Bobby Gregg (Alto): Bobby Gregg grew up in Charlottesville and attended Sutherland Middle School and Albemarle High. He is now the band director at Sutherland. When he started on saxophone, he took lessons from Cal Cage, a fabulous sax player, teacher, and long-time member of SJ. Bobby attended JMU to hone his musical skills and to get ready for teaching.
Christi Willard (Alto): Christi is a graduate of James Madison University with a degree in music education. She has been an educator in both the public and private sector for nearly 30 years. Additionally, she enjoys playing professionally with chamber groups, musical theater and community ensembles. When not pursuing her musical interest, she is busy running a women’s retail business in Barracks Road. To help balance her aggressive work ethic, she enjoys spending time with her partner, her children, and two French Bulldogs and traveling where the spirit moves her.
Michael Elswick (Tenor): Like many players, Michael began in the fifth grade and in time performed in numerous school and Top 40 bands in the Abington-Bristol area. He played with the Navy Band and toured the Midwest for several years. Then went to JMU for his university education and continued to play in Top 40 and fusion bands in central Va. In the mid 1990s he received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and studied for two years in NYC with John Purcell and one year with Andrew White in Washington, D.C. Since then he has performed with local groups such as the Houserockers and Big Ray & the Kool Cats. He’s also played for several Miss Virginia Pageants, Gladys Knight, The Coasters, The Temptations, and was scheduled to perform with Aretha Franklin but she twice cancelled. Elswick is also the proprietor of Elswick Music which does instrument repair and sells instruments as well.
David Moody (Tenor): Coming from a musical family, it seems inevitable that David would start with piano lessons. Later, he jumped at the chance to join his elementary school band in 4th grade, choosing to play the flute, as it looked easiest to him. This was the start of his flute career throughout middle and high school, college, where he was a proud member of the Rice University Marching Owl Band. Soon after moving to Charlottesville, his flute was destroyed in a fire. David’s wife, keeping in mind his yearnings to play a more fun and gender appropriate instrument, bought him a saxophone for Christmas. He took lessons and eventually joined the Municipal Band of Charlottesville. Moe recently, he has fulfilled a lifelong dream of playing in a jazz band.
Leanne Dietz (Baritone): Leanne is a self-described workaholic who grew up in West Virginia and attended Bridgewater College where she picked up baritone sax. She’s played with SJ for a decade. (Her spouse and father-in-law are former members of the orchestra.) Leanne is Director of DCCC Title Services which is a subsidiary of DuPont Credit Union, having started this company on behalf of DCCU about two years ago. Besides rehearsing with SJ, she spends nearly all of her time on the job. Hence the adjective “workaholic.”
Abby Smith (Alto/Tenor/Baritone): Abby Smith is a James Madison University graduate with a Bachelors in Music Education. She wears many hats for Sentimental Journey, including managing their website, booking gigs, and subbing on any needed saxophone parts. Abby is the choir director at Western Albemarle High School/Henley Middle School. When she is not teaching music, she can be found working at Thatch Winery helping with weddings or running her music booking agency called Dulcet Tones Entertainment, LLC.