Music, Art, and Drama Programs

River Guerguerian
Music Director and Teacher

The music teacher for Pre-kindergarten through high school, River brings to Odyssey his rich and extensive experience as a multi-percussionist, composer, and educator. Born in Montreal, Canada to Armenian-Egyptian parents, he received his Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music Conservatory in 1989. For over 25 years, River has been performing internationally with such groups as the BBC Concert Orchestra, New Music Consort, Grammy and Oscar winning composer Tan Dun, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Tibetan Singing Bowl Ensemble, Talujon Percussion Quartet, Chuck Berry, and Ziggy Marley/Gipsy Kings project. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by chamber ensembles, universities, modern dance companies, and new music festivals throughout the U.S.

River has performed in concert halls in New York, Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo, Rome, Sydney, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Athens, Istanbul, London, and has recorded on over 150 albums and film soundtracks.  In 1994, River sold all possessions, left civilization, and lived in a wildlife sanctuary in the Himalaya Mountains.   This immersion in nature initiated intense research and experimentation into the physiological effect of sound on brainwave states.

River is the Music Director of the “Creative Technology and Arts Center” in Asheville, NC and conducts rhythm and sound exploration workshops throughout the country.  Visit him at www.ShareTheDrum.com.

Lydia Hearne
High School Ceramics Instructor

At Odyssey, Lydia is also a preschool team teacher. She attended Earlham College, in Indiana, where she received her BA in Fine Art, with a focus in Ceramics. She later completed Haywood Community College’s program in Professional Crafts. “It feels very natural for me to be here at Odyssey,” says Lydia, “and to be able to feed the two main passions in my life, having the opportunity to work with young children and also to work in clay, offering others the chance to explore such an amazing and captivating medium.”

Thom Gaines
High School Art Instructor
Middle School and High School Creative Technology Instructor

Thom Gaines is a graduate of the School of Design at NC State University, where he studied Graphic Arts and Product Design. He worked for many years as an Art Director with Lark Books, designing book layouts and covers, and serving as a photo stylist. If you have visited the photography section of Barnes and Noble, you have seen his work. He is also the author of the book Digital Photo Madness!, which was acknowledged by the Young Adult Library Association as a 2007 top pick for teens.

Thom serves as Odyssey’s High School Art instructor and teaches MS and HS Creative Technology classes.Thom began his teaching career at the International Community School in Bangkok, Thailand, where he lived with his family for three years. He has three lovely children and a Super Woman of a wife.

Melanie Wester
Drama Instructor

 Melanie worked in theater and film for fourteen years before becoming a mom.  She has now come out of retirement to teach drama at Odyssey, where her two middle school children attend. She began to teach acting at Southeastern Louisiana University and taught acting throughout her career in theater and film.  She also worked on various films behind the camera in the art department.