A native Chicagoan, Adrienne Thompson returned to the Midwest in 2019 from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s acclaimed Talent Development Program, which supports Latinx and African American students who want to pursue careers in classical music. A nationally noted champion for excellence and equity in classical music, Thompson is proud to lead Merit’s efforts supporting the recruitment of new students, stewardship of current students, class registrations and payments, awarding of scholarships and financial aid, and ensuring a welcoming, vibrant experience for all students and families. 

Most recently, Adrienne Thompson served as the inaugural Project Director of Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI) since 2019. Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI) is a training program that works with a diverse network of music and youth-focused organizations to identify and train talented student musicians from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. The goal of CMPI is to increase diversity in America’s professional, musical landscape, particularly in its orchestras. Learn more about CMPI www.chicagopathways.org  

She continues to oversee the success of CMPI by serving as project advisor. In this new CMPI role, Thompson will guide the team she has built since 2019.   She also continues her commitment to the Atlanta Symphony as a consultant as well as provides support to the Cleveland Institute of Music in this capacity. 

Prior to her leadership role at the Atlanta Symphony, for twenty years, Thompson was a high school-level orchestra director at a primarily African American school in Georgia, where she raised the level of the student musicians from Level 3 to Level 6 over a five-year period.   

Thompson received a degree in flute performance from Chicago’s Sherwood Conservatory of Music (now part of Columbia College Chicago) and has an MBA from Indiana University. In 1968, as an eighth grader, Thompson became one of the first African Americans to attend Mount Greenwood Elementary School, known as the “Mount Greenwood 7.”

A Cuban immigrant, Azira G. Hill moved to Atlanta to pursue an education and earned a degree in nursing from Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing where she was a staff nurse and clinical instructor. While in Atlanta, Azira met and married her husband, Jesse Hill.

Shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen in 1960 she felt it was her responsibility to give back. Her lifelong love of music, inspired by her large musical family in Cuba and her own children’s musicianship in Atlanta, eventually led her to volunteer at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She served as co-chair of the Atlanta Symphony Associates’ (ASA) Action Committee for Audience Development in the Black Community.

On September 13, 1993, Mrs. Hill hosted 11 young musicians in the inaugural concert and induction ceremony of the ASO’s Talent Development Program (TDP), which she founded earlier in 1993. Today, 25 years later, under Hill’s leadership, the Talent Development Program has become a model among other arts organizations nationwide to curate diverse musicianship and has helped nurture nearly 100 young musicians to earn slots at top music schools, such as The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music and the Peabody Institution, and pursue careers in orchestras, teaching and performance.

Key to developing these young classical musicians is Hill’s model of mentorship, which goes beyond private lessons and audition preparation to include family education, life skills training and financial assistance for intensive summer music programs.

Her involvement and affiliations span a wide spectrum of activities, including the following boards: Founder of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program, former member of the Center for Puppetry Arts board, Southeastern Flower Show, Black Women’s Agenda, former member of the Board of Literary Action board, St. Joseph Mercy Care, Urban League Guild, and Planned Parenthood. She is a member of Atlanta Quettes, Circle — Lets, Inc., and the Inquirer’s Literary Club. She is a member of Big Bethel A.M.E. Church, a Golden Heritage Life Member of the NAACP, Life Member of the National Association of School Nurses, and a Life Member of the National Council of Negro Women.

Denielle Wilson is a musician and educator from Lithonia, Georgia.

She has taught privately and publicly, and performed in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings throughout the Atlanta, Chicago, and Charlotte metropolitan areas. She has previously completed fellowships and performed with the Charlotte Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Grant Park Music Festival, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Her interest in a career as an orchestral musician began while spending five years in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program, studying with cellist Joel Dallow. Wilson received her Master of Music Performance at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and her Bachelor of Music (double-major in Cello Performance and Instrumental Music Education) at Northwestern University.

