Baldwin County Instructors
Mrs. Jaime Bodine
Jaime grew up in Mobile, AL and began taking piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of twelve, she also started playing flute in the school band. During her last two years of high school, she was selected to the Alabama All-State Band and was awarded the John Philip Sousa Band Award at graduation. She received a music scholarship to the University of Mississippi where she performed with the color guard in the Pride of the South marching band and played flute in the Symphonic Band. While there she took private flute instruction from Dr. Carol Dale and performed with the flute choir as well as other ensembles. She attended classes in piano, music theory, and music history and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Biology and minor in Music.
Since graduating from college, Jaime has lived in many different places with her husband and three children and has enjoyed both performing and teaching music in all of them. She has served as the Children’s Worship Arts Director at several churches, led children’s choirs, designed and directed summer music camps, and taught music classes for babies and preschoolers. She has nearly 20 years of experience providing musical instruction to children and loves helping them learn new ways to use their musical talents. In addition to teaching piano, she has also taught classes in bucket drumming, recorder, handbells, rhythm instruments, and flag twirling. She believes that every child is unique and enjoys using creative methods of teaching to motivate them to learn.
Jaime has kept up her own musical skills by performing on piano and flute in church services and singing with various church choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys attempting to learn new instruments like clarinet and ukulele. She and her family moved to Spanish Fort less than a year ago in order to be closer to family, and she is excited about teaching students in the area and helping them to develop a lifelong love of music.
Mr. Kevin Dyess
Mr. Kevin has attained the degrees Master of Music (Vocal Performance) and Master of Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. In addition to his studies in music, he enjoys performing onstage in musical theater performances in Biloxi and Mobile, and he is a Sacred Harp singer in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Georgia. Mr. Kevin specializes in piano, voice, choir, recorder, music theory, and Music Play. Music Play is an early childhood music learning curriculum based upon the Music Learning Theory of Dr. Edwin Gordon. We are very excited to have Mr. Kevin join us for the 2020-2021 school year!
Mr. Matt Pritchard
Matt Pritchard was born and raised in Mobile AL and has been involved in music ever since he was a young child. He grew up singing in children’s choirs in school and in church, and was involved in almost everything that had to do with music in both.
After years of being around guitar players at church and other venues, Matt began playing guitar in high school. The guitar is one of Matt’s great joys in life. He has been a guitar player for over 23 years, and in that time he has used the guitar extensively for leading worship in local churches, for writing songs as a singer-songwriter, and for instruction. Matt has had professional music training from the University of Mobile, learning music theory, taking classical guitar lessons for 3 years, and being involved in guitar ensemble playing. In the 23 years of playing guitar, Matt has been a guitar instructor giving private lessons off and on for more than 15 years, and was the guitar instructor at Alabama School of Math & Science in Mobile AL for 8 years. Matt looks forward to helping students at Musical Beginnings Baldwin County develop a passion for playing and enjoying the guitar!
Mrs. Sharon Martin
Sharon has an extensive background in music and has been performing since she put on her first show for her friends at age 6. With a passion for singing, she could always be found playing the piano, haven taken lessons since the age of 9, singing for her church and other events. At her University she studied music education for nearly 2 years, continuing her voice and piano instruction. While studying music there, she joined and performed with a contemporary Christian Band as the lead singer and was invited to perform at the prestigious talent show for the area. She especially loves to sing and teach harmony to others as it comes natural to her ear. Immediately out of University, for many years she was a worship leader and led worship from the piano, with back-up vocalists, violin, banjo and drums. It was during this time that she became interested in studying the drums with a local instructor as she was inspired by a drummer on her team. Since that time she has been involved in the music ministry at the many churches she has attended over the years as soloist, back-up vocalist, piano and keys. Sharon homeschooled her twin sons for their entire education. Along with her private studio for piano, she taught them piano until they went to University. It was during this time she studied violin with a local instructor so she could play along with her sons who also played violin in the 84 piece Orchestra in one of the largest churches in the nation, where she played for many years. It was wonderful to share and pass on her love of music to her sons and see them excel and use their gifts to the glory of God. They both graduated summa cum laude with degrees in music––piano performance and violin performance. One of her sons won numerous awards as a composer and had one of his pieces performed by the Boston Brass. For many years in Atlanta she was blessed to attend the Orchestra Performances by the Cobb Symphony and Atlanta symphony and enjoy the power of all instruments working together to create such a glorious and complex sound. With this background she believes in exposing her students to great work and composers, while also encouraging their own talent and dreams.
