Diana Galeano
assistant director
Diana Galeano is a choral director from Lake Worth, Florida. A graduate of Florida State University, Diana studied music education with an emphasis in secondary choral education. While at FSU, she sang with ICCA Southern Champions, the AcaBelles. Since graduating, she has worked as a high school chorus teacher and as a director at FSU's Summer Music Camps. She has started several high school a cappella groups and has participated in the Festival Singers of Florida. Diana now lives in Boston, where she directs and arranges for collegiate and high school a cappella groups and sings with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
Hannah Juliano
music director, counselor
Hannah is an acclaimed vocalist, arranger, and music director from Tustin, CA. While studying Contemporary Writing and Production at Berklee College of Music, she sang with and directed co-ed group Pitch Slapped, ICCA champions and The Sing-Off Season 2 contestants. Since graduation, she has been arranging, performing and teaching workshops all over the world with all-female powerhouse groups Delilah (from The Sing-Off Season 3) and Musae. Her vocal coaching clients include rising jazz starlet Nikki Yanofsky and MTV's MADE. She currently lives in New York City, performing, arranging, and working for an entertainment company and record label.
Shams Ahmed
music director, counselor
Shams is a masterful arranger, music director, and educator from Cherry Hill, NJ. He is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, where he directed SoJamX and 2013 ICCA Champions, The Nor'easters, while double majoring in Finance and Mandarin. During his tenure, the group picked up several compilation placements and CARA awards, and Shams earned more arranging awards than any other collegiate arranger. Additionally, Shams delved into the world of musical theater, music directing community productions of RENT, A Tale of Two Cities, and Spring Awakening. He is currently living in Boston, arranging music for The Vocal Company and coaching local a cappella groups.
Jared Jenkins
music director, counselor
Hailing from the Washington DC Metropolitan area, Jared Jenkins is a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music. Jared wears many hats as a singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, dancer, choreographer, pianist, and director. While studying Music Business/Management at Berklee, he was able to most notably use those talents as both a member of “Pitch Slapped” (2014 ICCA Champions) and co-founder of the JEvie Pop Series, a student-run production group dedicated to teaching students the various aspects of putting together live shows for pop music icons. Jared currently works as a freelance vocalist/arranger/piano teacher in the DC area, all the while creating new projects that he can’t wait to share with the world!
Erin Bentlage
music director, counselor
Erin Bentlage is a singer, songwriter, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist from Burlington, Vermont. She co-founded and directed her high school’s first a cappella group and went on to join the Boston University Treblemakers. She soon transferred to Berklee College of Music where she earned her degree in Contemporary Writing and Production. Erin has been a member of the Singing Tribe, an improvisation-oriented world a cappella group created by Bobby McFerrin. She is a member of jazz group Introflection, and has performed throughout the country at various festivals as a featured artist. Erin currently works as a private voice/piano instructor and freelance arranger/composer in Boston.
VJ Rosales
music director, counselor
VJ Rosales is a singer, songwriter, arranger, and music director from Los Angeles. Hailing from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music (CSU Long Beach) with a B.M. in Jazz Studies, VJ is a versatile musician who is equally adept in jazz, pop, and R&B. During his college career, he sang in the top vocal jazz ensemble “Pacific Standard Time” at CSU Long Beach, performing at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival. Presently, he works as a voice teacher at the Silverlake Conservatory, founded by members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In April 2013, he co-created The Filharmonic and competed on NBC's The Sing Off, making it to the semi-finals. With The Filharmonic's success on national television, he continues to work with them, with plans to record and tour.
Tracy Robertson
music director, counselor
Singer, instrumentalist, director and arranger Tracy Robertson maintains a life-long passion for music and vocal harmony. Upon transferring from SUNY Fredonia’s classical vocal and compositional training to Berklee College of Music, he joined the award-winning a cappella group “Pitch Slapped” (SoJam and ICCA Champions) and became their musical director. He has worked with names such as Rhiannon Watson, Joey Blake, and Bobby McFerrin, and performed with renowned musicians of Quito, Ecuador where he also led a vocal improvisation workshop at UDLA. He has performed throughout the US, recently at the 2014 JEN Conference in Dallas with Berklee’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble.
Jo Vinson
counselor, instructor
Jo was born in Austin, TX, studied Art History and Religion at The University of Oregon, and now lives in upstate New York. At the UofO she joined the renowned women's group Divisi, winning several awards at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, including Best Arrangement and Best Bass. In winter of 2010 she began singing bass for her first professional women's group, Musae, and the next summer joined Delilah for season 3 of The Sing Off, as well as Element for season 4. Since moving to New York in 2012, Jo now tours the world with her three women's groups as well as with an originally all male group called Overboard. She also coaches and arranges for groups across the country.
