Shayna has extensive experience in both music and early childhood education (in preschools and Montessori schools), which come together to shape her expertise as a music educator for young children and beginning string players. She has held a range of music teaching positions, including: Director of the Suzuki Strings Program, and a private and group music instructor, at Cornerstone Music Conservatory in Los Angeles; instructor of string players in the Mentor High School Orchestra Program; and instructor of Musicianship and Music Appreciation classes at Cleveland State University. She has taught private students in violin, viola, cello and piano since 1987. She has performed with the Youngstown and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras, among many others, including performances with Joshua Bell, Itzhac Perlman, James Gallway, Emmanuel Ax, and YoYo Ma. Every year she is a judge for the Music Educators National Conference and the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs.
Education: MM, Violin Performance, Cleveland State University; BM (cum laude), Violin Performance, West Virginia University; AA, Early Childhood Education, Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville, FLA.
Joseph received his training in music education at Ohio State University. He has taught one-on-one music lessons since 2009 in both Cleveland and Columbus. He also taught for five years through Piano Lessons In Your Home, Inc. in Columbus, and has been teaching at The Music Settlement in Cleveland since 2018. He also taught at Lakewood Music Academy. Joseph is an active church musician. In Columbus he played keyboard in the worship team and directed/conducted the bell choir at Mountview Christian Church, and played piano and accompanied the choir at Westphal Avenue Baptist Church. He is currently one of two music team leaders at Gateway Church Downtown, cleveland. Joseph is also moderately skilled in speaking, writing and reading Spanish.
Education: B.M.(cum laude) in Music Education, The Ohio State University
Frank graduated from Central State University with a degree in K-12 Music Education and Jazz Studies; he was the recipient of the Lewis Armstrong Jazz Award. He began playing clarinet in elementary school, and was 8 years old when he started on sax. He was a music teacher in the Cleveland Municipal School District for 10 years, and also taught in the East Cleveland Public Schools. He has been a musician (sax) at New Life at Calvary Church, been the lead sax for local band Gabriel’s Horns, and over the years has accompanied renowned musicians such as Melba Moore, Nancy Wilson, Eddie Backus Sr., The Dells Singing Group and Dorothy Norwood. He is also a regular performer at the annual Iron Ward Fest in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood, and actively rehearses and performs with several local jazz groups.
Education: B.S. Music Education K-12/Jazz Studies, Central State University
Agnieszka's education includes studies in Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze Eurhythmics and extensive studies in folk dance and choreography. Before coming to the United States, she performed with several folk songs and dance ensembles In Poland. She is now a choreographer and artistic director for "Piast", the Artistic Folk Song and Dance Ensemble of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, which performs throughout the Cleveland area. Agnieszka is also a BSMA parent: her two children take violin lessons with Shayna Rhodes!
Education: Bachelors, Music Education, Radziwillowiczowa Teacher’s College #1, Warsaw, Poland, and an instructor’s degree through the National Institution of Culture in Warsaw, Poland.
My objective is to obtain a position that will allow me to utilize my administrative skills, talents, credentials, knowledge and years of experience as a musician, an educator and musical director.
Stephanie Wilbert is an Actor, Director, and Adjunct Faculty Theater Instructor at Lorain County Community College. Her masters work primarily focused on ensemble-based performance and devised theater techniques. Stephanie is an Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) and has performed in various productions in Colorado, Northeastern Ohio and surrounding states. She has worked as a Teaching Artist for Talespinner Children’s Theatre, The Ohio City Theatre Project, Spark Theatre 4 Youth and The Illusion Factory.
Education: MFA in Theater, Contemporary Performance, Naropa University
Gina considers herself “a child of the Universe” and has traveled to many places collecting images and connecting artists. She has won many awards for portraiture and creates art “by any means necessary” as she combines many different mediums. As a member of The Visit artists collaborative, and a master collaborator, she regularly co-creates exhibitions showcasing poetry, storytelling, music and visual arts for local events such as Ingenuity, FireFish and Rooms to Let. She has exhibited her work at Lakeland Community College, the Riffe Gallery (Columbus, OH), Cleveland Public Library, and in the Westmoreland Art Nationals (Greensburg, PA). In 2010 she was an apprentice with the Creative Filmmakers Association, and she has been a featured artist several times on WCPN's Around Noon show. In 2007 she was an artist in residence at the Global Arts Village in New Delhi, India. Her goal is to make art accessible to all people and to connect the world globally by bringing more international artists to Cleveland, Ohio. She teaches at Rainey Institute in addition to BSMA. She is was a teaching artist for BSMA at William Rainey Harper during the 2021-2022 school year and helps with BSMA programs whenever possible.
