Our Team
A hallmark of our program is our team of dedicated Workshop Assistants. Faculty are current graduate students and alumni of the Music & Music Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, one of the
premier graduate institutions for Music and Music Education.
All are at the forefront of the field of music education, employing the most current research-based pedagogical practices for the betterment of our singers. In addition to being excellent teachers, our faculty are also active performers, conductors, and composers in opera, musical theater, and pop/rock.
2025-2026
Faculty
Emily Hudson
Singers’ Workshops
2025-2026 Zankel Fellow
Emily is a PreK-12 certified music educator (NYS and MA) voice teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and performer committed to elevating the status of fine arts education in schools. She holds a MusB, summa cum laude, from Boston University in music education and voice, and an MA in music education with a voice pedagogy concentration from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she has also served as Assistant Director and curriculum consultant for the Singers’ Workshops. She recently completed the Instructional Leadership Certificate program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has presented workshops on developmental singing voice at The Voice Foundation in Philadelphia and ISME in Helsinki, Finland.
Emily currently teaches Kindergarten through 8th grade general music at Saint Ignatius Loyola School in New York City, where she also serves as director of the middle school jazz ensemble and theater program. She is also on faculty at Molloy University/CAP21 as an instructor of musical theater voice for undergraduate theater arts majors.
Saint Ignatius Loyola School was recently named a 2024 Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, citing Emily's curriculum as "A well-articulated Performing Arts curriculum [that] builds a mastery of skills..." She believes that a comprehensive K-12 music education fosters creativity, problem solving, connection, and 21st century skills through the National Core Arts Standards of "creating, performing, responding, and connecting" to music.
Prior to her time at Saint Ignatius and Molloy University, Emily worked with students ages 4 to 18 in the Brookline and Boston Public school systems in the greater Boston area. In 2012 she received The Massachusetts Music Educators Association's (MMEA) Promising Future Music Educator Award, the School of Music's Departmental Honor Award for Music Education, and the Academic Excellence award for graduating as valedictorian. Emily is a member of the music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda and a Boston University Scarlet Key recipient.
Jameelah Taylor
Singers’ Workshops
Jameelah Taylor is a Choral Director & Vocalist based in New York City. She holds a Master of Arts in Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Vocal Performance from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.
Jameelah has performed in venues across New York City which include The Stone, Joe's Pub, Carnegie Hall, Webster Hall and the historic Kings Theatre during New York Fashion Week.
Jameelah is a passionate educator leading her choirs and vocal students in various festivals, performances and workshops such as the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Festival, Disney Performing Arts OnStage and the Broadway Classroom Workshop and, serving as Musical Director for her school's Musical Productions. Jameelah is now the Choral Director and 12th Grade Advisor at the Trevor Day School on the Upper East Side.
Timothy Smith
Jazz and Gospel Sing
My name is Timothy Smith and I am a pianist and vocalist, based in NYC. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts where I had the privilege of studying at one of the top music institutions in my city and the world, Berklee College Of Music. I graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor in Professional Music which allowed me to create my concentrations while there. I studied a variety of courses in music education and songwriting. I was a piano principal but took the initiative to develop my vocal skills by taking voice lessons and vocal ensembles. I sang in gospel and jazz ensembles and was surrounded by talented students who I gleaned from.
Before Berklee, I started singing and playing piano in my dad’s church at age 7. He is a songwriter and drummer and he inspired my love for music. My sister and I sang his original songs at many churches around Boston which inspired me to become a songwriter like him. My parents saw a unique gift in me and signed me up for private piano lessons as a child so I could learn how to read music. With the incredible skills I had playing by ear, I told them I did not want to learn how to read music. It wasn’t until my sophomore year at Cambridge Ringe and Latin High School that I began to study music theory and sight reading. It helped me prepare for my Berklee audition and I was so excited to be accepted in Fall 2010.
Berklee exposed me to different genres of music which was really out of my comfort zone. Expanding my musical skills beyond Gospel music allowed me to get hired at Howl At The Moon Piano Bar in Boston where I worked for 4 years post Berklee. In 2019 I moved to NYC for bigger performance opportunities and to work on my studio projects. I was accepted to Teachers College Columbia University in 2021 where I received my Masters in Music Education allowing me to teach music in NYC public schools. While teaching High School for the NYDOE I perform weekly in prestigious restaurants in Manhattan for an entertainment company called Steve Beyer Productions. I have released 2 singles since I lived in NYC, and look forward to completing more studio projects. NYC has given me the platform and exposure that I wanted and I am excited to share my education and performing expertise with my students.
Chris Citera
Singers’ Workshops
2024-2025 Zankel Fellow
Chris Citera is an NYC-based actor, singer, and voice teacher currently serving as Head of Voice and Music for the BFA Theatre Arts program at Molloy University/CAP21, an Adjunct Instructor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at NYU Steinhardt, and an instructor in the music program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Previously, he taught in the musical theater programs at Pace University, the University of Texas at Arlington. Chris is also a core faculty member at BroadwayEvolved, an intensive training program founded by Betsy Wolfe.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice and Acting from Ithaca College, summa cum laude, master's degrees (Ed.M, M.A) in Vocal Pedagogy and Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently pursuing his doctorate (Ed.DCT) there. His doctoral research critically examines patriarchal ideologies in voice pedagogy. Chris is recognized as a Vocologist by the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA-RV) and holds a Distinguished Voice Professional Certificate from the New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA).
A lifelong learner and self-professed voice “nerd,” Chris has been mentored and supervised extensively by singing voice specialist, Dr. Jeanne Goffi-Fynn.
Matthew Tiramani
Singers’ Workshops
Matthew is an educator, composer, and singer-songwriter. He graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with an Ed.M. in Music Education in 2020. He also holds an M.M. in Composition/Theory from Penn State and a B.M. in Music Composition from Susquehanna University, where he also minored in Music Technology and studied voice privately. Matthew holds memberships in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity and Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society. He has sung in and directed multiple choral groups, notably serving as the Rooke Chapel Director of Music at Bucknell University and being awarded the school's annual Barry R. Maxwell Award for Exceptional Collaborative Efforts. Matthew currently teaches chorus at Booker T. Washington Middle School.
Dr. Colette Young
Ensemble for Adults
Soprano, and native Hawai’ian, Colette earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Music from Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges, where she was often guest soprano soloist with the BrynMawr/Haverford Symphony Orchestra. Currently she is pursuing a Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies combining music and science education. She is on faculty at Columbia Secondary School (CSS), where she teaches science, leads the middle school choir, Executive Function Program, and the cheerleading team.
A classical, operatic, and musical theater vocalist, flutist, pianist, Polynesian dancer, Colette has performed throughout Hawai’i, continental US, and Italy, including as a guest soloist with the Apollo Orchestra, Landon Symphonette, and at the White House. She won the VSA International Performing Artist Competition sponsored by the Kennedy Center, where she performed at and lectured before the Maryland State Legislature, and the US. Department of Education on Music and Arts Education.