Meet the 2010 Team Advisors!!

Sabrina Tanbara

Director of Student Affairs

Candace Feldman

Concert Office

Andrew Warner

Career Services

Meet the 2010 Team!!

Chelsea Ainsworth, Co-Chair

4th Year - Dance

Allison Job, Co-Chair

1st Year Masters - Double Bass

Gillian Abbott

1st Year - Dance

J. Clint Allen

2nd Year - Drama

Frankie Alvarez

4th Year - Drama

Jeremy Beck

2nd Year Masters - Composition

Kris Bowers

4th Year - Jazz Piano

Yvonne Chen

2nd Year - Piano

Mike Cottone

2nd Year Masters - Jazz Trumpet

Evan Fein

1st Year DMA - Composition

Jeremie Harris

2nd Year - Drama

Julia Headley

1st Year - Dance

Danny Hernandez

1st Year - Drama

Melissa Jean

2nd Year Masters - Jazz Trombone

Kahyun Kim

2nd Year - Drama

Meredith Lustig

1st Year Masters - Voice

Mitch Lyon

2nd Year - Cello

LeBaron McClary

4th Year - Dance

Tim McDevitt

1st Year Masters - Voice

Haylee Nichele

3rd Year - Dance

David Norsworthy

1st Year - Dance

Ryan David O'Byrne

3rd Year - Drama

Breanna O'Mara

3rd Year - Dance

Samora Pinderhughes

1st Year - Jazz Piano

Robyn Quinnett

2nd Year - Violin

Adrian Rosas

3rd Year Masters - Voice

Rachelle Scott

2nd Year - Dance

Pippa Soo

2nd Year - Drama

Brendan Spieth

4th Year - Drama

Macy Sullivan

2nd Year - Dance

Jeff Sykes

3rd Year - Dance

Virginia Veale

2nd Year - Drama

Noah Witke

1st Year - Drama

One last group hug

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?"
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in all of us, in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
from "Return to Love" by Marianne Williamson

Day #7 and departure: the last days in retrospect

Friday was our last full day in New Orleans. The team had such a great experience with Habitat for Humanity that we decided to go back to the site Friday morning and surprise the other volunteers with beignets from Cafe DuMonde. It was also one last chance to say good-bye to those we didn't get to say farewell to.

I remain amazed as to how much we got done in 3 days. The entire first floor of a house was framed out and "hurricane proofed." The students really inspired me on this build. Their bodies are their instruments and tools for their craft and they just went out there and were determined to do as much as they could to get these homes built. They demonstrated the same focus and drive on the work site and they do in the practice room, in the studio or on the stage. Who says art has no place on a construction site?

After leaving the Habitat site, the team headed to the YMCA. One of my two favorite moments was seeing the team perform a song written by one of the kids from the afterschool program. Watching them perform with this child was simply great.

The next performance was at the First St. United Methodist Church where the group performed outdoors on a concrete patio for church members, the volunteers of United Saints First St. and anyone who felt like stopping on the street to watch. The kids from congregation also performed with the team.

The last performance was out in Violet, LA at Camp Hope, the housing site for Habitat for Humanity volunteers. The site supervisor was so happy that the team would travel 35 minutes to perform for them.

This was the team's final perfomance of "Imagine" by John Lennon. What a week it was. As I type this, my right hand and shoulder are still sore from hammering nails but I feel rejuvenated. Once again, I saw the possibilities of change and improvement and witnessed the healing spirit of art and how art can speak out and ignite a spark within an individual.
x/o, Sabrina

New Orleans + 1: After

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans,

and miss it each night and day?
I know I'm not wrong, 'cause the feeling's getting stronger
the longer I stay away.

I woke up in New York this morning--okay, okay, at around 2:30 this afternoon--not quite knowing how I felt. On one hand, I had slept on a real mattress in my own bed. When I had to pee, I didn't have to wait on line for the bathroom for twenty minutes and barter with people trying to shower. I ate what I wanted when I wanted to. I watched some of the TV shows I'd missed during the week. I took a shower that lasted longer than four minutes, and took my sweet time shaving. I put on clean clothes.

And then I felt alone, a vague sense of something lost, the hard thud of Life As Usual falling back into place. That's the on-the-other-hand.

I keep trying to hold on to as many moments as I can before my memory blurs them at the edges:

little girls singing their songs for me and asking for mine,

boys who fancied themselves tough, hard-edged men laughing and working together while
learning Steve Reich's Clapping Music,

James tapping the potential of a bunch of young jazzers at NOCCA and igniting their sense of possibility,

a bunch of dancers, actors, and musicians--aren't we supposed to be delicate?--raising FOUR HOUSES AT ONCE and wailing the holy hell out of thousands of nails,

the INCREDIBLE performances we witnessed, from jazz on Bourbon Street to crunk brass on Magazine Street to the First Street Methodist Church Choir to original songs and dances by some of the kids we taught,

the cheers and smiles and tears of joy people gave us when we performed for them--hell, the cheers, smiles, and tears of joy we gave each other when we performed.

And oh, my god, those performances. All free, some outdoors, two in cafeterias, one in a gymnasium, one in our house's living room, all for small groups of people, all thrown together either the night before or in the vans on the way, and every single one more moving and more rewarding than the most prestigious performances in the fanciest venues I've been a part of or seen. I am in awe of every single member of our team.

If those shows are what we can do in twenty minutes, maybe art really can save the world.

Lots of love and hope,
Jeremy Beck

* * *

One of our houses the day we arrived--just a foundation and a floor. We stopped work for a few minutes to raise the first wall, helped by the woman whose house this will be. By the time we left, the entire first floor was complete.

Bree (a dancer), Christina (an actor), and I (a musician) harness the power of all three Juilliard divisions to sheath the second floor of a house-in-progress.


Team leader Chelsea dances for the Habitat crew.


Kris, Mike, James, and Melissa play some jazz.


Jamal and Bree dance a duet.


Returning team member Christina reads Maya Angelou's "I Rise"


Jeff dances as part of our Habitat lunchtime show.


Returning team member Alejandro reads an original slam poem about art and action.

Lekeisha (top) and Shawnell (bottom), the two young composers in my group. I am in awe of their openness, honesty, and kindness.