About Hannah

My passion began when I was a viola student at The Juilliard School. In my sophomore year, I traveled to Arusha, Tanzania to teach performing arts workshops to adult students finishing their education. The students’ openness to new ideas and their confidence in pushing their comfort zones inspired me to connect my love of music with students in the U.S.

For the past decade, I’ve dedicated my career to working with Rhode Island youth through music education. Previously, I worked for Community MusicWorks teaching violin/viola students and performing as a member of the MusicWorks Collective. Currently, I am the Assistant Director for Community Engagement at the RI Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School where I oversee the community partnerships department, manage a team of five, and serve as the Education Representative on the Music Director Search Committee. Our two largest partnerships are Link Up, a music literacy program created by Carnegie Hall for 3rd-5th grade students through which we serve between 8,000 and 12,000 students each year, and Victoria’s Dream Project (VDP), an afterschool strings program for 3rd-5th graders. In addition to previously teaching in VDP, I recently assisted in the expansion of the program to a second elementary school.

As a performer, I have played as a section viola sub with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Pops Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, RI Philharmonic Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Cape Symphony, and the Sphinx Honors Orchestra. For 5 seasons, I served as Assistant Principal Viola of Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra. I’ve also had the privilege of performing on world concert stages in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

I love learning and continue my education through many leadership programs. Most recently, I was accepted into Cohort 6 of SphinxLEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts, & Diversity), a two-year leadership program with the Sphinx Organization. I am also a proud graduate of the RI Foundation’s Equity Leadership Initiative Cohort 2 and the RI Black Business Association’s Emerging Leaders Development Program Cohort 3.

Outside of work, I serve on the Leadership Team of the New England Teaching Artist Collaborative, through which I co-chair the Network Building Working Group and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center.