Dr. Andrew Bedford, MD, is a Gastroenterology specialist practicing in Stratford, CT with 30 years of experience. Andrew is a founding member of Music Haven.

Karen is a retired attorney and an experienced church musician.  Her legal practice focused on estate planning, non-profit organizations, employee benefits and other tax matters. She has served several congregations as a music director, organist, pianist and choir director.  Over the years Karen also served on several non-profit boards, including CAPA Connecticut (which manages the historic Shubert Theater in New Haven) and the New Haven Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.  In retirement she is enjoying having more time to practice playing keyboard instruments and engage in community service.  

Anna is a lawyer specializing in contract and commercial law; she is also a verified music junkie -- as a cellist, pianist and singer in various chamber and other groups and a concertgoer of music of all kinds. She has been a Board member of Music Haven since 2012 and previously served on the boards of Creative Arts Workshop, Volunteers Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. Anna also has experience working in arts administration, through her time at The Celebrity Series of Boston. She is an avid trail runner and hiker and a fan of anything related to the woods, the mountains and the water; Anna currently serves on North Haven’s Inlands and Wetlands Commission.

Dwayne, Branch Manager and Assistant Vice President at KeyBank, has 23 years of banking experience, previously serving as a financial specialist, loan officer, and people manager during his career. At KeyBank, Dwayne manages a high-profile office in downtown New Haven. Mr. Hicks currently serves as Chief Financial Officer for Tomorrow's Man a nonprofit focusing on developing today's young teenage boys into tomorrow's leaders.  Mr. Hicks has also served as Vice-Chair of the board for Continuum of Care and Continuum Home Health Inc of New Haven. Dwayne is President of the KeyBank African Heritage business impact networking group for Connecticut and Massachusetts. A group focused on coaching and developing employees of African American descent. Mr. Hicks specializes in building and maintaining relationships between banks and business institutions in New Haven County. He received his business management degree, with a concentration in marketing from Springfield College. Dwayne has also graduated from the Connecticut and National Schools of Banking.

CHAIR

Marc practices Internal Medicine in the North Haven/Hamden area and is a devoted amateur violist. He is a proud founding board member of Music Haven. Marc is principal violist of the Yale Medical Symphony, a member of the New Haven Chamber Orchestra, and a frequent participant in chamber music gatherings and workshops near and far. He and Margaret have lived in Hamden since 1983 and share interests in music, swimming, travel, and photography.

Wendy is a speech pathologist who works with children and adolescents, helping them to overcome their communication disabilities. In her nonworking life she is a storyteller and participates with Ubuntu Storytellers, a quilter, and a lapsed, trying-to-recover cello learner, inspired by the Music Haven students. She is a lover of the arts, and believes in making them accessible to all, as a means of building community.

Ian’s family joined the Music Haven community in 2007, when Isabel took up the cello at John C Daniels school. A career educator, Ian builds enterprise-level tech training and consults on AI adoption. He writes and plays with local band The Hypervigilantes, keeps backyard hens, and hopes you’ll consider going to one more Music Haven event than you would have before you read this.

Noel Mitchell is a 2017 graduate of Music Haven and currently serves as Legacy Officer at The Our Fund Foundation in South Florida, where he works with donors to develop charitable legacies and support long-term philanthropic impact.

Noel joined Music Haven in its second year, first studying with Music Haven founder and original Haven String Quartet member Tina Hadari, and later with violinist Gregory Tompkins. Over the course of nearly a decade at Music Haven, he formed relationships and friendships that continue to shape him today.

A graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he studied Political Science, Noel has built his career in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. As a member of Music Haven’s Board of Directors, he is proud to give back to and help strengthen the organization that played such an important role in his own life.

Mary has been a staunch supporter of Music Haven since her first stint on the Board of Directors in 2014-2016. She has worked in the field of banking/payments for over 20 years; and currently educates financial services professionals on payments risk and compliance and performs audits and risk assessments for banks and credit unions throughout New England. Mary holds a B.S. in Business Studies, an M.S. in Organizational Leadership, and a Graduate Certificate in Human Resources, all from Southern New Hampshire University. When she’s not working, Mary enjoys live music, sports, traveling, spin classes and weightlifting.

CO-CHAIR

Fatima Rojas came to New Haven from Mexico 18 years ago and her first job in the U.S. was cleaning at a high school, where she was paid only $4.10 and hour when the minimum wage was $7.10. She worked 15 hours a day but did not get paid overtime. She had to learn English quickly because she became involved in the immigrant rights movement in New Haven, leading to a job as a community organizer with Connecticut Center for a New Economy (CCNE), and later a union organizer with UNITE HERE Local 217. Fatima later worked as a Job Coach at New Haven Works before landing at her current job (one she hopes to keep until she retires!) as a Health Promoter with UNITE HERE. Fatima’s daughters, Jade and Ambar, enrolled in Music Haven in 2017 and 2018 and their experience at Music Haven has, in Fatima’s words, “been transformative music-wise but have been nurtured with ‘compañerismo’ - fellowship, total trust not only for my daughters but for all the students, with love. Music Haven does justice for kids like mine that otherwise will not be able to play violin and cello!”

After teaching at Wellesley College in Wellesley MA, Dr. Sipple served as head of independent schools in Oregon, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  He was an undergraduate at Yale and did graduate work at Harvard and U.C., Berkeley.  While in Wellesley, he and his wife Margaret started the Wellesley A Better Chance program, the first of its kind for girls who attended Wellesley High School and went on to college.  In the early 2000’s, Peter directed the development program at Yale Divinity School.  Upon leaving school administration, Peter, an ordained Episcopal minister, served parishes in PA and NY.  He has played clarinet and recorder for many years and is devoted to choral music, having directed small choral groups and sung in larger ensembles at Yale and elsewhere.

Amanda Watts (he/they) is an artist, activist, and neuroscientist from Atlanta, Georgia who merges their passions by researching and innovating at the intersection of music and medicine to facilitate healing and wellness. Amanda earned a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience from Duke University and currently serves as Lab Manager and Research Assistant in the lab of AZA Stephen Allsop, MD, Ph.D. at Yale and Howard Universities, where they study the healing properties of music, meditation, community, and psychedelics, particularly in folks of African descent.

Amanda produces, engineers, performs, and writes music and poetry under the moniker Gourmet Dash. With eight years of experience playing percussion and piano, they engage with their Kongo roots through congas and other percussive instruments. Born and raised in Atlanta, GA, they produce sonic collages mainly through sampling genres that comprise their musical foundation and inspirations including gospel, hip hop, jazz, R&B, soul, rock, and classical. Amanda has aspirations to pursue an MD-PhD to further their work in implementing innovative and multi-modal music-based therapeutics. Adjacent to academia and music, they advocate for housing justice as a leader in the Connecticut Tenant Union.

TREASURER

Joining the Music Haven Board in 2021, Tyler is a Certified Public Accountant in the Southington area. He is a major music enthusiast. Tyler is a self-taught guitarist, playing for almost 20 years, and is an avid concertgoer, particularly of the hard rock genre, but loves all music. Originally from Hamden, Tyler obtained both his B.S. in Accounting with a minor in finance and his MBA from Quinnipiac University. He holds a 4th degree Master Black Belt in Cheezic Tang Soo Do, enjoys spending time with family and friends, and loves working out.