About
The NMS Careers in Music Series!
Have you wondered what kind of careers are influenced, enhanced and built by music? How to navigate your pathway there? What music careers look like, sound like, and the best ways to explore those options? NMS collaborates with organizations, musicians, and creative artists to share and explore the ins and outs of creative careers, especially in the Entertainment Capital of the World, Los Angeles!
On February 24th, 2023, NMS partnered with our friends at PianoSpheres to present a Master Class with 2023 Leonard Stein Resident Artist William Chapman Nyaho. In celebration of our upcoming Fall 2023 Student Scholarship Applications being submitted, and in inspiration and preparation for our Scholarship auditions, NMS will premiere the video of that Master Class on Wednesday, July 26th! Watch via our Youtube Channel (link below), or Right here!
NMS students Jacob Joya Lazo, Jacob Lalin and Lauren Bondurant with William Chapman Nyaho after Nyaho’s beautiful master class on Feb 24th, 2023.
Meet NMS Vocal and the Coro Artist, David Castillo!
The Neighborhood Music School Teaching Faculty is proud of the exciting careers in music each of our faculty have built! We took some time to talk to David Castillo, Vocal Faculty, and leader of the Youth Coro, about his projects and inspirations!
What do you teach at NMS and how long have you been teaching your instrument?
I have been teaching voice since 2010 and, since 2022, I have been teaching voice at Neighborhood Music School. In early August, we created a new vocal group called the Coro and they have working on and performing music of many different genres. We started with around 2 people and now we have a very strong group of 7-8 singers. We keep growing, and it's exciting. Come join us! We’re still trying to figure out a great band name, feel free to send your suggestions.
How did you get started?
My family kept many photos and videos of baby David sitting in front the TV with a guitar and mic stand (I made from a shoebox and a wrapping paper rolls) singing along to Raffi videos. I think my parents put me in piano lessons in Kindergarten and I switched to violin in first grade. I am from New Orleans and I am very fortunate to have an aunt who is a music director at a local high school. She let me borrow any instrument I wanted to learn. I picked up the Alto Saxophone and Trumpet in second grade and decided to stick with the Trumpet through senior year of high school playing in the marching and jazz bands.
When I was in 2nd grade, my aunt also recommended I join the new boy choir her colleague was forming.That’s where I started my formal voice training. We toured all over and even sang for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. After that, I did musicals in middle school and high school.
What motivates you now?
What motivates me every day are really great environments to make really great art with really great humans. In the past several years, that has been an important realization and foundational approach to have the enjoyable and sustainable career I am grateful to have.
Where has music led you? Anywhere unexpected?
Music has led me to many incredibly unexpected and wonderful places. I guess I thought I would have a career singing very traditional opera right out grad school, but the journey has taken me to every other avenue. That has been exciting. I’ve sung in Paris, Italy, New Orleans, and New York (Lincoln Center and Off-Broadway). In LA, I have sung as a soloist at Disney Hall with the LA Phil and Dudamel and with the LA Master Chorale and Grant Gershon. I have been a professional ensemble singer with the Master Chorale since 2013, which made that boychoir start come full circle. I also didn’t know music would take me into the Hollywood worlds and I have sung on some really great movies, video games, and shows such as Encanto, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and America’s Got Talent.
What are you most proud of that you bring to your students?
I am proud of my rather unconventional teaching style. I am fortunate to have experience working in so many fields of music, production, and acting and to have had incredible guidance from coaches and teachers in all those areas. I do my best to distill all that info into a practical and adventurous approach to voice. We are all completely different humans, which means we all have completely different voices. And, since we’re human, our bodies and voices constantly are changing. I think that is the coolest part of singing. I’m all about taking the time to devote constant exploration to discover what an individual or group’s “superpower” may be. Once we begin to understand them, I think it is important to lean into that and celebrate them.
What are your words of advice for current students or potential students?
Keep it fun, keep exploring!
What do you have coming next?
It’s an exciting November.
I’m singing on the new Black Panther: Wakanda Forever out in theatres November 11.
On Tuesday, November 29, I singing at Carnegie Hall performing the role of Jim in Eric Whitacre’s Christmas opera The Gift of the Magi. We debuted this piece in December 2019 with the LA Master Chorale and he wrote a new extended edition we will premiere in New York.
Will share more, when able!
What is your favorite quote/piece of music/object of inspiration?
“Breathe and Tell a Story.” My teacher Phil always would say that in our lessons. Learning and performing music can feel so technical and complicated and chaotic, this phrase simplifies everything and gives purpose for doing what we do.
