Staff

Executive Director

CHAD COOPER

Chad joined the Conservatory’s Board of Trustees in July of 2014 and served as its Treasurer before joining the staff as Executive Director in August of 2016. Prior to joining the Conservatory, Chad was a Managing Director in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Deutsche Bank Securities where he worked for over 15 years covering public and private real estate companies, investment managers and private equity platforms.

Earlier in his career, Chad worked for four years at the St. Louis Development Corporation, the economic development agency of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. There, he designed and implemented community and economic development programs targeted towards alleviating poverty in some of the most economically distressed neighborhoods in St. Louis and East St. Louis. During his time in St. Louis, Chad also co-founded a project-based grassroots non-profit organization called Metropolis Saint Louis, which sought to foster greater engagement of young people in city revitalization efforts.

Like many Staff and Board members of the Conservatory, Chad was drawn to the organization by a love of music. It is a thread that connects many joyful and formative experiences in his life, from nervously singing in school plays before his 5th grade classmates; to performing timeless jazz standards in college with the Yale Whiffenpoofs; to the joy he experiences today seeing how music makes his two sons – both piano students at the Conservatory – instantly happy. Chad is a piano student at the Conservatory himself, having started piano lessons when he joined the Staff, and still not sounding very good.

Chad recently was elected to the Board of Trustees of the National Guild of Community Arts Education, a membership-based organization whose mission it is to develop leaders, strengthen organizations, and advocate for community arts education around the country. The Conservatory is one of the 400+ proud members of the Guild, and we wholeheartedly share the Guild’s vision of a nation where arts education is accessible and embraced as essential for human development and healthy communities.

Chad earned his MBA from Stanford and his BA from Yale.

Director of Administration 

MICHAELA MECHLOVITZ

Michal Mechlovitz joined the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music team in 2012. She has worn many hats at BKCM over the years from Gala Coordinator, to Human Resources Manager, to Instrument Explorers Teaching Assistant, and is excited to apply her years of experience and love for BKCM and its mission to her new position as Director of Administration.

Michal is a born and bred Brooklynite. She has always loved her lively home borough for its diversity of culture and counts herself lucky to live in a city where she can hear music from different traditions and practices from around the world on any given night. She’s proud of BKCM’s work to extend opportunities in music education and therapy to the spitfire and tenacious people of her home city regardless of age, level, ability, and limitation. She loves being part of a team that believes music is for everyone.

Michal is a classically trained mezzo soprano, holding a degree in voice performance from the Boston Conservatory. She has a strong affinity for 20th century and contemporary music, particularly the French repertoire and the work that came out the context of the World War period. What she’s always loved most about classical singing is the crossing of master music and poetry at iconoclast historical checkpoints. She loves absorbing languages and the written word, and has collaborated on writing projects with fellow musicians and music projects with performance artists. She has a taste for art with attitude that’s rebellious, provocative, and challenges form and the status quo.

When Michal is not humming through the halls of BKCM, you can find her throwing clay or at the beach.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

SHAMEEZA CHANDARPAL

FINANCE ASSISTANT

ALISA BRUZA

Director of DEI

UTON ONYEJEKWE

From: New York

I started teaching music in… 2008

I started teaching at the Conservatory in… 2016

My inspiration: Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Debussy, Brian Wilson, Brando

Few people know that I… skipped grades in school

I play and teach: Voice, chorus, guitar, ukulele 

My other artistic/musical endeavors: Play with Erin Maya and the Reckoning, the Kena Anae Band, also perform in various musicals, especially musicals involving actor/musicians. Also, compose and do sound work for choreographers and film.

Director of Marketing & Development

ROSE CRICHTON

Rose Crichton-White is a New York Emmy-winning professional with over 15 years of cross-sector integrated marketing, event management, and community relations experience.  Most recently, she served as Director of Marketing & Communications and Interim Director of Development for Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children, a nonprofit organization focused on domestic and international adoption.

Previously, Rose was Associate Director of Partnerships & Marketing for BRIC Arts & Media in Brooklyn where she managed the BRIC Media Share program.  There, she partnered with other nonprofit organizations to help them produce mission-based short-form video content and incorporate it as part of their own long-term marketing strategies. As part of that program, she received two New York Emmy nominations and won her first New York Emmy in 2018.

