Heather McCowen, Ph.D.

Orientation, Session 1, Session 5

Heather McCowen, Ph.D., enjoys discovering innovative ways to help individuals understand the college admissions process. Before she became an independent consultant, she served as the Director of Programs at The ChiArts Foundation, where she worked with alumni, developed external partnerships, and ran her own college consulting company. Before her role at the foundation, Heather was the college Counselor, AP coordinator, and testing coordinator at The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts). As ChiArts’s first college counselor, she created the college advising program in 2011 and worked with over 1100 arts students in Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. Before this position, Heather was the Assistant. Dean for Enrollment and Student Services for Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she oversaw all auditions and arts scholarships. She also served as an Associate. Dean for Admissions at the Longy School of Music at Bard in Cambridge, MA. Heather has been an adjunct music professor at East Texas A&M Univ., a financial planner for Raymond James, and has admitted students in the arts (all the arts – Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theatre -acting AND musical theatre- Art History and Visual Arts) at Southern Methodist University (SMU). While her official admissions career started at the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, she began by calling admitted students to congratulate them while a student at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. 

She also likes sharing her thoughts and feelings about the bonkers college admission process. Follow her on Instagram @ heatherm_collegedoc and on TikTok @heatherm_collegedoc 

Danielle Arnold

Session 2

Danielle Arnold has a career in music school admissions which has spanned over 15 years. In her current role as Associate Director of Admissions at the Eastman School of Music she has worked on many student-focused initiatives aimed at improving the experience of applying to music school. She regularly represents Eastman at meetings for professional music admissions organizations including the Music Admissions Roundtable (MAR), and the Independent Consortium for College Admissions in Music (ICCAM). Danielle is currently pursuing a PhD in Education through the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education with a focus on higher education. Her research interests include equity in admissions, meritocracy, systems of oppression in higher education organizations, and the impact of trauma on faculty and student experiences. Prior to this, she earned a Master of Science in Higher Education- Leadership from the Warner School of Education and her Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Stony Brook University. 

Alex Powell

Session 2

Dr. Alex Powell has nearly twenty years of experience in college and conservatory administration. He has recently served as the Dean of Enrollment Management and Aid at the Cleveland Institute of Music, following many years as the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He also led admissions efforts at the Longy School of Music of Bard College and has provided enrollment management consulting to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has given numerous presentations on college admissions in the performing arts and has been a featured panelist at many conferences. He served as an adjudicator for Classical Singer, NEC concerto competitions, Boston Lyric Opera, and VoicesBoston, and has been on panels for hundreds of conservatory auditions. 
 
Dr. Powell earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education at Boston University, a Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance at NEC, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance at Belmont University, and a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in History and Music at the University of Notre Dame. 

Juliet White-Smith

Session 3

Juliet White-Smith is an accomplished violist, an engaging and dynamic teacher, and an expert string pedagogue. With a career spanning four decades, she has performed in concert halls as a solo, chamber and orchestral musician throughout the Americas and in Europe, Asia and Africa. She was a featured soloist with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Terje Mikkelsen (Norway). She has been featured as a recitalist and presenter for conferences and congresses of the American Viola Society and International Viola Society at venues in Montreal, South Africa, Thailand and Brazil. White-Smith was a member of the Texas Chamber Orchestra under Sergiu Luca, the Houston Grand Opera under John DeMain, a fellow with the Rochester Philharmonic, and has performed in the viola sections of the Grand Rapids (Michigan) and Columbus (Ohio) Symphony Orchestras. 

White-Smith’s views on pedagogy, talent, and effective practice have been featured in articles in The Strad, Strings Magazine, Journal of the American Viola Society, and American String Teacher. She has presented master classes throughout the United States and abroad at major music schools including the Eastman School of Music, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and Mahidol College of Music in Thailand. She has been an invited presenter and master class clinician for the American String Teachers Association, the nonprofit Save the Music Foundation, the 75th anniversary Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa for the International Viola Society Congress in 2009. She has been on the artist-faculty at music festivals in the United States and abroad including most recently the Brevard Music Festival from 2018–2023. In 2025, she joined the artist-faculty at the Cremona International Music Academy and Festival in Italy. She is active as an adjudicator for prominent career-advancing competitions including the William Primrose International Viola Competition and the Yellow Spring Chamber Music Competition. Her students have won positions in summer music festivals such as National Repertory Orchestra, in training orchestras including the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and have successful careers as professional orchestra musicians and in academia. 

Ellen Segarra 

Session 4

December 2025 will mark three years in my role as a Financial Aid administrator for the Manhattan School of Music.  Although my cumulative experience in higher education is eleven years, nine years have been dedicated to Student Financial Services, starting with Bursar and shifting to Financial Aid. As a third-generation Puerto Rican/Cuban and first to attend college through my graduate degree, I find financial aid rewarding because it is an opportunity to give back to others in a capacity that can make a difference for students and families. I’m grateful for the chance to assuage the concerns of students and families with guidance during an overwhelming time.  My degrees in Psychology and English Literature are the foundation of my approach to Financial aid with analytical precision and a deep understanding of the human experience. I’m also an active member of Financial Aid associations such as NYSFAAA, NASFAA, and EASFAA, contributing to the broader conversation on financial aid policy and practice.  Beyond financial assistance, giving back is fundamental to my ethos of passing “the torch of inspiration” through volunteering experiences such as performing for Bharati’s Foundation food drive events in the Bronx and Thanksgiving Soup Kitchen at All Saint’s All Catholic Church in Brooklyn. My favorite things are reading, singing karaoke, going to the movies, and writing research papers on fairy tales (especially Beauty and the Beast) for the Popular Culture Conference I attended in 2019, 2020, 2021 and returned in 2025.