Anne Fitzgibbon, Executive Director

In addition to being the Executive Director of the Harmony Program, Anne Fitzgibbon is Director of Operations and Deputy to the Senior University Dean for Academic Affairs and Dean of the School of Professional Studies at the City University of New York.

Prior to founding the Harmony Program, Ms. Fitzgibbon worked for five years as a policy advisor in the Mayoral administrations of Michael R. Bloomberg and Rudolph W. Giuliani, focusing principally on social services, youth programs, and education. She also held management positions in the City's Office of Management and Budget, the Health and Hospitals Corporation and the Department for the Aging.

Ms. Fitzgibbon holds a Master's Degree in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. She graduated from Barnard College and studied clarinet at the Juilliard School.

In 2007-2008, Ms. Fitzgibbon was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work with the Venezuelan National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras (El Sistema).

Sal Somma, Professional Development Coordinator

Sal Somma has been an arts advocate for over 30 years. He is presently working as Coordinator of Student Teachers, Music K-12 at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, Long Island.

Mr. Somma recently retired as District Director of Music from the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District on Long Island. At Plainview-Old Bethpage, he supervised a staff of twenty-three music teachers; coordinated the Arts-in-Education programs (75+ events); and planned and monitored staff development, the music curricula, the music budget and arts integration.

Under his direction the school district was a member of the Kennedy Center Partners in Education program. Prior to coming to Plainview-Old Bethpage in January 1999, Mr. Somma was involved in music education in New York City for twenty seven years, teaching music on the elementary, middle school and high school levels and serving as the Assistant Principal Supervision, Music at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn (1987 - 1998).

Mr. Somma has been professionally involved in numerous music organizations on the city, county, state and national level. In addition, Mr. Somma has served as a guest conductor and clinician on many occasions.

Nancy Hager, Brooklyn College Conservatory Liaison

Nancy Hager has been a member of the faculty of Brooklyn College for over 35 years. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University. Her teaching experience encompasses a wide array of courses for non-majors and for undergraduate and graduate students.

During her 16-year tenure as the Director of the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, from 1989 to 2006, the Conservatory made significant advances in building its reputation in the fields of American and contemporary music. She also elevated the training of the city's school teachers to be among the department's most important missions.

Highlights of her other administrative service include terms as the chair of the Faculty Council, Faculty Council Master Plan and Core Committees, Brooklyn College Arts Council, and CUNY Music Council. During the current 2007/2008 academic year she served as Brooklyn College's Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Carmen Lai, Program Assistant

Carmen Lai is a sophomore at Queens College and is majoring in music and psychology. A pianist and violinist, Carmen performed in the Bayside High School orchestra and chamber music ensemble and has taught private piano lessons to beginner students. Carmen is interested in arts administration and spent last year interning with the Turtle Bay Music School in New York City, assisting in the program's administration.

Instructors

Pascal Licciardi, Ensemble Director

Pascal Licciardi, a clarinetist, holds an undergraduate degree in music performance and music education from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. Mr. Licciardi is currently the music director at Brooklyn Studio Secondary School and is completing a Master's degree in music education with a concentration in conducting at Hofstra University.

Christian Alonzo, Brass

A dedicated brass musician, Christian Alonzo is in his first year at Brooklyn College and is majoring in Music Education. He is involved with several ensembles at Brooklyn College, including the brass ensemble, wind ensemble, and chorale.

The brass instruments he plays include trombone, baritone/euphonium, tuba, and trumpet, but his musical skills are not limited to the brass family. He is also knowledgeable in keyboard, drums, bass, and conducting, and he composes his own music.

Fluent in English and Tagalog (the native language of the Philippines), he began studying music in the fourth grade, and has loved it ever since. Christian believes in the Harmony Program because, he says, music is "not only fun, but rewarding" and "teaches the value of hard work [and] dedication."

Hye Jin Cho, Cello

Hye Jin Cho, currently a graduate student at Brooklyn College and a native of Korea, plays cello and has also studied piano and violin. She received her BM degree from Keimyung University in Korea.

She has performed in recitals and with orchestras in both the US and Korea, and is currently a member of the Dolce Don String Quartet and a piano, flute and cello trio.

Cho has taught private and church group cello lessons since 1998 and says that "more than anything, I love teaching…I want to be able to show many children how music enriches their lives, and I want…to help them develop their dreams in music."

Jessica Billitteri, Flute

Jessica Billitteri received her Bachelor's in Flute Performance from Brooklyn College in 2008, where she was a member of the Con Tempo chamber ensemble and principle flute of the conservatory orchestra.

