Faculty

Centrum Faculty

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

Photo of Brandon Vamos

Brandon Vamos

Cello, Pacifica Quartet

Brandon Vamos is professor of practice (cello) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a member of the Pacifica Quartet, the school’s quartet-in-residence.

He has appeared as soloist with orchestras worldwide and has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Paul Katz, Michael Tree, Yo-Yo Ma, Menahem Pressler, and the Emerson Quartet, and has recorded for Cedille, Naxos, and Cacophony Records.…

Photo of Grace Van’t Hof

Grace Van’t Hof

Michigan native Grace van’t Hof has taken their unique shade of ukulele playing across the United States and overseas with such groups as Bill and the Belles, Aaron Jonah Lewis’ Ragtime Banjo Revival, and Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. Driven by inspiration from 1920s and 30s country and popular music, Grace thoughtfully incorporates their uke stylings into all sorts of genres from Bluegrass to Spanish Baroque music.…

Photo of Sachal Vasandani

Sachal Vasandani

Faculty

Sachal Vasandani is recognized for his singular voice, with a tone and unique phrasing that mark him as one of the most compelling artists on the scene today.

Photo of Eric Verlinde

Eric Verlinde

Vocal Accompaniment

Piano

Eric Verlinde is a highly trained piano accompanist in the Pacific Northwest. You are always in good hands with Eric at the keys. Specializing in multiple genres including jazz, Latin, blues, gospel and R&B. He also has a classical background and can play written music as well. He is an alumni of Berklee College of music.…

Photo of Shawn Vestal

Shawn Vestal

Past Faculty

Shawn Vestal’s debut novel, Daredevils, was published in spring 2016 by Penguin Press. His collection of short stories, Godforsaken Idaho, published by New Harvest in April 2013, was named the winner of the PEN/​Robert W. Bingham Prize.

Photo of Hannah Viano

Hannah Viano

Faculty

Hannah Viano is an adventurous artist, educator, and mother living and creating in the Pacific Northwest. Her artwork is done in a variety of media, all starting from sketch studies in the field and then moving to the studio, using simple tools to create graphic images and capture the essential lines of a place or subject.…

Photo of Victoria Vox

Victoria Vox

Faculty

Victoria Davitt, better known as Victoria Vox, is an award-winning, ukulele-toting, performing songwriter. With a passion for writing songs since she was 10 years old, she went on to graduate with a degree in Songwriting from the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA).

Photo of Jeremy Wakefield

Jeremy Wakefield

Faculty

Jeremy Wakefield is more like Speedy West fused with Jerry Byrd. And a little bit of Noel Boggs.” Those are the words used by Wayne Hancock to describe Jeremy Wakefield’s playing, and he isn’t far from the truth. Throw in a big dash of Joaquin Murphey and Jeremy’s own unique sensibilities and you’ve got one of the world’s best non-pedal steel guitarists.

Photo of Melody Walker

Melody Walker

Melody Walker is a songwriter, producer, performer, and fervent believer that songs can change the world. Best known for her writing with Molly Tuttle, Sierra Ferrell, Della Mae and her own band Front Country, Melody’s post-pandemic recalibration has found her setting real roots down in her home of Nashville, co-writing with her talented neighbors, and hosting her weekly writers’ round, Writers’ Kitchen.…

Photo of JD Walter

JD Walter

Faculty

Vocal

Vocalist and songwriter JD Walter is considered by many in the jazz world to be the among the very best jazz singers, known for his immediately recognizable smokey sound, his virtuosic talent for improvisation, his compelling original songs, and his ability to reinvent standards.

Over the decades, Walter has performed as a featured artist at numerous American jazz clubs and festivals in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Central America as well as over 80 tours in Russia.…