Favorite piece of music…hard to say just one! I constantly have The Marsalis Family, M.I.A., G Yamazawa, Vacación, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paco de Lucía, Wayne Shorter, esperanza spalding, or Jamiroquai playing. I’m all over the place.
Favorite object of inspiration would have to be the entire Chef’s Table body of work on Netflix. Each chef’s story is a masterclass in process and ownership of self. I probably watched all the seasons over a dozen times.
EPISODE 3: CONDUCTORS- Monday, March 15th at 5pm via zoom!
When we think about conductors, the first word that comes to mind is leader! Conductors take on the responsibility of leading the orchestra, choir, or group of musicians through the performance work that we see in concert halls, amphitheaters, stage productions, etc, but did you know that that they play a pivotal role in leading orchestras for video games, rock concerts, opera, and so much more?
Join us on Monday, March 14th as we meet three incredibly exciting panelists who have built incredible careers as conductors and collaborators!
meet sarah hicks
Sarah Hicks's versatile and vibrant musicianship has secured her place as an in-demand conductor across an array of genres, and as an educator, arranger, producer, writer and speaker committed to creating connections through music. Her career has seen collaborations with diverse artists, from Hilary Hahn and Dmitiri Hvorostovsky to Rufus Wainwright, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson; during the summer of 2011 she toured with Sting as conductor of his Symphonicities Tour. Her passion for cross-genre partnerships led to a 2019 album with rap artist Dessa and the Minnesota Orchestra, with whom she holds a titled position, and she has been nominated for two Upper Midwest Emmys as both conductor and host for This is Minnesota Orchestra.
A specialist in film music and the film in concert genre, she is thrilled to create concert experiences which combine sight and sound, and that welcome new audiences to the orchestral genre. She has premiered “Pixar in Concert” and Disney-Pixar’s “Coco”; she can be seen in “A Celebration of the Music from Coco” on Disney+ and her work can be heard on broadcast for ABC. Her concerts with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra of film music, “The Morricone Duel” was released as an album in 2018, has been broadcast around the world and has garnered over 150 million views on YouTube.
A highly sought-after guest conductor, Ms. Hicks has worked extensively both in the States and abroad. Notable ensembles include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Toronto Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, RTÉ Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, and Malaysian Philharmonic, among others. Her opera appearances include the East Slovak State Opera Theater and the Curtis Opera Theater, as well as operas in concert with the Minnesota Orchestra and RTÉ Orchestra. Her commitment to new music led to the creation of an innovative micro-commission project, and her recording of new concertos, “Triple Doubles” has been released by the Bridge label.
Dedicated to passing on to young musicians her passion for connecting to audiences, Ms. Hicks is a frequent guest lecturer and panelist and was on faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music from 2000 to 2005 and Staff Conductor until 2012. Her presentation, “The Art of Conducting”, has illustrated the idea of collaborative leadership to numerous organizations, civic groups and corporations. Her interest in the intersection of mental health and music led to the production of a concert titled “Music and the Mind” and her commitment to open conversation about mental health continues through her blog, YouTube channel and online advocacy.
Sarah Hicks was born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in Honolulu, HI. Trained on both the piano and the viola, she was a prizewinning pianist by her early teens. She received her BA magna cum laude from Harvard University in composition and holds an Artists' Degree in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with the late renowned pedagogue Otto-Werner Mueller. In her spare time, Ms. Hicks enjoys running, hiking, her Papillon, cooking (and eating) with her husband, traveling and blogging.
meet enrico lopez yanez
Enrico Lopez-Yañez is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony where he leads the Symphony’s Pops Series and Family Series. Lopez-Yañez is quickly establishing himself as one of the Nation’s leading conductors of popular music and becoming known for his unique style of audience engagement. Also an active composer/arranger, Lopez-Yañez has been commissioned to write for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Houston Symphony, and has had his works performed by orchestras including the Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony, Utah Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, and Florida Orchestra.
Since working with the Nashville Symphony, Lopez-Yañez has conducted concerts with a broad spectrum of artists including: Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, The Beach Boys, Richard Marx, Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood, Kellie Pickler, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Megan Hilty, Hanson and more. Lopez-Yañez also conducts the annual Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th fireworks show which was first televised on CMT in 2019 reaching millions of viewers across the nation.
In the upcoming season, Lopez-Yañez will collaborate with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Nas, Leslie Odom Jr., Stewart Copeland of The Police, Ben Folds, Jennifer Nettles, Boz Scaggs, Kenny G and more. Lopez-Yañez will appear with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Pacific Symphony, National Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and will make return appearances with the Detroit Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Sarasota Orchestra, and Toledo Symphony. Previously, Lopez-Yañez has appeared with orchestras throughout North America including the Aguascalientes Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Omaha Symphony, and Utah Symphony among others.