Denielle also has a burden for community engagement that began early in her journey as a musician. She and her two siblings, Danya and Cliff Jr., formed the Wilson Trio in 2007, a piano trio that has given free performances in and around metro Atlanta. Her interest in music education has also kept her active in music ministries at her local church, and she continuously seeks opportunities to reach young people with educational performance experiences and affordable music lessons through substitute teaching and community arts education programs, such as Arts+ in Charlotte, N.C.

Currently, Denielle is beginning her second season as a section cellist with the Atlanta Symphony. 

Emily Brebach joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) as English horn and Oboe in the fall of 2012.

Ms. Brebach, a Philadelphia native, has performed with several orchestras throughout the United States, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Houston Symphony.  Prior to joining the ASO, Ms. Brebach held the position of English horn and oboe with the Sarasota Orchestra.

Ms. Brebach holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and studied with Louis Rosenblatt, James Caldwell, Robert Atherholt, and Robert Walters.

She is a founding member of The Merian Ensemble, a quintet of Atlanta Symphony women musicians whose mission is to perform and commission works by women composers.  Both with the Merian Ensemble and as a soloist, Ms. Brebach has been featured multiple times on the NPR program Performance Today.

She is an Artist Affiliate Instructor of Oboe and Emory University, a faculty member of the Atlanta Symphony’s Talent Development Program and maintains an active private studio in her home. Ms. Brebach has also given masterclasses and reed making seminars at schools such as the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Florida State University, the North Carolina School for the Arts, and Columbus State University.

She spends her summers in residence at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC, as English horn and oboe as well as artist faculty, and as English horn at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, WY.

Jade Garcia is an activist, administrator, and clarinetist. Trained classically on the clarinet, Jade began her concentrated study of music at the University of Colorado, Boulder under the guidance of Daniel Silver. Community organization accompanied her studies and furthered her passion for diversity and equity, eager to advance the art she found her own voice in. She continued on to graduate studies in Chicago as a student of John Bruce Yeh at the Chicago College for the Performing Arts. A young administrator, she contributed to and eventually led the team of the college’s Center for Arts Leadership, and she represented the student voices as an advocate for further support of Black and Brown artists.

Inspired to contribute to a shift away from the lack of representation in classical music, Jade became a part of the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI) as a Student Navigator shortly after graduation. Later promoted to be the Community Manager of CMPI her work further built a supportive network for CMPI fellows and their families, having as much of an impact in the community as she can. This year Jade begins her new role as Programs Manager of Equity Arc, and brings her skill and excitement to Pathways programs nationally. 

A passionate advocate for orchestras and their role in building strong communities, Jennifer Barlament joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2016. As the institution’s chief executive, Jennifer defines the strategic vision for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra while engaging key audiences to make that vision a reality.

At the ASO, Jennifer has presided over a period of extraordinary financial, artistic and institutional success, including the landmark naming of Nathalie Stutzmann as music director in 2022; consistent annual budget surpluses; multiple successful contract negotiations with the Orchestra’s musicians; growth of audiences and expansion of community programming; completion of an endowment campaign; and strategic development of the ASO’s Board and donor base. Of particular note is the ASO’s increased emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion in all areas of the institution under Jennifer’s leadership, including the enhancement of the ASO’s Talent Development Program, an elite training program for pre-collegiate Black and Latinx musicians pursuing careers in classical music. With the collaborative efforts of orchestra, staff and Board, Jennifer also guided the Orchestra through the COVID-19 pandemic, driving innovative solutions and launching a new digital concert series.

Jennifer has enjoyed a rich career in a variety of roles in orchestras across the country, including at The Cleveland Orchestra, where she served as General Manager; the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra; Omaha Symphony; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Jennifer is a past recipient of the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious Helen M. Thompson Award. She is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, was featured in Atlanta Magazine’s “Women Making a Mark,” served on the Emory University Board of Visitors, and serves on the advisory board of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. She resides in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta.

Jordan Milek Johnson started his musical studies in trombone with Hollie Pritchard and continued his studies at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, studying with Dr. Bradley Palmer. He graduated in May of 2022. While at the Schwob School, Johnson co-founded and served as president of the Black Schwob Society, a Black student union dedicated to advocating and providing understanding for Black musicians and serving the community through music.

