Leadership
Music Director & Executive Director
Nicole Becker
As a pianist, soprano, and conductor, Nicole Becker has performed in concerts and recitals throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan. Dr. Becker received an undergraduate degree in Biology from Yale University, a Masters of Music in Piano from Indiana University and a Doctorate of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also studied piano and solfege at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Dr. Becker is the Music Director of the Teachers College Choir and teaches applied piano and conducting in the Program in Music and Music Education at Teachers College. Dr. Becker has spoken internationally about student-centered approaches in ensemble settings, calling for a reconceptualization of children’s choirs so that they might become sites dedicated to promoting growth and flourishing for young people. Her current research examines approaches to developing racial literacy in music education.
Associate Directors / Graduate Interns
Collin Edouard
Collin Edouard is a classical vocalist who is currently pursuing a Masters in Music and Music Education at Columbia University Teachers College. He recently returned from a year spent singing and conducting in Galicia, Spain. Born in Brownsville, New York, Mr. Edouard holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (with honors) from The City College of New York, where he founded the a capella group Celestial Sound. In recognition of his academic achievements, Mr. Edouard was inducted into the Gamma Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. Active as a choral musician in New York City, Mr. Edouard currently performs with Canticum Novum Singers. His goals as a music educator are to help students sing in the genres they enjoy while learning vocal technique to protect their voices. He strives to demonstrate to children that music is for everyone and that they can all succeed.
Isabella Leão Gaviglia
Isabella Leão Gaviglia is a music educator currently pursuing a Master of Arts with Professional Certification in Music and Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education in 2012 from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, under the mentorship of Dr. Carlos Abril and Dr. Susan Williams. While in Miami, Isabella worked with Seraphic Fire’s Miami Choral Academy, Miami Children’s Chorus, Guitars Over Guns, and taught middle school band, orchestra, chorus, and guitar in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Currently, Isabella is studying with vocal specialist and soprano, Dr. Jeanne Goffi-Fynn, and focusing on creating further access and equity in music education.
Alison Levosky
Alison Levosky is a first year Masters student in the Music and Music Education program at Teachers College, and she received a Bachelors Degree in Music and Psychology from Yale University in May 2017. She is a soprano and a choral condutor, and is particularly passionate about working with young people in a choral setting. She was a choral teaching artist through the Yale Music in Schools Initiative in public schools in New Haven, CT, and also started a weekly after school choral program at the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven. Alison currently directs the Riverdale Youth Chorus in the Bronx, for children in 4th-7th grade. She looks forward to an exciting year of making music with the Every Voice Choirs.
Deejay Robinson
Deejay Robinson is a doctoral student in Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Deejay's recent publications include the chapter “Black Keys on a White Piano: A Negro Narrative of Double-Consciousness in American Music Education” for the book Marginalized Voices in Music Education released October 2017 and a second-grade general music curriculum entitled A Labor of Love. Currently, Deejay is engaged in a large-scale research project that examines the ways in which Black and Latinx music teachers have dealt with and overcome issues of social/educational marginalization in Music and Music Education because of race. He has degrees in vocal performance from Millikin University (B.M.), Longy School of Music of Bard College (M.M.), and a (Ed.M.) in music education from Boston University.
Siwen Xi
Siwen is currently in the Ed.M program in Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University and received her Bachelor's degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She is a classically-trained vocalist and piano player and a specialist in eastern Asian traditional music. She is passionate about singing and would like to help people discover their own voice.
Voice Specialist
Jeanne Goffi-Fynn
Soprano Jeanne Goffi-Fynn is active both as a performer and teacher in the New York City area. Dr. Goffi-Fynn received her Doctorate from Columbia University, Teachers College where she is a Lecturer and Director of the Doctoral Cohort Program in the Program of Music and Music Education. She continues working in the area of Vocology, specifically in the retraining of singers, after completing internships at the Grabscheid Voice Center and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital with Dr. Anat Keidar, Ph.D. She has presented workshops and pedagogical presentations with NATS, The Voice Foundation, the New York Singing Teachers Association, CMS (College Music Society), NYSSMA (New York State Schools of Music) and ISME (International Society for Music Education). She is a member of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing and serves as a participant at roundtables of the National Opera Association.
Songwriting and Choreography
Carlton Terrence Taylor
A Harlem native, performer and educator, Carlton Terrence Taylor graduated from Professional Performing Arts School, where he studied vocal music. He continued on to study Music Education at the University of Albany, and to the American Musical & Dramatic Academy for Musical Theater. In 2008 he was a featured soloist at the 80th Annual Academy Awards, and in 2012 he was recognized at Town Hall as one of Broadway’s Rising Stars. He has participated in ensembles including: The Young Peoples Chorus of New York City; Songs of Solomon Inspiration Ensemble; Park Avenue Christian Church; TheatreWorks USA; Broadway By the Year; BAMSS Theatre Works; Classical Theatre of Harlem; and New Heritage Theatre Group. As an educator, Carlton works with Healing Arts Initiative and Impact Repertory Theater.