Marianne Ryan
Director, Founder, Owner - Creative Adventures

Marianne Ryan founded Music Together® of Dedham in September 2003. Shortly after moving into her new studio she expanded her business and Creative Adventures was born. Wonderful new adventures will be offered to include acting workshops, birthday parties, private instrument lessons and future yoga retreats created especially with families in mind.

Marianne is a Registered Music Together teacher and received her training from the Princeton Center for Music and Young Children. For the past 4 years she has taught Music Together with Urban Music Together in Jamaica Plain, Cambridge School of Music, Metro Music Together and currently teaches for Hill House Community Center.

Marianne attended the High School of Performing Arts in Philadelphia and a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. A professional actor, singer and proud member of the actor's unions; Screen Actors Guild, Aftra and Actor's Equity Association since 1990. Her work has included musical theatre, regional theatre, film/TV, and voice overs.

Music, dance and theatre have been a part of Marianne's life as far back as she can remember. She is thrilled to be combining her love of music with her love and respect for children.

More information on Marianne and Creative Adventures here:

Claudia Eliaza has training in providing music therapy for individuals and groups in a wide range of settings and ages, including: Adult Day Treatment, Children with Special Needs, Elders with Dementia, Children with Autism, Children/Youth with life threatening illness and Typical Students in Enrichment Programs. She has worked in residential settings, specialized social service centers, daycare and afterschool programs. Claudia graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music with a Bachelors Degree in Music Therapist. She is also jazz vocalist and performs in Boston and Internationally.

Leila Hepp Suzuki Piano and Violin lessons

Originally from Western Massachusetts, Leila grew up studying the piano from a young age. She attended Asbury College in Kentucky for her undergraduate degree in music. While at Asbury Leila also played viola in the orchestra, as well as accompanying a variety of ensembles and solo performances. After graduating, she spent a semester abroad in Finland to learn more about her cultural heritage. Upon returning to the states she completed her Masters in Piano Performance at Virginia Commonwealth University while teachng piano in both private and group settings. Leila trained as a Suzuki piano instructor and has attended two Suzuki seminars before re-locating to China for a year abroad teaching music to grades 1-5 at a private school in Shanghai. Leila currently lives in Boston, and teaches both privately and at the CMCJP.

Jouveth Higuera-Shortell - ABC Spanish In Motion

 Jouveth is a Venezuelan native. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Education: Pedagogy Science from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello. She has taught Spanish in formal, bilingual school settings and in informal tutoring environments. She obtained a Masters degree in Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management with an emphasis in Social Justice and Sustainable Development from the School for International Training in Vermont. Her passion is exposure to multiculturalism, a world to which she feels proud of belonging. For her, true social change occurs through the acceptance of multiculturalism and pluralism. A first step to multiculturalism is the acquisition of a second language as language bridges cultures. Raising her two young daughters in a bilingual household fascinates her.

Lisa Keefe, Piano ages 4 - adult

Lisa has been teaching piano and music theory to students of all ages for over ten years. From an early age, she has had a love of music that was instilled in her from her mother and grandmother who also play the piano and enjoy singing. Music is a part of her everyday life and she enjoys sharing this gift with others so they can reach their full creative potential. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Lisa graduated with honors from U. Mass Amherst with a degree in Psychology and Communications, while studying piano application and theory under Russian pianist Lucy Portnov. Throughout her life, she has enjoyed touring the world and submersing herself in a variety of cultures and languages. Lisa also spends her time volunteering in the community, traveling to Europe and South America, continuing to gain inspiration from plays on Broadway and opera, and cooking new and exciting dishes.

Introduction to the Violin and Private lessons

 Ofelia was born in Mexico City. From an early age, she showed a deep interest in music, particularly the violin. In 1983, she attended the National Conservatory of Mexico and received her B.A. in music in 1995. From there, she travelled to Vienna, Austria to study at the Hochschule, where she received her Masters degree. As a performer, Ofelia has performed with many orchestras in Austria, Israel, Mexico and the U.S. She is currently principal second violin in the Waltham Orchestra. She has always been a teacher, and has used the Suzuki method for much of her teaching. She currently lives in Lexington with her husband and 7 year-old daughter.
 

