The Conservatory faculty and the Annie Moses Method's instructional team. Each is a working artist — performer, composer, ensemble leader — whose practice and pedagogy are inseparable.
Alex Wolaver is a Juilliard-trained violist, producer, entrepreneur, and member of the Annie Moses Band, with whom he has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry. Trained under Itzhak Perlman, he is a winner of the Curb Concerto Competition and has performed as a soloist with the Nashville Symphony and as principal violist of both the Juilliard Symphony and the Disney Young Musician's Symphony Orchestra. As a producer, his credits include the Emmy-nominated PBS special The Art of the Love Song and the Billboard Top Ten album This Glorious Christmas. Alex also serves as a key strategic and business leader of the Annie Moses Foundation, driving partnerships, fundraising, and platform development — while remaining deeply committed to teaching viola and chamber music to the next generation of artists.
Founder & Director of the Conservatory of Annie Moses
Annie Wolaver-Dupré is a distinguished violinist and vocalist, and lead singer and first violinist of the Annie Moses Band — a celebrated ensemble of siblings that has toured nationally since 2002. She has starred in multiple PBS specials, including the Emmy-nominated The Art of the Love Song (Warner Classics), and recorded more than a dozen albums, among them the chart-topping American Rhapsody and This Glorious Christmas. A Juilliard-trained classical prodigy, Annie is also a passionate arts educator and co-founder of the Annie Moses Institute for Music & Culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and six children.
Benjamin Wolaver is a cellist, actor, writer, and philosopher with the Annie Moses Band, with whom he has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry and appeared in the Emmy-nominated PBS special The Art of the Love Song. Juilliard-trained under Ann Alton, he stars in the hit children's series The Wonderful World of Benjamin Cello and has appeared in a wide range of musical theatre productions, including Annie Get Your Gun, The Music Man, Oliver! — in which he played Fagin — and Merry Christmas, Uncle Scrooge!. A graduate of the University of London, Benjamin holds a B.A. in English Literature. He teaches aesthetics and theology at the Conservatory of Annie Moses and is currently writing a book on aesthetics.
Robin Wolaver is an author, speaker, and award-winning lyricist based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the creator and writer of The Wonderful World of Benjamin Cello, a hit children's television series that delivers Scriptural lessons through live puppetry, humor, and original song and dance — in the warm, inventive tradition of Fred Rogers. She is also the author of The Song of Annie Moses (Guideposts Books). A two-time Dove Award nominee and recipient of the Gospel Song of the Year honor from both ASCAP and the Nashville Songwriters Association, she has co-written numerous musicals and choral works with her husband, composer Bill Wolaver. As founder of the Annie Moses Foundation, Robin is a leading voice in arts education, dedicated to equipping the next generation of young musicians to pursue excellence for the glory of God.
Bill Wolaver is one of Nashville's most accomplished composers, arrangers, and pianists, with decades of work woven throughout the fabric of contemporary Christian music. He serves as pianist, composer, and arranger for the Annie Moses Band, and is the creative force behind the beloved Piano Potpourri arrangement series. With his wife and collaborator Robin Donica Wolaver, he co-wrote "Make His Praise Glorious," recorded by Sandi Patty and nominated for a Dove Award for Song of the Year, and together they have received an ASCAP Award for Inspirational Song of the Year. Bill also writes the music for The Wonderful World of Benjamin Cello and co-wrote with Robin an original Broadway-style adaptation of A Christmas Carol in the tradition of Fiddler on the Roof and the golden age of Broadway. He and Robin live in Columbia TN.
Gretchen Wolaver is a professional violinist, mandolinist, guitarist, and singer, and a member of the Annie Moses Band, with whom she has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry House. A musician since age four, she trained at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and Manhattan's School for Strings before beginning her professional touring career at twelve. She has appeared in two PBS specials, including the Emmy-nominated The Art of the Love Song, released the EP Mistakes, and is currently recording a new album of original songs. Gretchen is also the founder of Handmaiden Music, a Catholic apostolate offering melodically rich, classically inspired liturgical settings and praise and worship music for today's Church.
Daniel Hosny is a professional jazz pianist with a strong foundation in classical piano. He began studying classical piano at the age of five in Texas and later moved to Tennessee, where he continued his studies with Dr. Jerome Reed at Lipscomb University. During this time, he competed extensively in piano competitions, earning numerous state and national awards. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Berklee Wolaver is a Nashville-based choreographer, dance educator, and visual artist whose creativity spans the stage, the studio, and the page. Fluent across classical ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and musical theatre, she trained throughout her native North Carolina and in New York City at the Radio City Rockettes Workshop and STEPS on Broadway. Over the past decade she has performed in numerous stage productions and choreographed multiple musicals, recently starring as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof opposite her husband, Annie Moses Band violist Alex Wolaver. She also brings the irrepressible Lolly Popular to life on The Wonderful World of Benjamin Cello — a show whose visual world she helped shape as its creative visionary behind the art design. She is an accomplished visual artist and graphic designer, and has illustrated a children's book. Today Berklee teaches dance at the Annie Moses Summer Music Festival and at the Conservatory of Annie Moses, and makes her home in Columbia, Tennessee, with Alex and their seven children.
