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Sharon taught music at PS 11 in Chelsea for 25 years. Prior to that, she taught piano privately with students ages 4 to adult. She played, toured, and recorded with several rock bands. Sharon has authored 2 music books called Rock Spell-A-Story (Vol. I & II).

Sharon is the former Chair of The NYC Music Teachers Association/UFT Committee and former chair of the Music Educators’ Association of NYC (MEANYC) Workshop and Professional Development Committee.

Sharon is currently teaching at her synagogue in their Children's Program and is on their Welcoming, Hospitality, Board elections, Connecting, Democracy in Action, Ending Mass Incarceration, Engagement, Limmud B’Shabbat, Mishpacha, Vaccine Angels, and Chesed Committees.

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Penny Prince is a professor of music at Lehman College, City University of New York. Her main work is the training of new and future music educators, and she is always happy to speak with prospective undergrads or graduate students. Dr. Prince is also a prolific musical theatre composer. In 2022, she was awarded The American Prize in Musical Theatre for her original CINDERELLA '21. Her email is penny.prince@lehman.cuny.edu

Passionate about the benefits of music education in the lives of children, Michael Salzman has been active in professional associations throughout his career. He is a Past President of NYSSMA, the New York State School Music Association, having served as President of this association of more than 5000 members in 2018-2019. The theme of his presidency was “Making the Magic of Music Education Accessible to All” and during his term he advocated throughout the state of New York for the right of every child to have access to a high quality Music Education. This work led to him becoming a MEANYC Honoree in 2023.

Salzman retired from the Syosset Central School District in 2022, having served as the Coordinator of Performing Arts for eighteen years. He has taught music at every grade level from Pre-K through college and has served on the music faculty of Hofstra University since 1993. At Hofstra he teaches tuba and euphonium, directs the Brass Ensemble and Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble, and teaches in the Music Education Program.

Michael earned Music Performance degrees at Indiana University and the Mannes College of Music, and is currently pursuing his DMA at Stony Brook University. His principal teachers were Harvey Phillips, Sam Pilafian, Warren Deck and Bill Barber. He is well known and regarded in the New York City area as a tuba player. He is a former Principal Tuba player of the Long Island Philharmonic and a founding member of the Cosmopolitan Brass Quintet. He is also the Regional Coordinator of the TubaChristmas concerts held every year at Rockefeller Center. His first solo album, Salztuba was released in 2020 to critical acclaim. For more information, visit www.salztuba.com.

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Elise S. Sobol, Ed.D. music educator, first authored the text An Attitude and Approach for Teaching Music to Special Learners in 2001 helping to shape the global field of music teaching in special education. The text, now translated into numerous languages, also has had two updates, 2008, 2nd edition and 2017, 3rd edition reflecting her PK-12+ experience and research in public and higher education.

Contributing author to numerous state and national publications, she continues to serve the educational field by developing new materials for teaching neurodiverse learners across the curriculum, as well as serving on the advisory boards of Music Educators Association of New York City, the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education in Boston and the Fundacion Muchila Creativo in Aruba. Stateside, she served as the New York State School Music Association Chair for Music for Special Learners (1993-2019) and is currently a member of the NYSSMA Belonging Equity Diversity and Representation (BEDR) Committee.

Her educational background includes an Associate in Arts (A.A.) from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Massachusetts; a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in liberal arts from the New School, New York; Master of Arts (M.A.) in music and music education from Teachers College, Columbia University, NY; and a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Instructional Leadership and Curriculum Development from St. John’s University, New York.

Listed on the National Honor Roll of Teachers, Dr. Sobol was selected as one of five finalists for the 2015 New York State Teacher of the Year, and was named in the same year, 2016 Outstanding Professor of the Year in Educational Update and MEANYC Honoree.

As a concert pianist, Dr. Sobol has appeared as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist within the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As a lecturer, along with other presentations, she has appeared at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and participated in prestigious conferences, including the panel for “Promoting inclusive and equitable access to public services” for the Global Conference on the SDG 16 (Sustainable Development Goals) co-hosted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the International Development Law Organization, and the Government of Italy, and for the 2022 Arts Education Partners Virtual Gathering, “Advancing Policy by Desiloing Arts Education and Disability Studies.”

A PK-12 music educator in general and special education for over thirty years, she has retired from her full time faculty position as Director of Music Education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. She continues to serve the field as Founder of the Continuing Education in Music (CEM) community outreach program at NYU, as an adjunct professor at LIU Post’s campus on the undergraduate and graduate music education faculty for the College of Arts and Design and on the doctoral faculty in dissertation advisement for the College of Education, Information, and Technology’s Transformational Leadership Program.

Her greatest joy is as mentor to current and aspiring music educators and delights in her role at MEANYC on the Advisory Board.

Brian J. Wagner-Yeung is the author of the book The Accessible Music Classroom for All. He is the Neurodiversity & Accessibility Chairperson for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMAⓇ). He received his BA and MSED in Music Education from CUNY Queens College and an advanced certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders from CUNY Brooklyn College. He currently teaches for NYC Public Schools, where he has taught general music, string orchestra, and musical theater at the elementary, middle, and high school levels - and in various classroom settings.

Brian is also an adjunct faculty member at CUNY Brooklyn College, teaching undergraduate and graduate coursework. As an independent educational consultant, he has presented workshops and published articles at the state, national, and international levels. His professional work focuses on accessibility while developing lifelong learning through music for all.