Ms. Savannah Rhodes
Ms. Savannah was born & raised in Mobile, Alabama. She started taking piano lessons in kindergarten with Mrs. Pamela Loper, who was always her greatest mentor and influence from her early childhood years throughout her early twenties, and to this day. “My favorite memories of performance were competing for scholarship programs, when I first got a feel for true performance on a BIG stage” and participating in high school music programs. She accompanied the choirs at Faith Academy for several years, and even had a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to accompany them in New York City. She also auditioned & was chosen to sing in Alabama All-State Choirs in SSA & SATB, each year. Being able to sing alongside some of the “best of the best” students in Alabama & create those perfect harmonies was the defining moment when she knew she wanted to teach music. Another standout memory during her college years was performing Carl Orff’s epic Carmina Burana with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra at the Saenger Theatre, being a part of a huge collaborative performance! Ms. Savannah studied Music Education with a concentration in Piano & Elementary Education at the University of South Alabama under Dr. Robert Holm, however, ultimately graduated with a degree that led her to pursue dentistry. Aside from taking care of patients, music will always be her biggest passion in life. When she’s not taking care of her kiddos at the dentist’s office or teaching music lessons, she loves to volunteer with local animal rescue: Mobile Cat Society & McKemie Place, stays supportive of local musicians, and supports the presence of arts in our community. She also adores song-writing, poetry & experimenting with music technology in her own home music studio. She says, “It’d be a dream to perform my own music someday, as a singer-songwriter, and to share my heart in that way! Musical Beginnings has blessed me with an opportunity to share my love of music with others. It’s so crucial for little ones and everyone to find a creative outlet that they love, that they truly enjoy & I’m so happy I can play a part in that.”
Mrs. Christine Taylor
Having grown up in a large family of musicians and artists, Christine started taking piano lessons at the age of 7 under the direction of Mr. Thomas Holliman. From an early age Christine can remember putting on musical performances for her family. Throughout her childhood and adolescent years she was a member of the choir at school and her church. After graduating from Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, she went on to study Nursing at the University of South Alabama. Being an avid supporter of local music, Christine has performed with local bands in Mobile, while also meeting her husband through the local music scene. When not teaching piano, Christine takes care of her son at home, and works on writing & recording her own music with her husband at their in-home studio.
“As far back as I can remember, I have always felt a special calling towards music. It is all around us, not just through song, but every sound we hear. That is truly magical to me, and something that makes me want to further investigate and learn. There is no limit to me with music, learning basic theory is just the beginning, and learning how to play the piano is one of the best starts you can give yourself, whether you want to be a musician or not. Becoming a mother and getting to share the joy, awe, and excitement of music with my child continues to be one of the most fulfilling experiences I have ever had. To be able to share this with others, really, is a blessing. Music has had such a huge positive impact on my life, and if I can share that with someone else, I’m going to.”
Mr. Chad Campbell
Chad Campbell’s love of playing the piano started with his first lesson at age 8, which has led to over 39 years of playing the piano. Chad was the child that loved to practice the piano and would play for hours, until he was told he had to go to bed. Still to this day he will play for hours on end. He has used his love of playing the piano/keyboard in praise and worship teams at various churches throughout his life, at weddings, and even funerals. Chad played for the Baldwin County High School Choir at times when he attended there as a student. He then went to Faulkner State Community College (now Coastal Alabama Community College) on a music scholarship and was a member of the Sun Chief Sound. He was also a member of the University of Mobile’s Choir where he obtained a minor in music. Chad has a strong background in theory and feels that it is important that all students must have this knowledge, even when they do not always realize they are working on theory. Chad has had to overcome adversity which shows in his playing and teaching. He completely lost the use of his left hand in September of 2021 and worked to regain the skills he lost. At this point there are only minor things that he cannot do that he once could. This has led to teaching many students with disabilities ranging from Autism to even a student with no arms that played with their feet!
Ms. Cassidy Wallace
My name is Cassidy Wallace. I am from North Alabama but I currently live in Saraland, Alabama. I began my musical journey as a kid when my grandma sponsored my piano lessons and bought me a digital piano. I continued to play and practice at home. One day, I got the opportunity to join the middle school band as a percussionist. I was able to use the skills I picked up from piano to transfer them to my percussion playing. I got an opportunity to go to college at the University of South Alabama with a music and marching band scholarship. At South, I decided to pursue music education and studied percussion, literature, and pedagogy under Dr. Luis Rivera, Professor Matthew Greenwood, and Dr. Zachary Webb. I enjoy playing percussion, piano, brass, ukulele, and learning new instruments everyday. At South, I participated in jazz band, world percussion, steel band, choir, wind ensemble, symphony band, orchestra, and drumline. I took lessons outside of my main instrument and studied composition. While in college, I joined a nationally recognized percussion organization called Phi Boota roota. I got the amazing opportunity to be the first music director to prepare a concert and be the president for my chapter as well as hold a national position titled historian. In my last semester, I student taught in Mobile at the middle and high school level under Dr. Timothy Beattie, Jeremy Messer, Gretchen Greenwood, and Kevin Threadgill. I graduated from South Alabama December 2022 and began my first teaching experience as a band director in January 2023. I am currently a elementary music teacher in Mobile and a percussionist for the community band Mobile Pops. I am excited to continue expanding my education experience giving lessons at Musical Beginnings and instill a passion for music in the next generation!
