Our teachers come from all sorts of backgrounds but are united by a common passion: Sharing the joy of music with children and their families!
All of our teachers have successfully completed the live Music Together® Teacher Training, which is built on early childhood and music development research. We keep our skills fresh through workshops every semester and advanced trainings offered by Music Together Worldwide.
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Sarah Orfe, Director
Sarah has a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and Music Together Certs, Levels One and Two. Having been a Music Together Mom, Sarah knows firsthand that the program offers families the highest quality musical experiences while providing an amazing foundation for future learning in all areas of development. She is the proud mother of two amazing grown boys, Mason, and Hudson, who can be heard singing on the Drums, Bells, and all of the Rhythm Kids® Song Collections.
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Alicia McCarther
Alicia McCarther is a professional singer and church musician, with a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance and a Master of Music degree in church music from Baylor University. She has had the privilege of performing across the United States, Europe, and South America. She was a Music Together Mom who attended every single session for six years straight with her children Ian and Lily. Alicia loves sharing the joy of family singing!
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Christopher Kopits
Chris is a dedicated musician and arts administrator whose life has been shaped by a deep love of choral music. He began his journey with the American Boychoir School and The Princeton Boychoir. He went on to earn his BA in Music from St. Olaf College, where he sang with the renowned St. Olaf Choir and deepened his love for choral singing. Today, Chris serves as Choir Coordinator and Music Librarian at Westrick Music Academy and is the founder of The Albemarle Singers. A passionate advocate for music education, he believes strongly in the Kodály method and is excited to share the joy of music-making as a Music Together teacher.
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Colleen Corte
Colleen Corte is a graduate of Indiana University’s School of Music, Bloomington, IN. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Bachelor of Science in Music with an Outside Field in Psychology. As a student, Colleen was a member of the Singing Hoosiers Chorus and had the opportunity to be a soloist with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. After graduation Colleen spent ten years teaching in a private preschool and spent her off hours teaching Music Together classes. She was the Children’s Choir Director at Saint Helen’s Church in Westfield, NJ for five years. She was the proud owner of her own studio for three years where she taught music classes to children and families. She also gave private piano and voice lessons to students of all ages. For the last ten years Colleen has been home raising her two daughters. She is so excited to once again be making music with the Music Together family!
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Jillian Wagner
Jillian has a B.A. in Music from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. She has sung with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and Lincoln Trio. She has performed in both the New Jersey and New York Renaissance Faires singing, acting, and telling silly jokes. Music Together has been a such a great bonding experience with her son, Simon, and she is excited to share that with others as a teacher!
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Ellen Acuna
Ellen is a Certification Level II Music Together Teacher. She has sung in choruses, choirs, bands, and Fred Waring Music Workshops and plays the auto-harp and piano. In addition to teaching for the Music Together Princeton Lab School in Princeton and Hamilton, she teaches Music Together in Trenton preschools as part of the Trenton Community Music School's Music for the Very Young program. Ellen is also an In-School Program Mentor for the In-School Services Department at Music Together Headquarters. She has a B.A. in Speech Communications from West Chester University, and has worked with special-needs children for Philadelphia's National Adoption Center.
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Christopher & Sarah
This Fall, newcomer Christopher Kopits & Director Sarah will be teaching classes together! Please see their individual bio's for more info on each of them.
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Mary Ellen Assue
Mary Ellen Assue is a singer, pianist, and teacher with an M.A. in Voice Performance from Florida International University, an M.A. in English Literature, and minor in Spanish Language, from the University of Miami. She teaches students at the Music Together Princeton Lab School and in her private voice and piano studio. She performs internationally in a variety of styles, including classical, opera, music theater, jazz, and pop. You will hear Mary Ellen’s singing and her arrangements on a number of our collections as well as our Rhythm Kids® music. She is the voice of “Mommy” for the Music Together Con Español recordings and also coaches our child singers.
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Norah Wasden
Norah is the early childhood music teacher at Princeton Montessori School, using the Music Together curriculum for their infant, toddler, and primary programs. She has loved working with Music Together since 2014. Norah holds an M.A. in Teaching from Georgetown University, and loves the creative expression and connection within the music classroom. She is an active choral singer and soloist, performing with Princeton Pro Musica. She also loves the piano and ukulele. Most importantly, as a mother, Norah loves singing, dancing, and keeping up with her three amazing boys.
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Stephanie Overton-Hall
Stephanie is a Certification Level I Music Together teacher with a passion for sharing the joy of making music. She has spent her life so far in dedication to both singing and teaching. She holds a BMus from The College of New Jersey and is a NJ certified K-12 music teacher with 10 years of public and private school experience. She has sung professionally with the Philadelphia Singers, teaches private voice lessons in Pennington, NJ, conducts the North and Southampton Reformed Church Chancel Choir, and frequently works as a music director for various local musical theatre productions. Stephanie plays piano, flute, trombone and ukulele, and loves to make music of all kinds and throw dance parties at home with her husband and her children Cecilia and Thomas, who led her to find her true calling as a Music Together mom and teacher.
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Yuko Nestle
Yuko is a Music Together Certification Level I teacher with a lifelong love of singing and piano, and has been teaching Music Together classes at Princeton Lab School since 2012. She started as a Music Together mom in 2006, joining the program with her two daughters in Tokyo and later in Hopewell. She is thrilled to continue her Music Together experience as a teacher, where she can share the joy of music-making with children and their grownups. Born and raised in Japan, Yuko plays piano and guitar, and is bilingual in English and Japanese.
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