Education: MFA in Photography, Ohio University; BA, University of Rochester.
Kristen established herself as an afrofuturist creative while studying at Harlaxton College in England during her youth. After 10 years of experience in Creative and Social Entrepreneurship, and 5 years of experience teaching visual arts and literacy in Chicago, she moved to Cleveland recently. Kristen’s passion is the joy of discovery in helping our youth locate their strength through creative identity, and she injects that into the classroom experience.
Education: B.A. In Arts and Entertainment Management and Entrepreneurship, Columbia College, Chicago ; University of Missouri – Kansas City
Ms. Ruble has served as a teaching artist in area community arts education programs for many years. She has completed artist-in-residence programs through Young Audiences (now Center for Arts Inspired Learning), International House of Blues Foundation, Art House, Inc., Kulture Kids, and Progressive Arts Alliance. These residencies were in partnership with Cleveland Metropolitan Schools, Luther Memorial School and other non-profit organizations. She has also been a museum educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa). She was previously the Program Coordinator with the International House of Blues Foundation (Cleveland, OH), Education Coordinator at Art House, Inc. and Outreach Coordinator for BSMA. As an Environmental Educator at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, she has shared her passion for the outdoors and then brought creative connections between visual arts and science-based themes to the art education she does at BSMA. Miss Meri teaches in after-school programs, summer programs and in-school residencies for BSMA.
Education: BA Fine Arts, with a Studio Art concentration, Kent State University.
Claudio has been active as an artist and art educator throughout Northeast Ohio. He has been Artist in Residence and Outreach Coordinator at Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory & Educational Foundation, and since 2008 has been Coordinator for Apollo Outreach, a program of Oberlin College's Cinema Studies Program. He has taught at FAVA (Oberlin), and through Art House and Zygote Press (both in Cleveland). In fall 2016, he was an Artist in Residence at the Rasmuson Foundation in Homer, Alaska, through an exchange program with Zygote Press. Through BSMA, he has taught printmaking and papermaking to students in University Settlement's after-school program, including teens at Washington Park Horticulture Center who he also involved as participants in Slavic Village Development's 2016 Rooms to Let event. He has also introduced the excitement of papermaking to Slavic Village preschoolers. Claudio was a BSMA teaching artit at William Rainey Harper during the 2021-2022 school year.
Education: MFA, Bowling Green State University; BA, summa cum laude, Cleveland State University; also studied at Mesa Community College (San Diego, CA) and University of Torino, Italy.
Agnieszka's education includes studies in Orff, Kodaly and Dalcroze Eurhythmics and extensive studies in folk dance and choreography. Before coming to the United States, she performed with several folk song and dance ensembles In Poland. She is now choreographer and artistic director for "Piast", the Artistic Folk Song and Dance Ensemble of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, which performs throughout the Cleveland area. Agnieszka is also a BSMA parent: her two children take violin lessons with Shayna Rhodes! Agnieszka teaches Eurhythmics in BSMA’s preschool program at CMSD schools and private day cares and hand bell choirs in senior programs.
Education: Bachelors, Music Education, Radziwillowiczowa Teacher’s College #1, Warsaw, Poland and an instructor’s degree through the National Institution of Culture in Warsaw, Poland.
Christine has devoted her professional career to working with children and adults in the non-profit sector. Before coming to work with BSMA, she was a mental health therapist and certified trauma practitioner at Ravenwood Health in Chardon, working with individuals aged PreK through adult. She has worked as a Head Start teacher in Appalachia, and as an art therapy intern with both Shaker City Schools and Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, she helped to implement public health programs in HIV and Malaria prevention. Miss Chris teaches in BSMA PreK program at a number of CMSD schools and day cares and also brings her “Art Smarts” program of art and social-emotional skills to Haven Home, a shelter for women and children, and after school programs.