Musical Theatre
Jennie has had the pleasure of working with children in some form or another for the past 10 years, and recently celebrated her one
year anniversary teaching for Pocket Full of Tales Theatre Company. With Pocket Full of Tales, Jennie teaches art, drama, and music themed
creativity classes for preschoolers, musical theatre and advanced acting classes for kids ages 4-12, and runs theatre-themed birthday
parties on the weekends.  Through her classes, Jennie is excited to continually help create and encourage an environment of creativity,
imagination, learning, and most of all, fun!

is a graduate of Fairfield University, where she earned her degree in French language and literature. She minored in both theatre and music, two of her all-time loves. Liz also studied theatre in Aix-en-Provence, France. She is a musician, actor, improviser, dancer and, most importantly, a teacher! She loves to travel and has performed all over Europe and the United States. Liz is excited to be teaching Music Together with Creative Adventures at Discover Music and Art.

Barbara Wilson Arboleda
MS CCC-SLP
VoiceWize founder & owner
Voice Therapist, Speech Pathologist, Vocal Trainer (Singing Teacher)

Barbara is a licensed speech-language pathologist (Mass.), a singing & voice teacher, and is a member of the Boston-Area Board of Directors for NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing).

Barbara graduated from the MGH Institute of Health Professions at Massachusetts General Hospital and completed a specialty rotation in voice disorders at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Currently, she provides voice therapy at Voicewize and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Previously, she was employed at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Voice Lab.

In addition to her clinical work, Barbara has been a singer and actor for over 15 years. She studied voice at the New England Conservatory, through consortium with Simmons College and completed an acting program with Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. She is a certified master teacher of the Estill Voice Training System. Until recently, she sang with the blues/rock band King Street Band.

Prior to entering the field of speech-language pathology, Barbara studied management at Simmons College and worked in various management positions, including as a project manager in a corporate Inc. 500 reengineering team and as the co-founder and treasurer of Entertaining Diversity, Inc.

"Barbara has wonderful attributes as a singing teacher. She is extremely warm, sweet, patient, non-judgmental, and understanding. She is focused and organized and is therefore able to maximize what we can accomplish at a single visit."
- Leon Gunther, Professor of Physics at Tufts University; Director of the Mak'haylah Chorus

"It is no understatement to say that the things I learned from [my therapist at Voicwize] literally saved my public school teaching career. She not only has a thorough understanding of the voice and its underlying mechanisms, as well as the knowledge of what techniques will work in a given situation, but she also brought to our therapy sessions an energetic and vibrant personality that, quite honestly, made me want to work for her and practice the techniques I was being shown."
- Keith Symons

"Barbara's sessions added significant value to my ability to be understood during social and professional communications. She has the incredible listening skill to meet my personalized goals. Currently, life is great without the infuriating question 'I do not understand you, can you repeat what you just said?'"
- J. A. Accent modification client

VoiceWize currently has three locations in Massachusetts, serving clinical and voice clients.
More information on Barbara and VoiceWize here

Jen Jackson
MA CCC-SLP
Voice Therapist, Speech Pathologist
Jen Jackson
MA CCC-SLP
Voice Therapist, Speech Pathologist

Jen is a licensed speech language pathologist in Massachusetts and Oregon. She received her Masters degree in communication sciences and disorders at the University of Maine. Jen also holds bachelors and associates degrees in communication arts and sciences from Lyndon State College in Vermont where she studied broadcast journalism.Jen's training for her specialty in voice disorders began with internships at the Voice and Swallowing Center of Maine and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Voice Lab. This was followed by a fellowship at the Vanderbilt Voice Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds certification in Lee Silverman Voice Treatment and has training in the Estill Voice Training System and the Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy treatment protocol. Special interests include professional speaking voice, chronic cough and Paradoxical Vocal Fold Motion, and the management of tracheal-esophageal prostheses for total laryngectomees.Jen recently returned to New England from Oregon where she practiced swallowing, speech and voice rehabilitation in the geriatric population.Prior to her career as a speech pathologist Jen worked in her home state of Maine as a television news reporter and radio news anchor. She credits her work as a professional voice user and the years of formal training with establishing her love and respect for the human voice.

