About

Maria Doreste Velázquez, is a pianist, musicologist and music educator. She teaches in BPS at the Edison K-8 in Brighton and at the Berklee Institute for the Arts and Special Education. MMEA Promising Music Educator of 2014 and Maria collaborates with the BSO as part of the educator advisor and was a member of the Haydn and Handel Education Team.    …less

Sarah Eastman, mezzo-soprano, is a voice teacher and Alexander Technique teacher. She has performed with Towson University Music for the Stage, Towson University Resident Children’s Opera Company Opera in a Can, Little Patuxent Opera Institute, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, OperaWorks Emerging Artist Program, MIT Gilbert and Sullivan Players, MetroWest Opera, Odyssey Opera, MassOpera, and Manhattan Opera Studio.  Her recent roles include Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Gianetta in The Gondoliers. She has performed at Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, and Carnegie Hall.

In addition to her performing career, Ms. Eastman maintains an active teaching career in Boston. Her private studio continues to grow as she showcases her passion for music and knowledge of vocal health and lyric diction with her students. Ms. Eastman is currently the Voice Department Coordinator and on voice faculty at All Newton Music School. There she also directs a Vocal Cabaret class as well as the Scandinavian Living Center Community Chorus. Ms. Eastman is also the Opportunities Director and Jamaica Plain Training Chorus Director for Boston City Singers. Her seasonal roles include being the vocal coach for North Cambridge Family Opera and a teaching artist for Boston Lyric Opera’s Create your Own Opera program. Sarah holds a BM from Towson University and an MM from The Boston Conservatory. She is currently a student of Dana Varga. This fall Sarah plans to pursue an M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology. www.saraheastmanvoice.com    …less

Janet Underhill, a native of British Columbia, Canada, has been a bassoonist, teacher, and arts administrator Boston for almost  35 years. For her ten years of managing and developing the chamber music program for BYSO (Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras), Janet was the recipient of the 2001 Kay Logan Award, a national award for excellence in chamber music teaching. Currently, she serves as a bassoon instructor at The Boston College, Northeastern University, Gordon College, South Shore Conservatory, and Community Music Center of Boston. With BYSO she is the conductor of Preparatory Winds and the Assistant Director of Winds for ICP (Intensive Community Program).  She recently was awarded a META (Music Educators and Teaching Artists) fellowship through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Janet is a founding member of Arcadian Winds, a woodwind quintet specializing in contemporary music, which has commissioned and premiered more than 50 works. Solo performances include concertos with The Pittsburgh Symphony, Simon Sinfonetta, Harvard University Mozart Society Orchestra, as well as solo performances at the International Double Reed Conference in Minneapolis, The Fromm Series at Harvard University, the Gaudeamus Competition in Rotterdam, Holland, The Women’s Avant Festival in Chicago, The Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival in Vermont, The Outoftowners series in New York City, CrossSounds in Alaska, Interharmony in Sulzbach-Rosenberg Germany, Alea III in Naxos, Greece, and Soundwaves in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a soloist and ensemble member, she appeared in over 30 CDs and numerous radio broadcasts.  Also interested in archival projects, she has developed a cataloging system for ethnic recordings with composer Martin Bartlett and organized Gunther Schuller’s personal collection.     …less

Miles Miles Douglas Wilcox Miles Douglas Wilcox is a music teacher with a focus of students with special needs, particularly on the autism spectrum. At 19, he graduated from Bard College at Simon’s Rock with a BA in Music Performance (Cello) with a thesis on the study of Dalcroze Eurhythmics; he earned a Masters of Music in Music Education program at Boston Conservatory.

Miles currently teaches elementary general music at Codman Academy Charter Public School in Dorchester, MA, and in 2018 established the school’s first instrumental music program, a string ensemble of violin and cello for grades 3-6. He is in his fifth year at Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs, where he is co-teaching music classes for young children and rock band ensemble, as well as teaching private lessons in general music, composition, violin, cello, piano, and guitar.

Miles has presented his work with students with special needs and trauma-informed practice at the ABLE (Arts Better the Lives of Everyone) Conference hosted by Berklee College of Music, Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Annual All-State Conference, and a webinar hosted by VSA Kennedy Center.

Miles is principal violist in the Me2/ Orchestra Boston, the world’s only classical music organization created for individuals with mental illnesses and the people who support them, conducted by Ronald Braunstein.     …less

Hailing from Miami, Florida, Hannah Sigel is a classically trained vocalist and Boston Conservatory alumna with a lifelong passion for music and the arts. She serves as the Program Administrative Assistant at Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) and teaches private and group classes to individuals ages 0-75+. In 2018 Hannah became the director of CMCB’s adult community choir, Una Voce, which highlights local living composers and celebrates the diversity of our community. Hannah believes that everyone deserves to experience the unifying power of music — regardless of age, background, or identity.     …less