Education: MA Art Therapy Counseling, Ursuline College; BA Psychology, magna cum laude, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Pia is a certified Drums Alive instructor and teaches many various movement and fitness formats as well as voice throughout the Cleveland area. Pia trained vocally with David Gooding and currently sings professionally with Fairmont Temple Choir in Beachwood. Her dance training includes tap with Dave Morganstern, ballet with Paul Wilson and Linda Adolphi of Washington Ballet, and jazz with area master instructors and studios. She has participated in productions at Cain Park and Beck Center for the Arts as well as television appearances with Mr. Jingeling. She teaches Drums Alive! music and fitness classes for BSMA in PreK through senior adult programs
Education: BA Art, Mount St. Joseph University
Mark studied organ, flute and classical guitar at Cuyahoga Community College before majoring in music theory and harmony. He also studied composition, advanced harmony, counterpoint and orchestration at Cleveland State University. He has been a composer and musical director in the film industry and has produced film soundtracks for The Hoods (1981) and other feature films as well as the CDs Another Listen is in Order (1989), Clearing the Air (1990), and his solo CD Umilenye on Latticesphere. records. He has taught at Beck Center for the Arts, the Bedford Schools, Cuyahoga Community College, Memphis-Ridge Music Center, the Family Learning Center for Music, and in the Cleveland Municipal School district. He was music director and performer for the Ground Zero Mime/Movement company from 1990-96, a performer in MorrisonDance modern dance company from 1999-2003 and toured and performed extensively across the United States with the Moscow Nights Russian folk ensemble on the bass balalaika.
Education: Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State University
Dwayne is a music teacher, composer, musician and DJ. He has been a music teacher at Oliver H. Perry Elementary School (CMSD) in Cleveland since 1992, where he also conducts the school's Choir and Instrumental band, and leads the Drum Corp and Drill Team. Dwayne has taught music to children in many other venues throughout the city, including at U.M.A.D.A.O.P (where he is currently Drumline Instructor), Boys and Girls Clubs, Fatima Center, Nottingham Branch of Cleveland Public Library and others. He was a musician and Ensemble Director at Shiloh Baptist Church, currently plays drums and keyboard at Elizabeth Baptist Church, enjoys composing and recording songs in his home recording studio, and has his own DJ business under the name HITMAN*DDub and Me Psi Phi Entertainment (https://www.dddixon.com/.)
Education: Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, Cleveland State University; Bachelor's in Music Education, West Virginia University
David is a long-time faculty member, having taught at BSMA for over 25 years. In addition to his private lesson work, he keeps our building clean and maintained. David is also on the faculties of the Community Arts School at Baldwin Wallace University and Cuyahoga Community College. An accomplished musician with performances at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Play House and Playhouse Square, David performs in the BW Alumni Brass Collective as well as in “Music for 2”, a duo specializing in recorder duets. He also appears in a variety of ensembles in performances throughout Northeast Ohio, including for many community theater performances.
Education: MM, Case Western Reserve University; BM, Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music
Denise was employed for 15 years at University Hospital of Cleveland in the nutrition service department. After early retirement she attended classes at Vocational Guidance Services. There she received certification as a Customer Service Representative from the Help Desk Institute and clerical training. She has over 40 years of experience working with the public. Through Vocational Guidance Services she was introduced to the University Settlement, where she became a long-time volunteer in the hunger center.
Denise began her work at BSMA, a partner of University Settlement, in September of 2018. Denise is a family person and enjoys spending time with her children and eight grandchildren, two of whom take lessons here at BSMA.
Emily Hoag joined the BSMA staff in June, 2016, but has been a part of the BSMA community as a parent of students since 2009. Her career in non-profit administration has focused on community organizing, volunteer management, campus ministry and event planning. An art enthusiast, she brings creativity alongside her strengths in attention to detail and organization. She previously served in a variety of roles including Project Manager and Festival Director for FireFish Arts in Lorain, Project Manager and Volunteer Coordinator for Cleveland World Festival in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, Development Associate for YWCA Greater Cleveland, and Newman Campus Minister for the Diocese of Cleveland. She received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Dayton, and took graduate courses at St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology. She has also taken Youth Work Practices and Family Engagement Strategies classes through CWRU Weatherhead School of Management’s Cuyahoga County Youth Work Institute. When not at the Broadway School, Emily is working on her own art skills, volunteering for her Old Brooklyn community or pretending to exercise.
Barbara Bachtell has been the Executive Director of Broadway School of Music & the Arts since 1997. Before coming to BSMA, she was Program Coordinator and Associate and Interim Director at the New Organization for the Visual Arts (NOVA). Key accomplishments with BSMA include an Americans for the Arts YouthARTS grant (one of ten nationally) to develop a training workshop for artists working with at-risk youth and programming partnerships with many non-arts organizations. She upgraded BSMA’s financial aid process and has brought to BSMA much needed operating and program support from government, foundation, and private funders. She is an Executive Committee member (and past President) of the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium, a member of Slavic Village Development’s EcoDistrict Planning Team and of the Kiwanis Club of South East Cleveland, and an alternate to the Cleveland City Planning Commission’s East Region Design Review Advisory Committee. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University (CT) and B.F.A. from The Cleveland Institute of Art, has worked in Ohio schools through the Ohio Arts Council, and is a practicing artist.
