Dr. Lindsey Welp
Manager
Dr. Lindsey Welp is a saxophonist and music educator based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Lindsey is passionate about community-centered artistry, interdisciplinary collaboration, and new music performance.
As a saxophonist, Dr. Welp has received several musical accolades, including the gold medal in the 2022 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; first prize in the LaGrange Symphony Young Artist Competition; two-time NASA collegiate solo competition semifinalist; and first prize in the Coltman Chamber Music Competition, amongs others.
As an educator, Lindsey has served as the Adjunct Instructor of saxophone at Terra State Community College as well as the Graduate Teaching Assistant for the saxophone studios at the University of Georgia (where she was awarded an Outstanding Teaching Award in 2024) and Bowling Green State University. Dr. Welp has taught privately in Indiana, Ohio, and Georgia. Her students have gone on to be accepted into top music programs across the country and win positions in All-District and All-State Honor Bands.
Lindsey holds degrees from DePauw University (BM, Saxophone Performance and French), Bowling Green State University (MM, Saxophone Performance), and the University of Georgia (DMA, Saxophone Performance). Her primary teachers include Dr. Connie Frigo, Dr. Brandon Quarles, Dr. John Sampen, Scotty Stepp, and Jean Yves-Fourmeau.
To learn more, please visit lindseywelp.com
DR. DAVID FAIRCHILD
Brass Coordinator
Dr. David Fairchild has been the Director of Bands at Lakeside High School since 2003 and has served as a guest conductor and brass clinician since 1999. He served as a bandsman in the Air National Guard for twenty-five years in the 530th Air Force Band in Georgia and the 572nd Air Force Band in East Tennessee, performing in concert bands, brass quintets, and rock bands, and served as the NCOIC for the jazz band in both units for ten years. In addition, he has been the Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble and the Atlanta Trumpet Festival for over twenty years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education from Georgia State University and a master’s and doctorate in Music Education from the University of Georgia.
MARK YANCICh
Percussion Faculty
Mark Yancich served as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Principal Timpanist from 1981-2024. He is active as publisher, clinician, and teacher at Emory University. He has served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and is featured on numerous performance and educational videos.
Yancich has appeared as guest timpanist with the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Minnesota Symphonies, as well as soloist with various other orchestras most recently performing and recording James Oliverio’s “DYNASTY Double Timpani Concerto” with brother Paul in Atlanta. His teachers include Cloyd Duff, Richard Wiener, Saul Goodman, Ruth Cahn, Bill Cahn and Vinnie Ruggiero. Previous to joining the ASO, Mark was Principal Percussion and Timpanist of orchestras in Caracas and Maracaibo, Venezuela and also taught percussion in El Sistema.
SARAH DIETRICH
Percussion Faculty
Sarah Dietrich holds a percussion performance degree from Western Michigan University, as well as a degree in music education from Kennesaw State University. As an undergraduate she studied with Judy Moonert and Mark Guthrie, and in 2000 moved to the Atlanta area to continue timpani study with Mark Yancich. An active performer, she has performed with the Kalamazoo, Columbus, Macon, and Savannah symphony orchestras, as well as a substitute for the Chattanooga Symphony and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
As an educator, she has led percussion studies at McCleskey Middle School, Mabry Middle School, McClure Middle School, Kell High School,
Allatoona High School, and Kennesaw Mountain High School, as well as is an adjunct percussion educator at Emory University. Sarah is an active percussion clinician and adjudicator and has presented at the Music for All Summer Symposium and the Spirit Camp at Jacksonville State University.
Along with her husband Rick, Sarah founded Sound Art Percussion, a company that works to build resources and communication tools that provide pedagogical and logistical information to band directors, percussion instructors, and percussion performers of all ages and experience levels.
Sandy Dyer
Bookkeeper
Sandy Dyer started working with QuickBooks Online in 2001 to help her own business keep up with and organize the numbers not just during tax season but all year long.
She is an organizer and a numbers person, an expert in creating systems that help business owners and nonprofits clearly see the story their numbers are telling about their organization, so decisions can be made with reliable information. She’s like a dog with a bone when it comes to focusing on the nitty gritty details of managing books.
Sandy is a QuickBooks Online Proadvisor. She is more than a bean counter, though, she is an encourager who wants to see every organization she has the honor to help succeed and grow. She loves hiking, lifting heavy, and hanging with her three grandchildren.
YASH MAHADKAR
An alumnus of AYWS, Yash Mahadkar is a second-year music education student at the University of Georgia and performs with the Wind Ensemble, Redcoat Marching Band, and various chamber ensembles. A member of the Morehead Honors College, Yash serves as a Drum Major for the Santa Clara Vanguard, where he leads the student leadership team and fulfills conducting responsibilities. His commitment to the marching arts and pedagogy extends to his work as a Section Leader for the Redcoat Marching Band and a private conducting instructor with Silent Command. Through his various roles as a technician for North Georgia high school programs and his administrative work, Yash is dedicated to fostering inclusive, energetic, and excellence-driven environments for musicians.