Fellowship Program

Encouraged by great interest and enthusiasm from across the country, Community MusicWorks continues to develop and document the details of our successful community arts education model so that we can share them with other artists and urban communities.

Community MusicWorks introduced a Fellowship Program in September 2006 through which young professional musicians can join us in Providence for a period of two years to teach, perform as part of the Community MusicWorks Players, and acquire firsthand knowledge about our model for community arts education. The Fellowship Program includes five part-time positions: four Fellows and a Fellowship Program Director who is also involved in teaching, performing, and mentoring.

The Fellowship Program was developed by our Strategic Planning Committee in response to two pressing needs:

•  By our ninth season, we had 65 students in our after-school programs and over 130 children on our waiting list. Due to a very high retention rate, only 15-20 spaces become available each fall, thereby making the average wait for a child interested in signing up as long as two years. By adding the Fellowship Program, we have doubled our program capacity.

•  Increasingly over the past seasons, we have received requests from people in other parts of the country to share our model or replicate our programs. We feel that by training young musicians to do similar work, rather than trying to manage programs in other cities, we will achieve our greatest impact in Rhode Island while contributing to the field of community arts education on a national level as a training institution.

Scroll down to learn about our current Fellows and Fellowship Program Director, and click here to learn more about applying to be a Fellow.

Announcement: CMW Welcomes New Fellows for 2014-2015 Season

CMW welcomes our next class of Fellows: Hannah Ross and Clara Yang.

They will begin their Fellowship at CMW in late August and bring among many things, their enthusiasm and passion for music education, performance and community engagement.

Violist Hannah Ross received her Masters and Bachelors degrees in viola performance from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Samuel Rhodes, Daniel Panner, Heidi Castleman, and Hsin-Yun Huang. An avid chamber musician, Hannah has attended the Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Perlman Music Program, the Heifetz International Music Institute, and The Banff Centre. She has coached with members of the Artis, Brentano, Emerson, and  Keller quartets, as well as Paul Biss, Ani Kavafian, Seymour Lipkin, Jerome Lowenthal, Carol Ou, and Wei-Yi Yang. A devoted teacher, Hannah was a fellow in the Morse Teaching Artist Fellowship at Juilliard, through which she taught group viola lessons to fourth graders at P.S. 11 in downtown Manhattan.  As a member of the Gluck Community Service Fellowship, Hannah performed with a multidisciplinary group of fellow students at healthcare facilities throughout the five boroughs of New York City. In 2012, Hannah taught young children in Juilliard’s Combining Literacy Instruction with Musical Beginnings program. In the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years, Hannah was selected for the leadership role of Colloquium Peer Mentor, helping freshmen adjust to their life at Juilliard in a required class. Hannah is co-director of Art Powers Arusha, a student-run, multidisciplinary outreach group whose goal is to introduce creative and collaborative skills through the performing arts to students in Tanzania. Since 2009, the Art Powers Arusha team has been supporting and encouraging students’ personal development and individuality throughout the Arusha community. 2014 marks Hannah’s fifth year of leadership with the project.

Clara Yang began her cello studies at age 10, and made her concerto debut at age 12 with the Dong-A University Orchestra in S. Korea under the baton of her grandfather Jong-Gu Bae. Since then, she has appeared as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Concord Orchestra, and the Brockton Symphony, among others. Clara gave her New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 2008 and has given other performances in venues such as Lincoln Center’s Avery Fischer Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall, Library of Congress Coolidge Auditorium, and the United Nations’ General Assembly Hall.   As an active chamber musician, Clara participated in numerous chamber music festivals such as the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, the Yellow Barn Summer Festival, and the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. In 2007, she was invited by the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation to perform chamber music as part of a cultural exchange program on a tour of Central America. Clara is currently the cellist and a founding member of the Ardelia Trio (www.ardeliatrio.com), with which she presents numerous educational concerts and performances for diverse audiences. As a dedicated and passionate teacher, Clara became a certified Suzuki teacher in 2005, and has served as a faculty member at a number of schools in New York City. While student at Rice University, Clara was the first doctoral cello candidate selected to design and teach four semesters of Music Fundamentals to Rice undergraduates. In addition to her classroom teaching, she taught private lessons and coached cello sectionals to the undergraduate and graduate cellists of Rice University’s Campanile Orchestra.   As a strong proponent and practitioner of community music outreach, Clara performed and interacted with the residents of hospitals, hospices, and similar institutions in the New York metropolitan area through Juilliard’s Gluck Community Service Fellowship Program. In 2010, her piano trio was awarded a prestigious grant to partner with the Mécénat Arts organization, and established a community concert residency in Seoul, Korea. In 2012, she collaborated with the Watercolor Art Society in Houston and lead six workshops and an interactive performance displaying children’s art works for the Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers at the Texas Children’s Hospital. Having witnessed firsthand the positive influence music can have on individuals and their community, Clara believes that such form of teaching and outreach are an integral part of music education. Clara earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at The Juilliard School, where she studied with Joel Krosnick. While at Juillard, she was a recipient of the Victor Herbert Prize, the Leonard Rose Scholarship, and the Grunin Prize in Cello. After completing her education at Juilliard, she continued her cello studies with Timothy Eddy at the Mannes College for Music, where she received her Professional Studies Diploma. Clara is currently a DMA candidate in Cello Performance at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, under the guidance of Norman Fischer as a full-scholarship recipient.  Clara plays a 1908 French cello made by Delivet. In her leisure time, she enjoys attending concerts and loves to travel.

