ATLANTA — The Georgia State University School of Music is pleased to welcome six new part-time faculty members to its community this fall: jazz vocalist Lauren “LAVAHI” Highsmith, violist Dr. Kathryn Schmidt Steely, double bassist Adam Bernstein, percussionists Joe Petrasek and Caleb Herron, jazz guitarist Paul Fischer and collaborative pianist Hyun Hwa Jang.
Lauren “LAVAHI” Highsmith — Jazz Voice
Lauren “LAVAHI” Highsmith is a jazz-crossover vocalist, songwriter and professor whose career is defined by a singular artistic identity: she approaches the voice not as a solo instrument but as a voice within the ensemble, engaging each song with craft, curiosity and a deep respect for its unique possibilities. Moving fluidly between jazz, soul, contemporary repertoire and original work, she has built a distinctive presence in Atlanta’s creative community while developing a growing national profile.
Her performance credits span intimate listening rooms to major stages across the country. She has appeared at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, Capital Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s Club in New York, Blues Alley, City Winery and the High Museum of Art, among others. Her recent work includes touring through the South Arts Jazz Roads program with Atlanta’s BOOM! Trio. Throughout her career she has collaborated with artists spanning multiple generations of Black music and contemporary jazz, including Fred Wesley, LaTocha Scott, Yola, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Kenny Banks Jr., among others.
As a scholar, Highsmith’s academic work has explored the intersections of literature, music, culture and performance, including her published chapter “Beyoncé Reborn: Lemonade as Spiritual Enlightenment” in The Lemonade Reader. Beyond the stage and classroom, she is the founder and CEO of Replay and Rewind Records and serves in leadership roles with Positive Music for Positive Minds, Music in the Park and the Cornerstone Jazz Foundation.
In the studio, Highsmith’s philosophy centers on the kind of listening that transforms a musician. “I hope students leave my studio with more than stronger technique,” she said. “I want them to leave with the tools to build a healthy, sustainable instrument, a discerning ear and an artistic identity that’s genuinely their own. We cultivate those tools through curiosity, confidence and deep listening — to themselves, to one another and to the music.”
“We study the tradition not simply to preserve it, but to contribute to it. We’ve had Ella. We’ve had Sarah. We’ve had Johnny. The practice invites us to ask: Who are you?”
Dr. Kathryn Schmidt Steely — Viola
Dr. Kathryn Schmidt Steely arrives at Georgia State with one of the most distinguished viola pedagogical records in the country. Formerly Professor of Viola at Baylor University School of Music — where she received the Outstanding Professor Award for Teaching in 2007 — her students have gone on to leading conservatories and summer music festivals nationwide and are active across a wide range of music professions. She has presented master classes across the country, including two guest residencies at the Oberlin College Conservatory, and is a founding faculty member of the Credo Chamber Music summer festival in Oberlin, Ohio. She has served as president of the American Viola Society and editor of the Journal of the American Viola Society, and has served on the jury of the Primrose International Viola Competition on several occasions.
As a performer, Steely is an avid chamber musician whose 2024 Centaur album Music for Flute, Viola, and Piano features recently composed works for that combination. Her 2010 album of the Flackton Viola Sonatas on MSR Classics was reviewed by Fanfare as “a delight.” She has performed at several International Viola Congresses — including the 2026 Paris International Viola Congress — and performs regularly with Philharmonie Austin, a period instrument ensemble. Also an experienced orchestral violist, she has performed with the Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and Fort Worth Symphony, among many others. She holds degrees from Bethel College, the Cleveland Institute of Music and Northwestern University.
In the studio, Steely’s approach is grounded in the belief that every student carries a unique voice and story. “We are all works in progress,” she said. “I hope to help students gain a sense of joyful curiosity in developing their musical skills and the confidence to embrace performance as a means of sharing their music with others, built upon a solid technical foundation. Every person has a unique voice and a unique story to tell. I want to be a resource for that journey.”
Adam Bernstein — Double Bass
Atlanta native Adam Bernstein is one of the Southeast’s most in-demand freelance bassists — a fixture of the region’s professional scene for more than a decade and a musician equally at home in symphony halls, recording studios and local breweries. He serves as Principal Bassist with the Atlanta Ballet, Assistant Principal in the South Carolina Symphony and holds tenured section positions with the Huntsville and Columbus orchestras. He performs regularly with the Atlanta Symphony, Alabama Symphony and Charleston Symphony and maintains an active schedule with the Atlanta Opera and Chamber Cartel new music ensemble. He holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Michigan State University.
Comfortable across virtually every genre, Bernstein has performed on multiple Grammy-nominated albums, recorded with artists ranging from country to indie-rock and shared the stage with some of the greatest musicians in the world. He has toured across multiple continents and appeared in some of the finest concert halls globally.
As a teacher, Bernstein brings the same breadth of perspective to the studio. “My top priority as a teacher is helping my students to understand themselves,” he said. “Using music as a lens for that goal, I try to focus on building healthy habits, authenticity and empathy with the self and others. Creating art is a difficult process and learning to value both success and failure is a lifelong challenge which extends well beyond the stage, the practice room or the instrument.”