Rose also worked with media company, Emmis Communications as Director of Marketing & Promotions for radio station 98.7 KISS-FM and as an integral  marketing and community relations team member of the global Hip-Hop brand, HOT 97.  As a freelance consultant and event manager, she worked with companies such as MTV, the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, Mission One Voice, New York Comic Con, NBC and Interscope Records.

Rose is a City University of New York Alumna and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media and Film Studies from Hunter College and a Master of Science degree in Marketing from Baruch College. She is a Brooklyn native and currently lives with her husband, son, and cat in Ditmas Park.

Marketing Associate, Institutional

ERIN KREBS

Marketing Associate, Programs

PAM WONG

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

TRACY ZAMOT

Development Associate

CARA SEARCH

Development Associate, Institutional Giving

DANIEL MASEDA

FINANCE & SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER

MIRANDA KNUTSON

Miranda Knutson joined the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in the winter of 2014 helping organize BKCM’s Red Hot Winter Gala. She has worn many hats at the Conservatory including co-running the Brooklyn Brass Festival, implementing early childhood programming at Head Start schools, setting up new summer camps, organizing staffing, food, auctions and other day-of logistics for 11 galas and numerous events. She currently works on events, special projects, payroll, budgets and outreach billing. She coordinates with program directors to set billing and payroll rates for over 64 sites for Music Partners and Music Therapy.  She tracks each programs schedule, budget, grant allocation, account receivable and payroll changes to reconcile and give updates and analytics to Finance and Development.

Miranda has been part of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music community since she was 8 years old. Over the years she has taken piano, voice, musical theater, saxophone, flute, and chorus at BKCM. She has performed with the Village Light Opera Group, Vertical Players, and other local opera groups.

Prior to BKCM, Miranda was Program and Development Coordinator for Community Works, where she coordinated community learning arts workshops in public schools as well as wrote grants and ran events for historical/arts exhibitions. Before that, she worked at the Museum of Sex as the Special Events Coordinator, and at the Metropolitan Playhouse as Company Manager.

Along with her love of music, she has pursued other passions. Miranda is a Historical Cloth-making instructor, Stage Combat choreographer, and Licensed New York City tour guide. Miranda received her B.S. in History at MIT, and her Masters in Medieval History at Kings College London. On weekends you can generally find her with her spinning wheel teaching at colonial houses around New York, or leading tours of literary and historic pubs of Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Heights.

Operations Associate

JUVENAL SANTIAGO

HEAD REGISTRAR

FATIMA JIHADA

Registrar & Operations Specialist

ALEX SELAWSKY

REGISTAR

IVANNA PALACIO

Registrar & Operations Specialist

BRYAN CABRERA PEREZ

Graphic Designer

JEFF YAS

Jeff Yas is an experienced graphic artist, singer, songwriter & guitarist. At BKCM, he serves as Senior Designer, creating and maintaining a cohesive brand identity across all marketing & communications. Jeff’s style mixes the geometric minimalism of Art Deco & Bauhaus with strong color palettes and engaging typography. His own Park Slope studio is called YAS (www.yasgraphics.com) and specializes in logos, websites and brand marketing. His band Turnpike (www.turnpike718.com) plays original alt-folk Americana with a Jazz & Southern Gothic feel, and has just released their first EP “Leaving Camptown” on iTunes and Spotify. They play regularly at Rockwood Music Hall, Freddy’s, Three’s Brewing, The Way Station & Branded Saloon.

JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

RENEE SHOHET

JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

DANNY BORISON

BKCM Mascot

ROCKY

Since joining the BKCM team in 2021, this pup-star has been lifting spirits and bringing smiles to the faces of everyone he encounters. With his friendly disposition and paw-sitive energy, Rocky is top dog at the Conservatory.

