Instructors
SCSM has three Instructor Levels in order to provide lessons at affordable prices while meeting the needs of each individual student.
LEVEL 1 INSTRUCTORS are select university music students, teaching under indirect supervision of Harding University music faculty. These young people bring a high level of energy and fun to your lessons and are qualified to teach all beginning students.
LEVEL 2 INSTRUCTORS are adults with several years of teaching and/or performing experience, qualified to teach beginning and intermediate-level students, including adult students. Their experience is beneficial to more dedicated students, adults, and those needing additional expertise. Click on an image below to read about our Level 2 instructors.
Emily Eads
Voice and Piano
Emily Eads
BioEmily Eads teaches voice and piano for SCSM. She holds a B.M.E. in Vocal Music Education from Harding University and an M.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of Mississippi. During graduate school, Emily served as the OperaTheatre graduate assistant and worked with the Youth Musical Theatre workshop. Emily then taught Pre-K through 5th grade general music and choir in the Houston area for four years. During that time, she regularly sang with the Houston Symphony Chorus. Emily taught with SCSM during her undergraduate years, and has enjoyed returning to the Searcy community.
Alaynna Rains
Voice and Piano
Ellen Stoddard-Boling
Piano
Ellen Stoddard-Boling
BioEllen Stoddard-Boling has taught piano for over 30 years in Arkansas and Missouri and recently retired from teaching in Newport, Arkansas after 15 years. She brings to SCSM a wide range of teaching experience in grades K-6, including Literacy, STEAM, GT, and the general elementary classroom.
LEVEL 3 INSTRUCTORS are adults with advanced degrees in music and extensive teaching experience, many of whom are Harding Department of Music faculty, qualified to teach beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level students, including adult students. Their advanced training and experience make them invaluable to more serious students, adults, and those needing additional expertise. Click on an image below to read about our Level 3 instructors.
Dr. Cynthia Carrell
Trumpet, Horn, Piano
Dr. Cynthia Carrell
BioDr. Cynthia Thompson Carrell teaches trumpet, horn, and piano for SCSM and taught trumpet, horn, and music theory at Harding University for 25 years. She served as Principal Trumpet in the Pine Bluff Symphony from 1999 to 2016, having been a band-director and free-lance trumpet performer and teacher in the Dallas area for several years prior. Her teaching career also includes having published a Music Appreciation textbook (in its 4th edition), and she is currently creating a textbook in Music Theory fundamentals as well. Carrell earned a Bachelor of Music Education at the University of North Texas (1986), and both a Masters in Music Education and Doctorate of Musical Arts in Trumpet Performance from the University of Illinois (1997). She has served as the Affiliate Chapters Coordinator for the International Trumpet Guild since 2009 and became the Director of SCSM in 2019.
Dr. Scott Carrell
Piano
Dr. Scott Carrell
BioPianist Scott Carrell has presented numerous performances as a soloist, chamber musician and concerto soloist in France, Germany, Italy, China, and the United States. Earning degrees from Southwestern University, the University of Illinois, and the University of North Texas, he is the recipient of several awards and prizes, including the Dutilleux prize at the 1996 French Piano Institute Festival in Paris, France. His four compact discs of classical masterpieces, ragtime favorites, and works of Noël Gallon have been well received. As a composer, he has premiered works for solo piano and various chamber ensembles. Carrell is a professor at Harding University, where he teaches music theory, piano, and related courses.
Dr. Andrew Cook
Saxophone and clarinet
Dr. Andrew Cook
BioDr. Andrew Cook teaches saxophone and clarinet for SCSM as well as serving in Harding's Department of Music as Woodwind Instructor, Director of Jazz Bands, and as an instructor of Music History, World Music, and Music Education classes. He has a Bachelor of Music - Music History degree from College of Wooster, a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance degree from The Boston Conservatory, and a Doctor of Music Arts in Music Education from Boston University.
Jenny Henderson
Piano
Jenny Henderson
BioJenny Henderson is experienced in teaching piano for individuals and groups, teaching early childhood music, and she has directed student choirs and orchestras in the past. She is certified in K-12 General and Vocal Music, Orff-Shulwerk, Kodaly, Music Learning Theory, Kindermusik, and Musikgarten. A native of Searcy, Ms. Henderson has a long history of teaching music in the community. She most recently served as the elementary music teacher at Sidney Deener Elementary, and at one time was the music director at First Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Henderson holds two degrees in education and has pursued doctoral studies in music education. Henderson is a member of the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association and the Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML.org).
Dr. Alyssa Koay
Piano
Dr. Alyssa Koay
BioSCSM piano instructor, Dr. Alyssa Koay teaches Piano, Elementary Education, and World Music courses in addition to accompanying vocal students at Harding University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harding University, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Kathy Robison
Preschool Music
Kathy Robison
BioKathy Robison is a National Board Certified, PreK-12 Music Educator and has a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Harding University. She is also certified in several music education methods, including Orff-Schulwerk, First Steps in Music, and Conversational Solfege. Having taught at Newport Elementary School for 42 years, she was named Teacher of the Year for the Newport School District three times and was a semifinalist for Arkansas Teachers of the Year. Kathy has also served as president of the Central Arkansas Orff chapter and as secretary of the Arkansas Music Educators Association.
Alexander Seman
Strings
Alexander Seman
BioAlexander Seman earned a Bachelor of Music in Performance, a Graduate Certificate in Music Performance, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from UCA and has done musicological studies at Université Catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France. As a cellist and violinist, he has performed with many prominent arts institutions and performing artists, including the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, The Rep, the Phantom of the Opera National Tour, Stevie Wonder, and the Vienna Light Orchestra. Seman’s teaching has been in a variety of settings, including Pulaski County Public Schools, the Arkansas Youth Symphony, the Albuquerque Youth Symphony, the Wildwood Academy for Music and the Arts, as an adjunct teacher at Harding, and now for SCSM. He currently serves as a collaborative pianist at UCA and as music director at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Maumelle and First Presbyterian Church in Searcy as well. He also enjoys playing fiddle as a hobby!
Alicia Walls
Strings, Flute, Piano
Alicia Walls
BioAlicia Walls has taught with SCSM since 2014. She also teaches Applied Viola, String Pedagogy, Class Strings, and String Quartet at Harding University as well as teaching string classes (1st-12th grades) in Bald Knob. Before coming to Searcy she taught public school orchestra for ten years in Texas, where her orchestras were regular sweepstakes winners. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Music with Teacher Certification, double majoring in viola and flute, at Abilene Christian University and her Master’s Degree in Music Education at the University of North Texas.
