Michael Gerber
Appalachian Performing Arts Academy is a theater arts education program serving Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. They work with students of all ages and cover a variety of disciplines. Their goal is to help foster a love of theater in young students, expand the skill sets of adult students, and bolster the confidence and creativity of all students, no matter their age.
Michael Gerber, who founded APAA, grew up in Portland, Oregon. From a young age, he was interested in theater. He took advantage of free programming in his local community, including joining several community theaters. It was there that he realized theater was not just a passing hobby; it was his life’s passion.
Gerber received his bachelor’s degree from Western Oregon University before attending Ohio University to complete his MFA in stage direction. He has taught for more than 25 years at all levels and across the country. While he has performed, written and directed professionally and semi-professionally. He served as Barter Theatre’s Youth Academy director for three years and has been teaching theater for 26 years.
He believes in the power of theater to change lives and has made it his life’s work to pass that gift to as many people as he can.
The academy offers three types of programming — outreach programs, individual coaching and in-house courses.
Individual coaching sessions are for singers, dancers, actors, comedians and people who want to become a more confident speaker.
Their first in-house class, “Your Life, Your Story,” teams Carolyn Koesters of Wordcatching working with Gerber.
“I’m looking forward to partnering with him and offering more classes in the future, but I’m very honored to be teaching with him in his inaugural offering. We have lots of ideas about future classes.
“The six-week course guides anyone through creating and performing a five to 10-minute monologue about an important or special event in their life. I focus on the writing and memoir tools needed to bring out your inner author. Then,Michael works with the students to help them create and develop that personal story into a dramatic monologue to be performed live.
“The academy is for anyone with a creative spirit that wants to feel more grounded, more awake and more in tune with their creative gifts. The performing arts gives us such a wide range of experiences, and the chance to step onto one of those stages – whether it’s performing, writing, improv or movement and singing, each one of the classes seeks to find that creative spark and keep it lit,” Koesters says.
For more information, visit www.appperformingarts.com.
