Chris Gratton is a Strings Teacher and Cellist.  Mr. Gratton teaches part time at League  Academy and part time at the ARMES Program.  He holds a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from the University of South Carolina.  He also holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Tennessee.  Chris has performed with several orchestras in the South East.  Mr. Gratton enjoys playing many genres of music, arranging songs, and being a recording artist.  Chris has one child, Max, who is a hockey goalie.  In his free time, he enjoys running and playing hockey. 

Catherine Hawks grew up in the Atlanta area and started playing the piano when she was 5 and then started playing the violin when she was 9. From a young age she loved the excitement of the sound, the ability to hear a song and play it on her instrument, and most of all she loved being able to play and see the smile brought to someone else's face because of music. Catherine studied Music Education with an emphasis on violin at Bob Jones University and after graduating taught elementary group piano classes at a public charter school in Spartanburg, SC. She has traveled to various places including Spain, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, and Italy. This led her to move to China to teach English after teaching in Spartanburg. After living in China a year she decided to move back to America and pursue a career in teaching Orchestra. She started teaching at Hillcrest Middle School in Simpsonville in the fall of 2019 and has loved every moment of it! She earned her Masters in Music Education from Anderson University in 2024. Her goal for teaching orchestra is to empower students by giving them a voice through music. We all have a voice with our instruments, let's use it for something good! 

Janice L. Hutton is a resident of Greer, SC. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Houghton College in Houghton, NY and a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She completed additional graduate work in string pedagogy at the following institutions: Suzuki Institute at Ithaca College; SUNY at Buffalo; Bob Jones University; Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University; and Villanova University and VanderCook College of Music. Janice has also completed the ASTA String Teachers Enrichment Program; and the ASTA Certificate Advancement Program Adjudicators Training.

Her love for music was nurtured during elementary school in Flint, Michigan, when she began studying piano and violin. She attended Interlocken and New England Music Camp in the summer while in High School. During college and grad school she studied with Eldon E. Basney, John Andrews, William Hayden, Stanley Chepaitis and Delight Malitsky.

Mrs. Hutton has been actively teaching strings since 1981. She began her current position as Orchestra Director at Greer Middle School in 2014. Before teaching at Greer Middle, she taught for 12 years in the string department at Bob Jones University and the pre-college string program. She was also an adjunct string professor at Anderson University and Erskine College. During her years of teaching, she has established a successful private studio teaching strings and piano; directed and assisted youth summer camps; organized and directed school orchestra programs; adjudicated youth music festivals and competitions and has been a clinician at numerous education conferences and string workshops, as well a conductor for GCYO Prelude Orchestra.

Under her direction, her students and ensembles have consistently earned top ratings at music competitions and festivals and college auditions. She served as SC ASTA president from 2012-2014 and she maintains professional affiliations with NAfME, SCMEA and ASTA.

Janice enjoys teaching students of all ages and inspiring them to discover and develop a joy and interest in music. She is excited to be part of the ARMES staff, and looks forward to encouraging young musicians to develop their musicianship skills with an emphasis on the enjoyment of playing to the highest possible standard.

Emily Busby is a double bassist and music educator in the Greenville, SC area. A New Jersey native, she recently made the decision to plant her roots in the Upstate. Ms. Busby has worked in the public school system teaching strings in various capacities in New Jersey, New York, and South Carolina. She has also held a variety of positions at esteemed music summer camps such as the New Jersey Youth Symphony Summer Orchestral Camp, Bass Works in Maryland, and Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. She holds bachelor degrees in double bass performance and music education from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester where she studied with Professor James VanDemark. She has furthered her studies through the Music Teaching Artist Certificate Program at the University of South Carolina, and has taken courses in the methodology of respected string pedagogues such as Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, Paul Rolland, and George Bornoff. In addition to her work as a cello and double bass instructor in the ARMES Program, Ms. Busby maintains an active private studio of diverse students and continues to perform as a double bassist in the Upstate. In her free time, she volunteers as a board member for OCD South Carolina, a local mental health nonprofit, and spends time with her many cats and dogs.