Anna Brock has been a member of the Charlotte Latin music faculty as a pianist and teacher since 2003. She previously taught piano at the Samford University Preparatory Department in Birmingham, Alabama, and served as staff accompanist at the University of Montevallo, also in Alabama. In 1998, she founded the “Anything Excellent” concert series at Christ Covenant Church and won The Charlotte World ’s Salt and Light Award for her direction of the series. She also served on the music faculty of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she received a Teaching Excellence Award for her music appreciation class. In 2001, she was selected as a performer for the Cliburn Teacher Institute Piano Masterclass.

Brock has performed in concerts with the Charlotte Symphony, North Carolina Dance Theater, Opera Carolina, and the Providence United Methodist Chamber Music Series, and served as accompanist for the Charlotte Symphony Oratorio Chamber Choir. Her performances have been broadcast on German Radio, Alabama Public Radio, and WDAV. Brock hosted the Charlotte Symphony’s “Symphony 101” lecture series for six seasons, and occasionally gives pre-concert talks for the Symphony’s Classics series and the Chamber Music Series at Queens University. Recent theater performances include playing keyboard for Broadway touring productions of A Chorus Line, Legally Blonde, Wicked, Sweet Charity, and Hairspray.

Brock is a graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory, where she won both the concerto and chamber music competitions. Her graduate work includes a chamber music and accompanying fellowship to Southern Methodist University’s Summer Conservatory in Dallas, Texas, and a DAAD fellowship for study at the Musik Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany, where she earned her master’s degree in vocal accompanying.

Craig Estep is the concert choir and vocal music director at Charlotte Latin and has extensive experience on the professional opera and concert circuit. A young artist-in-residence with the San Francisco Opera Company from 1987-1995, Estep has performed many leading roles with the company that launched his operatic career, including Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, Tonio in La Fille du Regiment, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Ernesto in Don Pasquale, along with many secondary roles. Calgary Opera and Miami Opera hosted him to sing Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and he performed Rodolpho in La Boheme with the Birmingham Opera Company. He also has scored appearances with Atlanta and San Francisco orchestras.

Estep sang Carmina Burana in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the Hollywood Bowl with the Cleveland Orchestra; performed the title role in a concert version of Rossini’s Ivanhoe in Sienna, Italy; played Anfinomo in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Cologne, Germany; and joined such artists as Sam Ramey, Frederica Von Stade, and Marilyn Horne in a “Live from Lincoln Center” Rossini Gala on PBS. He also appears on two opera videos, Turandot with Eva Marton, and Il Cappriccio with Kiri Te Kanawa.

Estep’s musical roles include Curly in Oklahoma!, Charles Dalrymple in Brigadoon, Billis in South Pacific with Matthews Playhouse, the Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Noah in Children of Eden, and King Pellinore in Camelot with CPCC’s Summer Theater programs. Theater Charlotte also cast him the role of Mr. Bumble in Oliver.

A regional winner in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in Atlanta, the Giusseppe di Stefano International Tenor Competition in Connecticut, and the Alfredo Kraus International Competition on the Canary Islands, Estep has traveled throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He taught part-time at Winthrop University for five years and has been a member of the Charlotte Latin music faculty since 2004.

Estep graduated from Pfeiffer University with a bachelor’s degree in music, and received an M.M.A. from Winthrop University.

Sabrina Howard is the director of Lower, Middle, and Upper School string ensembles.

Howard has more than 20 years of teaching experience. She previously served as the orchestra director at Mt. Tabor High School and Jefferson Middle School. Prior to those appointments, she served as the orchestra director at Independence High School and South Charlotte Middle School.

Howard received her National Board certification in 2005 and was named the 2007 Western Region Orchestra Director of the Year. She received her bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master's degree in music education from the University of South Carolina.

Boyd Johnston is the director of Lower and Middle School bands and assistant director of Upper School bands.

A native of Cocoa Beach, Florida, Johnston has spent most of his adult life in North Carolina. He taught for six years in the Hickory, N.C., public schools and has been a member of the music faculty at Charlotte Latin since 1995.

Johnston has played horn in the Brevard (FL) Symphony, Asheville Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, and the Charlotte Civic Orchestra, as well as for various touring Broadway productions in Charlotte. He also was a guest soloist for the North Carolina Independent School Choral Festival in Raleigh in the fall of 2008.

Johnston received Charlotte Latin's Pauline A. Flemm Award at the end of the 2008-2009 school year, and in August of 2009, he was recognized by the school for his work to help foster a climate that embraces diversity. During his time at Charlotte Latin, Johnston has worked with visiting artists/composers Bruce Yurko, Paul Basler, Sam Hazo, and Brian Balmages, and performed in Beijing and Shanghai, China (2001), and St. Petersburg, Russia (2005), with Charlotte Latin music students. Having been an active member at First United Methodist Church of Charlotte since 1999, Johnston has been the director of the chancel bell choir since 2002 and is currently serving as interim director of the chancel choir.

Johnston received his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from Western Carolina University, and the Master of Music degree in French horn performance from Appalachian State University.

Alicia Long is the Lower School music teacher for transitional kindergarten through fourth grade.

An Orff certified music teacher (Level I and II), Long has 10 years of teaching experience in public and private schools. She also is an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a past member of the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte. Prior to teaching, Long was an education director for the Boston Lyric Opera and the Choral Arts Society of Washington, D.C. She has been a member of the Charlotte Latin music faculty since 2008.

Long graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance, and received a Master of Arts degree in arts administration from Boston University.

In August of 2007, Ronald (Ron) D. Payne received the appointment and currently is serving as director of Upper School bands at Charlotte Latin School. He was named Latin’s music department chair in December of 2007.

In July of 2006, Payne retired with 31 years of credited service in the North Carolina public schools, most recently from Providence High School, where he served as director of bands and fine arts department chair. Bands throughout his career have been consistent grade VI “superior” bands. Under his baton, bands in 1987 and 2003 from two different high schools were selected as featured performers at the North Carolina Music Educators Association In-Service Conference. He was conferred the status of nationally registered and nationally certified music educator by the Music Educators National Conference in September of 1991.

Payne is active as a clinician, adjudicator, and performer in the southeast and is a past-president of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association. He has served many years and in numerous capacities on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Music Educators Association, most recently for a two-year term as a member-at-large. Peers have honored him by electing him as the state chairman of the American School Band Directors Association and colleagues in NCBA awarded him the Award of Excellence for outstanding achievements and contributions to public school bands in 1993. In June of 2006, he received the Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association, and in May of 2007 he was presented one of 19 Star Teacher Awards for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System. He considers his selection by his NCBA peers to serve as the 2009 High School All-State Honors Band clinician to be the highlight of his career.

Payne received his initial music training in the Kings Mountain School System from Joe Hedden and Donald Deal. He received both his M.M.E. and B.M.E. degrees (cum laude) from East Carolina University, where he studied euphonium with George Broussard and David Lewis and conducting with Robert Hause. His professional memberships include: A.S.B.D.A., M.E.N.C., N.C.M.E.A., Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha.

Irene Pointon is the director of grade five and Middle School voice ensembles. She has been teaching choral music for 32 years at the Middle and Upper School levels, and her students consistently receive superior ratings in state choral contests.

Pointon came to Charlotte Latin in 1988 from Pennsylvania, where she received her bachelor's degree in music education (as a voice major) from Edinboro University. Pointon began graduate studies at SUNY at Fredonia and completed her master's degree in music education from Winthrop University. She continues her choral and music education and choral conducting education by attending workshops and classes across the United States.

Pointon also is actively involved in solo work throughout the area. She is part of the music program at Grace Lutheran Church of Rock Hill, S.C., and is a singing member of the Renaissance Singers of Charlotte and the York County Chorale. She currently is a board member of the the York Choral Society and serves on the Renaissance Apprentice Committee for the Renaissance Singers.