Farayi Malek
Founder & Teaching Artist
Jazz & Contemporary Voice
Farayi Malek is a jazz and contemporary vocalist, composer, arranger and educator currently residing in Boston, MA. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory of Music in 2017 where she studied with vocalist and composer, Dominique Eade. She completed her Master’s degree in Contemporary Performance at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in 2018, under the tutelage of world-renowned pianist and composer, Danilo Perez. Her teachers at the Global Jazz Institute, and Berklee included Grammy Award winning artists, Terri Lyne Carrington, John Patitucci, Joe Lovano, Peter Eldridge of the New York Voices, and more.
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In January of 2018, Farayi was a Berklee Global Jazz Ambassador at the Panama Jazz Festival where she was a performer and instructor of workshops. In May 2018, she was invited to perform in Novosibirsk, Russia with Berklee’s New Spirit Quintet under the direction of the Dean of the Performance Division at Berklee, Ron Savage. In January 2019, Farayi returned to the Panama Jazz Festival as vocalist of Danilo Perez’s Global Messengers, with whom she now tours worldwide. She completed her Post-Master’s Fellowship at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in June of 2019 and, shortly thereafter, was invited to perform with the Ron Savage Trio at the Mindel Summer Jazz Festival in Sao Vicente, Cape Verde.
In addition to her performance ventures, Farayi Malek is a passionate music educator.
Daniel Cho
Teaching Artist
Classical Violin & Conducting
Daniel Cho is a Korean-American conductor and violinist from San Francisco, California. He began his journey as a conductor at the age of 16, when he was selected to be the Assistant Conductor of the Napa Valley Youth Symphony, in which he also served as concertmaster. Daniel continued his music education with a Bachelors Degree in Violin Performance at New England Conservatory and upon its completion in 2016, he began his Masters Degree in Conducting at the same institution in 2017. In 2018, Daniel was selected as a conducting fellow by the Vienna Summer Music Festival, studying with Maestros Christian Schulz, Wolfgang Scheidt, and Simeon Pironkoff and was chosen for an engagement with Ensemble PHACE, a Vienna-based contemporary ensemble. During the same year, he attended the International Conducting Institute Czech Republic Workshop in Krom, Czech Republic, studying with Maestros Tomas Netopil, Neil Varon, and Tsung Yeh and led the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in a performance at the Archbishops Palace. Daniel has a particular passion for education and currently works with students and student ensembles throughout the Boston area. Beginning in the fall of 2019, Daniel will serve as Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players in Eugene, Oregon. He will also continue studies in Orchestral Conducting as a Graduate Employee at University of Oregon School of Music and Dance under the tutelage of Dr. David Jacobs.
Caio Afiune
Teaching Artist
Jazz & Contemporary Guitar
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Caio did his undergrad at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, where he was the youngest student to ever enroll in the music program, at age 16.
After graduating, Caio moved to Boston in 2011 after receiving a scholarship to attend New England Conservatory, where he studied with several of his musical idols, including Jerry Bergonzi, Brad Shepik, Frank Carlberg, Jason Moran and Miguel Zenon. At NEC, Caio was part of the NEC Jazz Orchestra and shared the stage with jazz greats Dave Holland, Bob Moses, and Fred Hersch.
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Since moving to the United States, Caio has been performing extensively as a leader and a sideman not only in Boston, but also in New York, Vermont, Washington D.C, and Chicago, as well as Brazil and Australia.
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In 2014, after multiple performances and workshops at the Panama Jazz Festival, Caio was selected to be part of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program, directed by Jason Moran. That same year Caio recorded his self-titled debut album, featuring exclusively original compositions. “Prebenda”, the opening track was awarded an ASCAP Young Composer Award, and “Dido”, the closing track, was an official finalist in the 2015 Hollywood songwriting competition and won the 2016 Downbeat Award for best composition.