Shayna has extensive experience in both music and early childhood education (in preschools and Montessori schools), which come together to shape her expertise as a music educator for young children and beginning string players. She has held a range of music teaching positions, including: Director of the Suzuki Strings Program, and a private and group music instructor, at Cornerstone Music Conservatory in Los Angeles; instructor of string players in the Mentor High School Orchestra Program; and instructor of Musicianship and Music Appreciation classes at Cleveland State University. She has taught private students in violin, viola, cello and piano since 1987. She has performed with the Youngstown and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras, among many others, including performances with Joshua Bell, Itzhac Perlman, James Gallway, Emmanuel Ax, and YoYo Ma. Every year she is a judge for the Music Educators National Conference and the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs.
Education: MM, Violin Performance, Cleveland State University; BM (cum laude), Violin Performance, West Virginia University; AA, Early Childhood Education, Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville, FLA.
Joseph received his training in music education at Ohio State University. He has taught one-on-one music lessons since 2009 in both Cleveland and Columbus. He also taught for five years through Piano Lessons In Your Home, Inc. in Columbus, and has been teaching at The Music Settlement in Cleveland since 2018. He also taught at Lakewood Music Academy. Joseph is an active church musician. In Columbus he played keyboard in the worship team and directed/conducted the bell choir at Mountview Christian Church, and played piano and accompanied the choir at Westphal Avenue Baptist Church. He is currently one of two music team leaders at Gateway Church Downtown, cleveland. Joseph is also moderately skilled in speaking, writing and reading Spanish.
Education: B.M.(cum laude) in Music Education, The Ohio State University
Frank graduated from Central State University with a degree in K-12 Music Education and Jazz Studies; he was the recipient of the Lewis Armstrong Jazz Award. He began playing clarinet in elementary school, and was 8 years old when he started on sax. He was a music teacher in the Cleveland Municipal School District for 10 years, and also taught in the East Cleveland Public Schools. He has been a musician (sax) at New Life at Calvary Church, been the lead sax for local band Gabriel’s Horns, and over the years has accompanied renowned musicians such as Melba Moore, Nancy Wilson, Eddie Backus Sr., The Dells Singing Group and Dorothy Norwood. He is also a regular performer at the annual Iron Ward Fest in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood, and actively rehearses and performs with several local jazz groups.
Education: B.S. Music Education K-12/Jazz Studies, Central State University
My objective is to obtain a position that will allow me to utilize my administrative skills, talents, credentials, knowledge and years of experience as a musician, an educator and musical director.
Stephanie Wilbert is an Actor, Director, and Adjunct Faculty Theater Instructor at Lorain County Community College. Her masters work primarily focused on ensemble-based performance and devised theater techniques. Stephanie is an Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) and has performed in various productions in Colorado, Northeastern Ohio and surrounding states. She has worked as a Teaching Artist for Talespinner Children’s Theatre, The Ohio City Theatre Project, Spark Theatre 4 Youth and The Illusion Factory.
Education: MFA in Theater, Contemporary Performance, Naropa University
Gina considers herself “a child of the Universe” and has traveled to many places collecting images and connecting artists. She has won many awards for portraiture and creates art “by any means necessary” as she combines many different mediums. As a member of The Visit artists collaborative, and a master collaborator, she regularly co-creates exhibitions showcasing poetry, storytelling, music and visual arts for local events such as Ingenuity, FireFish and Rooms to Let. She has exhibited her work at Lakeland Community College, the Riffe Gallery (Columbus, OH), Cleveland Public Library, and in the Westmoreland Art Nationals (Greensburg, PA). In 2010 she was an apprentice with the Creative Filmmakers Association, and she has been a featured artist several times on WCPN's Around Noon show. In 2007 she was an artist in residence at the Global Arts Village in New Delhi, India. Her goal is to make art accessible to all people and to connect the world globally by bringing more international artists to Cleveland, Ohio. She teaches at Rainey Institute in addition to BSMA. She is was a teaching artist for BSMA at William Rainey Harper during the 2021-2022 school year and helps with BSMA programs whenever possible.
Education: MFA in Photography, Ohio University; BA, University of Rochester.
