Speakers

Each year, SphinxConnect welcomes 90+ luminaries and trailblazers from across the classical music industry to lead conversations related to everything from programming to fundraising; all through the lens of excellence and representation in the arts.

Speakers will be invited throughout the summer and fall, so we encourage you to visit this page often for updates. Explore below to see the thought leaders and innovators who joined us at SphinxConnect 2025: Ignite and stay tuned for our 2026 Plenary Speakers!

2025 Plenary Speakers

Opening Plenary

Jessie Montgomery
Violinist | Composer

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Jenn White
Host, 1A | WAMU & NPR

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Closing Plenary

Kwame Alexander
Author/Producer/Educator | Big Sea Entertainment

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Aaron P. Dworkin
Poetjournalist & Founder of The Sphinx Organization
Professor of Arts Leadership & Entrepreneurship | University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance

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2026 Speakers

Hassan A. Anderson

Teaching Artist, Assistant Professor of Oboe and Coordinator of Teaching Artistry
The University of South Carolina
Brittney Bryanna Burgess

Co-Founder and Executive Director
Black Collegiate Musicians
Claudia Chapa

Associate Director of Artistic Administration and Curator of Hispanic and Latinx Programming
Austin Opera
Ria DasGupta

Associate Vice President for Community and Culture
The Juilliard School
Dr. Raynel Frazier

Director of Programming and Artistic Planning
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Brianna Garcon

Program Coordinator | National Community Partnerships
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Kathleen Gasparian

Immigration Attorney
Gasparian Spivey Immigration
Dr. Zuly Inirio

Founder and Executive Director
Afro-Latinx Song & Opera Project
Noa Kageyama

Performance Psychologist
The Juilliard School | Cleveland Institute of Music
Deidre Lambert-Bounds

President
Ignite Social Media
Alysia Lee

Founder
Sister Cities Girlchoir
Tifini McClyde-Blythe

Associate Vive President of Human Resources
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Ruben McFarlane

Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships
Castle of Our Skins
Kerriann Otaño

Vice President of Engagement
OperaDelaware
Alexis V. Prescott-Polk, M.A.

Director of Operations & Advancement Black Collegiate Musicians (BCM)
Lígia Pucci

Associate Artistic Director
Windy City Performing Arts
Andrea Restrepo

Orchestra and Operations Manager
ESYO
Lesley Rosenthal

COO & Corp. Secretary
The Juilliard School
Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)

Arizona State University/SOZO Artists
Alexa Smith

Associate Artistic Director
The Public Theater
Eric Williamson

Artistic Director
Lavender Light: The Black & People of All Colors Lesbian and Gay Gospel Choir
Elizabeth Winslow

Director of School Partnerships
MacPhail Center for Music