Jordan Piel
MS CCC-SLP
Voice Therapist, Speech Pathologist

Jordan is a licensed speech-language pathologist in Massachusetts, and holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA). He received his master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University, and also holds a bachelor's degree in Linguistics.

He began his specialized voice pathology training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he remains on staff part-time, collaborating with Harvard Medical School-affiliated physicians. His continuing education in voice therapy and training has included Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy, Estill Voice Training, and Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT). He attended the National Parkinson Foundation's Allied Team Training in 2008, and has presented on voice and speech changes associated with Parkinson's disease.

In addition to voice, his clinical interests include evaluation and treatment of fluency disorders (stuttering) and motor speech disorders (dysarthria). He enjoys singing rock, jazz, and other contemporary music, as well as playing guitar.

Sarah Blacker, MT-BC
Music Therapist

Voicewize hosts Rumble Bee Music Therapy, through which Sarah provides music therapy services. She is a Board-Certified Music Therapist for children with special needs, and prior to moving her practice to VoiceWize, provided years of music therapy at some of Boston's top hospitals. Music Therapy is the use of music and musical themes to develop social skills, cognition, motor skills and self-expression. Her therapeutic groups have specific group and individual goals based on the needs of each group member, incorporating goals they are working on at home and/or in school.

Sarah is a classically-trained vocalist and has written over 400 songs, and toured nationally, playing to sold-out audiences in Cambridge, MA, Lawrence, KS, and New York City to name a few. She's been named a 'RiverRising Star' by WXRV, Boston's Independent Radio, 92.5 the River. Southcoast247.com has coined her, "A shining light in the local music scene," and she's regularly called, "the perfect blend of Joni Mitchell and Ella Fitzgerald." Currently, Ms. Blacker, is touring both solo and with her band, in support of her debut full-length album, 'The Only Way Out is Through.' This collection of finely crafted, unique jazzy/folk-rock songs.

She has her Music Therapy degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and you can book appointments with her through VoiceWize.

"Sarah's thoughtful approach to designing music therapy activities was evident in her flexibility to meeting the needs of individual children and of groups of children. Sarah formed relationships with the children in her music therapy groups that at once allowed for great humor and shared fun, and also for challenging opportunities to develop and practice reciprocity, teamwork, and attention skills, just to name a few."
- Jennifer Harber, former program director YouthCare, current program director HandiKids

Beth Canterbury, MM
Singing Teacher; Board Member, National Association of Teachers of Singing, Boston Area.

Beth graduated from Kenyon College where she designed an interdisciplinary major studying Education Policy, Reform, and the Role of the Arts in Education. She then enrolled at the Longy School of Music where she earned her Master of Music degree in Opera Performance. Her operatic roles have included Gretal (Hansel and Gretel), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Despine (Cosi fan tutte), and Josephine (HMS Pinafore) and recent oratoria engagements include Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Nelsonmesse, and Faure's Requiem. Recently, she concluded a regional tour of the dynamic children's opera, The Bug Opera.

Most recently, Beth was both Chair of the Voice Department and Director of Education at South Shore Conservatory where she taught voice students aged 7 - 70. A longtime advocate for accessible opera performance, she has directed and associate directed for SSC's community opera company, Opera by the Bay. Her production credits include Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Marriage of Figaro, and Die Fledermaus and two operas for children, Davies' The Three Little Pigs and Barab's Little Red Riding Hood.

She is currently the instructor for Harvard University's Choir in Progress voice class and the Soprano Soloist at First Congregational Church in Milton. Beth lives in Stoughton with her husband Tap, a high school chemistry teacher, and their baby Sam.

Ratasha Huff
Teaching Artist, Cultural Educator, Jazz Vocalist

Ratasha Huff uses music as a tool for healing and transformation. Ms. Huff has worked with schools, non-profits, and various community organizations. Her heart's focus is in building bridges across cultural, racial, religious, and socio-economic divides. Her philosophy is rooted in the belief that music has the power to heal the world, and that the ties that unite humanity are so much stronger and substantial than those that separate. She explores ways in which music and other art forms can be used to open minds and transform lives. Ms. Huff describes her life's work as follows: "I am committed to using my gifts and talents toward ensuring that when I leave this world, it will be in better condition than it was in when I arrived."

