INSTRUCTORS
Marie Blackmar
Marie Blackmar graduated from Reinhardt University with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. She is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association and maintains a private piano studio in Waleska, GA.
Marie is the choir accompanist and offers private piano lessons.
Jennifer Davenport
Jennifer Davenport graduated from Reinhardt University with dual majors in Cello Performance and Music Education in 2011 and completed her Masters of Music Education at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago in 2018. In 2010 she also served briefly as the North Georgia Homeschool Band (former name of Sounds of Praise) choir teacher. After graduating she was appointed the position of Orchestra Director at Mount Paran Christian School for ten years, and for the last four years she has been part time teacher and cellist and full time mother to her three children. She and her husband are actively involved members at Church of the Apostles where Jennifer serves regularly on the worship team.
Randy Dobson
Randy Dobson is a private bass, guitar, and voice teacher as well as a performer. He taught elementary music for several years before opening his private studio. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Composition from Reinhardt University.
Mr. Dobson teaches our guitar classes, as well as private bass guitar and drum lessons.
Mary Elliott
Mary Elliott was a former student at Sounds of Praise where she played flute and sang in the choir. She went to GA All State District Band in 2010 and has been invited to play in ensembles, community bands, and churches. She has received professional vocal training and has sung in several churches, including her current church, New Life Church in Canton. She is attending Liberty University Online where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Worship Studies.
Mary teaches our younger clases.
McKenzi Fenn
McKenzi Fenn graduated Cum Laude with Honors in Education from Anderson University in Indiana. She has a Masters of Music Education degree and more than twenty years of teaching experience. Additionally, she has been homeschooling her own children since 2013. She resides in Jasper with her husband and six children. She wants all of her students to truly experience music - and love it!
Jackie Gray
Jackie Gray graduated from West Georgia College with a degree in Piano Performance/Pedagogy and is certified in First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege. She has been involved in church music since high school, and has been the pianist and praise team leader in several churches. She homeschooled her four children.
Mrs. Gray has taught recorder at Sounds of Praise began in 2007. She is the Executive Director for SOP and also teaches and accompanies various classes.
.