Music Faculty
Mahari Freeman received her Master’s of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan, under the direction of Dr. Louise Toppin. A native of Charlotte, NC, Mahari is frequently sought after to perform at events across the Carolinas. Her “pure and effortless singing” has been positively received by journals such as Classical Voice of North Carolina. Performance engagements have included the Aspen Opera Center, Texas Music Festival, Opera Carolina, and the UNC Charlotte Orchestra. She is an avid soloist, having recently been the featured soloist during the Charlotte Pride Symphonic Band’s concert, as well as numerous oratorio engagements. Mahari was a finalist in the Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition, the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, and has won various NATS competitions. She is working towards her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of South Carolina School of Music
Nathan Hudson is a composer and educator currently living in Charlotte. His music has been called “…simple, yet cinematic” (Sybaritic Singer) and “Tonal-lyrical-primal-old/new-synthetic and partakes of a rhapsodical quality in new ways…” (Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review). As a curator, Nathan has collaborated with author Ben Loory (Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, Tales of Falling and Flying), the saxophone quartet ~Nois, organizes the Forage & Flourish Contemporary Music Festival (Alpharetta, GA) and has also curated at MISE-EN_PLACE Bushwick to present cross-disciplinary concerts of new music. The recipient of several awards, grants, prizes and residencies, he has had works performed at colleges across the country, by ensembles all over the world and at numerous festivals.
His music has been recorded by Unheard-Of//Ensemble, Duo Cylindre, the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble and the Off-Broadway Trio.
In 2020 Nathan began the Next Generation Trumpet Competition. NGTC (now in its fourth year) is a new music contest for trumpet featuring new works by established composers. NGTC has commissioned over 30 works for solo trumpet (and trumpet ensemble), and has featured many of today’s leading composers and trumpet artists.
He holds a BM in Trumpet Performance from the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, and an MA and PhD from Stony Brook University. He was recently on the faculty at San José State University as a Lecturer of Music, and is now a member of the Full-time music faculty of Central Piedmont Community College (Charlotte, NC) where he teaches Music Theory, Aural Skills, Music History and Composition. https://www.nathanhudsonmusic.com/
Christine Leimer received her classical harp training and degrees in music from Queens College, Winthrop University and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she was awarded a full graduate scholarship. She has traveled the globe studying fascinating aspects of the harp world, such as the cross-strung Spanish harp, the Scottish clarseach, and the Breton, wire-strung harp.
Her orchestral career has included many years as Principal Harp for orchestras in the two Carolinas and Tennessee as well as a tenure as Solo Harpist of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, Spain.
Matt Postle holds music degrees from University of York (PhD – Music Performance), Florida State University (MM – Jazz Studies), and Washington State University (BM – Trumpet Performance). He has worked with several international artists including Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Ralph Alessi, Ravi Coltrane, the ICP Orchestra, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and as a featured soloist with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble and the Airmen of Note Big Band. Matthew has been featured at the Scottish International Festival of Trumpets, Manchester Jazz Festival, York Early Music Festival, and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. He has also been a participant at the Banff Jazz and Creative Music Workshop and the School for Improvised Music Workshops. Matt was a featured artist at the Festival of New Trumpet in New York City with his ensemble RPE Duo in collaboration with Stockholm Environment Institute and NASA Goddard Space Institute. He has recorded for several bands and television shows including the HBO series “Eastbound and Down” with hip hop artist Snoop Dogg.
Currently he leads the jazz area at Central Piedmont Community College. In the past he has taught at Verde Valley School, University of Portland, Davidson College, Queens University, Johnson C. Smith University, University of York, and Florida State University.
