VGCC Music Instructor and Guitarist perform at bookstore Dec. 11

Vance-Granville Community College music instructor Michael Stephenson will once again bring music into the community, with a performance at the Coffee Hound Bookshop, located at 103 West Nash St. in downtown Louisburg, on Friday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. Stephenson, a saxophonist, and Steve Creech, a guitarist, will present traditional Christmas music along with light jazz.

The event will be free and open to the public. For more information, call Stephenson at (252) 738-3346 or the Coffee Hound Bookshop at (919) 496-6030.

In addition to teaching music at VGCC, Michael Stephenson is the soprano saxophonist of New Century Saxophone Quartet (NCSQ), which has recorded seven CD’s and has performed all over the world. NCSQ has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the world, including Carnegie Hall, Ambassador Auditorium, Boston Symphony Hall, Concertgebouw, and the White House. He created and directs the Vance-Granville Community Band, which combines community musicians with VGCC students. Michael and his wife, Cheryl, founded the Music Academy of Eastern Carolina (MAEC) in 1997 in Greenville, N.C. MAEC is a non-profit community music school offering music instruction on band and orchestral instruments including piano, voice, and guitar.

Steve Creech has performed as a freelance guitarist throughout North Carolina since his youth, and has appeared alongside some of the greatest jazz and pop musicians in the state.

Above: Michael Stephenson plays the saxophone during an event at VGCC in 2009. (VGCC photo)