Kristen established herself as an afrofuturist creative while studying at Harlaxton College in England during her youth. After 10 years of experience in Creative and Social Entrepreneurship, and 5 years of experience teaching visual arts and literacy in Chicago, she moved to Cleveland recently. Kristen’s passion is the joy of discovery in helping our youth locate their strength through creative identity, and she injects that into the classroom experience.
Education: B.A. In Arts and Entertainment Management and Entrepreneurship, Columbia College, Chicago ; University of Missouri – Kansas City
Ms. Ruble has served as a teaching artist in area community arts education programs for many years. She has completed artist-in-residence programs through Young Audiences (now Center for Arts Inspired Learning), International House of Blues Foundation, Art House, Inc., Kulture Kids, and Progressive Arts Alliance. These residencies were in partnership with Cleveland Metropolitan Schools, Luther Memorial School and other non-profit organizations. She has also been a museum educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa). She was previously the Program Coordinator with the International House of Blues Foundation (Cleveland, OH), Education Coordinator at Art House, Inc. and Outreach Coordinator for BSMA. As an Environmental Educator at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, she has shared her passion for the outdoors and then brought creative connections between visual arts and science-based themes to the art education she does at BSMA. Miss Meri teaches in after-school programs, summer programs and in-school residencies for BSMA.
Education: BA Fine Arts, with a Studio Art concentration, Kent State University.
Claudio has been active as an artist and art educator throughout Northeast Ohio. He has been Artist in Residence and Outreach Coordinator at Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory & Educational Foundation, and since 2008 has been Coordinator for Apollo Outreach, a program of Oberlin College's Cinema Studies Program. He has taught at FAVA (Oberlin), and through Art House and Zygote Press (both in Cleveland). In fall 2016, he was an Artist in Residence at the Rasmuson Foundation in Homer, Alaska, through an exchange program with Zygote Press. Through BSMA, he has taught printmaking and papermaking to students in University Settlement's after-school program, including teens at Washington Park Horticulture Center who he also involved as participants in Slavic Village Development's 2016 Rooms to Let event. He has also introduced the excitement of papermaking to Slavic Village preschoolers. Claudio was a BSMA teaching artit at William Rainey Harper during the 2021-2022 school year.
Education: MFA, Bowling Green State University; BA, summa cum laude, Cleveland State University; also studied at Mesa Community College (San Diego, CA) and University of Torino, Italy.
Agnieszka's education includes studies in Orff, Kodaly and Dalcroze Eurhythmics and extensive studies in folk dance and choreography. Before coming to the United States, she performed with several folk song and dance ensembles In Poland. She is now choreographer and artistic director for "Piast", the Artistic Folk Song and Dance Ensemble of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, which performs throughout the Cleveland area. Agnieszka is also a BSMA parent: her two children take violin lessons with Shayna Rhodes! Agnieszka teaches Eurhythmics in BSMA’s preschool program at CMSD schools and private day cares and hand bell choirs in senior programs.
Education: Bachelors, Music Education, Radziwillowiczowa Teacher’s College #1, Warsaw, Poland and an instructor’s degree through the National Institution of Culture in Warsaw, Poland.
Christine has devoted her professional career to working with children and adults in the non-profit sector. Before coming to work with BSMA, she was a mental health therapist and certified trauma practitioner at Ravenwood Health in Chardon, working with individuals aged PreK through adult. She has worked as a Head Start teacher in Appalachia, and as an art therapy intern with both Shaker City Schools and Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, she helped to implement public health programs in HIV and Malaria prevention. Miss Chris teaches in BSMA PreK program at a number of CMSD schools and day cares and also brings her “Art Smarts” program of art and social-emotional skills to Haven Home, a shelter for women and children, and after school programs.
Education: MA Art Therapy Counseling, Ursuline College; BA Psychology, magna cum laude, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Pia is a certified Drums Alive instructor and teaches many various movement and fitness formats as well as voice throughout the Cleveland area. Pia trained vocally with David Gooding and currently sings professionally with Fairmont Temple Choir in Beachwood. Her dance training includes tap with Dave Morganstern, ballet with Paul Wilson and Linda Adolphi of Washington Ballet, and jazz with area master instructors and studios. She has participated in productions at Cain Park and Beck Center for the Arts as well as television appearances with Mr. Jingeling. She teaches Drums Alive! music and fitness classes for BSMA in PreK through senior adult programs
Education: BA Art, Mount St. Joseph University
Mark studied organ, flute and classical guitar at Cuyahoga Community College before majoring in music theory and harmony. He also studied composition, advanced harmony, counterpoint and orchestration at Cleveland State University. He has been a composer and musical director in the film industry and has produced film soundtracks for The Hoods (1981) and other feature films as well as the CDs Another Listen is in Order (1989), Clearing the Air (1990), and his solo CD Umilenye on Latticesphere. records. He has taught at Beck Center for the Arts, the Bedford Schools, Cuyahoga Community College, Memphis-Ridge Music Center, the Family Learning Center for Music, and in the Cleveland Municipal School district. He was music director and performer for the Ground Zero Mime/Movement company from 1990-96, a performer in MorrisonDance modern dance company from 1999-2003 and toured and performed extensively across the United States with the Moscow Nights Russian folk ensemble on the bass balalaika.