Joshua Williams recently received a bachelor’s degree from the prestigious Juilliard School, which he attended on a full scholarship, studying with Alan Baer, Michael Moore, and Joseph Alessi. He was a 2017 National Young Arts Finalist and recently performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra. Williams was also a featured artist with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Joshua performs for the Soulful Symphony and is an Ear Training Teaching Fellow.

Williams is no stranger to the ASO: he is a 2018 graduate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program. Now in its 30th year, the Talent Development Program provides young Black and Latinx musicians the opportunity to receive the highest level of training and preparation to enter music programs and conservatories and to become professional musicians.

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, cellist Laura Andrade has established herself as a captivating solo and chamber musician, concertizing locally in NYC and internationally. Laura is a prize-winning laureate of the 2019 Sphinx Competition and has been a featured soloist with the Austin Civic and San Antonio Orchestras under the baton of maestro Ken-David Masur. With a passionate love and curiosity for chamber music, Laura has collaborated with members of the Juilliard, Borromeo, and Miró string quartets. She has performed at numerous festivals, including IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music in the UK, Verbier Festival, and Nume Festival in Italy. Laura has performed on tour with chamber ensembles, including A Far Cry, Sphinx Virtuosi, and most notably, Sybarite5, a dynamic string quintet in which Laura is the newest member. As the recent cellist of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, Laura regularly performs at Carnegie Hall and is also a teaching artist bringing classical music into the diverse communities and schools of NYC. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree and performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s from The Juilliard School. Her core cello mentors include Amy Levine-Tsang, Steven Doane, Rosemary Elliott, and Natasha Brofsky.

Current member of the New World Symphony, violinist Maalik Glover is an active orchestral musician and private teacher. He has received recognition at competitions such as winning Omega Psi Phi’s 2015 Talent Hunt, receiving an Honorable Mention at the 2018 Schwob School of Music Concerto Competition, as well being a winner of the 2021 CCM Violin Competition.

As a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Glover has studied the violin since the age of 11. Glover’s first significant accomplishment was his acceptance into the Talent Development Program at the age of 15. This has perpetuated his unyielding advocacy of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in classical music. Since then, he has held private studios of his own, collaborating with the Schwob Preparatory Division, LaGrange Symphony Orchestra’s Strings Attached, as well as the Columbus Symphony Academy.

During his graduate studies, Glover held a two-year fellowship with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he is a two-time fellowship recipient of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, as well as Spoleto Festival USA where he served as concertmaster. Glover has just completed a one-year appointment with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Rossen Milanov.

In 2019, Glover graduated summa cum laude from Columbus State University’s Schwob School of Music. He later obtained his Master’s at University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in 2022 upon completion of the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship. In his spare time, Glover loves exploring and traveling to new cities as well as composing film and video game music.

Magee Capsouto is an arts administrator, educator, and violinist with a passion for building opportunity and access in classical music through collective action. As Associate Director at Equity Arc, Magee has had the privilege of facilitating the development of innovative initiatives such as the Common Application for Summer Study and the National Pathways Festival Orchestra, empowering young musicians to advance to their musical goals and removing barriers to inclusion.

While pursuing her doctorate, Magee served in a variety of administrative and educational roles, garnering experience supporting young musicians at different stages of their development. In teaching and performing across Colorado’s Front Range, she cemented her desire to build opportunities for all musicians to thrive in the field. Through her administrative and educational careers, Magee has been an avid proponent of educational initiatives and creating access to classical music. While serving as Special Projects Coordinator at Play On Philly, Magee worked with administrators and educators throughout the Greater Philadelphia region to strengthen the ecosystem of afterschool programs serving youth and their families. 

As a professional violinist, Magee has performed across the country with major orchestras and with dynamic soloists ranging from Sasha Cooke and Joshua Bell to Wu-Tang Clan and OneRepublic. She holds degrees from CU Boulder, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Furman University, and Bard College where her teachers included William Preucil, Harumi Rhodes, Thomas Joiner, and Ann Setzer.