Caio has played with Jerry Bergonzi, Luciana Souza, Jaques and Paula Morelenbaum, Phil Grenadier, Bertram Lehman, among many others, and is currently finishing his doctoral degree in jazz performance at New England Conservatory.
Ryan Sands
Teaching Artist
Jazz & Contemporary Drums
Hailing from Orange, CT, Ryan Sands is a passionate, energetic drummer on the rise. Ryan’s musical journey started at the age of 4 with Jesse Hameen II at Neighborhood Music School. Through Hameen’s 14 years of mentorship Ryan managed to go All State, summer Jazz intensives in Amherst, Massachusetts and attended both Educational Center of The Arts during the 2009-2010 school year and Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division from 2010-2012. Ryan attended New England Conservatory and graduated with BA in Jazz Performance. For graduate school Ryan attended Manhattan School of Music and graduated with a Master’s in Jazz Arts and academic honors.
As a performer Ryan has performed domestically and internationally in Boston, New Haven, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Prague, London, Shanghai, and Italy.
As an educator, Ryan has worked as a private drum instructor for Neighborhood Music School and served as an Assistant Teacher, clinician and combo coach for Neighborhood Music School’s Summer Jazz Camp since 2011. Ryan worked as an Assistant Teacher at New England Conservatory’s Jazz Lab. Recently Ryan taught at a local music school in Shanghai for 8 months.
Currently, Ryan moved back to the US and is now working on his debut album, On The Edge of Tomorrow, which is to be released in 2021.
Alyssa Wang
Teaching Artist
Classical Violin & Conducting
Alyssa Wang is a passionate and versatile violinist, conductor, and composer. She is the violinist of Hub New Music, a Boston-based mixed-quartet that performs 21st century music, as well as the co-founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor of the Boston Festival Orchestra. Recently, she was commissioned by the Palo Alto Philharmonic to compose a duet for violin and cello which premiered in 2021. In 2016, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Carnegie Mellon University under the tutelage of Andrés Cárdenes. She was the winner of the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Concerto Competition and the Silbermann Chamber Music Competition, and is the recipient of the Pittsburgh Female College Association Prize, the Carnegie Mellon Women’s Award, the Senior Leadership Award, and the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award. During her senior year at Carnegie Mellon she helped to run the Heritage Scholarship Campaign, which raised over $180,000 to start a substantial undergraduate merit scholarship for future School of Music students. Alyssa is also an Andrew Carnegie Scholar. Alyssa completed two Master’s Degrees in violin performance and conducting at the New England Conservatory. She has performed with numerous Boston ensembles such as A Far Cry, Boston Chamber Music Society, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. During the summers she has acted as assistant conductor for the Colorado College Summer Music Festival with Scott Yoo and the New Hampshire Music Festival with Paul Polivnick. For more information please visit alyssa-wang.com.
Amanda Levy
Teaching Artist
Classical Voice & Musical Theatre
Soprano Amanda Levy, a native of Long Island, New York, currently resides in Houston where she frequently performs in operas, concerts, and recitals. In 2020, Ms. Levy was awarded an Encouragement Award for the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions in Houston. Last year, Amanda was a Studio Artist at Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she performed as Ortlinde in Jonathan Dove’s English adaptation of Die Walküre. For the 2018-2019 season, Ms. Levy was the inaugural Emerging Artist at Opera in the Heights, where she participated in mainstage productions (most notably as Kate Pinkerton in a Japanese-English translation of Madama Butterfly), children’s performances of Jack and the Beanstalk and Pinocchio, and educational outreach presentations. Notable roles include: Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Suzel (L’amico Fritz), La Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Princess Ninetta (The Love for Three Oranges), and Mrs. Gleaton (Susannah). In addition to operatic repertoire, she has performed as the soprano soloist in works such as Mass of the Children, Requiem for the Living, Eternal Light, The Messiah, and Ceremony of Carols. She currently performs at the Houston Grand Opera as a chorister. Amanda holds her Masters of Music from the University of Houston and her Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory.
