Several of our beloved faculty are moving on to new opportunities this year. We will miss them and wish them all the best in their new endeavors.
Derek Hartman recently accepted a full-time position to teach piano at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music in Nashville. "While I am excited for the tremendous opportunity to join the Vanderbilt faculty, I am very saddened to leave the NSMS community so suddenly, and I will truly miss seeing all my students this fall. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my students over the past year; I can only hope their experience learning piano with me was as rewarding as my experience teaching them."
Morgan Murdock writes, "After spending time with my family this summer, I am looking forward to moving to the Pacific Northwest. There, I will work full-time as Administrator of Operations for Linden Grove Ministries, a non-profit dedicated to serving pastors and church leaders. In my free moments, I am excited to spend more time practicing piano, blogging, hiking, camping, and enjoying the great outdoors!
I have loved my time as a faculty member at NSMS – I have never before experienced such collaboration, community, and compassion among colleagues as I have while working alongside the deeply devoted teachers here. I will miss all of them dearly. I will also greatly miss my students here! While it is a comfort to know that they will grow by leaps and bounds under the instruction of my wonderful colleagues, I have come to know and appreciate each student individually. Each one brings something so special to the table, whether it's thoughtful listening, intuitive musical questions, or resilient determination to persevere in their piano studies. I will miss having the opportunity to be a part of their lives in some small way. I wish them all the best as they continue to develop as musicians and as people!"
Savannah Royston will be moving to Lexington, KY, to become the Development Manager of the Lexington Philharmonic. "I am excited to begin this new role and to be closer to my family in East Tennessee."
Gregory Worthley shares, "I have an eventful year ahead! I will be getting married August 4th to my fiance, Amica, who is also a music teacher. We will immediately move to Colorado where I will start a doctoral program in Piano Performance at the University of Colorado in Boulder. I will be spending a lot of time practicing as well as taking classes, teaching group piano classes, and teaching private lessons. I am looking forward to having my own private teacher and preparing for weekly lessons again. When I am not busy with piano, I will likely be hiking in the mountains and enjoying the scenery.
I have been teaching at NSMS since September of 2022, and have gotten to meet so many wonderful students and parents in my two short years here. In those two years, students have lost teeth, lost their music, grown taller, performed in recitals, passed exams, been bored, been excited, found a piece they loved, gained confidence, and much more. I have been a part of their lives and they have been a part of mine. I will miss seeing all each one and am sad I won't be around to witness their continued growth as musicians and people. "
We will also miss Jason Gallagher, as he will be leaving NSMS, but he will still be in the area and we look forward to seeing him at professional events throughout the year.
Congratulations and best wishes to all! Please keep in touch. You will always be a part of our NSMS family.