Mario Jose
counselor, instructor
Bay Area native Mario Jose is a seasoned vocalist and true entertainer. Mario attended Berklee College of Music and was a part of the award-winning group Pitch Slapped. After graduating, Mario was featured on several TV shows including NBC's The Sing-Off, ABC's Duets, and most recently on American Idol, where he was one of the Top 40 male vocalists on season 12. Mario has had the privilege to share the stage with music icons including John Legend, Michael McDonald, Philip Bailey (of Earth, Wind & Fire), Paula Cole, Lalah Hathaway, Ben E. King and many more! Now based in Los Angeles, CA, Mario is consistently singing on stage and in the studio, and he also works on the Music Team at MTV!
India Carney
music director, counselor
India Carney is a singer, songwriter, actress and arranger whose talents embrace a wide range of musical genres from opera to musical theater to pop. A third-year Voice Performance major and Music Industry minor at UCLA, India performs for Opera UCLA and has been a featured artist at the JazzReggae Festival and Spring Sing. She is the current music director of the award-winning UCLA ScatterTones and has been awarded “Outstanding Soloist” at multiple competitions. India is a native of Brooklyn, NY, and a graduate of LaGuardia Arts (aka the “Fame” school) and The Manhattan School of Music Precollege.
Marisa Esposito
counselor, instructor
Marisa is a seasoned vocalist living in Los Angeles who has over 15 years of experience in choirs, musical theatre and a cappella. She studied Psychology and Musical Theater at USC, and also sang with and was president of the award winning a cappella group, Reverse Osmosis. Marisa also worked at acclaimed performing arts camp Arts Unlimited for 5 consecutive summers, working as a counselor, coordinator, teacher, choreographer and musical director. After graduating, Marisa helped found award-winning a cappella sextet Simply Put, who shared the stage with Sing Off champions Nota and Committed. Marisa has been lending her voice to various recording projects, and is currently working on writing an original EP to be released later this year.
Selame Scarlett
counselor, instructor
Selame Scarlett hails from Okemos, Michigan. As an undergraduate at Michigan State University, she was a part of Capital Green A Cappella, where she served as beatboxer, music director, and arranger. Currently, she is an ICHSA producer, Varsity Vocals judge, CASA ambassador, clinician, and beatboxer for all-female sextet Lady Jaye. Selame has led beatboxing workshops and masterclasses, both on her own and with her fellow beatboxing colleagues. Medicine is an equally important part of her life, and she is currently pursuing her doctorate in osteopathic medicine at Michigan State University.
Tory Stolper
counselor, photographer
Tory is a singer, actor and photographer hailing from Boston, MA. She is a graduate of the USC School of Dramatic Arts, where she earned her BFA in Acting, and was a proud member of the acclaimed SoCal VoCals. During her time with the VoCals, Tory served as President and helped lead the group to two ICCA titles. As an actor, Tory has won the Jack Nicholson Award and the LA Stage Scene Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. As a photographer, she has had the honor of photographing artists such as the legendary Stevie Wonder, Tegan and Sara, and Pentatonix. Her passion is for capturing the power and beauty of young artists through still and video photography.
Taylor DiBernardo
counselor, administrative
Taylor is an enthusiastic singer and aspiring music educator from Mission Viejo, CA. After graduating from UCLA with her bachelor's degree in English and completing her teaching credential, Taylor decided to pursue a career in music education and is currently working toward her masters in education at UCLA. This is her fourth year singing with the award winning co-ed a cappella group, the ScatterTones. With the group, Taylor has performed at prestigious venues all over the country including the White House, the Hollywood Bowl, and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas backing up Taylor Swift. She is currently interning as a music teacher with Education Through Music - Los Angeles, a non-profit that serves inner-city schools in need of quality music programs.
Jillian Hecht
intern
Jillian is a Los Angeles native who earned her start in the a cappella world as a member of Unstrumental, Calabasas High School’s co-ed group. Jillian’s three year participation in the group afforded her a level of exposure and diverse experiences not often available to young a cappella performers. Among the unique experiences with Unstrumental, Jillian was able to perform as a featured soloist in the 2012 and 2013 Los Angeles A Cappella Festival’s scholastic competitions, helping to earn Unstrumental their award-winning name. Currently, Jillian is a student at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, pursuing a B.M. in Jazz Vocal Performance with a minor in Music Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology.
Trist Curless
sound engineer, instructor
Trist Ethan Curless is a member and co-founder of the award winning pop-jazz group, m-pact. Trist has written, arranged, and produced songs for the group, as well as other ensembles. Prior to m-pact, Trist majored in Music Education at the University of Northern Colorado. When not singing with m-pact, he works as a live audio engineer for Pentatonix, Straight No Chaser, and occasionally Take 6, among other vocal groups and bands. Trist makes time to teach private voice, coach groups, and participate as a clinician and adjudicator in clinics and festivals worldwide. Trist is having the time of his life, making music in recent years with m-pact, Bobby Mc Ferrin, New York Voices, Vox Audio, VoicePlay, Straight No Chaser, Take 6, and The Manhattan Transfer. Trist's hometown is Cheyenne, WY, but currently lives in Glendale, CA.
FifGen Films - video production
Ben Haist - logo design
Ryan Parma - additional video production
Marty Schapiro - web development
