Artists

Andy Loerch is a founding member of the Fairwinds Quintet. He returned to bassoon playing following a long hiatus, and has been the principal bassoonist in the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra for the past eight years. He also performs with the Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra and the Manassas Bach Orchestra, and has appeared with the George Mason University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. He is a performing member of the Friday Morning Music Club and has performed in the FMMC Chorale Orchestra. Andy is a student of Douglas Kehlenbrink. He serves as chair of the publicity committee for the Board of Directors of the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra. In his spare time, Andy is an associate professor in the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University, holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and is a huge fan of the New York Yankees.

Barry Traylor is a native of California, growing up in the San Francisco area. He attended the University of California, Irvine, where he studied music, math and computer science. While he was in the Los Angeles area, Barry studied oboe with Bill Criss and bassoon with Kay Brightman. Moving to the Philadelphia, PA area in 1984, Barry studied oboe with Peter Smith and bassoon with Shirley Curtiss. Barry moved to the Washington, D.C. area in February, 2005. He has been musically active wherever he has lived, playing innumerable orchestral works, chamber music pieces, operas and operettas, including nearly all of the Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire. Barry is currently principal oboist of the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra and occasionally fills in as an oboist and English horn player in the Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra; he is a performing member of the Friday Morning Music Club of Washington, DC. While primarily an oboist these days, Barry still occasionally plays bassoon duets with friends. He has taught both oboe and bassoon students.

Alisha Coleman is a member of the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra and the 257th Army National Guard Band of Washington, DC. As a former Principal Clarinetist with the Washington Symphony Orchestra she has shared the stage with country artist Charlie Daniels, and gospel artist BeBe Winans, Richard Smallwood and Vicki Winans in performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, DAR Constitution Hall and the legendary Lincoln Theatre. She was also Principal Clarinet and soloist with NVCC-Annandale Symphony Orchestra and founder and Artistic Director of the Annandale Chamber Players. She is a performing member of the Friday Morning Music Club. Her freelance credits include appearances with the Soulful Symphony at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, MD, the McLean Orchestra under the direction of Colonel Arnald Gabriel, the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, and the American Wind Orchestra with guest conductor Frederick Fennell. Ms. Coleman holds the Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University with an emphasis in Music Industry. Her teachers have included S. James Kurtz, Les Nicholas and Sidney Forrest. She was also a master class participant with Larry Combs at the DePaul University Clarinet Workshop in 2001. Currently, she is a board member of the Washington Sinfonietta and is Director of Career Services at Stratford University.

Damon Nelson joined the Fairwinds quintet in 2001 and has been a member of the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra since 1999. In 2006, he got the opportunity to solo with this orchestra and enjoyed it immensely. He also plays in the Prince William Community Band and other small ensembles when possible. Damon enjoys playing the occasional summer musical, too. Four productions throughout the summer of 2007 have kept him very busy. Ongoing education includes several years pursuing a performance degree at George Mason University. It is not quite completed, but he hopes to get back eventually and polish that off. During those musical years in college, Damon studied horn with Edwin Thayer, Principal Horn Emeritus of the National Symphony Orchestra. He is a performing member of the Friday Morning Music Club. In the non-musical arena, he served in the U.S. Navy for 6 years as an electrician and after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996 with a BSEE, continues to support his musical habits by working as an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin in Manassas, VA.