MUSIC PARTNERS DIRECTOR

DOROTHY SAVITCH

Dorothy Savitch has led the Music Partners program since 1996, developing fully enriched, sequential programs that build upon students’ skills from year to year. Under Dorothy’s guidance, Music Partners has grown from six sites with 700 students to 34 sites with 4,500 participants. Dorothy has expanded the course offerings to meet the needs and interests of our diverse community, including chorus for seniors citizens, West African Drumming, GarageBand Songwriting and programs for toddlers and pre-kindergarten students. Dorothy has been on the BKCM faculty since 1989, and prior to becoming Program Director of Music Partners, she taught music theory, history, classical guitar, chorus and recorder. In 2002, Dorothy Savitch was also named as the first Music Director of the Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra. Since 1997, Ms. Savitch has also been Music Director of Long Island’s Sound Symphony Orchestra. Since her tenure began, both orchestras have grown and expanded into two of the finest community ensembles in the New York metropolitan area. They have received high praise for their vibrant performances and expansive repertoire. Before her transition to the podium, Ms. Savitch studied the classical guitar with Christopher Parkening and Vicente Gomez, and toured throughout the West Coast. She received music degrees from Columbia University and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Her conducting teachers include Harold Farberman and Maurice Peress.

MUSIC PARTNERS ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

SHERI GOTTLIEB

Music Partners Community Engagement Liaison

SARA HOLTZSCHUE

Name: Sara Holtzschue

I’m from… Brooklyn, New York

I started teaching music in… 1987

I started teaching at the Conservatory in… 1999

My inspiration:  Nina Simone

Few people know that I… love jellyfish

Education: Barnard College, Columbia University – A.B., Music
New England Conservatory – M.M., Jazz Composition

I play and teach:  Flute, Piano, Voice, Composition, Music Theory and Songwriting

My other artistic/musical endeavors:  Sara Holtzschue Trio and Quartet

Biography: A New York native, Sara Holtzschue’s career in music began as a classically trained flutist. Sara’s track began changing during her high school and college years which she spent both playing flute and nurturing her budding interest in composition, jazz and American folk music. She graduated with a degree in music with honors from Barnard College at Columbia University where she studied with David Rakowski, Mario Davidovsky, Jeff Nichols and Harold Jones.

Sara’s interest in jazz led her to a master’s degree with honors in Jazz Composition from New England Conservatory of Music. As her great-grandmother did at Oberlin, she adopted voice as the focus of her performance studies while at the Conservatory. She had the opportunity to study both voice and composition with Dominique Eade, John McNeil, Bevan Manson, George Garzone and Jimmy Guiffre.

Sara serves as the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music’s Music Partners Community Engagement Liaison as well as a site coordinator for band programs at PS 686 and 118. She is an Assistant Professor at the City University of New York and conducts workshops and courses for the CUNY College Now program.

The recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, Sara has been honored by the City University of New York Research Foundation, New England Conservatory, The Brooklyn Conservatory, Reed College, Columbia University, Barnard College and, for three consecutive years, the AscaPlus Award for Performance and Composition. She was also a staff writer at www.jazzreview.com. September 2005 saw Sara as a featured artist on Skyjazz Internet Radio.

Sara has performed with and/or had compositions recorded by the Kingsborough Community College Orchestra, Bruce Barth, George Colligan, Michael Kanen, David Berkman, Pete McCann, Dave Ambrosio, Rez Abbasi, Roberta Piket, George Garzone, Andrew Rathbun, Peter Retzlaff, Christian Howes and Taylor Haskins, among others.

Music Partners Administrative Assistant

SARA SCHOENBECK

The Wire magazine places Sara Schoenbeck in the “tiny club of bassoon pioneers” at work in contemporary music today and the New York Times has called her performances “galvanizing” and “riveting, mixing textural experiments with a big, confident sound.”
While focusing on the intersection between extended technique and melody Sara works to expand the notion of what the bassoon is capable of in both notated and improvised music. She is a member of Anthony Braxton’s 12+1(tet) and the Tri-Centric Orchestra; Gravitas Quartet with Wayne Horvitz. She performs and tours regularly with the Schoenbeck/Horvitz Duo; ensemble Wavefield; Petr Kotek’s SEM ensemble; the composers group WetInk, the Michael Leonhart Orchestra and the Nels Cline Lovers Orchestra. Sara can be heard on music and film recordings including on the Blue Note label and the movies Matrix 2 and 3. She is looking forward to releasing her debut album in the fall of 2021 as a leader in a series of intimate duets on Pyroclastic Records.
She has performed at major venues and festivals throughout North America and Europe. Highlights include Biennale Musica in Venice Italy, SXSW, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, Victoriaville, the Vancouver Jazz Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival, Saalfelden in Austria, the NY Winter Jazz Festival, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, the NY VisionFest and the Kennedy Center.

