Sarita Maxwell
Band Director
Originally from Charlotte, NC, Sarita Maxwell has lived in York County, SC with her husband Jeff and daughter Zoe since 2004. She earned her Bachelor and Master degrees in Music Performance from Appalachian State University and later continued with post-graduate studies in music at USC.
Sarita served as Adjunct Professor of Euphonium & Tuba at Winthrop University from 2003-2013. She has taught music throughout the Southeast region for over 35 years to students of all ages and performed/traveled with US military bands, wind ensembles, and brass quintets. Currently Sarita performs with the Carolinas Wind Orchestra and coordinates Rock Hill’s annual Tuba Christmas.
Sarita co-founded PMA in 2014 in an effort to provide instrumental music opportunities for her daughter and other home schooled children in the area that were eager to experience music. She continues to share her love of music with the students at Piedmont Music Academy and serve the home school community in the greater York County region.
Michael White
Band Director
Mr. White is a graduate from the University of South Carolina with a bachelors in Music Education. He has taught all ages throughout his eleven years in public education, from pre-K to high school. Though a focus as a band director, he taught general music, music appreciation, strings, class piano, and music history.
Now, Mr. White serves as the facility supervisor at Westminster Presbyterian Church and as an elder, Sunday School teacher, Men’s group leader, and on the audio team at his church, Ebenezer Presbyterian church.
Mr. White lives in Rock Hill with his wife, Amy, and their two young girls, Molly and Megan. Being involved in PMA has been a wonderful experience and he enjoys serving the students who put so much effort into the music each and every week.
Tracy Humphries
Music Educator/Bassoonist
Tracy L. Humphries, a native of Spartanburg, SC, received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from UNCG and her Master of Music Education degree from The Florida State University. She became a National Board Certified Teacher in 2003.
Tracy recently retired after 32 years of teaching high school and middle school band in Michigan and North Carolina. She has served as a band clinician for various honor bands in North and South Carolina. She was selected in 2013 as the recipient of the South Central District’s Award of Excellence and was chosen by the membership to conduct the 9-10 All District Honor Band in 2017. Among her professional affiliations, she is a member of the American School Band Directors Association and served as the State Chair for North Carolina for nearly ten years.
Tracy serves as the Adjunct Bassoon Professor at Wingate University and performs regularly on bassoon as a member of the Carolinas Wind Orchestra. She resides in Monroe, NC, with her furchildren Fiona and Augie.
Rebecca Jensen
Piano
Rebecca recently moved to Rock Hill and loves working for PMA. She started taking piano lessons when she was six years old, and started regularly accompanying choirs when she was 10. Rebecca went on to receive a Bachelor’s of Music in piano performance from Brigham Young University. Eventually she started directing choirs in church and she had a desire to study more about conducting, so she went back to school to get a teaching credential in Music Education.
She taught for a few years in the public schools, and eventually decided to go back home and take her kids with her. She is in her 18th year of homeschooling, and has continued to teach piano lessons as well as a number of music classes at co-ops.
Rebecca is so excited to be at PMA to teach piano and accompany the elementary choir. She believes God has created all his children to be musical. Some people might have a harder time finding that music inside them, but it is inside of everyone. Rebecca has 5 children and 2 grandchildren and likes to cook, read to her kids, talk to her sisters, listen to audio books, garden and sing at church.
Annesha Dib
General Music w/Recorder & Garage Band Theory
My formal music education began at the age of five in Yamaha piano class. My earliest informal training was under my own mother who often taught voice lessons and directed children and adult choirs and sang constantly in our home and in the car. From an early age, my musical instruction included an emphasis on music theory, sight singing and ear training. I studied piano through elementary, high school and college (as a secondary instrument). I learned to sing harmony (by ear) with my family and learned to read an alto line in school choirs and singing traditional hymns in church. As a 6th grader, I chose oboe as my primary instrument in school band. I was a middle school drum major and played “Pit” percussion during marching band season.
I have a Bachelors of Musical Arts in oboe performance from Oklahoma Baptist University. I’ve also attended teacher training under the tutelage of Michiko Yurko in Units 1 and 2 of Music Mind Games (also created by Michiko Yurko with approval from Dr. Suzuki). For the past 14 years, I have continued my commitment to music education as home educator and Suzuki parent to 3 young talented musicians. In recent years, although I am grateful that I received extensive training in music reading, I’ve discovered the joy of playing piano by ear and regret that this was de-emphasized throughout my many years of traditional piano instruction.
My family and I serve regularly on our church’s worship team where we read from chord charts and collaborate with other musicians. I have a heart for equipping young people to use their musical gifts, talents and education in ministry, small ensembles, worship teams and youth orchestras locally. My family and I have been blessed to develop an extensive local network in music education and I enjoy connecting families to local private teachers, music ensembles, groups and classes.