Myka Miller, Executive Director of Harmony Project in Los Angeles, is responsible for putting musical instruments into the hands of over 1,000 children. She is a musician, oboist, teacher, student, and agent for social change through music. Since joining Harmony Project (HP) as Executive Director in 2007, she has overseen the program and its budget quadruple in size from 250 to over 1,000 students. Under her direction, HP was named the 2009 Coming Up Taller award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and was named semi-finalist in 2008. Under her leadership, she launched new initiatives and nurtured partnerships with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Beyond the Bell – LAUSD, Los Angeles City College, P.S. Arts and many other community organizations. Myka is responsible for the development of the YOLA-EXPO youth orchestra, the HP hip hop orchestra, jazz band, and the contemporary music program as well as many of other projects.

Myka was raised in small town McKinney, Texas, where fortunately band programs and music education were strong. Myka received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the University of Texas at Austin and her Masters of Music from the University of Southern California. Myka spent three years in Mexico playing in orchestras such as the Jalisco Philharmonic, and she continues to perform locally in classical, jazz, salsa, world and popular music groups, including the daKAH hip hop orchestra. Don Heckman of the LA Times said, “Myka and ensemble guide flow of third stream music.”.

Myka is a recent graduate of the Wells Fargo New Executive Directors Institute, a year-long program conducted by the Executive Service Corps that provides high-level training in management, fund raising, board relations, and leadership. She was also privileged to be a participant in this year’s Community Arts Education Leadership Institute offered by the National Guild for Community Arts Education, for which she is also the Vice-Chair of the West Coast Chapter of the Guild.

Margaret Martin holds a doctorate in Public Health from UCLA in ‘Community Health Science’, and additional advanced degrees in Behavior Science, Health Education, and Population and Family Health. She Founded Harmony Project in 2001, which has provided instruments and tuition-free group and private music lessons to thousands of the most vulnerable children in Los Angeles as a means of positive youth development and social inclusion. Harmony Project currently maintains 7 full-time youth orchestras, and works to develop youth music ensembles throughout LA’s low-income neighborhoods. On November 4th, 2009, in a White House ceremony, Dr. Martin accepted the Coming Up Taller Award from First Lady Michele Obama, on behalf of Harmony Project. Administered by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in association with the National Endowment for the Arts, Coming Up Taller is the nation’s highest honor for an arts-based youth program. Harmony Project was the only California program to receive the award in 2009.

Dr. Margaret is working with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (through the LA Phil’s ‘Youth Orchestra Los Angeles’ initiative) and researchers from UCLA, RAND and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell (after-school) Branch to document the impact of music education and youth orchestra participation on disadvantaged youth. Dr. Margaret has worked in low-income communities as an educator and community organizer for more than 30 years. She is a passionate proponent of arts education and its capacity to transform the lives of children with few resources, along with the neighborhoods in which they live, and she works to seed music programs for at-risk youth in other communities. She is also a published author and illustrator, a produced playwright, composer and lyricist, and the mother of three grown children, all of whom happen to be artists.

Natalie Jackson, a Southern California native, was introduced to the Viola at a young age, and her love of music has always been strong. It was during time spent at the American Youth Symphony that Natalie came to know Myka and was subsequently introduced to Harmony Project. Natalie comes to the Harmony Project family with expertise in operations, accounting, planning, and extensive knowledge of both cash and accrual accounting systems. Natalie has been responsible for multi-fund budgets ranging from $5 to $35 million, and served as the Assistant Project Manager to Bravo Communities, where she worked in the planning, financing, marketing and design of the Barrington Community, a $33.5 million, single family community. Her direct responsibilities included cash flow management and title/escrow closings of all homes.

Ed is an active volunteer committed to children’s causes and community development through education. He has worked on annual fund campaigns for both the Wildwood School and the Windward School, has written grant proposals for Westwood Charter School, and has provided pro bono fundraising assistance to the Center for Lifelong Learners in Los Angeles.

Ed was graduated from UCLA, with a B.A. in Psychology, and has a J.D. from Loyola Law School. He maintains current membership in the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Greater Los Angeles (PPP-GLA), and the State Bar of California.