Daniel J. Pope
Guitar Teacher

Dan received his bachelors degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and is state certified in teaching music (MTEL). He has successfully taught hundreds of students ranging in ages from 5 to adult. His method of teaching involves creating a positive atmosphere that allows students to progress without feeling pressured. He emphasizes that regardless of music style, students should be taught a strong foundation in reading music in order to fully understand their instrument.

Dan continues studying the guitar and methods of music styles with his college mentors, and is developing new methods of teaching music.

Teja Arboleda, M.Ed.
Program Director & Video/Photography

Teja has produced broadcast and commercial television since the 1986, has a Emmy Award and Telly Award. He was Assistant Director/Editor for Frontline and other PBS shows, produced for ABC's Chronicle,and his educational videos are distributed by Discovery Learning.

Arboleda founded Entertaining Diversity, Inc™®. in 1992 to teach race and culture issues through entertainment. As an actor, comedian and lecturer, his nationally acclaimed one-man shows such as Ethnic Man!™ and Healing Racism have been received with wild success in over 500 cities and towns in 48 states. His video RaceOff™ is the opening installation video for the national touring exhibit Race: Are We So Different.

Teja has been Associate Professor at The New England Institute of Art since 1999 and is the author of In The Shadow of Race. He is a recognized leader in multiracial and multiethnic identity and has been featured in many media outlets including NPR, PBS, The New York Times and The Detroit Free Press. His last PBS documentary, Crossing The Line: Multiracial Comedians received a Telly Award for best documentary.

What Teja enjoys most is helping young to old people reach their artistic and intellectual potential. His philosophy of combining entertainment with multiple and holistic learning styles is an integral part of his mission and work. He has a B.A. from Clark University and an M.Ed. from Lesley University, and he is a member of Screen Actor's Guild.

...and he loooooves good coffee - good thing his studio is located one door away from a café!
More information on Teja and Entertaining Diversity here:

Derek Aylward
Painter & Illustrator

Derek is a multiple award winning graphic artist, painter and wood & cardboard sculptor, with credits in major publications such as The New York Times, Print Magazine, Bonus (Germany/Japan), The Improper Bostonian and The New Republic. He is as comfortable working with paints and inks as he is with computer aided software such as Adobe Illustrator. Derek's good sense of humor, open mind and quick wit is very evident in his work, as it is in person. In addition to being an artist, he is a bicycle hack and skateboarder. He lives and works in Dedham.

More information on Derek here:

Ilene Fischer
Improv

Ilene Fischer has been writing and performing comedy since she was a teenager. She graduated from Chicago's Player's Workshop of the Second City and high school the same year. After receiving her degree from BU, she began a career in television production, and founded the improv troupe Renegade Duck. In their 7-year run, "The Duck" performed hundreds of shows throughout New England, and traveled to several national improv festivals.

While living in LA, Ms. Fischer regularly performed stand up. Her short script, Passionate Liaison, won the audience award for Best Script at the 2004 Instant Films Open. The next year, her 48 hour Film Fest submission Temporary Spy was included on the festival's best DVD.

Since returning to Boston, Ms. Fischer's creativity can be seen in seasons three and four of FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman - the Emmy nominated PBS kids show that mixes live-action and animation. She has just completed writing a 24-part video series that will accompany a college level introduction to Italian textbook. Ms. Fischer was recently invited to perform as part of ImprovBoston's anti-Valentine celebration - Thorns, and her stand up and improv comedy were featured at the 2009 Queer Qomedy Festival. Ms Fischer was proud to be included in 'You Said Whaaat?' presented by the New Center Arts & Culture, where she performed as part of their comedy and culture program.

Brendan Joyce
Cartooning

Brendan Joyce is a graphic artist and cartoonist. His Dedham Times comic strip, The Box Office is in it's fourth year of publication, and consistently has readers itching for the next installation. A former projectionist at the Dedham Community Theatre, an avid movie buff (ask him any question about any movie - he absorbs film trivia), and people watcher, Brendan has accumulated and incorporated a vast quantity of vibrant characters in his storytelling and illustrations. A man of the town, with a great sense of humor, he is quite ubiquitous...he's the main character in his cartoon series. So if you're nice to him, he just might add you to his story.