Malinda Clark Logan was born in the small Georgia town of Cairo, the home of the iconic baseball player, Jackie Robinson and Olympic Gold Medalist, Teresa Edwards. Her parents, Lonnie Morris Clark and Thelma Littleton Clark, were 1st generation high school and college graduates. They met in college while working as teachers on a provisional certificate during the school year and attending classes at Ft. Valley State College during the summer. Her father later earned a Master of Arts Degree in Administration and Supervision from Columbia University. He was assigned to Elementary and High schools as Principal, where under his leadership, the first brick school for “Negroes” was built in Talbotton, Ga. in 1955. Her mother always taught 2nd grade in the same school. 

Inspired, motivated, and encouraged by exemplary parents, Malinda and her sister, Barbara, were excellent students, graduating from high school with honors. Both were accepted by Spelman College upon graduation from Whitman Street High School in Toccoa, Ga.

As a student at Spelman College, Malinda chose Music Education as her field of study and was introduced to the Fine Arts, including concerts, plays, and guest appearances of famous Black classical musicians. William Warfield, celebrated baritone and Mattiwilda Dobbs, world-renowned Soprano and Spelman alumnus, were two of the most memorable. Earning a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1964, Malinda began her teaching career in the Atlanta Public School system as an Elementary Music teacher in 1966. When Georgia State University evolved as an integrated institution, a few years later, Malinda entered the School of Music graduate program, earning a Master of Music degree in 1982.

As a teacher of vocal music in elementary, and later in middle school, Malinda was intentional in providing vocal and instrumental music of classical, folk, spiritual and jazz genres via listening, singing, and creating diverse music experiences for her students. Career highlights and accomplishments include her selection as Teacher of the Year at Ralph Bunche Middle School (1986); Director of the Handbell Ensemble during the National Middle School Convention (Atlanta, Ga.); Director of the Middle School Honor Chorus during the Annual M. L. King, Jr. Parade; Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Honoree; and Director of the Chorus selected to perform at the WSB-TV Shining Light Award Ceremony, President Jimmy Carter, Honoree (1993). After 30 years of dedication and excellence in music education, Malinda retired in 1996 with honors and distinction.

Post retirement, Malinda was appointed to the Fulton County Arts Council in 1996. The duties of the Council involved serving on the review panel to approve and award grant funding, representing District 7 at local Arts events in South Fulton County, and supporting emerging artists and groups. In addition, Malinda was appointed as Liaison to the Board of the Hammonds House Museum and Galleries, located in the Historic West End District of Atlanta.

In 1993, Malinda attended the first performance of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Talent Development Program (TDP), held in the home of Ronda Respess, ASO violinist and founder of Franklin Pond. Since the inception of this nationally-renowned and critically-acclaimed program, Malinda has been a member of the audience, and has continued supporting ASO-TDP via the Advisory Committee, Steering Committee, and as a passionate Volunteer, Patron, and Advocate.

Malinda is the proud mother of one daughter, and two grandchildren. She is a devout member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, serving as a Lay Reader and an active member of Episcopal Church Women and the Ambassadors. She participates with the Food Ministry, Girls Mentoring Program, and formerly in the church music ensembles.

Michael Moore joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1968, and at age 18, was the youngest tubist among any major orchestra. Now in his 56th year in the Orchestra, he has become the “dean.”

He has been centrally involved with the Atlanta Symphony’s Talent Development Program since the very beginning and all of his students through that program have gone on to conservatories and are breaking into the music industry. He is also currently responsible for coaching the ASO’s tuba Fellow, Joshua Williams, who had come through TDP through him. 

