Associate in Fine Arts (AFA) – Music

You will need to follow the general enrollment process for GTCC. During the advising process, you will have the opportunity to indicate your desire to study within this curriculum. Your advisor will help you sign up for the specific courses you need.

Mark Dillon, Ph.D.

More commonly referred to as “Dillon,” Mark Dillon is the prototypical DIY musician. He has worked as a recording musician, luthier, and academic since starting his musical career in the early 1990s. His grandparents spent their lives as country musicians touring the United States since the late 1920s, and this sense of musical self-reliance was a direct influence on him as a musician.

As a working musician, Mark has worked with a diverse group of artists, such as The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, N.C. string band The Zinc Kings, Randolph Jazz Band, and even the UNCG Indian music ensemble. In addition to his ongoing playing, Dillon spent 12 years as a high school band director and has degrees in music theory, guitar building, a master's in music education, and is finishing everything but his dissertation for his Ph.D. in music education.

One of Dillon’s central focus as an educator is teaching students to be proactive in their careers and education. As a child of the 1980s, he has watched as the nature of the music business has changed, and the diminishing cost of technology has led to musicians having the ability to be their own music labels and recording studios. As a performing songwriter in the 1990s, Dillon learned – and emphasizes – the importance of self-marketing and home studio recording. After moving to North Carolina in the early 2000s, Dillon also began specializing in the music of the North Carolina Piedmont.

After teaching courses in recording and music in public education and at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG), Dillon joined Guilford Technical Community College as an instructor of music. He also continues his work on the leadership board of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), as well as playing music and pursuing academics.

Ronnal Ford, DMA

A versatile musician and educator, Ronnal Ford (@RonFordMusic and ronfordmusic.com) holds the principal oboe seat in the Colour of Music Festival and the second oboe and English horn seat in the Fayetteville Symphony. Additionally, he performs with touring groups such as Thee Phantom and the Illharmonic and plays in musical theater companies around North Carolina. The Fayetteville Symphony has also featured him as a soloist on English horn (Aaron Copland's "Quiet City") and alto saxophone (John Williams’s "Escapades” from Catch Me If You Can"), and the Colour of Music Festival has featured as a soloist in the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Oboes.

In addition to his performance duties, Ford is an instructor at Guilford Technical Community College. He previously taught at the UNC School of the Arts, N.C. A&T State University, Forsyth Technical Community College, and Winston-Salem State University. He is adamant about instilling the foundational musical concepts in future musicians so that they may succeed in their musical endeavors.

Along with the large ensembles he performs, Ford plays in the award-winning reed quintet, Quintet Sirocco; is an arranger; and records videos for his one-man orchestra, the Ron Ford Orchestra. When he is not busy performing, recording, and teaching, Ford enjoys riding his motorcycle around the Southeast with his husband, cooking for his family, and playing with his children and pets.

David Blink, DMA

Dr. David Blink is a sound artist, music educator, community music facilitator, and composer based in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he teaches at Guilford Technical Community College.

He creates immersive sound journeys through multi-layered free improvisations that interact with the visual and acoustic environments of a place, as found on his YouTube channel. His work often incorporates 360° video and audio recording to explore the relationship between sound, space, and perception.

Dr. Blink holds a Bachelor's degree in Applied Music (Trumpet) with an emphasis in Jazz from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a Master's in Music Composition from Central Washington University, and a Doctorate in Music Education from Boston University. His 2025 dissertation, Creating Collective Effervescence Through Musicking at Burning Man: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, explored the lived experience of members of the Black Rock Philharmonic Orchestra as they created collective effervescence through musicking within a 3,000-plus person performance at Burning Man. He also served for six years as Music Director for Burning Man's Fire Conclave, leading both the Ambient Drummers and the Procession Band.

With over two decades of teaching experience at community colleges across the U.S. and Mexico—including North Idaho College (Idaho), College of the Siskiyous (California), Yakima Valley College (Washington), as well as the Conservatorio de las Rosas and Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, both in Morelia, Michoacán—he continues to champion community-centered music education.

Current projects include Networking the Flight of the Monarchs, an audiovisual telematic collaboration blending live-streamed soundscapes from monarch butterfly reserves in Canada, Mexico, and the United States with improvised performances networked in real time across four countries. His recent album releases include Releasing Journey (2022), Y Así Comienza (2023), and Sounds of Water (2020) with his Mexico-based collective improvisation project Ióni.

May Jhou

Yes. Financial aid is available if you qualify. Please visit the Financial Aid web page or contact the Financial Aid office at 336-334-4822, option 3.

The AFA music degree requires general admission to the college and an audition. Please contact the Music program faculty for instrument and voice-specific audition requirements. Contact the AFA Music faculty to set up an interview and assessment (Mark Dillon, 336-334-4822, ext. 55051, or madillon1@gtcc.edu).

GTCC is one of only a few community colleges in the state that offers the AFA Music transfer degree. Our faculty has dedication and experience that will provide you with the best learning environment and preparation for future success.

Yes. GTCC is part of the state-wide articulation agreement with the UNC system for the transfer of courses completed. Audition and placement exams may be required at certain institutions.

If you are an instrumentalist, it is necessary to have a professional instrument. This does not mean an expensive instrument but an instrument that is properly intonated and set up.