Choose Your Voice Teacher

Ashley Acksen is an emerging artist currently living and teaching in Beaufort, South Carolina. She has participated in choir since age ten, and continued her formal music education at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where she graduated with her Bachelors Degree in General Music. After teaching elementary music for one year, she pursued her masters degree in Music Performance at Valdosta State University. She has performed in several prestigious groups and programs, including Bach Festival Society where she sang Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In June 2023 she made her international debut in Vienna, Austria as Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, and would return in 2025 to understudy the role of Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare and Mimi in Puccini’s beloved classic La Boheme. She plans to continue performing while working as a full-time high school chorus teacher in South Carolina.

Emily is a graduate of Eastern University, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in general music with a concentration in voice. While there, she also studied piano under the chair of the music department Ronald Matthews, as well as 10+ years of private piano lessons prior. Emily has sung in several touring choirs and has toured up and down the east coast as well as internationally in places like Canada, France, and Germany. She has led worship in her church for 10+ years and was worship coordinator for 2. She was in several musical theater productions both in and out of college. Emily has taught privately for 5 years both in-person and remotely. She was the music director for a theater company in New Jersey called Sojourn Theater Arts Academy for 3 years, teaching the music for shows like Annie and The Little Mermaid to a cast of close to 100 students ranging from 6 to 18 years old. Emily has experience and training in the instruction of voice, piano, guitar, and ukulele. She loves to teach many topics and genres, including musical theater, classical, pop, Disney, music theory, singing while playing, improvisation, jazz chords, note/sight-reading, worship leading, and technique.

Chris is known for his work as a performer, producer, songwriter, educator and recording artist. Chris studied guitar under Grammy-award winning guitarist David Cullen and recorded Jay Umble’s Spirit Crossing album. His live performances share the hallmarks of bands such as the Grateful Dead: evolving setlists as well as some improvisational explorations. Songs from his Sun Debut album appear in Walt Disney Productions’ television series Hollywood Lives. As a producer and songwriter, Colby’s collaborations with pop stars across the MENA (Middle East / North Africa) region helped launch a digital media platform serving the entire region. Collaborations with Rouwaida Attieh, Aline Lahoud and DJ Osane produced several hit songs and music videos with Rouwaida Attieh’s “Kawn Jdeed” receiving a music video award in Egypt. Notable musicians appearing on Chris Colby’s studio albums include: Jamey Haddad (Paul Simon), Clyde Lucas (Illinois Jacquet, Ray Charles) and Robin Diaz (KISS, Courtney Love, Live, Train, O.A.R., Daughtry). Chris’ album Begin was mastered by Grammy award-winning engineer Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound, New York. Current activities include the release of his latest album Chris Colby - II, the completion of an album of 21st-century classical piano variations and a return to the stage.

Ana Salas is a wide range music teacher with a fundamental knowledge of many instruments like the Piano, Voice, Guitar, Clarinet and Flute. With 8 years of experience public school teaching, Ana has taught subjects like Choir, Band, Guitar and Piano in large classroom settings. You will learn the basics and much more fundamentals for the instrument that you choose with Ana as your teacher.