Besides performing the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto on subscription concerts conducted by Robert Spano in 2008, Moore has performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall and at Piedmont Park, as well as the Edward Gregson Tuba Concerto with ensembles in Atlanta and Columbus. In 2003, 2012, and 2015 he was guest tubist with the Chicago Symphony. Additionally, Mr. Moore was guest artist at Tubilustium 2005-8 in Cosenza, Italy, and at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

Moore is the founder of the non-profit Atlanta Brass Society and the ABS Press, and also artistic director of the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet. He serves on the faculty at Emory University, where he teaches tuba and coaches brass chamber music; Moore also conducts the Atlanta Symphony Community Brass Ensemble. 

Along with his numerous musical pursuits, including playing banjo, Moore served as Treasurer of ICSOM for 12 years and is Treasurer of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players’ Association, along with being Vice President of the Atlanta Federation of Musicians.

Born in Oklahoma and raised in Georgia, Moore received his degree in music literature with a minor in composition from Georgia State University. His tuba studies have been with Arnold Jacobs and Ed Kleinhammer of the Chicago Symphony, Ward Fearn of the Philadelphia Orchestra, William Hill of Georgia State University, and his father, E.W. Moore – Atlanta Symphony Orchestra tubist under Henry Sopkin.

Lauded as “technically fearless with…an enormous, rich sound” (La Scena Musicale), pianist Michelle Cann made her orchestral debut at age fourteen and has since performed as a soloist with prominent orchestras such as the Atlanta and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Ms. Cann’s 2022-23 season includes an appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as part of the Rock My Soul festival, return engagements with the Cincinnati and New Jersey symphonies, and debut performances with the Baltimore, National, New World, Seattle, and Utah symphonies. She makes her debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Youth Symphony and performs recitals in New Orleans, Little Rock, Sarasota, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. She also performs duo piano recitals with her sister and frequent collaborator, pianist Kimberly Cann. Together, the Cann Duo’s “sheer verve and evident passion is something to behold” (Mountain Xpress).

A champion of the music of Florence Price, Ms. Cann performed the New York City premiere of the composer’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in July 2016 and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in February 2021, which the Philadelphia Inquirer called “exquisite.” She has also performed Price’s works for solo piano and chamber ensemble for prestigious presenters such as Caramoor, Chamber Music Detroit, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, San Francisco Performances, and Washington Performing Arts.

Ms. Cann is the recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization, the 2022 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and the Cleveland Institute of Music’s 2022 Alumni Achievement Award. She has won top prizes in competitions, including the Blount Slawson Young Artists Competition and the Wideman International Piano Competition. Additionally, she has served on the juries of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Kauffman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition, and the piano competition of the Music Academy of the West.

Embracing a dual role as performer and pedagogue, Ms. Cann is frequently invited to teach master classes, give lecture-demonstrations, and lead teaching residencies, including the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association. A staunch believer in the power of music to build community, she has served as the director of two children’s choruses in the El Sistema-inspired program Play On Philly and was among the first class of ArtistYear fellows at the Curtis Institute of Music. Through ArtistYear, she worked with community partners City Year, Teach for America, and AmeriCorps to provide arts education and access to underserved communities in Philadelphia.

Ms. Cann has appeared as cohost and collaborative pianist with NPR’s From The Top, collaborating with actor/conductor Damon Gupton, violinist Leila Josefowicz, and violinist and MacArthur Fellow Vijay Gupta. She has also been featured on WRTI-FM and WHYY-TV in Philadelphia. Her summer festival appearances have included Bay Chamber Concerts, the Taos Chamber Music Festival, Yellow Barn, Perlman Music Program, Music Academy of the West, Geneva Music Festival, and Pianofest in the Hamptons, where she serves as artist in residence.

Ms. Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Paul Schenly and Dr. Daniel Shapiro, and an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert McDonald. Ms. Cann joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies.

Paula Wilson is a strategic arts leader with a breadth of experience in arts administration and a passion to equip the next generation of arts leaders for sustainable careers. 

Her administrative career began in operations at the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio, a full circle opportunity to work for the ensemble she grew up playing in. She then held roles at a variety of institutions within her alma mater—Indiana University Bloomington—including the African American Arts Institute, Indiana University Foundation, and Jacobs School of Music Office of Admissions. 

