Carol Mahler is the director of Hidden Acres Music School located in north Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she teaches piano, violin, and voice lessons.  She attended Wayland Baptist College in Plainview, Texas; Beirut College for Women in Beirut, Lebanon; and West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas, where she received her Bachelor of Music Education degree as a piano major.  She subsequently earned a Master of Music degree in piano pedagogy from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Mrs. Mahler has maintained a private music studio for over four decades, as well as having taught at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tennessee.  In addition to teaching, accompanying, and performing as vocal soloist, Mrs. Mahler has served as an adjudicator for Guild and Festival auditions, and as founder and director of the Mississippi Home Educators String and Woodwind Orchestra.  An active member of Music Teachers National Association, Mississippi Music Teachers Association, Gulf Coast Music Teachers Association, the National Guild of Piano Teachers, and the Gulf Coast Messiah Chorus, she is a GCMC board member, and currently serves as president of GCMTA.  As pianist for Bible Fellowship Church of Pass Christian, she also directs its adult and children’s choirs.  The mother of 3 children, Carol resides in Pass Christian with husband Dr. James Mahler and son Samuel.

Emily Mahler McClung received a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance at Vanderbilt University in 2005 where she studied on a Dean's Merit Scholarship.  While at Vanderbilt she was nominated for and received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Margaret Branscombe Award Outstanding Freshman Award and the Jean Keller Heard Award for Outstanding String Performance.  She received a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance with an Emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy at the University of Maryland in 2007.  Notable teachers have included Judith Starr-Lassen, Jerrie Lucktenburg, Stephen Redfield, Sally Thomas, Connie Heard, and Ronda Cole.  She has received Suzuki training from Michelle George and Ronda Cole, and has attended numerous summer music festivals including Interlochen Arts Camp, Meadowmount School of Music, and Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory.  She has taught Suzuki violin lessons and group classes in both private studios and music schools since 1997.  In 2006 she became a founding teacher for Music Kids, and is currently employed as the company's Director of Pedagogy.