Meet our Board

Norm is a string teacher and player in the Brevard area who has had many opportunities with his cello to make music with others. His chief desire is to see folks of all ages in the Brevard area experience the same joy he has received by learning a stringed instrument and playing music in a group together. “Better” is his trademark, where students develop skills that will make it possible to play music of top quality with people who can share the occasion with them. 

Susan grew up in the Low Country in the small village of Mt Pleasant, SC.  She is a retired elementary school teacher, and spent years studying classical ballet in Charleston. Working at Camp Gwynm Valley brought her to Brevard in 1987. She now enjoys hiking, gardening, and singing soprano in Transylvania Choral Society.

Mary Beth Shumate is passionate about the enrichment that music can bring to the lives of people.  She is on the board of directors for Brevard Philharmonic and coordinates the Music in the Schools programs for students in Transylvania County.  She is a retired music teacher who developed successful choral and theatre programs at Brevard High School for twenty-five years. She also enjoys singing with Transylvania Choral Society.    

Watt was born in Orangeburg SC where he attended public schools and played clarinet and saxophone in the bands. He was graduated from Davidson College in 1956 and then from the Medical College of South Carolina in 1960. After a stint in the Air Force, he completed a residency in pediatrics and joined the Children’s Clinic in Greenville SC, where he practiced until 2003. In college he played in the concert and marching bands and in jazz bands. Now in retirement in Brevard he enjoys the community’s outstanding music environment of bluegrass, old time mountain, jazz, and classical music; and occasionally strums a twelve-string guitar.

Rita Lollar attended UNC-Chapel Hill and Cincinnati Conservatory, attaining degrees in Music Education and Oboe Performance.  Rita taught elementary band and strings in Atlanta for 17 years.  She is a Brevard native and moved back to Cedar Mountain in retirement.  She has performed in several community orchestras in the Atlanta area for 20 years.  Rita loves being surrounded by such fantastic musicians in the Brevard area, and looks forward to helping develop new talent in Brevard.

Clara Leonard grew up in Cary, NC, and began playing the cello as a member of a public middle school string orchestra. She continued her string education through the Wake County Public School System until attending Belmont University in 2014. Clara minored in Cello Performance at Belmont, where she played in the Symphony Orchestra and String Ensemble and participated in a string quartet. She moved to Brevard in 2025 and became a member of the Mountain Laurel String Ensemble. Clara is passionate about ensuring that young students in Transylvania County have access to affordable string education.