Ed is an avid musician who studied violin as a youth, toured Japan with the UCLA Men’s Glee Club, performed the national anthem a capella at Dodger Stadium, the Rose Bowl, and the Forum with the Letterguys, and now rocks his garage every Wednesday night with his buddies as guitarist for Man Cave Dwellers.

Sarah Wass is a flutist, teacher, administrator and entrepreneur. She earned her BM in flute performance from the Oberlin Conservatory, and spent the next year working for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as Executive Assistant. Sarah went on to study at the California Institute of the Arts, earning her MFA in music performance, and specializing in the performance of works from the 20th and 21st centuries. In 2004, she co-founded the Academy of Creative Education at Oakwood School, a summer performing arts program for students in grades 4-12 dedicated to empowering children through the creation and performance of their own works and side-by-side collaboration with professional artists. In 2006, Sarah created a new arm of this organization called the Community Youth Partnership, a service-learning program where high school students design and lead free music workshops for children in the community surrounding Oakwood School. Since she arrived in Los Angeles nine years ago, Sarah has been active as a teacher and freelance musician.

She performs regularly with guitarist Steven Thachuk and the new music group inauthentica. Sarah has recorded concerti for the Tempo Space Productions Modulations series, numerous independent film scores, and can also be heard on recordings by rock artists Bright Eyes and A Fine Frenzy.

Jeremy Drake is a graduate of the University of Southern California and received a degree in Studio/Jazz guitar performance in 1998. He subsequently spent many years working with musicians from the California Institute of the Arts where he met his lovely wife, Harmony Project teaching artist cellist Jessica Catron. He has performed live across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia and has been heard on scores for multiple feature films, documentaries and independents. When guitarist Jeremy Drake is not thinking about composting, urban farming or ways to subvert the current paradigm of habitual wasting, he performs with Missincinatti, The Living Sisters, and in various occasional, temporary and transient musical endeavors sometimes involving textural improvisation, at others finger-style ragtime guitar, female whistlers and, rarely, lost psych-pop heroes from the 60’s.

From 2001 to 2004, Jeremy organized the Line Space Line new and improvised music series in Silver Lake. During its span, the series brought together many creative musical communities, both local and international, and served to expose Los Angeles audiences to two sets of often world-class, always genre-defying music every Monday night for nearly four years. The series produced several visiting artist workshops and two 4-day festivals of improvised music. From there he served for four years on the Board of Directors of The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS), a non-profit organization committed to promoting experimental music in Los Angeles primarily through the critically-acclaimed “sound.” concert series.

Over the past five years, Jeremy has developed a deep interest in the behavioral, cultural and social justice issues that converge around environmental concerns. He is a member of Urban Farming Advocates, a coalition of individuals, businesses and community groups working to promote urban farming in the city of Los Angeles through practice and policy change. He is also a member of the Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee, Angeles Chapter. In August 2010, Jeremy was named a CRRA Certified Resource Recovery Management Professional by the California Resource Recovery Association, a distinction that he currently shares with only twelve other graduates of this progressive and growing program.

In October 2010, Jeremy enrolled in the first cohort of the Master of Arts in Urban Sustainability program at Antioch University Los Angeles, a transdisciplinary program seeking to explore, illuminate and realize the possibility of sustainability–the ability to meet our own needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. He wishes to bring the idea of sustainability into Harmony Project so that the children he works with can learn to actively and mindfully create the future into which they will grow and for which Harmony Project is helping them to prepare.

Paloma Udovic Ramos has formed a musical career in both performance and social justice. She received her Bachelor of Arts in 2003 from Northwestern University in Anthropology, with a focus on Ethnomusicology and Latin American Studies. Paloma moved to Los Angeles following her undergraduate studies, and began touring extensively in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S as a violinist for bands including the Eels, Gnarls Barkley, Spiritualized, and DaKah Hip Hop Orchestra. She has recorded with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vietnam, Heavens, the Eels, Great Northern, Har Mar Superstar and several film soundtracks. In 2007 she traveled with the band Lions of Panjshir to Afghanistan to play and record with masters of traditional instruments. She began mentoring in public schools with Southwest Chamber Music in 2006 and soon became Education Associate, heading an exciting curriculum of chamber and new music outreach. In the winter of 2008, Paloma joined the staff of Harmony Project.

