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Music Instructors
Georgia Bonney
Director, Piano
A concert pianist, Ms Georgia has always had a yearning to share the joy and creative freedom that music offers to others through her performances, lectures, early childhood music classes, and private coaching.
After graduating Magna Cum Laude from U.C.L.A., Georgia earned two graduate degrees from the University of Southern California (Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano). She was chosen as a Fulbright Scholar to continue her studies in Vienna, Austria, where she performed, studied, and completed research articles for various professional music journals. While studying in Vienna, she and her husband, Philip, who plays French horn, had the opportunity to perform together throughout Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, the Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Upon return to the states, Georgia served as an adjunct professor at St. Martin’s College and California State University.
Georgia assisted in developing the Early Childhood program as part of the Yamaha Music Corporation’s Research and Development Team in Irvine, California. Since then, she has had children of her own to teach, and has continued to teach others privately and through children’s ministries at church. Her dream has always been to create a creative arts school for children, and she is living her dream!
Esther Bonney
Piano, Violin
Esther Bonney has studied music since the age of 4 when she started piano. Soon thereafter, she began playing the violin with Sabine Eubanks of NCAC. Esther now studies with Angelia Cho of the National Symphony Orchestra. Esther performs as a soloist, chamber musician, Concertmaster of the Charles County Youth Orchestra, and member of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra. Esther has also been accepted into the National Symphony Orchestra Youth Fellowship Program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., for the 2023-2024 season. Esther has performed at dozens of public concerts and competed in state and national competitions. In April 2022, Esther's quartet was selected to perform at the finals of the 2022 Misbin Chamber Competition at the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C. Esther also won the Charles County Youth Orchestra’s 2021 Concerto Competition and was invited to solo with the Charles County Youth Orchestra at their 2022 Winter Concert. Esther has been featured in numerous newspapers across Maryland and has made an appearance a number of times on Charles County Arts Alliance's Friday Night Concert Series and CCYO's Secret Garden Concert Series. Esther has performed for a number of world-class artists, including Paula Akbar, David Premo, Jody Gatwood, and Monte Belknap.
In addition to teaching and playing music, Esther enjoys reading, caring for her five goats, solving Rubik’s Cubes, swimming, and building websites, including those of NCAC and The Thinking Kid.
Philip Bonney
French Horn, Trumpet, Euphonium, Trombone, Baritone, Guitar
Mr. Philip has performed with his horn throughout the world, as a soloist, orchestral player and recording artist. He was trained by the great masters of horn while earning his Bachelors of Music at Indiana University, his Masters of Music at the University of Southern California, and his advanced studies at the Conservatory of Music in Vienna, Austria. He has concertized throughout Austria, China, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Serbia and Croatia and performed with numerous large ensembles including the Utah Symphony, the Tacoma Symphony, and the Vienna Hochschule Orchestra. Philip’s soundtrack recordings include “Cool Runnings” and “The Nightmare before Christmas”.
Laura Ellison
Violin, Viola
Laura earned both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in violin performance from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she studied with Robert Gerle. She also studied abroad with Denes Zsigmondy at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
She has performed in orchestras throughout the Washington D.C. metropolitan area including Annapolis Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, Maryland Symphony, National Chamber (Philharmonic) Orchestra, National Gallery of Art Orchestra, Salisbury Symphony Orchestra (as concertmaster), and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony (as assistant concertmaster). She performed in Carnegie Hall with the Annapolis Chamber Symphony. She has been a member of the International Orchestra in San Diego, CA and the Tijuana Orchestra in Mexico. As a member of the Catholic University Symphony, she twice met Pope John Paul II during performances at the Vatican in Rome.
Laura is also an educator and has taught at the University level as well as in public and private schools. She has held positions with Salisbury University as an instructor of violin/viola, chamber music, and string pedagogy. She taught for the Alexandria City Schools as the orchestra director for TC Williams High School, Minnie Howard School, George Washington Middle School, and Alexandria All-City and Sinfonia orchestras. Her orchestras consistently received superior ratings at the county and state festivals. She has also taught for the Prince Georges County Schools and held positions with Kenmore Middle School, Benjamin Tasker Middle School, Robert Goddard Middle School, and Greenbelt Middle School.
