Ashley White is originally from Richmond, Virginia. She and her husband moved here in August of 2021. Ashley graduated from the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music at Shenandoah University in 2016 with a Bachelors of Music in Music Education. She is certified to teach choral/general music education for grades pre-k all the way through 12th grade. In addition, Ashley became an Orff Schulwerk certified clinician in August of 2018. She taught music in the public school setting for 5 years in Virginia before relocating. In addition, she has choreographed award winning middle and high school show choirs across Central Virginia for 15 years. Her passion is teaching children to understand music while ALSO enjoying it at the same time! In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, spending time with her 2 cats and husband. Fun fact: She and her husband are on a mission to hike the highest point in every state!
Danny Holzworth was born in Alexandria, VA to professional musician parents. His mom plays harp and his dad plays trumpet-they both taught lessons in the home while Danny grew up!
He Started on piano at age 6, moved to saxophone in 5th grade and played through high school earning top awards in jazz performance. His guitar journey started at 15 after his dad taught him 3 chords! While committing to guitar, he continued to explore his musical talents by working on the banjo.
He has busked in Asheville, performed with Bad Molly, and in 2020 moved to Ocracoke and started the Dusty Old Bones Band which has performed at regional festivals and events.
Darius Swain is our drum instructor at VSS. He finished amongst the last 30 drummers in the entire United States in 2017 Guitar Center Drumoff
Darius has played behind several award nominated/winning artist such as Kim Burrell, Smokie Norful, William Murphy, Bishop Paul Morton, Karen Clark Sheard, Jekaylnn Carr, Geoffrey Golden, and several others not mentioned.
He is co-founder & youngest member of 5Starr Ent. Which talent has opened for several major artist in the Hampton roads such as Chaka Khan, Musiq Soulchild, and Vivian Greene.
Josh Cruz in co-founder and co-owner of Viking sound studios. He graduated at the top of his class at Full Sail University in 2019 and holds a bachelors degree in audio engineering. He started his journey with creating and recording music and has since developed a passion for podcast recording. His current project is Hernandez and Cruz show, which focuses on sports and current events and is available for streaming.
Molly Miller is a guitar player from EC, NC, with passions for songwriting and collaboration. Her first concert was 10,000 Maniacs, which primed her to especially focus on women’s contributions to music.
Molly earned a BA in Anthropology from UNC Greensboro, where she was a founding member of the Americana trio, Amelia’s Mechanics. She specializes in piedmont blues playing and sad love songs. During her free time, she enjoys yoga, studying architecture, reading self help books, and petting her old dog, Lenny.
Moriah Cruz teaches voice, ukulele, beginner piano, and chord style piano. She has been singing since she could talk and has studied under 7 different vocal instructors throughout adolescence and adulthood. She is able to teach bel canto techniques, classical voice, and modern styles. She has learned various instruments over about 30 years, and continues to study music, theory, technique, and new instruments! Moriah has been performing on various instruments including voice for over 20 years.
Paula Pressnell is a pianist, organist, instructor and choir director. She is currently in her 16th year working at Murfreesboro Baptist Church.
Mrs. Pressnell retired as Artist in Residence from Chowan University in 2018 with faculty emeritus status and was employed there for 19 years. Her duties in the Music Department included solo performances, accompanying all choirs, collaborating with vocal and instrumental students for all degree recitals, playing for voice lessons, teaching piano to music minors and teaching music fundamentals. Students called her Mrs. P.
Mrs. Pressnell toured with the Chowan Singers in the fall and spring semesters, and performances took her to Italy where they sang at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (2010) and St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin (2013).
Paula holds the Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Salem College and is a native of Sunbury, NC where she currently resides with her husband Larry.
Savannah grew up in Williamsburg Virginia, but her lineage is from Perquimans County, spending weekends and summers down in good ol' Carolina! She was featured in numerous shows across Hampton Roads and progressed to work for Busch Gardens Entertainment, Williamsburg. She attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, and then completed her bachelor in fine arts in Musical Theatre from The New School, NYC class of 2020. During the pandemic, she also discovered a new passion for tourism marketing! You may know her as the marketing and communications director for Visit Elizabeth City, or the second runner up from Elizabeth City’s The Voice, 2023. Savannah is an experienced performer and educator, and is thrilled to return to teaching private voice! Her specialties include: Musical Theatre, Opera, Contemporary Pop, Country/ Bluegrass, Jazz and Golden Age Legit musical theatre. With 15 years of vocal training, and real world experience under her belt, Savannah is excited to share the love of singing with the Albemarle area.
Savannah also offers audition prep sessions. Whether you have an upcoming audition for college, a regional show, highschool show, solo in choir, interview, you name it! Savannah offers a tailored approach to ensure you make a lasting impression. Using body language, confidence training, audition etiquette and more, you will be equipped with the tools to succeed! Specifically with the college auditions, if you are interested in majoring or studying the arts in any way, she is well versed in the vigorous audition process for most schools, and is here to help students (and parents!!) put their best foot forward.
Traniqua Felton is a passionate musician dedicated to nurturing the musical talents of young minds. Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from East Carolina University, specializing in Music Therapy, she brings a unique blend of creativity and pedagogy to her teaching. Currently serving as an elementary general music teacher in the Elizabeth City Pasquotank Public County School system, she instills a love for music in her students every day.
Her journey with the piano began in 2015, and since then, she has been captivated by its enchanting melodies and expressive possibilities. Now, she is thrilled to share her expertise with the youth of the community, offering them the invaluable gift of music-making. With her patient guidance and infectious enthusiasm, she aims to inspire her students to discover the joy of playing the piano and unlock their musical potential.
Will Lane is a musician and sound engineer local to the Eastern NC/VA Beach area. He is the primary recording and mixing engineer at Viking Sound Studios and is also the lead audio engineer at Towne South Church of Christ here in EC. He is very comfortable with the process of "getting the sound right at the source", but is also incredibly comfortable using EQ, compression, and other processing to tailor the sound in order to get a record-quality mix. Will regularly works behind the legendary Midas M32 at Towne South and he operates high-end QSC, JBL, and RCF-based systems regularly.
Will has a working consulting/training/mixing/performing relationship with many different venues, schools, bands, and churches in the area; including Bridge Church in VA Beach, Post-American Gothic, The Ramble, ECPPS Schools, Currituck County Schools, Christ's Church in VA Beach, Mid-Atlantic Christian University- just to name a few happy clientele. He's also performed for over 1,600 people at the Carolina Christian Youth Conference, working behind literal best-in-the-biz Meyer M'elodie-based PA systems.
Will is incredibly excited to be working with VSS, to help you share your voice, your music, your message across the world!
Copyright © 2024 Viking Sound Studios - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy