Jay-Martin Pinner ~ violin, viola, cello, double bass
Jay earned a bachelor of arts degree in church music and a master of arts degree in violin performance from
He served as president of the South Carolina Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and as editor for the SCMENC Festival String Orchestra List. His composition Downtown Suite for Strings was premiered by the Bob Jones Elementary School String Orchestra and won the National School Orchestra Association Composition Contest. The South Carolina Chapter of the American String Teachers Association commissioned him to write Fanfare & Allegro for Strings, which was premiered by the SC Junior All-State String Orchestra. His compositions and arrangements appear in the catalogs of several publishers, including David E. Smith, SoundForth, and Alfred. He is listed in "Who's Who in American Music."
Jay has appeared as concertmaster, soloist and conductor with the BJU Symphony Orchestra, and for five seasons played principal viola with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted the BJU Symphony Orchestra in concert and on tour, and shared conducting responsibilities for the BJU High School Festival String Orchestra. He guest conducts for string sectional rehearsals with the Carolina Youth Symphony, and has conducted and given master classes for Furman University's Summer Band/Orchestra Camp. He regularly appears as a clinician and conductor for All-State, Honors and Regional Orchestras, and adjudicates for orchestra festivals.
Jay's wife, Dianne, is a violinist and faculty member in the string department at Bob Jones University. In 1990, Jay and Dianne began publishing sacred string music for solo, duet, quartet and string orchestra. Pinner Publications has grown to include nearly 200 compositions and arrangements by more than 20 talented writers.
Jay and Dianne have two sons, Brian and Nathan, who play violin, viola and classical guitar. The Pinners perform as a string quartet for weddings, receptions and corporate events.
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Annie Gabel ~ violin, viola, cello
Annie graduated in 2008 from Bob Jones University with a Bachelor of Music degree in String Pedagogy. As a violinist she studied with Jay-Martin Pinner, former head of the string department at BJU, and she played section first violin in the BJU Symphony Orchestra. She studied viola with Janice Hutton, and cello with Christine Lee, both members of the BJU string faculty.
Prior to coming to BJU, Annie studied with Arnold Anderson, a professional string maker, and with Dr. Marion Judish, professor of violin and viola at St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Annie played with Great River Strings, and performed as soloist with the Heartland Symphony Orchestra.
Annie has also taught in the Encore strings program at Stone Academy in Greenville.
She and her husband, Lane, are the proud owners of an adorable puppy named Rocky.
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Aubrey Elliott ~ harp
Aubrey graduated in 2011 from Bob Jones University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education with harp and trumpet as her principal and secondary instruments. She performed as principal harpist with the BJU Symphonic Wind Band and the Symphony Orchestra. She was principal harpist for the University's 2010 Opera Association production of Samson et Dalila. Aubrey is pursuing a Master of Music degree in harp performance at BJU and is a member of the University's Chamber Harp Ensemble. Aubrey is also taking related studies in Harp Literature and masterclasses under Dr. Susann McDonald, Distinguished Professor of Harp at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.
Additional orchestral appearances include the Greenville County Youth Orchestra, the Foothills Philharmonic, and the Clemson University Symphonic Wind Band.
Aubrey has studied harp with Emily Waggoner and Anita Burroughs-Price. She has participated in masterclasses with Dr. Carrol McLaughlin, Sarah Bullen, Susan Bennet-Brady, Liz Cifani, Joyce Fankhauser, and Kim Robertson.
Aubrey enjoys playing harp and trumpet in her church orchestra, and for the past four summers has traveled as harpist with the BJU Musical Mission Team in Western Europe.
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Tracy Figard ~ violin, viola
Tracy Figard earned a Bachelor's degree in Violin Performance and Historic Keyboard, then a Masters degree in Viola Performance from Northwestern University. At Northwestern she served as concertmaster of the University Chamber Orchestra and the University Symphony Orchestra. She studied violin and viola with Roland and Almita Vamos, and organ with Margaret Kemper.
Tracy has won awards in numerous competitions including the Samuel and Elinor Thaviu String Scholarship Competition, Union League Civic and Arts Competition, the James Glacking Memorial Music Competition, the Evanston Music Club Scholarship, the Farwell Award of the Musicians Club of Women, the Nancy Fuqua memorial Musical Arts Competition and the Chicago/North Shore chapter of the American Guild of Organists competition.
She has performed as soloist with the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, the Peninsula Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, the Northwestern Symphony Summer Orchestra, the North Suburban Symphony, the Waukegan Symphony, the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and the Lake Forest Symphony.
Tracy and her sister, Kristin, often perform together, and have released two CDs. The two sisters have performed on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series and the Live from Studio One Series.
Tracy was the pianist for the Chicago Master Singers from 2007-2011. She was also on staff as accompanist for Northwestern University and DePaul University. As an accompanist she has coached students from the studios of Roland and Almita Vamos as well as the studios of Ilya and Olga Kaler.
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Isaac Greene ~ classical guitar
Isaac Greene is a Church Music Major at Bob Jones University with classical guitar as his principal instrument. He studies with Christopher Berg (graduate of Peabody Conservatory) at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.
In 2009, Isaac was one of the top three finalists in the annual BJU String Commencement Contest. This past summer Isaac had the unique opportunity of traveling throughout Western Europe with the Musical Ministry Team from BJU.
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Rachael Mantelli ~ violin, viola
Rachael, from Rochester, New York, is a senior Violin Performance major at Bob Jones University where she studies with Dianne Pinner. She is a section first violinist with the BJU Sympony Orchestra and is preparing to present her senior recital in March of 2012.
Before coming to BJU Rachael studied violin with Karine Stone, an Eastman School of Music graduate. Rachael has also played in the Eastman Community Music School Orchestra and the Fingerlakes Symphony Orchestra. She is also a pianist having studied at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance with Joseph Werner, the personnel manger and principal keyboardist for the Rochester Philharmonic.
Rachael has taught violin and piano for seven years, and enjoys sharing her love of music by teaching, playing in her church, and performing in the community.
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Chris Powell ~ cello
Chris is originally from Louisville, KY, and is a free-lance cellist now based in Greenville, SC. He began studying cello after a cellist visited his third grade classroom and shared his love of music. Chris studied at the Louisville Academy of Music and then began lessons with Megumi Ohkubo. Chris served as principal cellist for the Louisville Youth Orchestra's Repertory and Symphony Orchestras. He also was the co-winner of the Mastropolo Cello Scholarship and attended the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts. In 1997 Chris had the the honor to meet and audition for Janos Starker and the Indiana University Music Program. Chris was accepted at Indiana but decided to attend the University of Evansville. He performed in the cello sections of the Evansville Philharmonic and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. He then moved back to Louisville and continued his studies at the University of Louisville School of Music where he served as principal cellist for four years.
Chris enjoys teaching students of all ages. He taught at the Kentucky Country Day Academy as assistant orchestra director and visited schools in Jefferson County, Oldham County and southern Indiana, introducing the cello to students. He also taught cello for the Kentucky School for the Blind.
Since moving to Greenville Chris has performed with the Carolina Pops Orchestra, Classic Touch, the Pinner String Quartet, the Bob Jones University Symphony Orchestra, and the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.
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