Faculty

Centrum Faculty

This skilled creative collective could wrap their arms around the globe. Much respect, big hugs.

Photo of Tim McNalley

Tim McNalley

Photo of Eduardo Mendonça

Eduardo Mendonça

Faculty

Eduardo Mendonça —musician, producer and composer—is a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Eduardo received his degree in Arts Education from the Music Institute of the Catholic University of Salvador.

He is the Music Director for iBuildBridges Foundation, and is the Artistic Director for the international performance ensemble Show Brazil!

Photo of Camila Meza

Camila Meza

Faculty

Guitar

Equally prized as a vocalist, guitarist and composer, Meza has uplifted audiences worldwide with her assured and beautiful singing, highly advanced guitar (both self-accompaniment and blistering solo work), and vivid, melodic songwriting that reveals complex layers with every listen. She’s been hailed by The New York Times for her “appealing combination of lightness and depth … singing in a bright, clear voice against the agile stir of a first-rate band.…

Photo of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh

Ireland
with Manus Lunny, bouzouki and guitar

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh’s name is synonymous with what’s good in the music and culture of her native County Donegal, Ireland. Born in the Gaeltacht area of Gaoth Dobhair, where Gaelic was her main language, she learned her songs and tunes from her family and neighbors.…

Photo of Kristen Millares Young

Kristen Millares Young

Afternoon Workshop Faculty

Kristen Millares Young is the author of the novel Subduction, named a staff pick by The Paris Review and called “whip-smart” by the Washington Post, “a brilliant debut” by the Seattle Times and “utterly unique and important” by Ms. Magazine.

Photo of Allison Miller

Allison Miller

Faculty

Drums

A lauded drummer who’s mastered a vast array of musical settings–from guesting on late night TV, keeping time for some of today’s most beloved singer-songwriters, and being a renowned bandleader/composer in her own right–Allison Miller is always at the heart of the music. Her latest album, Rivers In Our Veins, is a 12-song cycle embracing the concept of flow and renewal, and dedicated to our nation’s crucial rivers, watersheds and the organizations devoted to reviving and protecting them.…

Photo of Emily Miller

Emily Miller

Emily Miller is the Artistic Director of the Augusta Heritage Center, the string band director of the college’s Appalachian Ensemble, and a professional singer and fiddle player. At Augusta, Emily works with the director to oversee all programming and helps the theme week coordinators to execute a joint artistic vision. She received her BA in Anthropology-Linguistics from Brown University and her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Vanderbilt University.…

Photo of Valerie Mindel

Valerie Mindel

Val Mindel is a longtime musician, teacher and workshop leader, known for helping singers achieve the sound they want and have fun doing it. She teaches a wide range of harmony styles from the buzzy sound of American old-time and early country harmony to the weaving harmonies of songs from across the ocean. In the process she addresses such indefinables as tone, ornamentation and lead singing.…

Photo of Valerie Miner

Valerie Miner

Morning Workshop Faculty

Valerie Miner is the award winning writer of 9 novels, 5 story collections and 2 books of non-fiction. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Georgia Review, Triquarterly, Salmagundi, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, The Gettysburg Review, over 60 anthologies, and on BBC Radio 4. Winner of a Distinguished Teaching Award, she been on the faculty at Stanford University, U.C.…

Photo of Valerie Miner

Valerie Miner

Afternoon Workshop Faculty

Valerie Miner is the award-winning author of 15 books. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Georgia Review, Triquarterly, Salmagundi, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, The Gettysburg Review, over 60 anthologies, and on BBC Radio 4. Winner of a Distinguished Teaching Award, she has taught at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, etc.…