Ellen Blumhardt
Early Childhood Movement
Ellen Blumhardt is delighted to be sharing music with young children at the Neighborhood Creative Arts Center. She holds an undergraduate degree in music education from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where she studied clarinet and bass clarinet and was a recipient of the Linehan Artist Scholarship. After starting an elementary general music position in Charles County Public Schools, she completed her Master’s of Music in Music Education from Michigan State University. She completed her Level 1 certificate in Gordon’s Early Childhood Music Learning Theory as well as Level 1 in Elementary General Music Learning Theory. Ellen loves being a member of the La Plata community, where she lives with her husband, Andrew, and now stays at home with her three young children, Francis, Mary, and Thomas.
Miriam Bonney
Piano
Ms. Miriam has studied and performed piano for the past ten years. She is pursuing Business and Design at Southern Virginia University. She has studied voice formally and is an experienced accompanist. Miriam has been teaching piano since 2016, and now teaches virtually from Virginia. She always looks forward to seeing her students' cats at the end of their lessons. Her hobbies include weight lifting, in-line skating/rollerblading, and reading.
Dr. Krisztina Dér
Flute, Voice, Piano
Hailed by the Washington Post as a musician with “…a clean, full-bodied tone and fleet fingers,” Dr. Krisztina Dér is a member of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and Lecturer of Music at Guilford College in North Carolina. First-prize winner of the 2017 RAFA Artist and the 2009 FSW Competitions, she has performed and studied internationally, earning her doctoral degree in flute performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro with academic concentrations in music theory and history. Her growing flute/light project, featuring concerts that integrate music and light, has been invited to the 2018 National Flute Association Convention, 2018 Light City Baltimore, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Liberty University.
Krisztina is also a pianist with years of classical training, often accompanying her students in community performances. As a pedagogue and ensemble director, she believes strongly in nurturing her students’ curiosity to excite them about learning.
Eve Babb
Piano, Voice, Music & Movement
Eve Bonney Babb is a musician and an educator, specializing in teaching music, voice, and music and movement. Her musical journey began at the age of 5 when her mom began teaching her piano. Her passion for voice ignited at 16, and she began taking private voice at CSM and then with Delores Ziegler at the University of Maryland.
Her love of music continued at Southern Virginia University, where she participated in two operas and contributed her talents to three separate choirs, including the prestigious Chamber Singers group. Eve performed with Chamber Singers at various venues, from Richmond, to Lexington, to DC, and even the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York, NY.
Eve graduated from Southern Virginia University with a double major in English and Business Leadership, accompanied by a minor in Music. Drawing from her rich musical background, she has enjoyed working with children for over a decade, fostering a deep appreciation for music in young hearts. Her commitment to nurturing talent is evident through her involvement with the Neighborhood Creative Arts Center (NCAC) and Children's Voices of Southern Maryland (CVSM). Eve also teaches Literature at The Thinking Kid—a live, online school that focuses on intelligence, individuality, and integrity.
Eve finds the most joy in her roles as a mother, wife, daughter, and sister. In her free time, Eve is an avid reader, an experienced crocheter, and a fishing enthusiast along with her husband. Her life is a harmonious blend of artistic passion, teaching, and treasured moments with loved ones.
Anna Bonney
Piano, Voice, Ukulele
Anna Bonney is a student at the College of Southern Maryland and a teacher at the Neighborhood Creative Arts Center in piano, voice, and ukulele. She’s traveled abroad throughout her life, studying in Italy and Africa. She taught Spanish in a home school co-op, successfully teaching young students basic sentences and common words. Anna is working to publish an interactive ukulele curriculum, geared towards children the ages as young as four years old. Anna plans to pursue Child Psychology and Education at Southern Virginia University.
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