Teachers' Bios
Ben Birkbeck
Benjamin Birkbeck is a graduate of Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Production/Engineering and Filmscoring. Benjamin's formal education in piano and trombone began at the age of seven. Interlochen and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camps enhanced these studies throughout high school. Classical and Jazz piano were the focus of concentration for two years at Albion College under Dr. Thomas Doran. Composing original music for film, television and radio, Benjamin's clients include among others: PBS, Land Rover, NASA, AT & T and General Growth Properties. Ben's original music compositions have been showcased at The 2002 Winter Olympics, featured in the short film "The Blue Planet Run" at Sundance Film Festival and won awards for the Emmy nominated series "The Review". Benjamin has composed and produced 4 original music CDs under the group name, "Dunne Roman" conducting and performing with international artists Jay Bellerose, Stephanie Winters, Gerry Leonard, Jen Condos, Donna DeLory, Gerard Evans. Benjamin currently enjoys teaching piano and general music classes at 317 Main Street. With an emphasis on a "whole" approach to learning, Ben focuses on all aspects of music study: guiding, instructing and inspiring a confident understanding of theory, composition and performance.
Melissa Bragdon
Melissa hails from Windham, Maine, and has been playing the violin since the age of nine. Classically trained, Melissa went on to study music education at the University of Maine at Orono. While in college, Melissa studied classical violin with Dr. Anatole Wieck and also became interested in the fiddling styles of celtic music. She joined up wth ‘Jerks of Grass' and has been a part of the band since 2006. Melissa has been teaching at 317 Main Street since the beginning, where she continues to spend her days surrounded by talented musicians and great people.
Erica Brown
Erica has been playing fiddle sine the age of 7. She has traveled throughout New England, Canada, and even Louisiana with the Maine French Fiddlers. Erica also performed as a special guest with Mac McHale And The Old-Time Radio Gang for five years. Currently, she has her own bluegrass band, Erica Brown & The Bluegrass Connection, which performs all over New England. Erica is also a member of the country band, The Record Family Band. Erica was a recipient of a 2006 Maine Arts Commission Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Award and was recognized as a Master Artist by the Maine Arts Commission that same year.
Erica has produced and released four CDs. Performance highlights include opening for Grammy award winning country music superstar, Dwight Yoakam, as well as Grammy award winning bluegrass performer, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.
Doug Emery
Doug is a 1991 graduate of Berklee College of music-Boston. He is a guitarist and teaches 40 students a week through 317 Main Street and on his own. You can catch him performing at a weekly gig at the Azure restaurant in Freeport on Saturday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. (Students welcome!) Recently, Doug played the "Up North" festival in Hiram, Me., opening for Bob Weir and Ratdog.
Diana Hansen
Diana Hansen is a seasoned vocalist and rhythm guitar player. She bills herself as "acoustic jazz" and has performed throughout New England and in Germany as both a soloist and in various ensembles. Currently she performs with, "Night & Day", a latin and acoustic jazz ensemble, "Blue Willow", a six-piece wedding/function band, and as a soloist. Diana has been performing for over 25 years.
Andy Happel
Andy teaches violin, fiddle, viola, cello, piano and guitar at 317 Main St. He also plays fiddle, piano and sings harmony in the Don Campbell Band. As a songwriter and performing artist, he has been signed to Capitol Records and EMI Publishing. As a composer, he has had a symphonic work premiered by the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra. As a recording engineer and record producer, he has worked with worldclass artists. As a teacher, Andy brings patience, humor and a calm manner to his work that uplifts, inspires and helps pupils to discover and bring out the best in themselves.
Robin Jellis
Robin has performed cello in Maine for more than 10 years. She receiveda Music Talent Scholarship (4 years) to attend the University of SouthernMaine where she graduated cum lade with a Bachelor of Music degree in CelloPerformance. She played with the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra and wasprincipal cellist with the U.S.M. Jazz Philharmonic. She also substitutetaught the music education cello class.
She has performed with the BangorSymphony, in productions at Portland Players community theater and at thesummer Bach festival in North Conway, NH. This past year, she joined the MaineState Ballet Orchestra for their production of "The Nutcracker." Robin startedSuzuki Cello with Richard Noyes (Portland Symphony Orchestra) and continuedher studies with William Rounds (P.S.O. and Boston Pops) and Paul Ross(Portland String Quartet). She studied chamber music with the P.S.Q., at ColbyCollege, with Laura Kargul and Laurence Golan at U.S.M., and at the Apple HillCenter for Chamber Music in New Hampshire, among others. She studied jazzimprovisation with Gary Pack and has been learning about Medieval andRenaissance music from a very young age with Pamela Blake. She received her teacher training at the Suzuki Institutes of Ithaca College and Hartt Schoolof Music.
Robin is on the faculty at the Portland Conservatory of Music andhas coordinated both the strings camp and the music and arts camp. She is amember of the Medieval ensemble Trobairitz. She performs regularly with MartinSteingesser, first poet laureate of Portland. In fall of 2009, she joined thefaculty at 317 Main St. Community Music Center.
Amanda Kowalski
West Virginia native, Amanda Kowalski, began playing bass at age nine. She has studied with Andrew Kohn, principal bassist of the Pittsburgh symphony and with Dwayne Dolphin of the Wynton Marsalis Quintet.
Before moving to Maine in 2005, Amanda worked as a touring bass player for bands that included Uncle Earl, the Roland White Band, Adrienne Young, Abigail Washburn, and the April Verch Band.
Amanda has been teaching privately for ten years and has taught workshops at the Augusta Heritage Center, the Grey Fox Kids' Academy, and at the International Bluegrass Music Association's Kids' Class.
Danielle Langord
Danielle Langord has enjoyed playing music for most of her life. Raised as the daughter of a classical harpist in Massachusetts, Danielle began playing piano at age five, and naturally progressed to harp. Danielle has been fortunate to study with many great teachers including Anne Paus, Alice Chalifoux, Ann Hobson Pilot, and Joan Raeburn Holland. Danielle enjoys playing all styles of music, paricularly classical and celtic. She performs regularly with Midcoast Symphony.
Carter Logan
Carter has been a member of Jerks of Grass since the band first formed over ten years ago. He is a veteran of the acoustic music scene in New England. When he's not busy teaching music, performing or practicing, he enjoys spending time with his wife Robin and daughter Sarah (she`s a pretty good fiddler too!)
Jason Phelps
Jason Phelps has been playing guitar for 26 years. He was lucky enough to receive his musical foundation at Greeley High School through a period of intensive study with the late Carle Henry. After graduation, he went on to perform throughout New England and also worked as an audio engineer both live and in the studio, making music his life.
Jason currently plays guitar and mandolin with the Portland based "Jerks of Grass", performing 120 shows a year. He has been teaching professionally for over 12 years and has had the privilege of studying with such great mentors as J.P. Cormier, Emory Lester, Bryan Killough, John McGann and others.
Nicole Rabata
Nicole has appeared throughout Europe and the United States on both classical flute and traditional Irish wooden flute. She holds an Artists' Diploma and Masters Degree in Music Performance from Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. She is currently on the applied music faculty at Colby College and teaches at 317 Main Street in Yarmouth.
Recent appearances include the International Flute Festival of Lund, Sweden and the Magic Flute Festival in Stockholm, Sweden, the Portland Chamber Music Festival and the National Flute Convention in San Diego. Nicole is currently recording her first solo album featuring traditional Irish, Breton, and French Canadian repertoire in addition to her own compositions on the wooden flute.
In January 2009, Ms. Rabata spent a month in India, teaching music at the Ghandi Ashram school in the Himalayan foothills of North East India and also performed in Delhi.
Matt Shipman
Matt is a part of several groups including The High Range from New Hampshire, and Splittin' Hairs, a fiddle duo with Melissa Bragdon. He plays with Erica Brown's Bluegrass Connection, The Stowaways, and is playing in various ensembles of traditional Irish music. He has one recording of his own called Highway Shoes, and another with High Range called Shoulder to the Wheel. Matt has recorded on Ron Cody's Talking Rake and he is currently working on a recording focused on Celtic finger-style guitar.
Kathy Slack
Kathy Slack explored her theatrical and musical passions at Ithaca College (BA Theater/Speech; Minor/Voice). She studied classical voice with German opera singer, Jutta Rose; and Acting with actor, Jo Bellomo (Irene Daly protege). Kathy teaches basic Vocal Production at 317 Main St. and continues vocal study (vocal improvisation and vocal technique) with Rhiannon (Bobby McFerrin "Voicestra" member). She was a past member of the band, Little Debbie and the Snack Cakes, and presently is a member of the Maine based, vocal improv group, Improvox. They recently performed in the Maine Music Society's, Battle of the Blends a cappella vocal concert.
Terry Travers-Davin, B.A., M.A.
Terry is a classically trained pianist with a background in elementary education and private piano instruction. She taught general music and language arts before becoming certified as a learning disability specialist. She has a master's degree in transpersonal psychology with a concentration in the therapeutic use of music, sound and experiential listening.
Joe Walsh
A graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, as the school's first mandolin student, mandolinist and guitarist Joe Walsh helped found the modern string band Joy Kills Sorrow and played for several years with two of the finest bluegrass-based acts in the Northeast as a member of both Northern Lights and the New England Bluegrass Band. He's also had the pleasure of working and performing with a number of amazing musicians, including Darol Anger, Tony Trischka, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys. These days Joe splits his time between two ensembles as a member of the bluegrass band the Gibson Brothers and as a collaborator with San Francisco based guitarist Scott Nygaard.