Eric Chu
Director of Music and Worship
Voice/Clarinet Instructor
Eric Chu is a former cantor at St. Patrick and St. Aloysius in Pewee Valley. He is a recent graduate of the University of Louisville with a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting and B.A. in Music studying Voice. Prior to following his passion in music, he completed his B.S. in Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is currently a member of the Louisville Chamber Choir, a premium choral ensemble that collaborates with the Louisville Orchestra annually for Handel’s Messiah and other events during the season. He is also an alumni member of the University of Louisville Cardinal Singers that provided him numerous opportunities to participate in national choral conventions and concert tours abroad in Europe and Asia.
Eric has a rich experience in the field of choral singing through performing in numerous international festivals and competitions. He has won numerous awards through singing with the Cardinal Singers, the most recent being the grand prize at the International Choir Competition in Zadar, Croatia.
Brady DeWitt
Guitar Instructor
Brady DeWitt recently graduated from Bellarmine University with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. While there, he studied jazz guitar with Craig Wagner, a well-known musician in the Louisville community, and strives to become a better player and person every day. Brady was primarily self-taught when he started learning the guitar at 13 years old. He enjoys the works of other famous guitarists such as Kirk Hammett, Alex Skolnick, Matt Heafy, Dave Mustaine, John Petrucci and many more. Brady is very new to the world of teaching and has found it to be fun, challenging, and rewarding.
Kayla Hibbs
Guitar/Ukulele Instructor
Kayla Hibbs is a classical guitarist who studied with Dr. Stephen Mattingly at the University of Louisville where she earned her Bachelor's in Guitar Performance in 2018 and her Master's in String Pedagogy in 2020. In 2019, she was accepted to take part in the first United States Guitar Orchestra (USGO) tour which performed in Carnegie Hall and various cities in France. Through her experiences, she plans to help others find their passion in music. Outside of teaching, Kayla enjoys participating in guitar festivals like the Eastern Music Festival (EMF) in North Carolina and the Aaron Shearer Summer Institute in Mt. Zion, Utah. She has also volunteered for the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) and was a volunteer coordinator for the Louisville Guitar Festival.
Erica Rumbley
Piano Instructor
Erica Rumbley has taught and performed collaboratively in both the United States and China. She received a B.S. in Piano Performance from Olivet Nazarene University in 2006 before going on to earn double Master’s degrees in Piano Performance and Musicology at the University of Kentucky. In 2014, she completed a Ph.D. in Musicology at the University of Kentucky, specializing in American music of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dr. Rumbley has performed widely as a pianist, traveling to several states and countries to play. In 2012, she was a piano fellow at the International Performing Artist’s Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany, where she collaborated closely with vocalists from around the world. In the Lexington area, she was widely sought after as a collaborative pianist, accompanying vocal and instrumental recitals and serving as a Faculty Pianist at Transylvania University for six years. She also gave numerous solo and lecture recitals, focusing especially on the music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk as well as performing works by female composers.
In addition to performance, Dr. Rumbley has taught private piano and violin lessons for over ten years, and is passionate about sharing her love of music with students. She has also instructed University Music History classes in a variety of contexts. Before moving to Louisville, she taught piano and served as faculty pianist at Ningxia University in Yinchuan, China. She is excited to be part of the teaching staff at St. Gabriel Academy.
Darian Sears
Director of the Academy of Music
Piano/Violin/Viola Instructor
Darian Sears has been teaching piano at the St. Gabriel Academy of Music since its grand opening in 2018 and was appointed Director in July 2019. In addition to teaching privately, Darian conducts the Music Enrichment program at St. Gabriel Preschool where she teaches and engages young students by exposing them to many styles, genres, and instruments each week.
Darian graduated magna cum laude with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Pedagogy, Accompanying, and Arts Administration from Bellarmine University where she studied under Meme Tunnell (piano) and Jonathan Mueller (viola). She holds her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance & Pedagogy from Ohio University where she studied under Dr. Christopher Fisher. While there, she taught in the group piano program and served as an accompanist to the Ohio University Women’s Ensemble. She is also an active freelance musician around Louisville where she plays for weddings, musicals, choirs, and private events.