Fellowship Seminar

A series of seminars examines questions broad and narrow about Community MusicWorks.

Unless indicated, seminars are held at the Community MusicWorks office from 12:00-3:00 on Fridays.

Seminars are free and many are open to the public (bring a brown bag lunch; drinks and snacks will be provided). To RSVP or for more information, contact Minna Choi at mchoi [at] communitymusicworks [dot] org.

13-14 Seminars

November 22: Share with Yale School of Music students
December 13 (open to public): Communications and Development Workshop with Julia Emlen, CMW’s Director of Development
January 10 (open to public): Alternative Models Seminar: Fellows present
February 7: Sistema Fellows Share Part 2
March 7: Topic tba
April 11: Strategic Planning Session
May 16: Topic tba


12-13 Seminars

Sept. 16: Leadership Seminar
October 5: Sistema Fellows Share Part 1 with Eric Booth
November 2: Getting to Yes: Julia Emlen, CMW Director of Development, on cultivating individual donors
December 7: Intro to Finance and Budgeting: Jill Pfitzenmayer and Jennifer Reid, RI Foundation
January 25: Alternative Models: First-year Fellows, Annalisa Boerner and Lauren Latessa present their own model for a community-based initiative
February 20: Sistema Fellows Share #2 (not open to the public)
March 15: Eileen Landay: Deepening student engagement
April 12: Strategic Planning Session (not open to the public)
May 10: Starting an Initiative: Successes, challenges and ongoing questions: A conversation with alumni fellows, Rachel Panitch, Adrienne Taylor and Ariana Falk


11-12 Seminars

October 21: Revealing Relevance/Reveling in Relevance
January 13: Alternative Models (2nd Year Fellows)
March 16: Nuts, Bolts, and Typoes (Presenting CMW)
June 8: Topic TBA (coincides with 15th season reunion weekend)


10-11 Seminars

October 1
November 12
December 17
January 28
February 18
March 11
April 8
May 13
June 3

09-10 Seminars

Oct. 2
Nov. 20 (during Institute for Musicianship and Public Service)
Dec. 18
Jan 22
Feb. 12
Mar. 26
Apr. 16
May 21 (during Institute for Musicianship and Public Service, at Knight Memorial Library)



08-09 Seminars

September 26: Start-Up: How to Make Connections in the Community by Aligning Interests

October 10: Strategic Planning: Growing with our Neighborhood

Tuesday, November 4: Teaching Intermediate and Advanced Students
Tuesday, December 9: Nurturing Relationships and Soliciting Gifts with Simone Joyaux*
* Suggested donation of $50 if you attend representing an organization. Please contact CMW for more details.

