Music

Colleges and Programs of Study

Music has been an integral part of campus life at WVWC since its founding. It engages students, faculty and community members in the understanding and appreciation of music, and help students become accomplished musicians.

The Bachelor of Music Education degree serves those who are preparing for the teaching profession, and the Bachelor of Arts degree accommodates those pursuing a liberal arts degree or wishing to emphasize a particular aspect of music such as performance or theory in their study. Various options for a contract major combining music with other disciplines, such as business or Christian education, are possible.

The music department’s small size means that music majors, minors, and non-majors all have access to private instruction from members of our faculty. Our performing ensembles are open to anyone, regardless of major, pending a successful audition.

WVWC music students rehearsing in Wesley Chapel
WVWC music students rehearsing in Wesley Chapel

Music Department Overview Video

Click Photo to Visit Band Website

 

  • Faculty

    Dr. R. Daniel Hughes, Associate Professor, Department Chair, Director of Choral Activities, Voice

    Email: hughes_r@wvwc.edu

    Dr. R. Daniel Hughes is Chairperson for the Department of Music, Director of Choral Activities and Liaison between the Department of Music and the Department of Theatre & Dance.  Dr. Hughes is active as a tenor, conductor, clinician and adjudicator. He has presented several reading and interest sessions for ACDA, and has prepared and conducted choirs and singers for national, regional and state conferences. He wrote the article on Dominick Argento for the most recent edition of the Grove Dictionary of American Music. Dr. Hughes received his Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from Otterbein University, Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Music at the University of Illinois.

    Adam Loudin, Assistant Professor, Music Education, Director of Jazz Ensembles

    Email: loudin_a@wvwc.edu

    Adam Loudin is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Ensembles at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Previously, he directed bands and choirs at Robert L. Bland Middle School, where his ensembles were recognized as West Virginia Music Educators Association State Middle School State Honor Ensembles. Loudin serves as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout West Virginia and has presented both choral and instrumental interest sessions for ACDA and WVMEA. He has performed extensively in jazz and classical settings, including more than a decade with the West Virginia Brass Quintet. Loudin holds a Bachelor of Music Education from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.

    Dr. Melody Meadows, Professor, Piano and Organ

    Email: Meadows@wvwc.edu

    Dr. Melody Meadows is Professor of Piano and Organ at West Virginia Wesleyan College. She has performed throughout the US, Europe, and Seoul, Korea, with her most recent performances at Yale University. In addition, she has also appeared with Today’s Brass, the Toledo Symphony Brass Quintet, The American Boychoir, Larry Groce of Mountain Stage, The West Virginia Symphony and the Larry Parsons Chorale. Dr. Meadows holds a Master’s degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a DMA in Organ Performance from The University of Michigan and is Director of Music at Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church in Elkins, West Virginia.

    Eliza Taylor, Director of Athletic Bands

    Email: taylor.e@wvwc.edu

     

    Eliza Taylor is the Director of Athletic Bands at West Virginia Wesleyan College. She is currently living in Elkins, West Virginia with her husband, Seth Blake ‘17, a fellow music educator. Eliza holds a Bachelor of Music Education (BME) from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master of Music (MM) in Flute Performance with graduate certificates in Instrumental Conducting and Music Administration from The Ohio University School of Music. She is a member of Women Band Directors International, NAfME, WVMEA, West Virginia Bandmasters, Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, and Pi Kappa Lambda honor society for music. Eliza studied wind band conducting at Ohio University under Dr. William Talley, and has studied flute with Dr. Keith Hanlon, Linda Wolfersheim, and Alison Brown-Sincoff.

    Part Time Faculty

    Mike Dawson, Percussion

    Email: mike@drumfactorydirect.com

    Michael Dawson is Chief Creative Officer for Drum Factory Direct, the leading e-commerce website for drum parts and accessories. He is also the producer and host of the top-ranking weekly Drum Candy Podcast, featuring in-depth interviews with world-renowned musicians, drum makers, and retailers, detailed gear reviews and demos, valuable lessons, listener Q&As, and tech tips.

    Before joining the executive team at DFD, Dawson spent seventeen years as Managing Editor for Modern Drummer; the world’s most widely read magazine for drummers. He co-founded and co-hosted the long-running Modern Drummer Podcast With Mike and Mike, which reached nearly 2 million downloads.