William Glenn, a native of California, comes from a family of musicians. Most notably, his grandfather was legendary boogie-woogie pianist, Lloyd Glenn, Sr. Following the family tradition, William began his musical journey as a tenor saxophonist and pianist. However, he discovered his true talent as vocalist, composer/songwriter, and emcee during his seven-year stint with internationally recognized Hip-Hop/Reggae group, The Woodwellas. While touring internationally with the group, William shared the stage with many artists: Sean Paul, Bennie Man, Goodie Mob, Ice Cube, and Jurassic 5 to name a few.

Eventually, William utilized his music skills and love of the performing arts to rehabilitate the music program within the inner-city youth organization, A Place Called Home. As music department supervisor, he joined forces with Interscope Records and KISS FM to coordinate live in-classroom performances and develop collaborations with local schools to provide after school music support. William co-produced, supervised, and performed on Get Involved, the organization’s CD for social awareness and change. He worked with Charyn Harris and Curtis Warner, Jr. of Berklee School of Music to establish A Place Called Home as a Berklee School of Music Network Site. Finally, with William’s assistance, APCH was successful in receiving grants and instrument donations from The D’Addario Foundation, Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, and The Guitar Center to further aid the music program.
William has also been a guest instructor at the Compton Music Conservatory where he worked with beginning woodwind students on technique and music fundamentals.

William holds a Bachelors of Arts in Visual Communications.

Olivia Sanchez was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She began her musical training at age 9, studying classical piano and music theory. 

From 2004-07, she worked as a piano and music theory instructor at Piano Play Music Systems, a private music school in Studio City, CA. During the 2005 summer season, Olivia worked as an intern for the American Youth Symphony’s Outreach Program under the supervision of then-Program Director Myka Miller.

As a member of the California State University of Northridge Women’s Chorale (2007), Olivia was privileged to travel and perform in various cities in China, such as Shanghai and Beijing. 

In late 2007 she joined The Harmony Project as a member of the office staff working once again under the direction of Myka Miller as the program assistant.

Olivia, who holds an Associate in Arts degree in History from Los Angeles Valley College (2004), is currently working towards a Bachelor in Arts degree in Music Education from CSUN under the tutelage of the multi-talented Diane Ketchie, concert pianist and professional vocalist.
In addition to her time at Harmony Project and studies at CSUN, Olivia continues to work as a private piano teacher in the Los Angeles area while occasionally working as a professional wedding photographer in Fresno, CA.

María de Jesús Gómez began her extensive career in the education field over 20 years ago as a teacher at Southwest College in Los Angeles. Her passion for bringing the best in educational opportunities to all Angelinos continued in her positions as Case Manager and then Assistant Program Director for the L.A. Bridges Program. Maria de Jesus spent over 13 years with the Los Angeles Unified School District in an educational program for young people that focused on gang reduction as well as alcohol and drug rehabilitation. She was also instrumental in establishing structured support groups for children living in less than ideal home situations. Maria de Jesus also conducted parenting classes, financial seminars, domestic violence workshops and organized community events such as health and job fairs. State budget cuts resulted in the closing of the L.A. Bridges Program so Maria de Jesus used her knowledge and skill base in working for the Communities in Schools Program at Venice High School. Her responsibilities included supporting and guiding students to success by ensuring they received available resources needed for high school graduation and college admission.

Maria de Jesus’ work here at Harmony Project allows her to utilize all her administrative, organizational and outreach skills to benefit many throughout Los Angeles County. She currently manages the Hop-Hop Orchestra, the Music Academy at New Designs Charter School, and the Jazz Band at Leimert Park. These classes include 85 students, six great teachers and two wonderful orchestra Conductors. Maria de Jesus enjoys the company of her two adult children, both amateur musicians, when they are not away at college or working. She also enjoys exploring her creative talents working as a videographer and photographer in her spare time.