Education: Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State University
Dwayne is a music teacher, composer, musician and DJ. He has been a music teacher at Oliver H. Perry Elementary School (CMSD) in Cleveland since 1992, where he also conducts the school's Choir and Instrumental band, and leads the Drum Corp and Drill Team. Dwayne has taught music to children in many other venues throughout the city, including at U.M.A.D.A.O.P (where he is currently Drumline Instructor), Boys and Girls Clubs, Fatima Center, Nottingham Branch of Cleveland Public Library and others. He was a musician and Ensemble Director at Shiloh Baptist Church, currently plays drums and keyboard at Elizabeth Baptist Church, enjoys composing and recording songs in his home recording studio, and has his own DJ business under the name HITMAN*DDub and Me Psi Phi Entertainment (https://www.dddixon.com/.)
Education: Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, Cleveland State University; Bachelor's in Music Education, West Virginia University
David is a long-time faculty member, having taught at BSMA for over 25 years. In addition to his private lesson work, he keeps our building clean and maintained. David is also on the faculties of the Community Arts School at Baldwin Wallace University and Cuyahoga Community College. An accomplished musician with performances at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Play House and Playhouse Square, David performs in the BW Alumni Brass Collective as well as in “Music for 2”, a duo specializing in recorder duets. He also appears in a variety of ensembles in performances throughout Northeast Ohio, including for many community theater performances.
Education: MM, Case Western Reserve University; BM, Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music
Denise was employed for 15 years at University Hospital of Cleveland in the nutrition service department. After early retirement she attended classes at Vocational Guidance Services. There she received certification as a Customer Service Representative from the Help Desk Institute and clerical training. She has over 40 years of experience working with the public. Through Vocational Guidance Services she was introduced to the University Settlement, where she became a long-time volunteer in the hunger center.
Denise began her work at BSMA, a partner of University Settlement, in September of 2018. Denise is a family person and enjoys spending time with her children and eight grandchildren, two of whom take lessons here at BSMA.
Emily Hoag joined the BSMA staff in June, 2016, but has been a part of the BSMA community as a parent of students since 2009. Her career in non-profit administration has focused on community organizing, volunteer management, campus ministry and event planning. An art enthusiast, she brings creativity alongside her strengths in attention to detail and organization. She previously served in a variety of roles including Project Manager and Festival Director for FireFish Arts in Lorain, Project Manager and Volunteer Coordinator for Cleveland World Festival in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, Development Associate for YWCA Greater Cleveland, and Newman Campus Minister for the Diocese of Cleveland. She received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Dayton, and took graduate courses at St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology. She has also taken Youth Work Practices and Family Engagement Strategies classes through CWRU Weatherhead School of Management’s Cuyahoga County Youth Work Institute. When not at the Broadway School, Emily is working on her own art skills, volunteering for her Old Brooklyn community or pretending to exercise.
Barbara Bachtell has been the Executive Director of Broadway School of Music & the Arts since 1997. Before coming to BSMA, she was Program Coordinator and Associate and Interim Director at the New Organization for the Visual Arts (NOVA). Key accomplishments with BSMA include an Americans for the Arts YouthARTS grant (one of ten nationally) to develop a training workshop for artists working with at-risk youth and programming partnerships with many non-arts organizations. She upgraded BSMA’s financial aid process and has brought to BSMA much needed operating and program support from government, foundation, and private funders. She is an Executive Committee member (and past President) of the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium, a member of Slavic Village Development’s EcoDistrict Planning Team and of the Kiwanis Club of South East Cleveland, and an alternate to the Cleveland City Planning Commission’s East Region Design Review Advisory Committee. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University (CT) and B.F.A. from The Cleveland Institute of Art, has worked in Ohio schools through the Ohio Arts Council, and is a practicing artist.