Denise Bian is an accomplished arts director, choreographer, and educator with a distinguished career in dance and theater. She has led the creation and growth of numerous arts programs, including directing the dance departments for Seacoast Christian Academy and Impact Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida. Her extensive background spans choreography, performance, and instruction in ballet, tap, jazz, and musical theater, with stage, film, and television credits alongside artists such as Kenny Rogers, Ken Berry, and Dottie Rambo.
James DaSilva is an in-demand performing and recording guitarist based in Nashville, Tennessee, whose work spans jazz, rock, studio production, and beyond. A graduate of Belmont University, he has performed and recorded alongside some of the most celebrated names in music, including Vince Gill, Earth, Wind & Fire, Phil Keaggy, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jeff Coffin, The McCrary Sisters, Tommy Sims, and the Annie Moses Band, among many others. His path into the Annie Moses family began at his father's side, when he came to the Summer Music Festival as a mentor helping the legendary Mario DaSilva teach — captivated by the community and Christian fellowship, he kept returning, eventually marrying Camille Wolaver and collaborating with the Annie Moses Band first as a guitarist and bassist on the road. Today he serves on the faculty of the Conservatory of Annie Moses, teaching private guitar as well as group courses in music theory, jazz improvisation, and arranging. He and Camille have six children and reside in Columbia, TN.
Joshua Carswell is an accomplished tenor and versatile performing artist whose work spans opera, oratorio, musical theatre, and commercial music. A graduate of Elon University and Grand Prize winner of the 2012 American Traditions Competition, he has performed with the Greensboro Opera and Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, and as a guest soloist at Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium alongside the Annie Moses Band. Today Joshua teaches voice at the Conservatory of Annie Moses and co-directs Packard Playhouse productions, recently starring in Annie Get Your Gun and The Music Man.
Mr. DaSilva received a Master of Church Music from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Music in Louisville, KY and a Bachelor of Arts from Belmont College in Nashville, TN. A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mr. DaSilva has established himself in the United States as a teacher and performer. Early in his educational career Mr. DaSilva studied theory and composition with the Brazilian veteran Maestro Leo Peracchi and classical guitar with Edmar Fenicio. In America, Mr. DaSilva studied commercial composition and arrangement with William Pursell and guitar with John Pell and Douglas Jones. As a teacher, he was a former guitar instructor at the University of Louisville, and concurrently teaches at both Indiana University Southeast (since 1989), and Belmont University (since 1995).
As a performer, Mr. DaSilva maintains a busy schedule both in Louisville and Nashville areas with live appearances and recording sessions. He is heard nightly on the nationally syndicated FM radio talk show ‘Delilah after Dark’ based in Seattle, Washington and the ‘Joe Arnold Show’ on WHAS 84 AM. Mr. DaSilva’s performance credits include the Ballet Espanol, a flamenco dance company based in Louisville, KY, ESPN, ‘Shop at Home’ television networks and many appearances on local TV. He has worked closely with the likes of flamenco guitarist Pedro Cortes, drummers Rod Murgenstein (Dixie Dregs) and Chester Thompson (Phil Collins), and singer-songwriter Lari White. He has released two recordings; ‘Meet Mario’ and ‘Christmas, Love and Light’ by Rainbow at Midnight Records available in music stores in the Louisville and Nashville areas, and at www.meetmario.com.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sara McKelvey attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, where she studied dance, voice, and drama. She later moved to Tennessee and graduated from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Music in Commercial Vocal Performance. A skilled vocalist, actress, dancer, choreographer, and worship leader, Sara brings more than 20 years of experience as a performer. She is the wife of Rob McKelvey and homeschools their four beautiful daughters.
Sydney Wolaver is an accomplished mezzo-soprano whose artistry spans opera, musical theatre, sacred music, and contemporary performance. A two-time Kennedy Center Best Actress nominee and a NATS competition winner, she has performed on stages from Carnegie Hall to the Grand Ole Opry, appeared as a soloist with the North Carolina Symphony and North Carolina Opera, and traveled to Italy to perform in Puccini's Suor Angelica. She holds degrees in vocal performance and theatre from Meredith College and a Master's in Vocal Pedagogy from Belmont University. Sydney's journey with the Annie Moses Institute began at age thirteen as a Festival performer, a connection that grew over the years into family when she married Jeremiah Wolaver. Today she serves on the faculty of the Conservatory of Annie Moses, teaching voice and drama and performing in Packard shows like Annie Get Your Gun, where nothing delights her more than watching young performers shine.
Scot Corey is a freelance drummer and percussionist who has performed as an extra with the Nashville Symphony for more than 10 years, including the NSO’s Carnegie Hall debut and, most recently, its Naxos recording of Piazzolla’s Sinfonia Buenos Aires. He has served as adjunct percussion faculty at Trevecca Nazarene University since 2000 and is a founding member of the Matrix Percussion Trio, which has provided free educational concerts to more than 26,000 students in the greater Nashville area.
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