shirley, among many others. Thomas is an active chamber musician and vocal coach in many languages as well, specializing in Russian and Czech diction and vocal literature. Thomas graduated summa cum laude from Furman University, in South Carolina, with a double major in piano and philosophy, and is married to Rebecca Bandy; they have three children.

The 8th Regiment Band, Georgia Volunteer Infantry of Rome Georgia, is the modern counterpart of the original band that served the Confederacy from 1st Manassas in 1861 to Appomattox in 1865.  The band also dons Union Blue and performs as the Band of the 8th New York National Guard also.  They use original band scores and authentically styled arrangements and perform on original mid-nineteenth century instruments.  They have performed at re-enactments, balls, concerts, memorial services as well as several made for television movies.

Griffin Choral Arts is an auditioned community chorus serving Griffin-Spalding county and the surrounding region.  It was founded in 2007 by Artistic Director Dr. Stephen J. Mulder and Jan Whalen. Griffin Choral Arts has performed for the Forsythia Festival, the Tara Winds “Music of the Holidays,” and has performed at Spivey Hall.  GCA has collaborated with the Vega String Quartet, the Griffin Ballet Theatre, the Clayton State University Chorale, the Lamar County Middle School Chorus, the Atlanta Percussion Trio, and many professional instrumentalists and vocalists from the greater Atlanta area.