“The goal will always be to maintain integrity in the face of adversity, and to continue finding joy in a path which is defined by infinite challenge, growth and nuance.”
Beyond his performing and teaching career, Bernstein is currently developing a free, accessible pedagogical toolset for students — a project that encompasses a treatise, curated exercises, video resources, PDFs and an app designed to address the gaps in music education that existing platforms leave unfilled. “Creating a free, accessible and functional toolset for the average student to achieve excellence is a lifelong goal which I am constantly redefining,” he said. “I look forward to the ways in which my time at GSU will teach me more about how others learn, what students need and what I can do to help my studio sound their best.”
Joe Petrasek — Percussion
Joe Petrasek is one of the most accomplished orchestral percussionists in the country. He has served as Principal
Percussionist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 2017 and Principal Percussionist of the Colorado Music Festival since 2019. Prior to his Atlanta appointment he served as Associate Principal Percussionist of the Kansas City Symphony for eight seasons and was a percussion fellow at the New World Symphony. He has appeared as Guest Principal with the San Francisco Symphony and has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and LA Philharmonic. He holds degrees from UCLA and Temple University.
His appointment brings world-class orchestral experience directly into the GSU percussion studio, giving students a rare opportunity to study with a principal player actively performing at the highest professional level in their own city.
Caleb Herron — Percussion
Caleb Herron is a percussionist, educator and chamber music advocate from Duluth, Georgia — and a proud alumnus of the Georgia State University School of Music. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University and a Master’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and his principal teachers have been Dr. Morris Palter and Dr. Stuart Gerber.
Herron serves as Principal Percussionist of the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra and Principal Timpanist of the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra. His performance credits span an extraordinary range of genres and contexts: he has performed with artists including Nas, Gregory Alan Isakov, Angélique Kidjo, Il Divo, Il Volo, Lindsey Stirling, Evanescence and Mark Wood, and has been an active presence in Atlanta’s musical theater community through numerous local pit orchestra engagements.
As a chamber musician, Herron founded Chamber Cartel, an Atlanta-based contemporary chamber music ensemble dedicated to performing and commissioning new works. Since its founding in 2012 the ensemble has commissioned more than twenty works from composers including Carolyn Chen, Marc Yeats, Christopher Adler, Drew Baker and Anthony Donofrio, among others. Herron currently teaches at Georgia State University Perimeter College and Morehouse College and is an active clinician at Atlanta-area middle and high schools.
Paul Fischer — Jazz Improvisation 
Paul Fischer is a guitarist and educator whose musical journey spans two coasts, several continents and a deep love for the grooves of the past. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz from Goucher College and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Georgia State University School of Music — making him another GSU alumnus returning to contribute to the program that shaped him.
After completing his undergraduate degree, Fischer relocated to Seattle, Washington, where he studied privately with Randy Halberstadt, Don Mock and Kevin Callahan and built an active performing career. His performance credits include appearances at Jazz à Vienne, the Ballard Jazz Festival and the East Coast Jazz Festival, as well as tours with Soft Shoe Shuffle, Camille Bloom and Bright Archer. He has recorded several albums including two with drummer Barrett Martin’s group for Sunyata Records. A guitarist with wide-ranging musical interests, Fischer has a particular passion for the Boogaloo music of the 1960s and ’70s. He will teach beginning jazz improvisation at both the main and Perimeter campuses.
Hyun Hwa Jang — Collaborative Piano
Hyun Hwa Jang brings more than two decades of collaborative experience to the Georgia State University School of Music, where she joins as a collaborative pianist this fall. A Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Piano Performance at the University of Georgia — and a Georgia State alumna, holding both a Master of Music and Artist’s Certificate in Piano Performance from GSU — her work encompasses art song, opera, choral and instrumental repertoire, chamber music and rehearsal coaching. She has worked extensively with singers, instrumentalists, choirs and chamber ensembles in South Korea and the United States and is currently a member of Avék Trio, L’Abri Trio and P Classic Ensemble.
Her recent performance highlights include two invited duo recitals with saxophonist Kenny Baik at the University of North Georgia, a piano trio recital at Carnegie Hall in 2023 and a series of invited trio recitals in Seoul and Incheon, South Korea in 2024. In 2025 she performed at the 80th Anniversary Korean Independence Concert at Gas South Arena. Upcoming engagements with Avék Trio include an appearance on the Guest Artist Series at Covenant College and an invited recital in Chile presented by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Chile.
Jang has appeared as a soloist with the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, the Georgia Festival Orchestra and the Georgia State University Symphony Orchestra, and won the 2017 Brumby Concerto and Aria Competition at Georgia State University. Her international studies have included the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, the Paris International Summer Sessions and the International Piano Course in Valldemossa, Spain. Her principal teachers have included Sergio Gallo, Lusia Glagoleva, Keyonghee Min and Liza Stepanova.
Together these seven faculty members reflect the School of Music’s ongoing commitment to bringing working professionals, master educators and community-rooted artists into the classroom — ensuring that students learn not just from the tradition, but from the people actively shaping it.