Tuesday, January 27: Non-Profit Boards

March 20: Development Perspectives: Online Relationship Management, with special guest, Judi Taylor Cantor, VP of Development, Boston Children's Museum

May 22: Alternative Models: First-year Fellows present proposals for a CMW-inspired initiative


07-08 Seminars

October 19: Perspectives on Service
November 16: Teaching (The question of pursuing excellence with students)

December 14: The decision to incorporate as a non-profit
January 18: CMW strategic planning meeting

February 15: Connecting arts and social change (a conversation among teaching artists)

April 25: CMW strategic planning meeting

May 23: Alternative Models

06-07 Seminars

September 21: Introduction
October 5: Teaching beginning students
October 26: Developing a Board of Directors
November 9: After-school arts programs and their impact on youth. Special guest speaker: Dr. Shirley Brice Heath
December 1: Development & Fundraising
December 14: Teaching, continued
January 18: The entrepreneurial side to a non-profit; making connections in the community
February 15: Instruments/Mentor Program; Youth Orchestras/Summer camps
March 2: Phase II and the meaning behind Community MusicWorks
March 16: The Role of the Artist in Community (roundtable discussion with members of the local arts community)
March 30: Workshops & Concert Trips
April 13: Teaching
May 3: National System of Venezuelan Youth and Children's Orchestras
June 8: Alternative Models

Annalisa Boerner, viola (2012-2014)

Annalisa Boerner, viola, earned her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Lynne Ramsey and Jeffrey Irvine, respectively.

Annalisa was named CIM’s Presser Scholar for the 09-10 school year, a designation based on her outstanding musical and academic achievements. She has played in numerous solo and chamber masterclasses for such artists as Robert Vernon, Mark Jackobs, Roger Chase, Victoria Chiang, Donald Weilerstein and Peter Salaff, the Miami String Quartet, the American Chamber Players, and (CMW adviser) Diane Monroe.

As a chamber musician, Annalisa has collaborated with such artists as the Cavani String Quartet, the Claremont Trio, Jeffrey Irvine, and members of the Cleveland Orchestra. Annalisa was an active participant in CIM's New Music Ensemble, and has worked with such renowned living composers as Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Stuckey, Eugene O’Brien, Augusta Read Thomas, and Claude Baker.

Annalisa grew up playing chamber music at the Chamber Music Connection in Columbus, Ohio. From 2010 to 2012, Annalisa served as the organization's Assistant Artistic Director.

Lauren Latessa, cello (2012-2014)

Lauren Latessa holds a Masters degree in cello performance from Northwestern University where she studied with Hans Jensen. She received a BM from the Peabody Conservatory of Music under the guidance of David Hardy. As a chamber musician she has worked extensively with Mathias Tacke, Michael Kannen and Maria Lambros.  This past summer, she and three colleagues from Northwestern received scholarships to study at the Saint Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford University. During the 06-07 school year, her string quartet served as the ensemble-in-residence of the Peabody Conservatory's preparatory program.

While at Peabody, Lauren was the Student Associate Director Creative Access, the largest student-run musical outreach organization in the United States. As a leader of this organization, she has performed in many nontraditional settings, including hospices, nursing homes, and after-school programs. In addition to her musical pursuits, Lauren holds a BA diploma with honors in the History of Art, and she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with distinction from the Humanities Center of the Johns Hopkins University. 

EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks, violin (2011-2013)

EmmaLee (known as Emmy) received her doctoral degree from SUNY Stony Brook, studying violin with Phil Setzer, Soovin Kim and Philippe Graffin. She completed her undergraduate work with honors at the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Stephen Rose and Annie Fullard. As a chamber player, she has enjoyed the fine coaching of both the Emerson and Cavani String Quartets, and she has served as faculty at summer music festivals such as Birch Creek and the Allegheny Music Festival.

When not playing classical violin, Emmy is well-versed in old-time fiddle music. She has played lead fiddle with the Rusty Pickup String Band since she was ten years old, and she won the Illinois State Fair fiddle championship as a teenager.

Ealain McMullin, violin (2011-2013)

Ealaín (pronounced AH-leen) was first introduced to chamber music though concerts given by the Apple Hill Chamber Players near her home in Donegal, Ireland. This began a long connection with the Apple Hill Summer Festival in New Hampshire. For the 05-06 school year, Ealaín was an Apple Hill “Playing for Peace” scholar at Keene State College, enabling her to study with members of the Apple Hill String Quartet. This association led to studies at the Boston Conservatory, where she was a member of the Bricolage String Quartet, the Conservatory's honors ensemble. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the Boston Conservatory, Ealaín's teachers have included Michael D’Arcy, Elise Kuder, Mike Kelley and Lenny Matczynski.

Ariana Falk, cello (2010-2012)

Ariana, a native of Portland, Oregon, received a D.M.A. from Boston University and Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from Yale University's School of Music, where she was recipient of the Aldo Parisot Prize. She received her B.A. in English from Yale College and traveled to Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, where she performed with the Heidelberger Symphoniker. She has performed at the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, Great Lakes, Banff Centre, and Norfolk Music Festivals, and collaborated with Menahem Pressler and Paul Katz. She is passionate about new music and has premiered works for New Music New Haven and as a member of the Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble, among others. Ariana serves on the faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Her principal teachers were Aldo Parisot, Michael Reynolds, and Ole Akahoshi.

