Our Team
Join our team!
Apply to join our team! Successful applicants are comfortable working independently or in a team-based setting with a commitment to social justice and the flexibility to adapt to the change inherent to a rapidly scaling startup. Passion for music is a plus.
Individuals with lived experience of homelessness and/or from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities are especially encouraged to apply.
DIRECTORS
christopher mack
Christopher Mack is a staff member of Wesley Clinic and an advocate for people living in the condition of homelessness.
kate richards
Kate Richards Geller is a music therapist and vocal improviser who is well-known for keen listening, creating safety in a group, facilitating freedom within structure, and supporting personal expression. Kate earned a master’s degree in Music Therapy from NYU in 1997 and then combined her singer/songwriter skills and ‘joie de vivre’ with clinical improvisation to enhance “quality of life” in medical settings, community centers, and therapeutic pre-schools. The core of her work engages people in interactive singing as a bridge to self-expression, communication, and community-building.
leeav sofer
Leeav is currently on faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles where he teaches classes, directs choirs, and community engagement programs. He earned a performance degree in clarinet and voice from California State University of Long Beach and has performed at venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Ford Amphitheatre, and the Staples Center. In addition to co-founding Los Angeles’ only current Jewish Youth Orchestra, he also leads the band Mostly Kosher, dedicated to preserving and progressing cultural folk music of the Judaic heritage for future generations.
nicole wallens, ph.d.
Nicole Wallens is a passionate advocate for the arts and education. After earning her Ph.D. in art history, she left academia to support those making a difference in the lives of young people and the marginalized population of Los Angeles. Nicole was a member of the founding committee of Sequoyah High School whose mission imparts principles of social justice in the classroom and the world beyond.
PROGRAM STAFF
alison lewis
Alison Lewis has consistently led a dual life in human services and the performing arts. She’s developed and directed job training programs for homeless adults in San Francisco and disenfranchised teens in London, as well run a literacy program for economically disadvantaged children and adults across Los Angeles County. Meanwhile, Alison has performed as a soloist and ensemble member at middle east peace conferences, interfaith events, and major venues across the United States and abroad in genres including world a cappella, jazz, classical, musical theater, gospel, and R&B. An award-winning songwriter and arranger, Alison recently released her debut solo jazz album, “Seven,” to much acclaim. She provides session vocals to a number of local and international film, tv, and video game composers, as well as independent artists. Alison shares her enthusiasm for singing by teaching privately, leading workshops, as well as serving as the voice instructor/music director at a school for children with special needs. In 2018, Alison had the honor of joining Peter Yarrow and other musicians/activists on a trip to Parkland, Florida. There, they led songwriting sessions with youths impacted by the school shootings in order to facilitate self-expression and healing. The album that culminated from these collaborations, “Wake Up America,” was released at the end of 2019. Alison holds a Masters of Science in International Public Health Policy from the London School of Economics, and a Masters of Arts in Speech Language Pathology from Cal State Los Angeles, as well as has studied advanced vocal pedagogy at Shenandoah University.
stephanie meyers
Stephanie Meyers is a composer and singer-songwriter who is passionate about facilitating wellness through music, particularly in marginalized communities. She attended Berklee College of Music before receiving her MFA in Music Composition from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
kela parker
Celebrated as a genre-bending singer and songwriter, Kela Parker has been noted for her sharp musicianship and imaginative artistry. Originally from the East Bay, Parker began crafting her enigmatic blend of art and pop music in Portland, Oregon. After opening for Madeleine Peyroux at the Aladdin Theatre, she has since played across the United States, from Seattle’s Royal Room to the Viper Room in Los Angeles to New York’s Rockwood Music Hall. Parker has released three albums, including 2018’s ‘The Dreamer & The Dream,’ produced by Grammy-winning engineer Rocky Gallo (Norah Jones, John Legend). Hailed by BuzzMusicLA as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer with a “prepossessing voice,” her latest album of fourteen original songs is intoxicating from beginning to end. Now living in Los Angeles, Parker is working on her fourth album and a teaching artist with Urban Voices Project.
tracy lj robertson
LA based vocalist, instructor, multi-instrumentalist and vocal percussionist Tracy LJ Robertson enjoys working in a variety of musical settings. While studying at Berklee College of Music he directed the two-time ICCA winning a cappella group “Pitch Slapped”, and performed in ensembles of global influence ranging from Balkan, to contemporary Indian, to Latin, to western jazz and classical. With his predilection and impartiality with music, he has found himself performing with the likes of Bobby McFerrin, Justin Timberlake, Michael Bublè, Andy Grammar, Sabrina Carpenter, Valarie Simpson, Victor Wooten, Jose Merce, and Dream Theater. Tracy continues working as a freelance and SAG studio musician while touring with the a cappella groups m-pact, Vocalosity, and Overboard as he spreads his passion for life through music as a clinician, arranger, and performer. Tracy is also supremely grateful to be feeding into and from the magic that is the Urban Voices Project. Outside of music, Tracy spends as much time as he can with mother nature and other close friends and family.
joanna wallfisch
Joanna’s career has taken her around the globe. She first studied to be a painter at Central Saint Martins, London. This led her to Paris, where she sang on the bridges of the Seine with the “Rene Miller Wedding Band”. Following this formative time she did a masters in jazz at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2012 she moved to New York City where she forged an indelible musical path, appearing and collaborating with musicians including Dan Tepfer, Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Werner, Sam Newsome, Lee Konitz, to name a few. She released her debut album, Wild Swan in 2011, featuring Joe Martin, Sam Newsome, Rob Garcia and Art Hirahara. In 2015 she signed with Sunnyside Records who released The Origin of Adjustable Things: an intimate duo project with pianist Dan Tepfer. As a follow up to this success she recorded Gardens In My Mind, her third album of self-penned songs and arrangements, featuring the award winning string ensemble The Sacconi Quartet, and Dan Tepfer on piano. In 2018 she self-released her fourth record Blood and Bone, which London Jazz said, “overflowed with creativity and musical resources.” 2019 marks the release of her fifth record entitled Far Away From Any Place Called Home.
Alongside Joanna’s musical career she is a passionate educator and takes her songwriting and teaching skills to outreach programs, schools and colleges. In 2016 she travelled to Mumbai to volunteer with charity organisation Songbound, an outreach initiative that brings the transformative power of music to some of India’s poorest and most marginalised children. She has also worked in Los Angeles with non-profit organisation Urban Voices Project, bringing music education and choir to theSkid Row Community. Joanna helped pilot an early childhood program named Family Sing, aimed at the children and parents who are experiencing homelessness. Of this work Joanna says, “bringing music to people in need keeps me grounded and inspires everything I do. It reminds me how powerful music is beyond the concert stage. Music saves lives. It saved my grandmother’s life, and I am compelled to bring my musical skills into a situation that can truly heal and inspire those who need it most, and to help them find a way through their darkest times through singing.”
