All of our teachers are passionate about music and incorporating it into the development of children.
They create a fun, informal, social setting that spurs engagement and supports each child's musical development
Amy Ashley Despres
Center Director and Registered Music Together® Teacher
Amy Despres is the founder and director of Miss Amy's Music Makers, an early childhood music development program centered in Washington, DC. Amy has been singing and acting her entire life and is passionate about teaching and sharing music with young children and the community at large. Amy received her B.A.in vocal music and theatre from the University of Miami in 2002 and has since performed in numerous musicals and shows throughout the United States. Since living in Washington, Amy has sung with the Washington National Chorus, been a featured Washington Nationals national anthem singer, recorded several voice overs and commercials for local businesses and is a lead vocalist in the live band Encore. She completed her training with the Center for Music and Young Children in 2005 and began teaching with Music Together of Vienna and Little Steps Music in Washington DC. After two years of teaching, Amy discovered that her own neighborhood of Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle did not offer Music Together classes so she created Miss Amy's Music Makers in 2007 to bring The Joy of Family Music® making to the Adams Morgan and Dupont communities.
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Rachel Panay
Rachel is excited to reconnect with the Music Together community! She has taught Music Together for 6 years total starting from Boston to Miami to NY and now back to her hometown of Washington, DC!
Throughout this time she built a private teaching practice of vocal and piano instruction, songwriting, arranging and more! She graduated from Washington, D.C.'s Duke Ellington High School for the Arts and Boston's Berklee College of Music, Magna Cum Laude. She is also a classically trained dancer in Ballet & Jazz and is looking forward to offering Mommy & Me classes Intro to Movement & Ballet Basics, as well as private voice and piano to interested families!
Her approach to music and movement is free and easy! Famed conducted Ben Zander requires students to exclaim when they make a "mistake", "How fascinating!" with a smile! This is Rachel's approach as well! Moments such as these provide insight, humor and opportunities to grow as a musician, a dancer and a student of life!
Additionally Rachel has maintained her own career as a recording and performing artist, garnering 6 consecutive Billboard hit singles in the Dance genre (Check them out on iTunes!) and a critically acclaimed full album. Most recently she organized and hosted ART OF LIFE and SUNDAY JAZZ, two weekly events at Mova Lounge (14th & P) featuring local talent. You can find out more at www.rachelpanaymusic.com.
Rachel is so excited to back to Music Together and back in her hometown and we are excited to offer a number of classes with Rachel. |
Mandy Wimmer
Mandy has played piano, clarinet and sung since she was a child. After studying piano for over a decade, she attended Millikin University's School of Music. Mandy, a classically trained musician, has been playing, accompanying and directing professionally for over 16 years. She has six years experience teaching children, teens, and adults instrumental and choral music. Besides accompanying and singing in choirs, performing in bands and orchestras, and directing handbell ensembles at various times, Mandy now enjoys rehearsing and performing with community theater groups. Mandy graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Music, Chemistry, and Political Science) from Millikin University (IL) in 2001. She recently completed the Music Together Teaching Workshop, developed by the Center for Music and Young Children in Princeton, NJ, in April 2010 and enjoys teaching piano to her wonderful students.