Robin Gilbert, viola (2010-2012)

A lifelong resident of Providence, Robin has performed in the greater Providence and Boston areas for the past ten years. He received his Bachelor's of Music degree from the New England Conservatory. Robin's principal teachers include Carol Rodland and Ira Weller. A dedicated teacher himself, he has worked with young musicians for the last several years, including annually at the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School's chamber music camp. Robin has performed under conductors Joseph Silverstein, Maxim Shostakovich, Hugh Wolff, and Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His chamber music studies include work with members of the Juilliard and Borromeo quartets, James Buswell and Paul Biss. Robin has also performed on National Public Radio's syndicated program "From the Top."

Carole Bestvater, violin (2009-2011)

Carole Bestvater hails from the Prairie Provinces in Canada. Under the mentorship of Kerry DuWors, she recently graduated from Brandon University with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance. She won the Brandon University Concerto Competition and frequently was the Concertmaster for the University’s orchestra. In addition to playing in various ensembles, she developed a passion for teaching and was one of the most sought-after teachers in Brandon, Manitoba.

Musically, her interests are very diverse and have taken her to festivals and programs all over Canada and in Europe. She was chosen to participate in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy—a summer chamber music and opera program established by the University of Toronto. In addition to pursuing the never-ending studies of classical music, she is an avid fiddler. She has participated in folk festivals and fiddle camps, and has led workshops in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, France, and Portugal.

Other influential coaches and teachers include Mark Rudoff, Leanne Zacharias, Joanne Martin and Karen-Michele Kimmett. Carole would like to thank Brandon University for the continued loan of the Vuillaume violin made in 1844 that she currently plays.

Aaron McFarlane, violin (2009-2011)

Originally from Montréal, Canada, Aaron has performed and taught internationally. Most recently he was the Director of the Strings Department at the Mount Kenya Academy in Kenya, the largest program of its type in East Africa.

An active performer, Aaron has played in numerous orchestras including the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, the Nairobi Orchestra, and New World Symphony. In 2002, he acted as Concertmaster for the National Youth Orchestra of Canada's tour of Canada, Japan, and Hong Kong. Aaron was a founding violinist of the Ethnos String Quartet based in Houston, Texas, and worked closely with James Dunham and Norman Fischer. He has performed with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra USA, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and the Kent/Blossom Festival.

Aaron received his Bachelor of Music from McGill University and completed his Master of Music degree at Rice University where he studied violin with Kathleen Winkler. His teachers and coaches have included Richard Roberts, William Preucil, Victor Danchenko, Régis Pasquier, Roland and Altima Vamos, and members of the Miami and Prazak String Quartets.

Aaron plays on a 1792 Johannes Cuypers violin and Hill bow graciously on loan from Keith and Averil Jolly. Aside from the violin, he is passionate about cooking, design, and architecture.

Adrienne Taylor, cellist (2008-2010)

Adrienne received a Bachelor of Music Degree and Performer Diploma from Indiana University and completed her Master of Music degree at Northwestern University. Her teachers include David Szepessy, Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.

Adrienne has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe and Japan. As a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra from 2005-2007, Adrienne participated in the orchestra’s Musicorps program which presents educational concerts to schools and colleges throughout the city. Adrienne enjoyed various performance opportunities during her time in Chicago, including performances with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble during their visit to the city in 2006.

In 2007, Adrienne accepted a position as assistant principal cellist of Orchestra do Norte in Portugal, where she had the opportunity to perform throughout the country. We're thrilled that she has returned to the U.S. to participate in CMW's Fellowship Program beginning in September 2008.

Jason Amos, viola (2008-2010)

Jason began his viola studies at age eleven in the public school system of his hometown of Southfield, Michigan. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and received a Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory of Music.

He has received honors in several competitions, including 4th place in the 2007 Sphinx Competition and 1st place in the 2006 Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Bradlin Scholarship Concerto Competition. In addition, Jason appeared as soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony, played in the Flint Symphony, and performed as Principal Viola for many other orchestras throughout Michigan. In past summers, Jason has attended Aspen Music Festival, International Music Academy of Pilsen (Czech Republic). He has also served as faculty for the Sphinx Performance Academy at Walnut Hill, and Four Strings Academy.

