Alli Mae Carnes - Executive Director
Alli has been teaching children ages 3-18 for about 10 years, and adults for 3 years. She has taught dance in multiple styles such as jazz, ballet, tap, contemporary, acrobatics, hip-hop, and musical theatre, including for competition teams, as well as cheerleading, acting, singing, and improv classes. Alli is an Adjunct Professor for the Musical Theatre Department at William Peace University. She has choreographed and taught dance for both community and professional theatres, and has worked as a teaching artist for many companies in the Triangle area such as North Carolina Theatre Conservatory, Saint Mary’s School, Sanderson High School, Raleigh ACT, Raleigh Little Theatre, Gallery Players, Stage Door Dance, Raleigh School of Music, and Justice Theatre Project. Alli feels fortunate to have taught thousands of students during her tenure as a teaching artist.
Teaching is her passion. Once you are a student of Mrs. Alli’s, you’re considered her student forever! Long after class or lessons are over, she is always more than willing to assist with advice, guidance, feedback, questions, etc. No matter the subject, Alli’s teaching style is "I do, we do, you do." In practice, she demonstrates how to do something, they do it together, then the student does it on their own. She is a big believer in talking the student through an answer rather than giving it to them. This encourages creativity and teaches the student to trust themselves and their natural, creative instincts.
With her background as a Qualified Mental Health Professional and Applied Behavior Analysis Therapist, she uses her mental health training in her teaching. She is a certified Trauma Informed Voice Practitioner and teaches all art through a psychological lens, with a neurodiversity affirming approach — this allows students to feel safe, secure, and aligned with their truest, most authentic selves.
Meet the Team!
Abi Mowbray
Managing Director
-
Abi L. Mowbray is a performer, stage and production manager, theatre technician, and arts administrator from the Northeast Georgia mountains. Her work has led her all over the country, from the rivers of Idaho to the deserts of West Texas. Abi’s past work includes new works, book musicals, opera, dance, and event space management. Her favorite project with Glow Lyric Theatre, Stinney: An American Execution, won the 2023 American Prize in Opera. Outside of her work in the arts, she is an avid Barbie collector, and loves spending time with her two cats, Miss Bernadette Peters, and Mr. Leko.
Anna Sledge
Associate Piano Coach
-
Anna grew up in a musical household with a mom who studied music education at Old Dominion University and began teaching Anna piano at home at an early age. Growing up with kids coming and going for their private piano lessons, it seems only natural that the apple has not fallen far.
Anna received her Bachelor of Music degree from East Carolina University where she studied Classical Guitar and Piano. She has been teaching private piano lessons for over 20 years and truly enjoys the journey with each student. She is based out of Cary, NC.
Currently, her students range from 5 to 65 years old and she embraces the idea that we are all unique and amazing individuals! She understands that everyone has different goals and learning styles and she tries to provide a learning environment that is supportive and encouraging and can facilitate growth as her students develop their skills and love of music!
Crystal Bacon
Associate Dance Coach
-
Crystal has a Bachelor's degree in Dance Education from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC
She has danced since the age of two at Dance Creations Studio as well as Carnage Middle and Enloe High School before attending College at Meredith, where she joined the Meredith Dance Theater and toured along the east coast performing in adjudicated concerts. She has worked with and studied under Michelle Pearson, Kathryn Auman, Chuck Davis, LD Burris, Carol Finley, Doug Varone, Gerri Houlihan, David Dorfman, Alison Colwell-Waber, Sherri Shapiro, and many other teachers and guest artist in residency in her college career as a dancer. She was regularly chosen to perform in guest artist dances and was often able to perform all around NC. She then taught in Raleigh at Carnage Middle School for several years and created two concerts each year as well as attended Middle School Day of Dance with them each year. She moved to West Johnston High School in 2003, where she taught several years. She traveled with her high school students to High School Day of Dance and summers in NYC. She also created the West Johnston Dance Team, based on students' interest and ability, in which dancers performed at various sports events.
While attending High School, College, and during her years teaching in the public schools, she has always held down a job at night, teaching in various private studios in the area, specializing in ballet, jazz, and lyrical classes. She has traveled to New York City many years during the summers to take classes at Broadway Dance Center and S.T.E.P.S on Broadway and has taken classes with Frank Hatchett as well as many other amazing teachers at these studios. She has also attended private workshops with the David Dorfman Dance Co. as well as performed his works. She is an avid fan of Broadway shows and attends them regularly, as well as various Modern Dance Companies. She served on several professional boards throughout her career. She served on the board of NCAAHPERD (a professional association for dance teachers) for many years and served as a board member and President of the Arts Council for NC. She also led a professional master class at NCAAHPERD on black history and dance. She attended ACDFA (Atlantic College Dance Festival Association) all four years of college as well as the NCAAHPERD conference. She thoroughly enjoyed the continued professional development and distinctly remembers classes taught on Isadora Duncan technique (the “mother” of modern dance) and a saucy jazz number by Freddie Lee Heath, fellow public school dance teacher. Crystal has also been a guest judge for many local studios and schools to help choose dance company members. She is currently judging for National dance competitions as well.
