Nick Skinner • Senior Director

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Over the past several years, Nick Skinner has become a prominent music educator and arts administrator in Baltimore. Nick is currently working with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s major social initiative, OrchKids, where he serves as the Senior Director. Nick began teaching in the Howard County Public School System in Maryland as an elementary instrumental instructor. He then moved on to teach in the Baltimore County Public School System in Maryland at Catonsville High School where he was the music director. Nick also served as an arts administrator at the Waldorf School in Baltimore and for the Archipelago Project, a non-profit organization devoted to arts advocacy. Additionally, Nick has lead lectures, workshops, and seminars with El Sistema in Baltimore City; Traverse City, Michigan; Waterbury, Hartford, and Stamford, Connecticut; Boston, at the New England Conservatory; and Venezuela. Nick is a distinguished consultant and arts advocate within the El Sistema movement. He is also an adjunct professor at UMBC where he teaches “Management and Organizational Leadership in El Sistema” as a part of a one-year post-baccalaureate certification program. Nick graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance and music education.

DAN TRAHEY • ORCHKIDS ARTISTIC LIAISON

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Dan Trahey is a musician, educator, and innovator. He was instrumental in the creation of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s “OrchKids” where he served as the Artistic Director. Dan also founded the El Sistema inspired program “Tuned In” at the Peabody Conservatory where he teaches creative composition and community engagement. Dan plays tuba for the Archipelago Project and the Austria based RET Brass Band, and has performed world wide for hundreds of thousands of children, specifically targeting impoverished areas with little access to live performance. He has held orchestral positions in Mexico and the U.S. Dan’s work is documented by media outlets such as 60 Minutes, PBS, NPR, The N.Y. Times, and The Washington Post. He recently gave a TED talk at TEDX Baltimore and was named the Most Valuable Player in the Arts by Baltimore Magazine. Dan has taught at Baltimore School for the Arts, Idyllwild Arts, and UMBC where he teaches Music Entrepreneurship. Dan is a consultant for programs desiring to use music as a vehicle for social change. In addition to founding two El Sistema programs in Baltimore, Dan helped start El Sistema inspired programs in Charlotte, Chicago, Ft.Worth, Innsbruck, Allentown, Waterbury, Alexandria, Kalamazoo, and others. He received a M.M. from Yale and a B.M.E from Peabody.

Danielle Williams • Director of Education

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Danielle Williams is a composer, conductor, and passionate music educator who uses her international experiences to shape her role as a pedagogue and inspire collaborations. Her passion to use music as a tool for social change has led Danielle to explore creative global methods of music education focused around collaborative composition, student-led initiatives, and peace education methods. From 2016-2018 she lived in Palestine (The West Bank) teaching and conducting at the Al Kamandjati Music School. Previously, Danielle established and directed the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s education programs. Prior to Boston, she spent two years in Tanzania teaching piano, flute, and voice lessons at the Umoja Music School. Danielle received her Master’s Degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education “Arts in Education” program and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition from Vanderbilt University.

Devin Harrington • Manager of Programs

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Judith Sarah ⋅ Early Childhood Education Manager

Lynette Fields •  Program Manager
Mary Ann Winterling Elementary

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Samantha Flores • Program Manager

Highlandtown Elementary/Middle School #215

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Jocelyn Abrahamzon

Administrative Coordinator

Christy Grace

Academy and Instrumental Education Coordinator

Daniel Morrison

Program Coordinator and Media Administrative Coordinator

Milos Tosic

Artistic and Program Operations Manager

2018-2020 Fellow:

Christy Grace

Strings Fellow

2019-2021 Fellows:

Maddi Bohman

Strings Fellow

Autumn England

Strings Fellow

Daniel Morrison

Brass Fellow

2020-2022 Fellows:

Sheila Esquivel

Strings Fellow

Samantha Flores

Strings Fellow

2021-2023 Fellows:

Mallory Carnes

Strings Fellow

Alejandra Santillanes

Flute and Musicianship Fellow