Jason enjoys participating in the Sphinx Organization’s musical outreach programs—all programs aimed toward increasing the presence of minorities in classical music. His teachers include Martha Strongin Katz, Yizhak Schotten, Caroline Coade, and Catherine Carroll.

Rachel Panitch, violin (2007-2009)

Rachel began studying Suzuki violin in 1988 in Albany, NY and worked with teacher Barbara Lapidus for fourteen years. At Vassar College, she continued to study classical violin with Betty-Jean Hagan, performed as a soloist with the Vassar Symphony Orchestra, and explored a multitude of fiddle styles. She majored in Anthropology and minored in Music & Culture, with major projects focusing on aural learning in folk music communities and the documentation of early American fiddle music. She came to Providence in 2006 to work as an AmeriCorps member at Providence Children's Museum.

Locally, Rachel has performed both on violin and mandolin with folk and roots-inspired bands including Beat Root, Ben Pilgrim and the Free Union Band, Chris Capaldi Trio and Tallahassee. In 2008, she made her European solo debut on violin with the Providence Mandolin Orchestra in France and the Netherlands. Playing and singing with her bluegrass band, the Bourbon Boys, she has performed at venues from Boston to Wyoming (Rhode Island, that is). Rachel has studied contradance fiddling at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, the Festival of American Fiddletunes in Port Townsend, Washington, Pinewoods American Dance and Music Week and at Donna Hebert's Fiddling Demystified.

Arlyn Valencia, violin/viola (2007-2009)

Arlyn, a violinist and violist from Cleveland, Ohio, has gained recognition as a versatile musician. Her wide range of experience includes being a classical musician, playing guitar, violin, and vocals in rock bands, musical theater, and performing with the violin troupe Barrage.

As an advocate for new music, she has collaborated with composer Steve Reich and served as Concertmaster of the 2004 Baldwin-Wallace FOCUS Festival Orchestra under the baton of Krzystof Penderecki. She was a Fellow at the National Orchestral Institute in 2004-05. A dedicated teacher, creating opportunities for communities throughout the Cleveland area, Arlyn pioneered a pilot string program at the William Cullen Bryant Elementary School through a partnership with Baldwin-Wallace and the Cleveland Orchestra. She also served as an intern with the Lakewood Rock Orchestra Project. Arlyn is a founding member of the American String Teachers Association chapter at the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory, which through her vision, created a student-run partnership with Elyria High School Orchestras.

Arlyn received her Bachelor of Music with distinction from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory and recently earned her Master of Music degree from Longy School of Music in 2007. Her teachers and coaches include Laura Bossert, Eric Rosenblith, Julian Ross, Roger Tapping, Terry King, Pamela Frank, Wei-Shu Co, and Lawrence Dutton.

Chloë Kline, viola (2006-2008)

Chloë received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she was a viola student of Martha Katz. Other influential viola teachers include Karen Tuttle, Roberto Diaz, and Richard Young. Chloë has also studied chamber music with members of the Vermeer, Juilliard, Guarneri, Cleveland, American, Orion, Brentano, Emerson, and Tokyo string quartets, and has participated the Aspen, Banff, Taos, Sarasota, Musicorda, and Kneisel Hall summer festivals. From 1998-2000, Chloë performed in concerts and festivals in Germany and across the United States as a member of the Lipatti String Quartet, the graduate string quartet in residence at Northern Illinois University. In 2005, Chloë received a Master's degree in Arts in Education from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.

Chloe completed the Fellowship Program in June 2008 and joined the Community MusicWorks staff.

After graduating with distinction from the School of Music at Indiana University, Laura accepted a position with the Graduate String Quartet at Wichita State University, where she received her graduate degree in cello performance. She has since performed in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Italy. Laura has an experimental electronic group of her own, Mem1, which has allowed her to collaborate with the Penderecki String Quartet and perform at the Orange County Museum of Art, REDCAT (Walt Disney Hall), and at numerous galleries and festivals throughout Southern California. Mem1 curates the quarterly experimental music series, CTRL+ALT+REPEAT, which features performances by local and internationally recognized performers of experimental electronics and new music.

Laura completed the Fellowship Program in June 2008. Learn more about Mem1 by clicking here.

Minna Choi, Fellowship Program Director

Learn more about Minna by clicking here.