Crystal currently teaches 3-4 nights a week at DanceArt Studio in NC where she is also serving as Creative Director. She has been with this studio for 15 years and has taken many award winning dances to various competitions along the East Coast. During the morning hours, she also currently works as a Preschool Director in downtown Raleigh, where she has implemented a creative movement program into the curriculum. Her passion has been dance since she was old enough to walk, and she has been in dance classes since she was three. She sees dance as a universal form of expression and communication, and feels you have not lived until you have danced!
DJ Brinson
Associate Acting Coach
-
DJ is grateful to be joining the AMCS team! Think of his creative background like a Swiss Army knife—versatile, sharp, and ready for anything. His portfolio spans stage, film, content creation, talent representation, and arts education. DJ has been teaching acting since 2011, lending his expertise to performing arts facilities, professional regional theaters, and specialized talent agency workshops.
Estelle Idoko
Associate Voice Coach
-
Estelle Idoko is a Singing Coach, Singer, and Actor from Greensboro, NC, currently pursuing a Masters in Music and Music Education at Columbia University (Hybrid Summer Program). She has taught beginner-level, virtual voice lessons in her private studio and has hosted virtual and in-person singing and performance classes in collaboration with other arts organizations. She is also the host of the internationally ranked Sing Confidently, Live Creatively Podcast, where she shares vocal exercises, singing tips, and interviews with NYC actors, a Broadway performer, a Latin Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, and more. As a singer, Estelle sings background vocals for local artists and leads on the worship team at RCCG Restoration in Burlington, NC. As an actor, her credits include Talismans (Creative Greensboro, Evening of Short Plays), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shared Radiance Performing Arts Company), and Comedy of Errors (Shared Radiance Performing Arts Company). She holds a B.S. in Psychology from VCU, where she also studied voice and has completed an online Professional Certificate in Voice Technique and Musicianship at Berklee College School of Music. She loves helping people, young and old, to reconnect to their love for creativity and the arts so they can start singing and performing again!
Mairym Azcona
Associate Voice Coach
-
Miss Mairym is a voice teacher, acting coach, audition prep expert, and voice-over specialist at AMCS — and she LOVES helping kids find their voice and shine onstage and behind the microphone. With over 30 years of experience working with kids (and as a mom of six!), she knows how to make learning fun, encouraging, and confidence-boosting.
In lessons with Miss Mairym, you’ll sing, act, learn cool music tricks, record voice-over and jingle-style material, and build the confidence to walk into auditions feeling ready and proud of yourself. She takes a student-centered approach, which means lessons are designed just for you — your goals, your learning style, and your unique strengths.
Miss Mairym is especially great at audition prep, helping performers choose the right material, tell a story, and feel calm and confident when it’s time to perform. She’s also amazing with younger students and teaches AMCS’s preschool music class, Giggles & Grooves, where music, movement, and smiles are always part of the fun.
She has spent over 20 years directing choirs, extensive experience in voice-over work and jingles, and is a total music-theory whiz (don’t worry — she makes it fun!). She’s also currently working on her Master’s degree, learning new ways to help her students grow.
If you’re looking for a teacher who will cheer you on, help you believe in yourself, and make lessons something you actually look forward to — Miss Mairym can’t wait to meet you!
Matthew Hager
Associate Acting & Voice Coach
-
Matthew Hager is a theatre artist based out of Raleigh, NC and the owner of Aggregate Theatre Company. who acts with local professional companies, teaches voice and acting, writes plays and musicals, and owns Aggregate Theatre Company.
As an actor, Matthew has acted professionally with local companies such as NC Theatre, NC Symphony, Burning Coal (company member, 2012), Manbites Dog, Deep Dish, Justice Theater Project, Honest Pint, and Aggregate, among others. He won an Indy Week honor for Best Lead Actor performances in 2012 and was nominated for a New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Actor in 2015.
As a writer/composer, Matthew has developed several original plays and musicals for NC Theatre Conservatory, Justice Theater Project, and Aggregate Theatre Company (including currently touring productions of Gazellephant and The Midsummer Experience).
Matthew has worked as a teaching artist for over 18 years at various regional theatres, as well as local companies such as NC Theatre Conservatory, Justice Theatre Project, Aggregate, and the Alli Mae Carnes Studio.
Matthew is a graduate of UNC School of the Arts (High School - Drama) and UNC Chapel Hill (Dramatic Arts), and has extensive training in (and love for) Shakespeare (training at Shakespeare & Co. and American Shakespeare Center).