Sara received her BFA from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. She has been adjunct faculty at California Institute of the Arts, Citrus College and Pasadena Conservatory and given master classes at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Cornish College, University of Denver, Western Washington University and Sacramento State University.

MUSIC THERAPY DIRECTOR

TOBY WILLIAMS

Onsite Clinical Coordinator

MARIE LEWIS, MA, MT-BC

Name: Marie Lewis

I’m from: Queens, New York

I became a music therapist in… 2017

I started practicing music therapy at the Conservatory in… 2013. I’ve been affiliated with the conservatory’s music therapy program since 2013, first as a volunteer, then as an intern, and now as a music therapist.

The populations I’ve worked with include… I’ve worked with clients aged 3-21.

The primary population I work with is… Children and adolescents with developmental delays

My inspiration: Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Sarah Vaughn

Few people know that I…  have a twin brother.

Education:  University of Massachusetts, Amherst – BA, English
New York University – MA, Music Therapy

I you play:  Guitar, piano, and my voice

Music Therapy Outreach Program Coordinator

DANNYELE CRAWFORD, MS, MT-BC

Music Therapy Administrative Coordinator

MELISSA HARRIS, MA, MT-BC, LCAT

Name: Melissa Harris

I’m from… Lancaster county, PA

I became a music therapist in… 2013

I started practicing music therapy at the Conservatory in… 2011

The populations I’ve worked with include… children, young adults, and seniors with a wide range of developmental, social and emotional needs

The primary population I work with is…  children with developmental needs

My other clinical specialties:  I am experienced in helping people discover their own abilities and grow those abilities.

My inspiration: My clients inspire me with their joy and determination. My own children inspire me with their boundless creative energy. My colleagues and friends inspire me with their passion and commitment to growth and nurturance. Jack White inspires my own creative music making.

Few people know that I… love backcountry hiking.

Education:  Penn State University – B.S. in Music Education
New York University – M.A. in Music Therapy
Teachers College, Columbia University – M.A. in Curriculum and Teaching

I play:  Flute, guitar, and piano

My other artistic/musical endeavors:  I write my own music and play with friends. I also play chamber music occasionally.

COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL DIRECTOR

BRIAN DRYE

CMS Coordinator

SAMEER GUPTA

Sameer Gupta is known as one of the few percussionists simultaneously combining traditional and modern improvisational styles drawing from his dual Indian and American heritage, and has already established himself as an original musical voice in music today. From bebop to avant-garde jazz, and percussion to North Indian Tabla, Sameer continues to compose and perform music from a true multi-cultural perspective that now bridges several continents.

SUZUKI DIRECTOR

JULIANNE CARNEY-CHUNG

Suzuki Program Director Violinist Julianne Carney-Chung has led the BKCM Suzuki Program since 2009. An active and versatile performer, from classical to rock to improvisation, Julianne has studied Suzuki pedagogy extensively, including completing the Teacher Training Program at the preeminent School for Strings, under Allen Lieb and Louise Behrend. Prior to her tenure at BKCM, Julianne was a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and a music fellow at OMI Arts Center. Under Julianne’s leadership, the BKCM Suzuki Program has become a thriving center for excellence and community, nearly doubling in size and offering expanded teen programming, an early childhood component and a five-day summer camp. Julianne is also developing a pedagogy of improvisation for Suzuki students, using sonic storytelling and Soundpainting, an interdisciplinary conducting language of gestures for guiding improvisation.

Suzuki Program Coordinator, Cello Department Head

JENNA GIRONE-VIRGILIO

Name: Jenna Girone-Virgilio

From: East Islip, NY

I started teaching music in… 2004

I started teaching at the Conservatory in… 2010

My inspiration: My students inspire me to be a better teacher every day! 🙂

Few people know that I… love swing dancing, I enjoy learning languages, and I have a cat named Daisy.

