The Academy of Music at St. Francis in the Fields offers excellent musical instruction with a faculty of highly trained musicians who are committed to teaching.  Instruction is offered through private lessons, monthly performance classes, recitals, master classes as well as summer courses in theory, music appreciation and performance literature.  The Academy teaches piano, violin, voice, guitar, flute, and cello.  For more information, please contact Nancy Albrink or Eleanor Borus at: 502-228-1157, or by e-mail at: academyofmusic@bellsouth.net. Visit the Academy's website at:   www.academyatstfrancis.org

Faculty, 2007-2008

NANCY ALBRINK (PIANO, VOCAL  COACH) holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from GeorgiaStateUniversity in Atlanta where her teachers were Betty Anne Diaz and William Masselos.  After a summer of study with Lee Luvisi at the Aspen Music Festival, Ms. Albrink came to Louisvilleas a student of Mr. Luvisi, artist-in-residence at the University of Louisville School of Music.  She completed her Master of Music degree in piano performance in 1977.  Since graduation, Ms. Albrink has been in demand as a teacher, developing students known for the quality of their playing, many of whom have been winners of numerous local, state, and regional competitions.  In 1988, she became Lee Luvisi’s teaching assistant at the Universityof Louisville, a position held until Mr. Luvisi’s retirement in 2002.  Ms. Albrink was a founding member of the Ceruti Chamber Players, a performing chamber ensemble with musicians from the Louisville Orchestra and received a Kentucky Foundation for Women grant to support her work with that group.  In 1997, she founded the Academyof Musicat St. Francis in the Fields and serves as its Artistic Director.  She received the 2006 Gheens Music Mentor Award in March.  Ms. Albrink has two children, Emily and Peter.

MICHAEL DAVIS (VIOLIN) has been Concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra since the age of 26.  He is a graduate of IndianaUniversitywhere he received a Bachelor of Music degree with distinction and a Master of Music degree in 1983.  Studying with James Buswell at IndianaUniversity, he also served as an Associate Instructor of Violin there while doing his graduate work.  A very active performer, Mr. Davis has given concerts in both Carnegie Hall and the KennedyCenterwithin the past few years.  In addition to these and other U.S.performances, he has concertized in both Europeand Asia.  Summer activities include or have included participation in the Grand Teton Music Festival, Spoleto Festival, Kneisel Hall Music Festival and Laurel Festival of the Arts.  Of particular interest, Mr. Davis is Artistic Director of the Gerhart Chamber Music Festival where he has performed each June for over a decade.

CAROLINE CHAPMAN(VOCAL COACH, PIANO) holds a Masters in Music from Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor in Music summa cum laude from the Universityof Louisville. She has appeared in numerous rolls with American Music Productions of Manhattan School of Music as well as the Opera Theatre of University of Louisville.  She made her professional debut with the Kentucky Opera in the role of the Shepherd in Tosca.  Also a fine concert artist, Ms. Chapman has performed as a soprano soloist with the Universityof Louisville Orchestrain works such as Haydn’s Creation and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia. Ms. Chapman has studied under the instruction of Cynthia Hoffmann of the ManhattanSchooland Edith Davis Tidwell of the Universityof Louisville.  She has worked with exceptional coaches and instructors such as Mignon Dunn, Cristina Stanescu, Gaït Sirguey, and Kenneth Merrill.  Also an accomplished pianist, Ms. Chapman accompanied the Universityof Louisville Collegiate Choraleand the Blackburn University Choir and Madrigals. 

ZACK COBLENS (PIANO), a native of Louisville, was a pre-college piano student of Nancy Albrink.  A graduate of KentuckyCountryDay School, Zack continued his musical studies at WestminsterChoirCollegeand New YorkUniversitybefore returning to Louisville.  Zack is currently completing a degree in piano pedagogy at the Universityof Louisville.

KRISTEN KINMAN(PIANO) completed her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees summa cum laude in piano performance at the Universityof Louisvilleas a student of Artist-in-Residence Lee Luvisi and his assistant Nancy Albrink.  Born and raised in the Carolinas, she received most of her prior training from Ernestine Smith in Greenville, South Carolina.  Ms. Kinman also studied and performed as a student at the BrevardMusicCenter.  Kristen has been teaching at the Academy since its inception in 1997.  She currently enjoys accompanying and playing chamber music.  She is married to Aaron Kinman and they have two children, Klara and Caleb. 

JOHN E. HERNANDEZ (PIANO)was born in Loja, Ecuador.  His piano studies were completed under the guidance of Toshko Stoyanov and Irina Solomonova at the Salvador Bustamante Celi National Conservatory of Music where he earned a degree in music with distinction.   In 1999, he received a diploma in piano performance with highest honors from Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, where he studied with Reinaldo Canizares.  He holds a Master degree in Piano Performance from the Universityof Louisville, where he was a student of Dr. Vernon Cherrix.  Mr. Hernandez is the winner of national competitions in Ecuadorsuch as the “Guillermo Wright Vallarino Competition” in 1989, the “Cultural Merit for Outstanding Musician” in 1990 by the City Hallof Loja, and the “German Cultural Center Competition” in 1993.  As a chamber musician and accompanist, he has performed with outstanding artists such as sopranos Beatriz Parra and Astrid Achi, tenor Hernan Tamayo, violinist Nicolay Rogatchevsky, cellist Luis Leguia, among others.  In addition to many concerts, Mr. Hernandez has also performed at festivals such as the Philharmonic Festival 1994, the 2002 Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina, and the International Symposium and Piano Festival at PrincetonUniversityin 2005.

PAOLA MANRIQUE (VIOLIN) was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She started her musical studies at the age of six with her father, who introduced her to the violin.  By the age of sixteen she had graduated from the National Conservatory of Music of Guayaquil.  In 1994 she came to the United Statesto perform at the United Nations and at the Organization of the Americaswith theFilanbanco Orchestra, in which she had been concertmaster for five years.  In 1997 she arrived in Louisville, Kentuckywhere she received her undergraduate degree in 2001 as the outstanding student of her class and her Master degree in 2003. In Louisvilleshe has been very active performing as an orchestra member, soloist and chamber musician   In the summer she teaches and participates at the Concordia’s Summer Music camp in Nebraska.  Currently she is a member of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra.

CHRISTOPHER TOLBERT(GUITAR) studied classical guitar at the Universityof Louisvillebefore earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in music with an emphasis in jazz from BellarmineCollege.  He has performed in master classes with Christopher Parkening, Jim Hall, Jimmy Rainy, and Howard Alden.  As a member of the Juggernaut Jug Band, Chris has toured throughout the United Statesand Canada, and was featured in Actor’s Theater of Louisville’s production of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”.  He has performed at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, the Sacramento, Las Vegas, and Lake Tahoe Jazz Festivals, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.  Chris and his wife, Mary Alice, have two daughters, Gillian and Eleanor.