The Creative Team

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Eric Martinez has been acting on stage since he was four years old.   Eric has performed in the musical roles of John Wilkes Booth in Assassins, John Jasper/Clive Paget in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Jimmy Ray Dobbs in Bright Star, Benny Perkins in Hands on a Hardbody, Albin/Zaza in La Cages aux Folles, Max Detweiler in Sound of Music, Whizzer in Falsettoland, Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha, and twice in the role of Edward Rutledge in 1776. In the world of Opera, he has taken on many lyric tenor roles and has participated in opera apprenticeship programs with companies such as The Santa Fe Opera.  Eric has performed on stage as Ian in Shining City, Ralph Wantage in Frozen by Bryony Lavery, Lt. Kendrick in A Few Good Men, and Renfield in Dracula. Eric is a chief technical architect for a consulting company and holds an MBA from Notre Dame.

Mark Jones has been involved with theatre in Western North Carolina and Virginia for the last 35 years. Some of his favorite acting roles include: Buddy Holly in BUDDY: The Buddy Holly Story, Jack in Into the Woods, Thomas Weaver in The Story of My Life, John in john & jen, Corny Collins in Hairspray, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Lurch in The Addams Family, Robert Anne in Nunsense, A-Men and the Tinman in The Wizard of Oz. Mark has also directed many productions, including: The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Seussical, Ghost: The Musical, Zombie Prom, Legally Blonde: The Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, Mamma Mia, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Matilda. 

Dr. Leonidas Lagrimas serves as Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy for the WCU School of Music. His main duties include Applied Piano and coordinating the Class Piano program. An emerging leader in piano pedagogy research, Dr. Lagrimas serves on the editorial board of American Music Teacher, the official journal of Music Teachers National Association, and also currently serves as Editor of the North Carolina Music Teacher Association Journal. He has been a regular webinar contributor and clinician for the Frances Clark Center, and a featured workshop presenter for NafME and Music Teachers National Association. He is a frequently invited guest lecturer, competition judge and masterclass clinician throughout the country and serves on the state Executive Board for NCMTA. He is a regular presenter at local, state, regional, and national music conferences for College Music Society, MTNA, NCKP, and NafME, and serves as Vice-President and board member of the Asheville Area Piano Forum.

Dr. Lagrimas is active throughout the region as a solo and collaborative performer. Recent and upcoming performances include guest artist recitals at the University of Florida, Appalachian State University, University of Alabama, Mars Hill University, and numerous faculty recitals at WCU. Past collaborative piano highlights include performances with Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plitmann, country superstar Lorrie Morgan, and multiple Carnegie Hall appearances. Active as musical theatre pianist, conductor, and music director, his recent regional credits include The Sondheim Tribute Revue at Waynesville's HART Theatre, Rock of Ages and 9 to 5: The Musical for Theatre Tallahassee, In the Heights and American Idiot for New Stage Theatreworks, and Little Shop of Horrors for Starring Buffalo! at Shea's 710 Theatre.

Dr. Lagrimas is the proud recipient of the 2024 Belcher College Faculty Teaching Award for outstanding teaching and the 2023 Faculty Scholarship Award for outstanding scholarly activity and research. He holds National Certification (NCTM) in piano from MTNA and a Ph.D. in Music Education and Piano Pedagogy from Florida State University. In addition to his teaching at WCU, Dr. Lagrimas maintains a private piano studio. His previous full-time faculty appointments include SUNY-Fredonia and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and prior to his doctoral studies he served as a music teacher in the New York City public schools for ten years.