From 2004-2007 she was a flute instructor and site manager at the previous incarnation of the Harmony Program at Brooklyn College. Billitteri currently teaches flute, keyboard, and recorder at the Beacon Program at Seth Low Junior High School in Brooklyn.

She is deeply committed to the mission of the Harmony Program, stating that, "it may seem to some that playing an instrument is an impossible dream. I believe that this dream can always become a reality, and I have a passion for helping to make that happen."

Devora Geller, Violin

Violinist Devora Geller has studied music at Morningside College in Iowa, where she graduated summa cum laude, and at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music (CUNY) where she obtained a Master's Degree in Violin Performance.

She has extensive orchestral experience and has performed as the concertmaster for the Siouxland Youth Orchestra and the Brooklyn College Conservatory Orchestra.

She has taught students of all ages and participated with the Brooklyn College Preparatory Center as an assistant in coaching chamber ensembles of junior high and high school students.

In addition, she recently worked as an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College teaching an Introduction to Music course. With the Harmony Program, she hopes to strengthen her teaching skills and pass along her love of music to students.

Samuel Marchan, Violin

Originally from Venezuela, Samuel Marchan holds his his Bachelor's Degree in Viola Performance from the Juilliard School and his Master's Degree in Music Performance from New York University.

An active violist in the New York area, he has been and continues to be involved in numerous orchestras and chamber ensembles. He also has extensive educational experience in the New York public schools and in Venezuela, teaching privately and in small groups.

Mr. Marchan has participated in numerous teaching workshops all over the country. He currently teaches violin and viola lessons in the Strings Department at the Brooklyn Friends School, as well as violin ensembles at PS 315 East Village Community School.

A member of the National Strings Teachers Association and America's Suzuki Federation, he is excited to join the Harmony Program because it offers music to New York kids in an environment that "nurtures, teaches and sparks them…with music at the highest level."

Jason Silva, Brass

Jason Silva is currently an undergraduate student who plays the trombone, horn, tuba, and trumpet. He has been involved with music for 15 years and has performed as the bass trombonist for the Meetinghouse Jazz Orchestra and the bass trombone substitute for the One World Symphony.

He also has experience playing different styles of popular and folkloric music and performs with several Latin bands like La Rebelión, Cholo Rivera y su Orquesta Clásica, and Grupo Arcano.

Silva has previously given private lessons to a wide range of students, ages 15 to 50, but at the Harmony Program he hopes to gain knowledge and experience that will contribute to his future as an educator of music.

"The best way I can contribute to the education of these children is by showing them the many joys and possibilities music has to offer."

Patrick O'Reilly, Percussion

A sophomore at Brooklyn College, majoring in Music Education, Patrick has studied percussion, including the drumset, for eight years. He performs with the Brooklyn Repertory Opera and both the Brooklyn College Orchestra and the Percussion Ensemble, along with various rock bands

The Harmony program will be an education for both the students and him, he believes, and "an opportunity… to further influence the art of percussion music."

Volunteers

Nina Monfredo, Program Assistant

Nina Monfredo, 19, is currently a freshman at Columbia University, where she studies violin with Lisa Kim of the New York Philharmonic and plays in the university orchestra and a piano trio. Nina has spent many summers playing chamber music at Greenwood Music Camp and was a member of the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic for three years, traveling with the orchestra to China, Brazil, and Venezuela.

In Venezuela, Nina witnessed the incredible power of music to inspire and influence every aspect of a child's life. She is really excited to volunteer for Harmony and help give more NYC children the wonderful opportunity of being immersed in music and learning an instrument.

Elizabeth Wang Whitman, Program Assistant

Elizabeth Whitman, 18, is in her first year at Columbia University. She plays in the Columbia University Orchestra and in a flute, harp, and viola trio. In high school she was an active orchestral and chamber musician in the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and attended the music camps Kinhaven and Greenwood in the summers.

Her experiences with music have showed her the profound impact music can have on people and how wonderful the opportunity to play music is. She is extremely excited to be working with Harmony because of its incredible potential to make a huge difference in children's and their families' lives.

Irene Alvarado, Program Assistant

Irene Alvarado, 18, is from Caracas, Venezuela where she grew up around music, playing violin and piano at the Juan Jose Landaeta music conservatory. During high school, she participated in the conservatory's orchestra, as well as the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra, and performed all around the city.

She currently studies engineering at Columbia University and is incredibly excited to work for the Harmony Program because it reminds her of home and of the importance of music in the development of communities and shaping of the values of youth.