Amy Allen received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Mississippi State University in 1981 and taught private piano lessons for 10 years. She began teaching music to preschool children in Paducah soon after moving here in 1991. But her interest in providing an early musical environment for children began when she witnessed first-hand the advantage enjoyed by her piano students who had been exposed to early childhood music experiences. After a few years of exploring song and curriculum materials from a variety of preschool music programs, she chose to become a certified Harmony Road instructor and open an authorized Harmony Road Music Education Center in Paducah.

"I especially like the connection of the preschool music to piano skills training and the way it flows right into piano lessons. Originally, I only planned to teach the preschool components of HR, but when I saw some 8 year old group piano students who could improvise and compose their own music at the piano, transpose songs, and choose chord accompaniments by ear, I was decidedly impressed! These were skills I thought only advanced students could learn. The Harmony Road curriculum truly teaches whole musicianship, and I want my students to learn all these skills from the beginning of their music training."

Now in her 9th year of teaching the Harmony Road way, she also serves as the studio administrator and in curriculum development for classes taught both in the studio and in local daycares and preschools. You may also find her singing to the babies in the Cradle Roll class at the Broadway church of Christ. She is married to Stan Allen, and they have 3 daughters, Carly, Kelly, and Grace.

Ruth Somers began teaching at Harmony Road in January of 2000 and has a Bachelor of Music Degree from Murray State University and a Master of Church Music Degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Through the years, she has maintained a private piano studio, served several churches as pianist/organist and director of children's choirs, accompanied school choirs, and worked as a teacher's aide at Clark Elementary school. Currently she is also the organist at Reidland Methodist Church and accompanist for Kantorei, a local community choral group directed by her husband, Lee.

"After years of private piano teaching, I have found the group approach offers many advantages over private lessons and I am thoroughly enjoying the Harmony Road philosophy of teaching music like a language."

Ruth and Lee have 2 grown children and a one-year old granddaughter who has most recently inspired her to begin teaching the Toddler Tunes curriculum. In addition to Toddler Tunes, Ruth teaches the Young Musician and Keyboard Musician curriculums.

Rachel Hunt is in her fifth year of teaching for the Harmony Road Music School. A native of Paducah, she is an avid lover of music, children and teaching. These three loves all find a common thread in the Harmony Road teaching experience. Her background as a private piano instructor, pianist and member in a variety of musical endeavors at her church, a B.S. degree in Elementary Education from Murray State University, as well as her love for families and children - have positioned her well to serve as a music instructor in the unique setting Harmony Road provides.

Early exposure, due to a family who valued and incorporated music into everyday life, and a gift she believes came from God - have caused music to be an integral part of her very fiber. "From a child, I loved to finger the keys of the piano at home where my mother gave private lessons. As a result, I began picking out melodies and accompanying them with chords at a very young age. This kind of musical ear training is now the very concept I help children develop in the music classes I teach - a most advantageous aspect of the curriculum."

In addition to music, Rachel also enjoys healthy cooking, good-quality reading, shopping, traveling and spending time with her family.

Kelly Walden is one of the Toddler Tunes teachers at Harmony Road. Her training for the position actually began unexpectedly when she enrolled her own children in the program and experienced the benefits of early exposure to music from the perspective of a parent. She and her husband, Wayne, have both attended Harmony Road classes with their three children, Ryson, Cason and Michael Ellen before Kelly took on the new role as teacher.

Kelly is well-suited to teaching music to preschool children. "I've never taught music before working at Harmony Road, but I've been a singer or performer most of my adult life. My mother and grandmother, both teachers, sang constantly to me as I was growing up, and my legacy from them is a large repertoire of children's songs and folk songs. So singing to children and teaching them to sing is intuitive and joyful for me."

Kelly has a Master's degree in English and works part-time at WKCTC as an English instructor. She and her husband both sing with the praise team and the Reidland Church of Christ.

Marsha Beaton recently retired from the Paducah Public Schools. She taught 2nd grade, 3rdgrade, and music at all levels K-12, completing 31 years of teaching. Marsha is the pianist at her church, Trinity United Methodist. She also directs the Children's Choir there.

Marsha loves children and music, so the two are never far apart in her activities. While teaching music at Clark Elementary, she marked that she could most always recognize Harmony Road students when they came to her. "Starting music involvement at such an early age as Harmony Road encourages, really sets children up for success when they reach school age, and not only in music. It carries over into their academic subject areas as well. After teaching Music in Me and Toddler Tunes classes this fall, now I know why!"