Education: The Hartt School at University of Hartford – Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance
Mannes College of Music at The New School – Master of Music in Cello Performance
Suzuki Training in Books 1-8 at School for Strings with Pamela Devenport

I play and teach: Cello

My other artistic/musical endeavors: I play with Rhymes with Opera and the Red Door Chamber Players, although Red Door seems like it may not be performing together very much anymore. I also have plenty of music for cocktail hours for various sized string ensembles.

I also perform with Rhymes with Opera, a contemporary opera company which was featured on the cover of Opera News magazine! We perform pieces that are commissioned for our small cast of singers and unique ensemble of violin, viola, cello, saxophone, percussion, and piano. Topics have included a sci-fi opera and an opera about four Dolly Parton super fans waiting to meet Dolly! For more information, go to the link below!

Personal Teaching Statement: Having experience with the Feldenkrais Method, Dalcroze, and Music Mind Games, my versatile training allows me to approach my teaching from a visual, aural, or kinesthetic standpoint, depending on the student’s needs. One teaching method or explanation does not work for all students. This is why I approach lessons with each unique individual or group of students in a way that connects to them and the way that they learn best.

My approach to teaching music is full of vivid analogies, hands-on activities to reinforce ideas, and questions to get my students to think for themselves not only to analyze what they are looking at on the page, but also how to approach getting an optimal sound out of their instruments. I am always looking for creative and out of the box ways to get a student to understand something, whether it is getting them up out of their seat, or doing an experiment to see what happens when we push boundaries. With these things in mind, my goal is for every lesson to be fun, educational, and productive.

Biography: Jenna Girone-Virgilio is the Head of the Suzuki Cello/Bass Department and the Suzuki Program Coordinator at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She completed training in Suzuki Cello Books 1-8 from School for Strings with Pamela Devenport; additionally, she completed an apprenticeship with Tova Rosenberg through the School for Strings’ Early Childhood Program and spearheaded that program from 2010 until 2017, working with children ages 1-4. She has been on the faculty at the Riverdale Country School, Virtuoso Suzuki Academy, Belle Arti Center for the Arts, and Manhattan Youth.

Jenna earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Cello Performance from The Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut, where she studied with Steven Thomas. She went on to receive her Master of Music degree in Cello Performance at New York’s Mannes College of Music, under the guidance of Paul Tobias.

As a performer, Jenna has appeared in venues across the world, including the Warner Brothers’ Studios in Los Angeles, with the Henry Mancini Institute; as the Principal Cellist with the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Asian Artists Opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C; in Italy, as a part of the Opera, Theater, and Music Festival of Lucca; and acting on stage at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as the role of “cellist” in Sir Richard Eyre’s recent production of Giacomo Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.”

Jenna recorded the soundtrack to “The China Question,” a documentary directed by Brook Silva-Braga, which has been played and featured on CNBC. Additionally, she can be heard on Warner Brothers’ singer/songwriter Matt White’s album, “Shirley,” Jeff Litman’s “Outside” and Nate Graham’s “Daylight.”

In 2020, Jenna had the honor of performing Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire” with the OMNI Ensemble at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She has also performed with such distinguished organizations as the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Ensemble 212, and the Mimesis Ensemble. Jennifer is a core member of Rhymes with Opera, and a founding member of the Red Door Chamber Players.

Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale Director

NICK NICASSIO

Name: Nicholas Nicassio

From: Los Angeles, CA

I started teaching music in…1999

I started teaching at the Conservatory in… Just starting this September

My inspiration: Former voice teacher, Naomi Farr

Few people know that I…  Have a Scuba certification and went diving with sharks in Palau

Education: University of California, Irvine, BA in English, Manhattan School of Music, MM in Voice, Rutgers University, DMA in Choral Conducting

I play and teach:  Choral Conductor, Voice, Piano

My other artistic/musical endeavors: Conductor for the National Children’s Chorus and Music Director at St. Saviour Church, Brooklyn. Just finishing composing the score for the feature film, When the Moon Was Twice as Big.