Kim Breden is the founder and executive muse of Be Mused Productions, specializing in educational entertainment. Be Mused Children’s Theatre Company has offered musical theater workshops for children, preschool through teen, in Westchester and Dutchess Counties. In addition to directing and producing these workshops, Kim provides music programs celebrating Broadway’s greatest hits for museums, libraries, and nearly 50 Senior Residences in the tri-state area. Kim is a volunteer teaching artist and facilitator with Rehabilitation through the Arts (RTA). For the past 16 years, she has directed full musical productions and workshops in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State.
Amanda Brown, with over a decade of experience playing Mah Jongg, has had the joy of shuffling tiles and calling "Mah Jongg!" from Georgia to New York City, New Jersey, Boston, and even the breezy shores of Cape Cod. As a native New Yorker, she has brought the game with her wherever she goes, teaching family, friends, and anyone else willing to learn. Whether it’s a fast-paced game in the city or a relaxed afternoon match by the beach, Amanda loves sharing the game’s rich strategy and contagious energy with new and seasoned players alike. Amanda's classes are all about learning, laughing, and building a welcoming community one tile at a time—come join the fun!
Doug Brin facilitates weekly discussion groups at the 92nd Street Y and several independent senior residences and lectures at the JCC. He is a former feature writer for the New York Daily News and both a history and ethics teacher at the prestigious Dalton and Ethical Culture Schools. As a visual artist, his work has been exhibited in major neighborhood galleries in Manhattan.
Greg Canada is the assistant dean of admissions at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Greg is a lecturer on the philosophy of law for Indian University’s Hutton Honors program. Mr. Canada earned a BA in history and philosophy from Virginia Wesleyan College, summa cum laude, an MA in philosophy from Boston College, and a graduate certificate in higher education administration from Harvard University.
Joe George has worked in education, theater, music, television, voice-over, and film for over 25 years. Joe is a founding member of the theater/dance troupe Witness Relocation, which toured in the U.S. and internationally. He has performed in just about everything from Shakespeare, Commedia, Greek tragedy, rock musicals, downtown, and contemporary modern theater. He has been committed to creating new theatrical styles of performance that challenge what’s possible in the theater. He holds an M.F.A. from Harvard University and Moscow Art Theater School.
Jennifer Gilchrist is a veteran New Yorker who now resides in Metro Detroit. She taught literature courses at Hunter College and has published articles in Twentieth-Century Literature and Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. In addition to her instruction at JASA, she is the review editor of Supernatural Studies: A Journal of Art, Culture, and Media. With a specialty in modernist narrative, she received her Ph.D. in twentieth-century American and British literature from Fordham University in the Bronx.
Leora Harpaz is an emeritus professor of constitutional law at Western New England University School of Law and the founder of the annual Supreme Court Conference, where she has been a speaker for over 20 years. Since receiving emeritus status, she has been an instructor in several senior learner programs and taught undergraduate law courses in the political science department at Hunter College. She received her B.A. from Stony Brook University and has law degrees from both Boston University and New York University.
Bill Hughes is an investigative reporter who serves as program director at CUNY York College’s Journalism Program in Jamaica, Queens. Over a career that has spanned nearly 30 years, he has won numerous awards for exposing police and government corruption. His most notable case, which was featured in an episode of Dateline NBC, involved the exoneration of a man who served more than 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. He also serves as a volunteer investigator for The Jeffery Deskovic Foundation for Justice.
Pamela Koehler is an adjunct professor of art and art history at Adelphi University. As a teaching artist, she has presented lectures, talks, and workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Morgan Library, the Whitney, and the Dahesh Museum.
Natan Last published his first crossword puzzle in the New York Times when he was 16, then the youngest constructor to appear in the Times. Last wrote a book of crosswords, titled “Word.” He has a B.A. with honors in Economics and Literary Arts from Brown University.
Jane Marsh was the first singer to win the Gold Medal in Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition. Among Verdi, Strauss, and Bel Canto, her repertoire includes the signature Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov heroines. She has appeared as a performer and M.C. in international and U.S. radio and television venues, and since 2007, has presented Metropolitan Opera Guild lectures and master classes on Bel Canto, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Mozart, Strauss, and the Russian repertoire. She was awarded the New York Handel Medaille for her exceptional contribution to the world of music.
Alexander Pichugin, Ph.D., is the Director of German languages and literature studies at Rutgers University. Alexander is an assistant teaching professor covering a wide range of topics. Courses include “Cultural Diversity,” “German Music,” “The Wonderful World of Opera,” “Ecocriticism,” “Knowledge, Language and Cognition,” “Ecocinema,” and “Hitler in Film.” He is the recipient of a 2020 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Education.
Lars Rosager danced on Broadway in the original casts of 42nd Street, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, and the 1987 revival of Cabaret, directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Ron Field. He has taught dance at Circle in the Square, Steps on Broadway, CAP 21, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and is currently on faculty at The American Music and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), where he teaches dance history. Most recently, he has staged dances and taught master classes for Nikki Atkin’s The American Dance Machine for the 21st Century. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s College of California.
Leo Schaff is an actor, singer, and songwriter. A longtime Bardolator, he also teaches at the 92nd Street Y and was NY1 New Yorker of the Week for his popular Shakespeare classes for seniors throughout the city. He co-wrote “Give Us Hope,” a song performed by the San Francisco Children’s Choir at President Obama’s first Inauguration.
Chloe Zimmerman is an artist, filmmaker, writer, and educator working across analogue film, video, installation, drawing, language art, and pedagogical experiments. She teaches creative practices in spaces that have included community biology labs, floating food forests, public libraries and parks, museums, multilingual learner spaces, community centers, alternative art schools, and universities (including Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design).