Sharing an equal love for opera, Lopez-Yañez recently made his Chicago Opera Theater debut conducting the Emmy Nominated production of Daniel Catán’s La Hija de Rappaccini, which Chicago Classical Review described as “a flowing and sensitive performance that provided supreme advocacy for Catán’s score”.
As Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Symphonica Productions, LLC, Lopez-Yañez curates and leads programs designed to cultivate new audiences. An enthusiastic proponent of innovating the education concert experience, his exciting concerts “breathe new, exuberant life into classical programming for kids and families” (Nashville Parent Magazine). Symphonica’s productions have been described as “incredibly special – and something that needs to become the new norm in educational programing” (Lima Symphony).
As a producer, composer, and arranger, Lopez-Yañez’s work can be heard on numerous albums including the UNESCO benefit album Action Moves People United and children’s music albums including The Spaceship that Fell in My Backyard, winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Hollywood Music and Media Awards, Family Choice Awards and Kokowanda Bay, winner of a Global Media Award as well as a Parents’ Choice Award where Lopez-Yañez was lauded for his “catchy arrangements” (Parents’ Choice Foundation).
Susie Benchasil Seiter
Susie Benchasil Seiter is a prolific conductor and orchestrator for film, television, video games, and live concerts. She recently completed a 120 city worldwide orchestra tour as conductor and music director for multiple Grammy-winning Evanescence and Billboard Music Award winner and YouTube sensation, Lindsey Stirling. Susie is currently composing her first Netflix limited series drama due out this fall.
Seiter is perhaps best known for orchestrating and conducting the remarkably successful orchestral concert tours The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses and Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions. Combined, these tours have been performed more than 300 times by some of the world’s most respected orchestras. In 2017-2018 alone, she conducted over 80 orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic at London’s Apollo Hammersmith, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Madison Square Garden, the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap, and the Sydney Symphony at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Seiter excels in leading popular symphonic film concerts such as Frozen Live, Muppets Christmas Carol, Pixar in Concert and Mary Poppins Live. Last year she conducted the Paramount blockbuster hit Snake Eyes: A GI Joe Origin Story and Netflix’s holiday favorite 8-Bit Christmas. She is excited to appear this summer with Toy Story Live, Fantasia and Nightmare Before Christmas live in various cities.
Parallel to her active concert career, Susie Seiter has worked alongside her husband, composer Chad Seiter, conducting and orchestrating his music to many AAA video game titles that include some of history’s most popular, enduring franchises: Star Trek: The Video Game and LEGO Jurassic World. She recently finished orchestrating and conducting his score to Microsoft Studios’ major game release, ReCore. This ambitious endeavor, recorded at the late George Martin’s AIR Studios, featured the London Philharmonia, full chorus, a large rock ensemble, and comprehensive electronics. She also completed the orchestration for the symphonic feature commission for The Little Mermaid Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Susie also likes to boast that she conducted the recording to Zombieland 2 at Capitol Studios nine days after giving birth.
Also a frequent collaborator with Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory, Seiter orchestrated The Banner Saga series as well as his BAFTA nominated score, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, which was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
Susie Seiter was on the orchestration team for Disney’s Encanto, Universal Pictures’ film Minions and Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak and The Book of Life.
Susie Seiter believes that orchestral music should be shared and celebrated by all generations, and she takes great pride in her contributions as a conductor and orchestrator. Originally from Baltimore, Seiter now calls Los Angeles home, where she lives with Chad and their sons Samuel and William.
Episode 2: Composers
Meet composers Michael Giacchino and Camilo Lara as they discuss their journeys leading to producing, composing and scoring! NMS students and community have the opportunity to directly ask about what has influenced, inspired, evoked and influenced their work.
Camilo Lara is known for his work producing, scoring and collaborating with Mexican Institute of Sound. Michael Giacchino has scored films like Up, The Incredibles, Rogue One: A Start Wars Story, the list is long and exciting!
Episode One: Career Paths
As a musician, there are many roads that you can follow in your career. In this first installment of our NMS Careers in Music Series, in collaboration with our friends at Disney Music Group, we will have a direct conversation with four amazing music professionals. These panelists will share their unique journeys in the business of a music career, in their creative space, and the ways in which creativity and career merge, influence and grow.
Panelists include:
David Walsh- Director A&R Administration
Laura Gonzalez- Director, Marketing
Royd Haston- Manager, Concert Operations
Paulo DaCosta- Director, Marketing & Product Management
Moderator: Veronica Hart
Moderated by Monica Tinajero