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Now accepting applications for the Karper Creatives Scholarships
Private lessons at The Cat and The Fiddle are scheduled directly with each teacher. To get started, choose a teacher below and contact them to ask about availability, rates, and lesson times.
How to sign up:
How to sign up:
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Need help choosing a teacher? Contact us and we'll point you in the right direction!
Dakota Karper - Old Time Fiddle, Clawhammer Banjo
Dakota Karper - Old Time Fiddle, Clawhammer Banjo
Contact: dakotakarper@gmail.com or call/text 443-860-2461
Cost: $35 per 30min / $52.50 per 45min / $70 per 60min
Age Levels: Children and adults (Age 7 minimum)
Available for Classes in Person or Online through Google Meet or Zoom
Dakota Karper is an Appalachian folk musician and educator dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich traditions of West Virginia’s old-time music. Raised in rural West Virginia, she grew up immersed in fiddle tunes and community music-making, studying under master fiddler Joe Herrmann and further honing her craft at the Augusta Heritage Center and Shenandoah Arts Academy. Her music weaves original compositions with traditional melodies, reflecting a deep connection to her Appalachian roots and to the communities that keep this music alive.
In addition to performing at venues ranging from intimate house concerts to regional festivals, Dakota teaches fiddle and banjo at The Cat and The Fiddle, the folk music school she founded in 2019 to foster a welcoming, intergenerational space for learning Appalachian music. She also teaches at traditional music camps including Augusta Heritage Center and Common Ground on the Hill, sharing repertoire and techniques with students of all ages. Her performance life has included playing with bands such as Short Mountain String Band, Hay Fever, and Vandalia, and she has released five albums.
Dakota is a committed community organizer and cultural worker. In 2023, she became the executive director of the Cacapon Music & Dance Foundation, a nonprofit she founded to expand youth music scholarships, community events, and folklife programs across the region. Through these initiatives and her ongoing work as a performer, bandleader, square dance caller, and teacher, she supports the continued vitality, creativity, and accessibility of Appalachian music and culture. www.dakotakarper.com
Victoria "Tori" Stanish - Woodwinds, Brasswinds, Piano, Voice, Beginner Strings
Victoria "Tori" Stanish - Woodwinds, Brasswinds, Piano, Voice, Beginner Strings
Contact: Victoria at Victoria.tori.stanish@gmail.com or 814-673-2263.
Cost: $25 per half hour for piano, voice, and strings. $35 per half hour for woodwinds and brasswinds.
Age Levels: Children and adults (Minimum age 5yr)
Tori Stanish is the band director at Romney Middle School and a graduate of West Virginia University, where she earned her degree in Music Education. Originally from Pennsylvania, she studied saxophone as her main instrument but also enjoys playing and teaching clarinet, flute, trumpet, trombone, and many other brass and woodwind instruments.
Tori has taught private lessons for several years in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia, helping students of all ages grow as musicians. She also has professional performance experience, playing woodwinds in orchestras for musical theater productions across both states. Her teaching style combines strong musical training with a supportive and encouraging approach, so students feel confident while learning.
She currently offers private lessons on woodwinds, brasswinds, piano, voice, and beginner string instruments.
Johanna Murray - Piano, Voice
Johanna Murray - Piano, Voice
Contact: jomurray.music@gmail.com
Cost: $25 per half hour class
Age level: Children and adults
Johanna Murray has been a piano and voice teacher at The Cat and the Fiddle since 2021. She grew up in Omaha, NE and received her BA in studio art from Grinnell College (2012). Johanna has been playing piano and singing for over 26 years. As a child, she studied under instructor Phyllis Dunne and performed for 8 years in the Nebraska Choral Arts Society under the tutelage of world renowned conductors including Dr. Z Randall Stroope. She has continued practicing music and performing throughout her adult life, collaborating with other musicians including her husband Michael Everson.
Johanna is a knowledgeable and passionate educator with a variety of teaching experiences that range from the public school setting, to private lessons, to non-profit educational programming through organizations such as The River House and Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.
