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 bands Motorcade and Diplomatic Immunity. 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. Amy has two little music makers in her family, Penelope and Holden who also enjoy coming to class!

The first instrument that I learned to play was the piano.  I practiced enough to get by and learn the basics, but didn't really fall in love with music until I started playing clarinet.  I got a scholarship to play clarinet in college and studied music.  I knew that I didn't want to be a professional musician, however, so I studied Education and Spanish as well.  I decided that I wanted to become a Spanish immersion teacher and moved to Spain as a Fulbright Scholar.  After living in Spain for 3 years, I felt that it was time to move back to the US and found a teaching job in the DC area.  I taught 4th grade Spanish immersion for 8 years, met my husband, and settled in NW DC.  I continue to play clarinet with the Fairfax County Wind Symphony.  

Born in NY and raised in Alexandria, VA, I discovered my love of music at an early age, singing (anything and anywhere! No audience required!) and playing cello and piano. I have been involved in some sort of music-making my whole life. In addition to performing musical theater (high school, college, and yes, community theater), I’m a vocalist in a local klezmer band, Ein Lanu Z’man.

After becoming a mom and working in my daughter’s preschool, I discovered another passion: preschool education. I pursued both passions by becoming a preschool music teacher in 2006, specializing in Jewish and Hebrew music. I taught in Jewish preschools in Clearwater, FL and in Alexandria and Arlington. In 2016 I co-founded the “Tinok Time” (Baby Time) program at Agudas Achim Preschool in Alexandria, VA, whereI introduced littles and their caregivers to music, art and more. 

In 2018 I fell in love with the Music Together program when I moved to Wichita, Kansas and became a registered Music Together teacher, teaching at Riverside Music Together and attending mixed-age classes with my son, Zev. It was both as a parent and a teacher that I discovered the magic of Music Together to bring families together for a shared musical learning experience. I love giving parents the opportunity to be musical models for their kiddos, and reminding families that EVERYONE is musical, because parents will always be the best teachers for their own children!