After receiving a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance and a minor in Arts Management from Indiana University, she completed American for the Arts’ Diversity in Arts Leadership (DIAL) internship in Nashville Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement department. Additionally, she gained digital marketing experience as Program Assistant at the New Canon Chamber Collective, a nonprofit in South Florida dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black and Brown musicians. 

In August of 2021, Paula moved to Houston to pursue a Master of Arts in Arts Leadership at the University of Houston and a full-time position as Houston Symphony’s Digital Marketing Coordinator. She completed her practicum as a member of Houston Symphony’s DEI Project Team, reporting to the CEO. 

Following her time at Houston Symphony, Paulaaccepted a membership and marketing role at Equity Arc, a national service organization dedicated to advancing equity in classical music. There she grew membership by 220% and increased member retention by 300%. After 9 months, she was promoted to her current position as Member Services and Communications Manager. In the spring of 2024, Paula will return to the University of Houston as adjunct instructor of the undergraduate arts administration course.

As an avid proponent for career development for students and young professionals, Paula has been invited to speak at national conferences including Artists’ Thrive, Association for Arts Administration Educators, Women in Classical Music Symposium, and SphinxConnect. 

Ronda Respess is a professional violinist with a celebrated reputation as a music educator. A graduate of Indiana University and Georgia State University, she studied with some of violin’s greatest teachers, including Samuel Applebaum, Josef Gingold, and Ivan Galamian. She was a member of the Atlanta Symphony for 50 years and Principal Second Violin of The Atlanta Opera for 8 years. During her five decades with the ASO, Ronda’s passion for music education has been evident. She was an original member of the ASO’s Outreach Taskforce and the Talent Development Program. She coached the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra for over thirty years and filmed a teaching video for WGTV called Instrumental Success. In addition, Ronda has consistently maintained a private teaching studio throughout her professional career. In 2001 Ronda founded Franklin Pond Chamber Music, a non-profit organization that teaches chamber music to talented pre-college students. Now in its third decade, Franklin Pond is a well-established and highly regarded educational institution with many alumni who have themselves become professional musicians, including several in the Atlanta Symphony. Ronda continues to run Franklin Pond alongside her daughter Ginny Fairchild, who is also a violinist and teacher. Ronda is a recipient of the Loridans Arts Award and the UPS Community Service Chair. In 2014 she was appointed as the musician representative on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors. In her free time Ronda most enjoys spending time with her family, including daughter Ginny and granddaughter Emily.

Ryan first joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2017 in the Development Department and accepted the position as the Talent Development Program (TDP) 25th Anniversary Coordinator in June of 2018. Soon after, Ryan stepped in as Interim TDP Manager and was later named permanent TDP Manager in June of 2019. In his roles with the TDP, Ryan has worked diligently to deliver the highest results possible and has demonstrated his strong commitment to the program. A team player and diplomat, Ryan has done a great job of supporting the musicians, staff, volunteers and most importantly the TDP Fellows and their families. During the 2018/19 season, Ryan helped coordinate many aspects of the successful TDP Recital Series in the Fall of 2018, the TDP 25th Anniversary Celebration and Building Bridges Symposium.

Originally from Southern California, Ryan first began his studies as a young music student at age 7 taking piano lessons before moving on to trumpet in middle school. He continued studying trumpet performance at Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida under James Poitier and Eric Wright, and for his master’s in music education at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia under Allan Reese, both of which are two historical black universities. He has also had the opportunity to work with Dr. James Ford, Professor of Trumpet and Jazz Studies at Cal State University Los Angeles, in preparation for his junior and senior recitals in college.

Ryan has recently been able to work with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra along with the Talent Development Program in order to help provide young music students in the Atlanta area with music instruction and performance opportunities safely during the global pandemic.

Post pandemic, Ryan has worked to assist the Atlanta Symphony’s education team to reconnect

with metro Atlanta band and orchestra teachers to foster lasting connections and opportunities

for music students across the city.

