OUR MISSION
A chamber music centered social-emotional learning program, dedicated to strengthening students’ capacity to express themselves, regulate their emotions, and increase their mental wellness, sense of community, and academic success.
CORE BELIEFS
We believe…
- in the power of arts integrated learning and emotional exploration to provide a safe foundation from which to engage with the world.
- that creating a safe emotional environment is essential for developing resilience, empathy, and a secure sense of self.
- in developing love and appreciation for the arts and classical music through live performance and collaborative education.
- in creating a diverse and inclusive space for all.
ABOUT
Lyrica Baroque aims to expand access to arts education through school-based social emotional learning (SEL) support programs centered in chamber music. After decades of dwindling funding for arts education, there has been a resurgence of the arts movement and its key role in schools and childhood development. At the same time, social emotional learning has emerged as an educational priority by researchers and school leaders amidst high incidences of stress, anxiety and trauma, conflated by a lack of mental health school supports—and our children are bearing the brunt of this crisis. For New Orleans students, who are disparately impacted by the interconnected racial, economic, healthcare and environmental injustices—mental health school supports are more important than ever.
The emphasis of SEL in K-12 settings, coupled with the near absence of classical music education calls for a comprehensive tool that leverages artistic expression and SEL skill building to restore and revitalize classroom education, and enrich the lives of children as they navigate a complex social world and traumatic life events—especially post-COVID. Lyrica Baroque is working to fill this gap in social, emotional, and behavioral health supports in schools through our arts-integrated, SEL program. We are partnering with New Orleans-based nonprofit, KID smART, to develop a curricula adaptation of KID smART’s With Feeling curriculum that integrates chamber music as a core component.
OUR TEAM
Benjamin Atherholt
Jaren Atherholt
Trenton Thomas
Mia Rotondo
Stephanie Heriger
DEEPEST THANKS
- Trenton Thomas
T-Ray Productions - Benjamin Atherholt
Lyrica Baroque - Elise Goldman
Executive Director, KID smART - Mia Rotondo
Teaching Artist, KID smART - Stephanie Heriger
Program Manager, KID smART - Matthew Daniel
Technical Writing, New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School - Maurya W. Glaude
PhD, MSW, LCSW, Tulane School of Social Work - Brittany Lindsey
Owner Master Minds Private Tutoring - Tiffany Lewis
English Teacher, Benjamin Franklin High School - Welbie Prinston Tabet
MT-BC, Music Therapist - Becca Stone and Molly Guinan
Crescent City Music Therapy
Sheryl-Amber Edmondson
Ashley Mills, Development Coordinator
Kathleen Winkler
Robert Young
Marina Lomazov
Tucker Fuller
Cara McCool Woolf
Randy C. Gardner is Professor Emeritus from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he was Professor of Horn and Chair of the Winds, Brass, and Percussion Department. During his tenure, he was honored to receive the University of Cincinnati Award for Faculty Excellence and CCM’s Ernest N. Glover Outstanding Teacher Award. Recently retired from CCM, Gardner is an adjunct Artist-In-Residence at Temple University. A successful and dedicated teacher, his students occupy performing and teaching positions throughout the US and abroad.
Peter Stumpf is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was the principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 9 years following a 12 year tenure as Associate Principal Cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. At the age of 16, he began his professional career, winning a position in the cello section of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He received a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an artist’s diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Charles Taylor is Professor of Music and Director of the School of the Arts. Dr. Taylor holds the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Music Education and Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He studied conducting with Rodney Winther and Terence Milligan and clarinet with Carmine Campione and Emil Schmactenberg. Prior to his appointment at the University of New Orleans, Dr. Taylor taught middle school and high school instrumental music in Ohio. Dr. Taylor also serves as the conductor of the New Orleans Concert Band and the New Orleans Civic Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Taylor has been a guest conductor throughout the United States and Canada and a guest clinician at the MidWest Clinic, the International Conference of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the Southern Division Conference of the College Band Directors National Association, and the Louisiana Music Educators Association. Under his direction, the New Orleans Concert Band performed at the National Convention of the Association of Concert Bands in Houston, Texas and the University of New Orleans Wind Ensemble performed at the Louisiana Music Educators Association State Conference. As an advocate for new music, Dr. Taylor has premiered over 50 works in various media and has worked collaboratively with many composers and performers, including Michael Torke, Steven Bryant, John Mackey, James Syler, Lisa Kaplan, Brad Garner, Mark Babbitt, and Helen Kim. At UNO, Dr. Taylor teaches graduate and undergraduate theory and conducting; he additionally serves as the conductor of the New Orleans Civic Symphony Orchestra, the New Orleans Concert Band, and several new ensembles. He has presented sessions at the Mid-West Clinic, Southern Division Conference of the College Band Directors National Association, and the Louisiana Music Education Association. Under his direction, the New Orleans Concert Band performed at the National Convention of the Association of Concert bands in Houston, Texas. He has served as guest conductor for ensembles in Louisiana, Ohio, Michigan, and New York. During the 2010-11 year, Dr. Taylor also served as Visiting Associate Professor at Louisiana State University, where he conducted the Wind Ensemble.