Johanna is a great fit for beginner to intermediate students looking to learn the fundamentals of piano technique and understand basic music theory. She assists her students in following their own musical interests whether that be through studies of classical, traditional, or popular tunes.
Mike Everson - Guitar
Mike Everson - Guitar
Contact: mpeverson.music@gmail.com
Cost: $25 per half hour
Age level: Children and adults (8+ yrs / 3rd grade min)
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Mike Everson started playing guitar 15 years ago in his hometown of Omaha, NE. Initially self-taught, he played blues and rock music as a hobby in high school. In 2008, he was accepted into the University of Nebraska-Omaha School of Music, where he began playing jazz-guitar as a student of guitarist Jeff Scheffler. During his college years he was routinely playing in bar-band gigs, and began teaching guitar at the School of Rock-Omaha. He also collaborated with a few friends in a band called “The Penrose Stairs”, releasing the album Apophenia (2013). Upon graduation in 2012, Mike continued to teach and became Music Director of SOR-Omaha until his departure in 2014.
After one year of traveling and working as a farmhand, Mike moved to Hampshire County, WV with (his now wife) Johanna Murray. Together they released the album Mother Tree (2017), which featured original songs inspired by their travels. Currently residing in Capon Bridge, WV, Mike continues to perform as a solo artist, in a duo with his wife called “Mike&Jo”, and as a guitarist and vocalist for local rock-band “The Bad McCrees”.
Mike teaches and explores the acoustic roots and evolution of blues, rock, and jazz music with his students. He understands the initial struggles of beginners, and appreciates the company of intermediate or veteran players who want to learn some new tricks.
Satellite Teachers
Satellite Teachers
Our satellite teachers offer lessons online or in person at their own studio while allowing students to make use of scholarship opportunities available through The Cat and The Fiddle.
Virginia Ballard - Voice, Piano, Violin, Ukulele
Virginia Ballard - Voice, Piano, Violin, Ukulele
Contact: virlballard@hotmail.com or text (540) 409-7703
Cost: Beginner Instrumental $25 per half hour OR Voice $35 per half hour class
Age level: Children and adults (Age 4 minimum)
Studio Location: Durham, North Carolina
Virginia Ballard started studying music at 4 years old, starting with violin and expanding into voice, piano, ukulele, and mandolin. She has been active in local performances throughout her life at school in Winchester, community theaters in Virginia, and various stages.
During her time with her school choir, she performed solos in the Apple Blossom Coronation. She spent the majority of violin study with Ewa Tryczynska and began voice lessons with Deborah Balcom at the Shenandoah Arts Academy. Before starting at JMU she was invited to Germany to sing and spent 2 months performing with Die Mittle Saxon Semper Opera in Freiberg, Germany.
Virginia studied voice with Dr. Dorothy Maddison for 5 years at James Madison University and earned her Bachelor of Music with a minor in German in 2021. While at JMU she studied classical, music theater, jazz, baroque, and contemporary voice. She also participated in JMU’s opera programs, choral groups, and competitions. Virginia began performing jazz in 2020 and continues to perform with friends as, “The Lou Hoo Quartet”.
Virginia guides music lovers to expand their vocal repertoire in a healthy and fun way, helping students with their favorite songs. She offers an early start to music literacy and encourages a lifelong love of music.
David McLaughlin - Banjo, Violin, Viola, Guitar, Bass, Mandolin
David McLaughlin - Banjo, Violin, Viola, Guitar, Bass, Mandolin
Contact: (540)247-5073
Cost: $80 per one hour class
Age level: Children and adults
Studio Location: Winchester, Virginia
David McLaughlin grew up in a musical family where he started learning a variety of instruments and musical styles from a young age. In 1978 he became a founding member of the Johnson Mountain Boys, a traditional bluegrass band which would go on to be inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2020. You can find more info on David's musical background here.
Over the course of his musical career David has developed proficiency with a broad range of instruments and gained a special expertise in the traditional bluegrass style inspired by Bill Monroe. He now shares his wealth of musical insights with students through private lessons.
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