Carsten Schmidt enjoys a flourishing career as a pianist, harpsichordist, and conductor, and has performed widely throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. He has been heard at Ravinia Festival, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Moscow Conservatory, the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, German Mozart Festival, as well as in broadcasts worldwide.

Jason Stell, concert commentator and music historian, received his musicology Ph.D. in 2006 from Princeton University. Previous degrees in music theory (M.A.) and astrophysics (B.S.) were from Pennsylvania State University, where he enjoyed opportunities to write and present research on topics from Beethoven and Scriabin to supernovae and quarks.

Camille Dierksheide is a classically trained lyric soprano. She was company manager for Opera International in Washington, DC. She has a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington Univ with focus in Russian and Eastern European Studies. She is the creator of the Whimsically Witchy Halloween Fundraiser supporting public school art and music.

As an amateur astronomer hauling telescopes up the Allegheny Mountains, Bart Huxtable discovered Staunton nearly 20 years ago. After obtaining a Ph.D. from Caltech in theoretical physics and developing radar and communication systems, he looks forward to woodworking, piano tuning, and sampling craft beers and music around the Valley.

Biography forthcoming

Biography forthcoming

Rodney is a partner in the Staunton law firm of Timberlake Smith. He specializes in Education Law and has served as counsel to more than 50 Virginia public School Boards and regional programs. Rodney has been honored by his peers by his inclusion in Best Lawyers in America® every year since 2007. In addition to his interest in all types of music, he enjoys literature, travel, history, collecting music on vinyl, and curating an annual vinyl festival.

Biography forthcoming

Christine Capito Burch served for over twenty years as the Executive Director of the National Association of Public Hospitals. Prior to that she was a professional staff member in the U.S. Senate for the late Senator Edward Kennedy. She and her late husband Michael loved to travel and enjoy concerts in London, Rome, Paris – and of course Staunton!

The daughter of a Naval officer, Diane Fechtel has worked as a medical technologist and later became a medical sales representative for Johnson & Johnson. With her husband Tom, an executive with Coca-Cola, Diane has lived in many world cities and settled in Staunton in 2004. She has been very active in multiple civic organizations and is an avid gardener.

Charlottesville resident Terry Grant has been driving “over the mountain” for SMF since 2001. In addition to working with her family's real estate business in NYC and assisting refugees in Virginia, Terry has spent two decades as a classical announcer at WTJU-FM and as an executive board member of Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival.

Elizabeth (Libby) Hartman has been shuttling between the UK and Virginia since 2008. A longtime resident of London, she founded The Chelsea Group of Children, an organization long recognized as a leader in the field of special needs education. Previously Libby worked at Christies and earned a Diploma at the Cordon Bleu Paris.

Although Sallye has a BS in Chemistry and a DDS from UT School of Dentistry she has always wanted to be a musician and is now an amateur harpsichordist enjoying playing two harpsichords built by the late Cornelis Bom in the Netherlands. Sallye was Secretary of the Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society for 10 years (now part of Historical keyboard Society of North America).

Barb Shue worked in public mental health services, primarily as Clinical Social Work Director at Commonwealth Center for Children & Adolescents. In retirement she has served on and led several nonprofit boards, including the local United Way, Staunton Augusta Art Center, RR Smith Center Foundation, and Kiwanis Club. She and her husband Dave reside in downtown Staunton as well as spending time with their two grandchildren in Louisville, KY.

Biography forthcoming