    Michael performed weekly on Broadway as a substitute drummer for the hit musical Lion King. He has a bachelor’s degree in music education from West Virginia University and a master’s degree in music from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

    In addition to his duties as the percussion instructor at WVWC, Mike is Senior Lecturer in music journalism at the University of the Arts and Visiting Professor in recording arts at Peabody Conservatory. He produces drum tracks for artists all around the world out of his home studio in Pittsburgh.

    Kaitlin Exline, Flute

    Email: exline.k@wvwc.edu

     

    Kaitlin Exline is the general music teacher, choir director, and band director at Beverly Elementary School in Randolph County, West Virginia. Additionally, Kaitlin serves as Co-Director of Voices of Augusta, a community children’s chorus, comprised of 1st-6th grade students. Emphasizing Appalachian folk music and traditional music making, VOA is offered through the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV.

     

    Kaitlin earned a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in Instrumental Music Education from James Madison University in 2016. Following her undergraduate studies, she earned a Master of Music Education degree with a concentration in Music in Special Education from Wichita State University. At WSU, Kaitlin served as a Graduate Staff Assistant, fulfilling the role as Director of Bands at the Wichita Adventist Christian Academy. Additionally, Kaitlin attained Level 3 Kodály Certification through WSU, a program endorsed by the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Recently, Kaitlin completed a Smithsonian Folkways Certificate in World Music Pedagogy from West Virginia University.

    Yaniv Gutman, Violin

    Email: gutman.y@wvwc.edu

    Yaniv Gutman began playing the violin at age five in his native country of Israel and made his solo debut four years later with the Petakh-Tikva Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. He then competed in the international television talent show Bravo Bravissimo in Cremona, Italy and at fifteen years old, he moved to the United States to study at Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. He continued his education at Columbus State University where he earned his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Artists’ Diploma under the instruction of Sergiu Schwartz. He went on to complete his Masters in Violin Performance at the University of Denver while studying with Linda Wang.

    Yaniv holds various awards both as a soloist and a collaborator. As a solo performer, Yaniv has won the La Grange Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (Georgia), the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Columbus State University Concerto Competition, and, most recently, the West Virginia University Young Artists’ Concerto Competition. Yaniv has also played in various chamber groups, winning both the University of Denver and West Virginia University Chamber Music Competitions.

    Yaniv is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Musical Arts at West Virginia University where he studies with and serves as a graduate teaching assistant to Dr. Mikylah Myers. He is also a member of West Virginia University’s graduate string quartet, the Montani Quartet, which will be returning this summer as the String Quartet Fellows at Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. In between his service as a teaching assistant at West Virginia University and an adjunct lecturer at West Virginia Wesleyan College, Yaniv also performs periodically with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra.

    Seth Maynard, Guitar and Bass Guitar

    Email: Seth1studio@gmail.com

    Seth Maynard’s years of training at Berklee College of Music are evident in his skillful and colorful guitar and vocal stylings. He performs as many as 100 shows each year at various regional venues and serves as Adjunct Music Faculty at Davis & Elkins College and West Virginia Wesleyan College. He owns and operates Lone Wolf Productions, where his recording/producing/performing/teaching credits are numerous, including sound mixing and performing for the West Virginia PBS/ RFD-TV show, “American Mountain Theater”. Seth’s recent studio production credits include albums for local/regional artists and Carol Markstrom’s Academy of Western Artists award-winning CD, “Crossing Borders”. Seth performs regularly as a solo/duo act, and with ensembles: Queen City Funk & Soul, ZEN, The Elk River Ramblers, and others. Seth has toured the country, performing with various artists (ZEN, John Angotti), and opened for many national/international artists over the course of his career (Robert Randolph, Bela Fleck, String Cheese Incident, and others).

    TJ Metzger, Low Brass

    Email: metzger.t@wvwc.edu

    Timothy Metzger is the director of instrumental and choral music at Geary Elementary Middle School in Roane County, WV. After graduating from Wesleyan with a Bachelor of Music Education, Timothy received his Master in Brass Performance and Pedagogy from Ohio University where he studied under Dr. Jason Smith on tuba and euphonium and Dr. Lucas Borges on bass trombone. In addition to teaching the low brass studio at West Virginia Wesleyan, Timothy enjoys teaching his private studio which includes multiple all state band participants, and coaches the low brass ensemble for Roane County High School.