Sarah Grant began serving as Senior Director of Education for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in July of 2021. Grant and her team oversee the development, execution, and evaluation of the ASO’s professional music training programs (Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and Talent Development Program); school and educator engagement (Students at the Symphony); Family Programming (Music for the Very Young and UpTempo); and musician community engagement. It is her passion to inspire individuals to find meaningful connections through the arts, accomplishing this through impactful ASO programming. ASO’s Department of Education and Community Engagement connects with hundreds of thousands of people each year. 

Joining the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with 20 years of experience as a K-12 music educator, Grant held general and instrumental music positions at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Grant earned a Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music (Instrumental Conducting) from the University of Louisville as well as a Master in Arts Administration from Florida State University. Additional certifications include the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and Orff-Schulwerk Level I. Grant currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Spirit of Atlanta Drum Corps and has professional affiliations with the League of American Orchestras, National Association for Music Education, and Georgia Music Educators Association. While she enjoys playing her flute, photography, and hiking, Sarah devotes most of her “free time” to raising her two daughters.  

Stanford Thompson is a musician and educator who has provided visionary leadership to arts organizations like Play on Philly, El Sistema USA, and Equity Arc for over a decade. Recognized as a TED Fellow, Stanford believes that music is a powerful tool for positive personal and community change. Mr. Thompson serves on the faculty of the Global Leaders Program and regularly presents for major arts and business conferences, institutions, and stakeholders about leadership, entrepreneurship and social justice. As a principal of Goldsmith Strategies, he has guided the strategic development of dozens of organizations across the United States while collaborating with local and national initiatives to develop new strategies and programs that provide equitable access to the arts. As a professional trumpeter, Stanford has performed as a soloist and member with major orchestras around the world and continues to perform throughout the Philadelphia region. Stanford is a native of Atlanta, GA, a graduate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program and holds degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory’s Sistema Fellows Program.

An Atlanta native, Suzanne Shull’s first Atlanta Symphony experience was when she attended a children’s concert with her 4th grade classmates. After earning majors in music education from Shorter College and GA State University she taught choral and general music from Kindergartenthrough the college undergraduate level. She is a published author of educational materials for classroom music and choral methods through the National Association for Music Education (originally MENC.)

Suzanne’s relationship with the ASO Education Department began in 1991 when she co-authored inaugural editions of the “Listen” books used to prepare students for Young People’s Concerts. From 1997 to 2002 she managed the ASO’s Talent Development Program and helped start the “Sound Learning” collaboration between the music department at Georgia State and ASO musicians. She sang in the ASO Chorus from 1970 until 2005 and continues to volunteer for the TDP. As Education Consultant for the documentary “Robert Shaw – Man of Many Voices,” she created www.RobertShaw.website.

In 2009 this proponent of life-long music making began teaching multi-generational classes in playing fretted instruments and singing during summer seasons at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State.

Canadian-American flutist Todd Skitch joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) in September 2013.

He is also a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players and is the Artist-in-Residence at Kennesaw State University.

Mr. Skitch started his orchestral career with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra in 1997 after completing degrees at the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal, where his principal teachers were Timothy Hutchins and Nora Shulman.

Mr. Skitch’s career as a teacher and symphony musician includes many credits: an original member of IRIS Orchestra with Michael Stern; Bellingham Festival of Music; Memphis Chamber Music Society; Tanglewood Music Center; Blossom Music Festival at Kent University, where he received the Maurice Sharp Award for outstanding flute applicant; Spoleto Festival USA; and the National Repertory Orchestra.

While in Memphis, Mr. Skitch served as the Chair of the Board of Directors and the Orchestra Manager for the Memphis Youth Symphony Program and taught flute at Rhodes College.

Mr. Skitch has been heard on WABE Atlanta, CBC Radio-Canada, WKNO-Memphis, and as a soloist with the Memphis Symphony and IRIS Orchestra. In 2003 Todd joined the Canadian group Ensemble Noir on a historic, three-nation African tour to Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. Todd performs on a solid silver flute made by Jack Moore of Elkhart Indiana in the mid 1980s.