More information on Brendan here:

Zoe Piel
Animal Illustration / Biology

Zoe Piel is a cartoonist, illustrator and graphic designer. She graduated from Boston University with a degree in biological anthropology, and is MA certified as a biology teacher. She volunteered as a docent at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. She is currently Webmaster for the American Academy of the History of Dentistry, and Assistant Editor of the Journal of the History of Dentistry. She has a good sense of humor and loves teaching!

More information on Zoe Piel here:

Judy Rubin
Sculpting & ClayMotion

Judy's relationship with clay began at an early age and has remained an integral part of her life to this day. It brought her to Cornell University to major in sculpture and after receiving a BFA, she moved to Boston. She worked for a number of years as a character sculptor for Olive Jar, a multiple award-winning commercial animation company. Then, as a freelancer, she sculpted props and characters for famous clients such as Sesame Street, Samsung, LA Opera and Fischer-Price. Judy is Telly Award winner and Clio Award finalist. She recently completed seven life-sized figures for a monument designed for the city of Ketchikan, AK. Judy's modest approach to her skills and focus are dwarfed by her enviable skill at creating completely life-like sculptures to fun and comic animation characters.

Judy is available for sculpture portraits of people and pets!

LisaMarie Sinatra
Screenwriting

LisaMarie has been a true movie fanatic and a lover of television all her life. A child actor, she secured roles on Boston local television and participated in the theatre, landing lead roles in high school and in college, while pursuing her passion for writing. After working for a number of years in public relationsh, she left the creature comforts of office life and pursued her MFA degree in film/screenwriting at Boston University. She would later move temporarily to Los Angeles to work for Mandalay Entertainment (Brotherhood, Donnie Brasco) assisting development directors with feature film projects and Sony Pictures Entertainment supporting publicity executives with television programming.

Upon returning to the east coast, LisaMarie traveled to Providence to assist the cast and crew of The Tell-Tale Heart (named in the top ten films to look for at this year's Tribecca Film Festival) starring Josh Lucas, Brian Cox and Lena Heady, and later for Four Single Fathers, an Italian production shot in Lowell and Boston and written by Gabrielle Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Last Kiss). Most recently, LisaMarie spent six months in New York working with the writers, cast and crew on the second season of HBO's hit series, In Treatment starring Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest. While continuing her work on other writing projects, LisaMarie is awaiting word on the fate of her first feature film script and TV pilot.

Stephen Vedder
Photography & Photoshop

Stephen Vedder has been a photographer since he was 15 years old. He has a degree in Professional Photography from the presitgeous School of Photographic Arts and Sciences of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He has been a professional photographer for 20 years, and is as well versed in large format traditional film photography as he is with digital minipulation software such as Photoshop. He has restored and photographed thousands of archival and major historical works, including Sunspots, (1613) by Galileo Galilei. He takes his commerical and portrait photography very seriously, while maintaining a very good sense of humor. Steve is also a gourmet cook and private chef!

Steve is availalbe for portrait photos, and photo resoration and 'airbrushing' at our studio.
More information on Stephen Vedder

Joseph Zamparelli
Acting

Joseph Zamparelli is a professional actor, director and voice over artist. After graduating from Boston College (Psychology/Theater Arts), he trained at Circle in the Square Theater School in NYC, and co-founded Daas Theatricals. Joseph had a recurring role in the Showtime cable network series Brotherhood and a role in the feature film Black Irish. In addition to commercial work, he co-directed and performed in Imperfectly for Entertaining Diversity, Inc., co-starred in the animated short Unspokenfor T-Time Productions, and was a regular performer with The Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air creating audio drama. In addition, he directs "edutainment theatre" with the Delvena Theater Co., and is a regular ConDUCKtor at Boston Duck Tours. Joseph's extensive stage performance work includes the Huntington Theater Co., Vineyard Playhouse Theater Co., Out of the Blue Theater, Súgán Theater, Boston Art Theatre, Boston Theater Works, N.E. Aquarium, and the Delvena Theatre Co. For more information, go to his website here.
(Photo©Robert Massey)