    Brett Miller, Director of Library Services and Archivist, Music Librarian, Clarinet

    Email: miller_bt@wvwc.edu

    Brett Miller is currently the Director of Research at Orion Strategies in Buckhannon, but also serves as the music librarian at West Virginia Wesleyan College, a role he has held since 2008. He received his Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011, and graduated with undergraduate degrees in both religion and clarinet performance (with honors) from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2006. A versatile musician, he has performed with the River Cities Symphony Orchestra in Marietta, Ohio, as well as in a variety of local and regional ensembles and musical productions. He currently serves as Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Clarksburg, has served as a keyboardist for commencement ceremonies at West Virginia University since 2014, is an officer in the Monongahela Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and sings with both the Madrigal Singers of Clarksburg and Maestri Vocale based in Morgantown.

    Gloria Mullennex, Percussion

    Email: mullennex.g@wvwc.edu

    Gloria Mullennex is a percussion performer and educator based out of Elkins, WV. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Education at West Virginia University, where she participated in the marching band, fife and drum ensemble, and other world music ensembles. Outside of school, she also performed in two drumcorps and a competitive indoor percussion ensemble through Winter Guard International.

    During the summers, Gloria has worked with and composed for many high school drumlines and marching bands. She currently works at Smakula Fretted Instruments in Montrose WV, instructs the drumline of the Wesleyan Bobcat Marching Band, and teaches percussion lessons at Wesleyan.

    Richard Norwood, Saxophone and Jazz Ensembles

    Email: rnorwood@suddenlink.net

    Richard Norwood is a retired music teacher from Randolph County and Adjunct Instructor of Saxophone at West Virginia Wesleyan College. He has spent the last 30 plus years performing throughout West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in a variety of musical settings. He received his bachelor’s degree in Music Education from West Virginia University.

    Dr. Jessica Scott, Principles of Music Research, Accompanist

    Email: scott_j@wvwc.edu

    Jessica Scott (MM, MSoc, PhD) teaches the senior research course for Music Majors, Principles of Music Research (MUSC 475). Dr. Scott’s principal instrument is the pipe organ. She serves as organist at First United Methodist Church in Clarksburg. Dr. Scott is Coordinator of the Gender Studies program on campus, but because of her background in Applied Music and the Social Sciences, she guides students majoring in Applied Music or students receiving a BA in Music through the advanced writing requirement (MUSC 475) they must fulfill to complete their degrees. Dr. Scott earned her MM in Organ Performance from the University of Illinois in 2006, MSoc from the University of Cape Town (South

  • Majors
    • Music – Applied Music or Theory emphases – B.A.

      Students will:

      • Students will demonstrate proficiency with the standard concepts of music theory including part-writing, counterpoint, ear training, sight reading, and theoretical analysis of music from a variety of eras and styles.
      • Students will differentiate the historical contexts of Western musical tradition from medieval times to the present.
      • Students will demonstrate a level of performance skills that includes standard literature and studies requisite for graduate study.
      • Students will demonstrate knowledge of current teaching methods and learning theories, as well as the ability to plan and deliver instruction successfully to diverse groups of students in a variety of musical contexts, using currently available materials and technologies.
      • Students will participate in an enhanced cultural life on the campus and in the greater community through their music courses, and attendance in ensembles and concerts, promulgating a variety of musical styles.
    • Music Education – B.M.E.

      Students will: 

      • Students will demonstrate proficiency with the standard concepts of music theory including part-writing, counterpoint, ear training, sight reading, and theoretical analysis of music from a variety of eras and styles.
      • Students will differentiate the historical contexts of Western musical tradition from medieval times to the present.
      • Students will demonstrate a level of performance skills that includes standard literature and studies requisite for graduate study.
      • Students will demonstrate knowledge of current teaching methods and learning theories, as well as the ability to plan and deliver instruction successfully to diverse groups of students in a variety of musical contexts, using currently available materials and technologies.
      • Students will participate in an enhanced cultural life on the campus and in the greater community through their music courses, and attendance in ensembles and concerts, promulgating a variety of musical styles.
  • Minors
    • Music

      Students will: 

      • Students will demonstrate proficiency with the standard concepts of music theory including part-writing, counterpoint, ear training, sight reading, and theoretical analysis of music from a variety of eras and styles.
      • Students will differentiate the historical contexts of Western musical tradition from medieval times to the present.
      • Students will demonstrate a level of performance skills that includes standard literature and studies requisite for graduate study.
      • Students will demonstrate knowledge of current teaching methods and learning theories, as well as the ability to plan and deliver instruction successfully to diverse groups of students in a variety of musical contexts, using currently available materials and technologies.
      • Students will participate in an enhanced cultural life on the campus and in the greater community through their music courses, and attendance in ensembles and concerts, promulgating a variety of musical styles.
    • Programs of Study