Cathy Richardson, violinist, violist, and Baroque violinist, is an experienced performer and teacher, holding degrees in Music Education and Music Performance from the University of North Texas. Currently serving her twenty first year as Instructor of Violin and Viola and String Methods at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, she also serves as Instructor of Upper Strings and Music Appreciation at Mountain View College and Cedar Valley College in the Dallas Community College District, Instructor of Violin and Viola at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and Instructor of Violin and Viola at Grayson College. Ms. Richardson’s chamber music experience includes performances with the Galliard String Quartet, the Grand Avenue Trio, the New Millenium Quartet, and the Knoxville Symphony String Quartet. A past member of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, the Fort Worth Opera Orchestra and the Knoxville Symphony, Ms. Richardson has also served as Concertmaster of the Sherman Symphony Orchestra and the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra in Texas and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra in Tennessee. A frequent adjudicator in the North Texas area, Ms. Richardson most recently served on the panels for the Plano Symphony Young Artist Competition and the New Texas Symphony Orchestra Fourth Annual Concerto and Aria Competition.
LEONE BUYSE
Jack Peña, bassoon, is currently the Principal Bassoon of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Jack began his playing the bassoon at age fourteen. Since then, he has appeared as guest Associate Principal with the Toronto Symphony and performed with the Milwaukee Symphony and Los Angeles Opera. In 2013, The New York Times hailed him for his “deft solo work” in performances at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra Seminar.
Jeanne Jaubert moved to New Orleans in 1998 to join the Louisiana Philharmonic, and she is an active solo and chamber music performer. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Rice University and both Masters and Doctoral degrees from Rutgers University, where she studied with the renowned soloist Zara Nelsova. Jeanne is a sought after teacher and has maintained a thriving private studio everywhere she has lived. Her other lifelong passion has been dance and she was (she is mostly retired now) lucky to pursue that seriously for many years alongside her musical work. She garnered many accolades in this area including the Louisiana Division of the Arts Artist Fellowship in choreography.
Robert Lyall is widely known as a conductor of opera, symphony, ballet, and musical theater and as a creative Artistic Director and producer. Named General and Artistic Director of New Orleans Opera in 1998, he has also served as General Director and as Artistic Director of Opera Grand Rapids in Michigan from 1989 to 2015. Mr. Lyall has been frequently recognized for artistic excellence in these and other positions he has held: Music Director of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, General Director of the Knoxville Opera, and Artistic Director of the Mississippi Opera. In addition, Mr. Lyall served as one of the International Guest Conductors of the Istanbul State Opera in Turkey from 1998-2001.
New Orleans trombonist Matthew Wright is a performer, composer, and pedagogue. Matthew has played all over the world in orchestras, big bands, and chamber ensembles. He has recorded with Bela Fleck and was in the first horn section to play with the band Cake. He was a soloist with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, but he was dressed as Santa Claus at the time. He has played in orchestras backing James Moody, Andy Williams, Yo Yo Ma, Randy Newman, and Placido Domingo. As a composer, Matthew has written and arranged many pieces for his own solo recitals as well as for his group, Versipel New Music. Currently, he holds positions with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and teaches at Loyola University, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, and the University of New Orleans. His primary teachers include Jeannie Little, Matthew Vaughn, Per Brevig, Steve Norrell, and Scott Hartman.
Amelia Clingman graduated from UMass Amherst with a BM in violin performance, and in 2008 she completed her Master’s degree in viola performance at the New England Conservatory. She has attended the Killington, Musicorda, Heifetz, and Kneisel Hall music festivals, and served as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center from 2007-2009. During her time in Boston, she performed with various groups including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a substitute with the New World Symphony. In 2014, she was named a Quarterfinalist in the 14th Primrose International Viola Competition. During the summer, Amelia is Principal Viola at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon.
Stephen Orejudos has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic since 2012. Previous to joining the LPO, Mr. Orejudos had been Principal Trumpet of the Southwest Michigan Symphony and 2nd /Acting Principal Trumpet of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. Mr. Orejudos has performed as guest trumpet with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Green Bay Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Wichita Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras, and currently serves as Principal Trumpet with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with the Southwest Michigan Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Michigan City Music Festival, New Philharmonic and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras.