Education Resources

Alexander Davis (he/him) is a New York City-based bassoonist who has been known for his ability to play “with poise and élan” (Cleveland Classical). He is a musician whose artistic intentions center on space-making, connection, and community building within classical music. An advocate of creating equity in the arts, Alexander is the founder and Artistic Director of the Sugar Hill Salon, a chamber music series showcasing black and brown wind artistry based in the culturally robust community of Harlem, NY, and on the stolen traditional territory of the Lenape Nation (www.sugarhillsalon.com).

Alexander performed in the first all-black orchestra to ever hold a concert in the history of Carnegie Hall’s existence with the Gateway Festival Orchestra in April of 2022. He has played in orchestras such as Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Composer Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, CityMusic Cleveland, Tertulia Chamber Music, Harlem Chamber Players, Sherman Chamber Ensemble, The North Country Chamber Players, and Metropolis. He has performed in summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Ensemble Evolution, Banff Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Maine Chamber Music Seminar, and the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival. In addition to performing, Alexander has been the administrative manager of the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival since 2017 where he works alongside Imani Winds to cultivate a new generation of aspiring chamber musicians. He has also been part of the “Armory Artists Corps Teaching Artists” in conjunction with the Park Avenue Armory since 2018, serving NYC public school students by helping them gain access to tools for self exploration in today’s society using interdisciplinary art forms created by artists in residence.

Alexander is adjunct faculty at Montclair State University, the Maine Chamber Music Intensive, and Usdan Summer Arts. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and Performance from SUNY Fredonia, a Masters in Performance from Stony Brook University, a Performers Certificate in Orchestral Performance from Manhattan School of Music and is currently a Doctoral Candidate of music at Stony Brook University. He has studied with bassoonists Laura Koepke, Frank Morelli, Bob Williams, and Michael Ma.

Learn more about Alexander.

Anna Mayta grew up in Chile, and is an Educator, dance improviser, choreographer, and dance artist.
She graduated from Empire State College in June 2001 with a BA in Dance in Education. In November 2008, she received a certificate to teach yoga from Svyasa Swami Vivekananda Yoga
University in Bangalore, India. In 2006, she was awarded a dissemination award from the Dutchess County Arts Council in Poughkeepsie, New York. In October 2020 she was accepted to Bethany Arts Center residency in Ossining NY. Where she choreographed a solo dance inspired
by the idea that men and women are equal. In 2022 she was awarded a grant from CREATE to choreograph a piece about the stories of the Latinx community in Hudson NY dealing with
linguistic prejudice. Ms. Mayta teaches the Spanish language through movement in addition to fusion dance, which centers on the incorporation of African, Classical Indian, Flamenco, Chilean, Modern, and Latin dance styles. Anna Mayta has performed at Dixon Place and Spoke at the Hub in NYC, Bangalore India, Boston, Maine, and around the Hudson Valley, NY. She has choreographed for the D’amby Project, SolesBare Dance Collective, The National Ballet of Zimbabwe, Kuumba and drum dance company, and Operation Unite youth dancers. Currently, Ms. Mayta directs her dance company, Mayta Fusion Dance which is in residency at Berkshire Pulse in Great Barrington, MA and it’s home is Hudson, NY. She teaches, choreographs, and performs throughout the Hudson Valley NY, Berkshire area.
View her website. View a Video.

Rachel Weishoff is a music educator, disability services provider, music equity advocate, program and curriculum developer, arts administrator, and vocalist with over a decade of experience working with children, adults and seniors with various disabilities, in educational, supportive and therapeutic settings. Along with her teaching, Rachel has performed with opera companies across the country such as Boston Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, Opera North, and the Princeton Music Festival. She received her Masters of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music where she received the Smitri Deb Memorial Prize, awarded to a Graduate Singer who reflects and exemplifies a commitment to teaching low-income and underrepresented children. Rachel specializes in teaching music and creating music curricula for students with low incidence disabilities in private and public school settings. Rachel is currently pursuing her M.M.Ed. (Autism Concentration) at the Berklee College of Music, where she is serving in two Graduate Assistantship positions. She serves on the administrative team of and is a program instructor for the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education (BIAAE), teaching private and group voice, theater, music technology and general music classes. She also mentors, develops and leads Career Readiness classes for the BIAAE’s Nurturing Leaders Program. Rachel has led professional development for the BIAAE’s Accessible Music Education Study Group and the Massachusetts Music Educators Association. 

Hayden Nork is a multi-instrumentalist, performance artist, visual artist, soundscape composer, and art historian. 

Working primarily with music and improvisational, “chance composition”, he has two active musical projects. His band and musical collective, Sallow Friend, released their debut album, Come on Happy Goose in April of 2022. 

He has worked with Robert Schneider (Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo, Cornelius), NYC-based performance artist and modern dancer Alix Pearlstein, and most recently, Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Patty Chang. 

Hayden is a graduate of Purchase College, SUNY, holding a Bachelors degree in Art History. 

Blake is a multi-media artist with a focused intention on improvisation and exploring intuition. He is interested in a wide array of expression from coding, graphic design, and production design all the way to performance, composing, and writing. 

He is a recent grad from Purchase College, and is young, excited, and passionate about creating more creative spaces.

Mr. Garcia is currently a 7th & 8th Technology teacher at Crownover Middle School in Corinth, Texas. When he is not in the classroom you can find Coach Garcia on an athletic field where he coaches football, basketball, track and cross country. Mr. Garcia has previously taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math in Denton Independent School District for 13 years before making a transition into teaching technology. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from Texas Tech University and enjoys incorporating his background in design and construction into his lessons.

In 2015, he was named Crownover’s Teacher of the year by his peers. During the summers, he teaches Summer STEM camps at the University of Texas in Arlington. The camps are hosted by UTA’s Science and Engineering departments and allow Mr. Garcia an opportunity to work with local middle and high school students. He has participated in collaborations with the Samsung “Solve for Tomorrow” program, was selected as a National PBS Digital Media All-Star Teacher, was chosen to participate in the Thomas Jefferson Monticello Teacher Institutes, and has secured several grants to enhance learning for his students.

“Becoming an educator is truly the best job I have ever had,” Garcia said. “I am able to coach students in the sports that I love and shape minds in the classroom. I enjoy finding meaningful ways for students to make connections between math and the real world. I have a passion to create STEM-based lessons that challenge students’ creative side. The goal for my classroom is to make learning irresistible to my students!”

David Gonzalez is a professional storyteller, poet, playwright, musician and public speaker.

He is a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department, and is the proud recipient of the International Performing Arts for Youth “Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained Excellence.”

Mr. Gonzalez was named a Fellow of the Joseph Campbell Foundation and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for “Unique Theatrical Experience” for The Frog Bride. David has created numerous productions, including the critically acclaimed ¡Sofrito! with The Latin Legends Band, and MytholoJazz, both of which enjoyed sold-out runs at New Victory Theater. Sleeping Beauty was co-commissioned by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Brooklyn College, and The McCallum Theater.

David was a featured performer at the National Storytelling Festival, and appeared for three seasons at the Royal National Theatre in London. The Man of the House was commissioned by, and premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2013. Mr. Gonzalez’ work Double Crossed: The Saga of the St. Louis toured nationally, including a run at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. As If the Past Were Listening, was in Lincoln Center Institute’s repertory for three seasons. Finding North, commissioned by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park ran at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. He co-wrote Mariel, an Afro-Cuban musical won the Macy’s “New Play Prize for Young Audiences.” 

He recently wrote, performed and produced three episodes of GONZO’S MULTIVERSE, a multimedia video variety show for kids, for The National Theater.

David is also the librettist for Rise for Freedom!, produced at the Cincinnati Opera, and wrote and produced Jimi and Mr. B, a musical commissioned by the Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center. His poems for The Carnival of the Animals with classical piano virtuoso Frederic Chui, premiered in 2008.

David was the host of New York Kids on WNYC for eight seasons, earned his doctorate from New York University’s School of Education, and worked as a music therapist with handicapped children for many years.  

David’s poetry project, City of Dreams, has performed at colleges, festivals, and theaters throughout the country. He is also the Director of Crisalida Communications which consults to arts and civic organizations helping them create effective community outreach programs.

Visit David’s website.

Jeannette Rodríguez Píneda is a Dominican-American mixed media artist living and working between Santo Domingo and NYC.

Using antiquarian and analog photographic processes to explore the borders of home, identity, and memory.  She teaches radical printed matter and time-based media for many youth serving arts programs including, Groundswell, Queens Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem, Whitney Museum of American Arts and Recess.  Also, founded MOVIMIENTO, a free bilingual hiking initiative that fosters inclusion and equity in the outdoors.

Annie Harold is a program manager and educator with a B.A. in Environmental Justice from Macalester College. She has been developing, leading and expanding educational programming for schools and nonprofits for ten years. 

Annie currently works for Envoys as a Partnerships Manager, designing custom travel programs for schools in the NYC area. 

Prior to this, she spent two years creating and leading educational programs at both The Battery Urban Farm and Gitano Garden, and three years directing programs at the Indonesian agricultural foundation Sawah Bali. Her professional experience also includes sustainability consulting, small business coaching, website development, photography, video editing and freelance writing.