Vocally, Matthew has trained through private lessons as a kid through the collegiate level. As an approach to teaching, Matthew values establishing an environment in which students feel safe to try, fail, and grow as they develop skills, recognizing that a positive and affirming dynamic is the best way for students to feel comfortable stepping outside of their comfort zones in expanding their abilities.
Melanie Payne
Associate Voice Coach
-
Melanie Payne is a New York-trained musical theatre performer and educator with a deep passion for storytelling, character work, and helping young artists thrive onstage. A graduate of the American Musical & Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, Class of 2016, Melanie brings a decade of professional experience to her teaching, drawing from a rich background in performance, direction, and stage management.
She has performed in a variety of Off-Broadway cabarets. Some of her favorite recent credits are Cha Cha in Grease, Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel, Norma in Hands on a Hardbody, and Cinderella in Cinderella. Known for her warm but focused teaching style, Melanie specializes in audition preparation—working closely with students to select material, build technique, and gain the confidence needed to shine in the audition room.
While most at home on stage, Melanie also enjoys working behind the scenes as a director and stage manager, bringing a well-rounded perspective to her work as an educator. She believes in creating a supportive, professional, and artistically curious environment where students are encouraged to take creative risks, collaborate, and grow as both performers and people.
Micaela Bundy
Associate Voice Coach
-
Micaela is so excited to be working with The Alli Mae Carnes Studio! Micaela's passion for the arts began early. She came from a musically inclined family and was engrossed at a young age. She was heavily involved in all of the music programs from elementary school through high school. She began to play the clarinet and tenor saxophone around age 12 and started studying classical voice at 14. It was around the same time that she fell in love with theatre. She performed in shows frequently throughout her teenage years. Micaela is thankful for all of her vocal studies and prides herself in being a crossover singer.
She attended North Carolina A&T State University, where she studied music education with classical voice concentration. There, she had many experiences traveling across the country performing with the University Choir and Chamber Singers under the direction of Maestro Travis Alexander. Performance honors include being a National Soloist for the 105 Voices of History: National HBCU Honor Choir, performing as a soloist in the White House for Black History Month, and performing on the Rainbow Push Coalition. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in May of 2015.
After graduating from the university, Micaela began teaching high school music, but couldn't stay away from the stage. In the fall of 2015, on a whim, she auditioned for a production of August Wilson's Seven Guitars, was cast as "Louise," and has been on a roll ever since. In the last five years, she has performed in over 25 productions, and produced, music directed, and directed many others. One of which is her original production, Our Time, Our History, Our Legacy: A Tribute to African American History Through Music, which was written with her best friend, Shelby A. Sykes.
Some of her favorite performance experiences have included playing The Radio in Caroline, or Change, Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors, Mazeppa in Gypsy, Sour Kangaroo in Seussical, Ms. Bell in Fame, and opening of Oprah of her 2020 Vision Tour.
Micaela specializes in teaching both classical and contemporary singing as well as coaching actors for performance and audition prep. She has taught all ages from children to adults and genres including musical theatre, pop, rock, R&B, jazz, and classical. One of her proudest accomplishments is opening for Oprah Winfrey’s 2020 Vision Tour at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC.
Micaela recently graduated with her Master of Arts in Arts Administration at Winthrop University. She is working to become an Arts Administrator in hopes of creating more safe and equitable spaces for artists of color in the industry.
Shelby Sykes
Associate Voice Coach
-
Shelby A. Sykes is an actress, vocalist, and voice instructor originally from Gaithersburg, MD. From a young age, Shelby cultivated her passion for the performing arts through formal training and extensive professional performance. She attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and began her classical voice studies with the late Edward Jackson, later continuing private study under Kristin Halliday at Winston Churchill High School.
Shelby attended the Manhattan School of Music, studying classical voice performance under the legendary Mignon Dunn, and is currently enrolled in the BFA in Performing Arts program as part of Manhattan School of Music’s inaugural cohort. While classically trained, she is a highly versatile vocalist with experience across musical theatre, blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, pop, and rock.
From 2021–2023, Shelby traveled internationally as a lead vocalist with the B.B. King All-Star Band at Sea and the Rolling Stone Rock Lounge with Holland America Cruise Lines, performing nightly for global audiences and developing vocal stamina, stylistic flexibility, and a sustainable performance technique.
Some of her credits include The Color Purple (2nd National Tour), Little Shop of Horrors at the esteemed PlayMakers Repertory Company at UNC Chapel Hill, Into the Woods, and Once On This Island. Shelby has been nominated for numerous community, local, and regional awards and currently serves as a lead vocalist with Emerald Empire Band. Since 2024, she has taught voice across The Community Music School, working with students of all ages and levels while emphasizing healthy technique, confidence, and artistic authenticity. She is also a proud member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity for Women.
Shelby currently resides in Raleigh, NC and is thrilled to be teaching voice with Allie Mae Carnes Studio. When she’s not teaching or performing, she’s a devoted cat mom to her tuxedo Almond and a proud plant mama to dozens of tropical plants.