Our Team
Dan Rubins
(he/him)
Co-Founder/Executive Director
Dan is an educator, writer, and composer based in New York City. Dan believes in the power of kids’ voices and stories. He co-founded Hear Your Song as a sophomore at Yale University, where he earned a BA in English and Education Studies. After receiving an MA in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College London/Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and an MA in Elementary Inclusive Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, he went on to teach fourth and fifth grade in Manhattan and to design curriculum for the Metropolitan Opera’s Education Department. Dan also composes musical theater, operas, and choral music.
Side 🎵: If Dan were a song, he’d be in the style of 1960s musical theater but with extremely unpredictable rhythms!
Nicole Rodriguez
(she/her)
Programs Coordinator
Nicole Rodriguez is a singer/songwriter and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. She has been writing songs for as long as she can remember, and is passionate about sharing the magic of songwriting with the children at Hear Your Song. She has been teaching music and working with children for the past ten years, as well as touring and writing songs for her own folk music project. She has a B.A. in Contemporary Music with a minor in Creative Writing from The New School, and has performed on various stages from Luck Reunion on Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch to Nelsonville Music Festival. She believes that music is a powerful tool for self-expression, growth, and connection, and that every person has an artist inside, waiting to come out and shine!
Side 🎵: If Nicole were a song, she would be a folk song with dreamlike lyrics and experimental production. She is heartfelt and sentimental, but a little off-beat and likes to live outside of the box!
Diana Lawrence
(she/her)
Programs Manager
Diana loves working across genres and disciplines to tell musical stories with folks of all ages. Her musical, Mill Girls, released a 2021 EP featuring Nikki Renée Daniels, Alysha Deslorieux and Val Vigoda. Her band, Diana & the Dishes, has shared the stage with artists such as Nellie McKay and Becca Stevens. Dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices, Diana has worked with Broadway Advocacy Coalition and Storycatchers Theatre, a company that creates original musical theatre with incarcerated youth. Outside of Hear Your Song, Diana sings with the cross-genre vocal trio, Artemisia, plays keyboard for Grammy Award-winning children’s artist, Tim Kubart, and tours as the Associate Music Director for the Off-Broadway musical Islander.
Side 🎵: If Diana were a song, she would be something soulful and groovy!
Rebecca Brudner
(she/her)
Co-Founder
Rebecca has been making music for as long as she can remember and she loves sharing her passion for music with young people through Hear Your Song. She holds a B.A. in Theater Studies from Yale University. Upon graduating, she received the Louis Sudler Arts Prize and the Susan H. Smith Arts Prize for her contributions to the performing arts at Yale. She has since performed off-Broadway and in theater productions across the country.
Side 🎵: If Rebecca were a song, she’d be something jazzy with a swing beat!
Alyssa Rodriguez
(she/her)
Co-Music Director
Alyssa Rodriguez is a NYC based singer, songwriter, and audio engineer. She started studying classical music at 11 years old and continued until the end of high school. During her junior year of high school, Alyssa joined an after-school program called the Future Music Project at Carnegie Hall where she explored songwriting. Alyssa graduated in 2022 from SUNY Purchase with two degrees in Music Technology and Arts Management. After college, she went to work as an assistant audio engineer at various recording studios and music venues in NYC. She has been volunteering at HYS for a year before joining the team as the co-music director. Alyssa also works as a vocal teacher at her local music school and as an assistant engineer at a recording studio in Williamsburg. She loves sharing music just as much as she likes creating it.
Side 🎵: If Alyssa was a song she would be a lyric-driven song with lots of layers of vocal harmonies, especially ones that create dissonance.
Nadia Holt
(she/her)
Programs Intern
Nadia Holt is a junior attending NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. She is a singer and producer from Memphis, Tennessee. She has had many rewarding opportunities working with children, from stage managing school productions to working in childcare. She is excited to be able to utilize her skills in production and songwriting and to continue working with kids through Hear Your Song.
Marc Soto
(he/him)
Co-Music Director
Josie Murmann
(she/her)
Programs Intern
New York musician Josephine is a Clive Davis Institute student with a minor in Global Urban Education Studies and Comparative Politics at NYU. She is a member of the Hear Your song team as an intern focusing on administrative work as well as songwriting and production assistance for the children. Josie enjoys cooking, reading, and dancing as well as warm climates.
Theo Hoffstrom
(he/him)
Programs Intern
Hi! I’m Theo, a 22 year old student and musician and student soon to graduate NYU. I’m a psychology and music production double major. I play the guitar, the piano and the bass and love to produce and write all kinds of music. Playing in bands and collaboration excite me the most. I love to work at summer camps and to work with children, and I’m an avid chess player. I’m excited to be at hear your song this semester!
Dani Pyne
(she/her)
Lyric Video & Social Media Coordinator
Dani is a graduate student studying for her MBA with a concentration in Marketing at Fitchburg State University, and has a B.A. in Film and Media with a minor in Art and Chinese from the University of Rhode Island. Dani is passionate about her work amplifying kids’ voices and sharing their talents through the power of social media. In her free time, Dani enjoys traveling, running and indoor cycling, photography, background acting and swimming at the beach!
Side 🎵: If Dani were song, she would be a soulful song because she is artistic, compassionate, and soul music has always spoken to her.
Rakesh Kwantu
(he/him)
Programs Intern
Hi, my name is Rakesh Kwantu! All my life I have had special connection to music. I am a professionally trained singer, I have a background in classical music, jazz, and hip hop. I am part of a rap trio based in Brooklyn and I attend the Clive Davis Institute at NYU!
Board of Directors
Missy Adriazola
Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Pret a Manger
Rebecca Brudner
Carla Hojaiban
Ben Lobley
Senior Associate, WilmerHale
Andrea Morgan
Director, Comcast
Max Sauberman
Senior Manager, Strategy and Growth, Fever-Tree
Suzanne Clifton Walsh
Founder, Creative Arts and Athletics
Medical Advisory Council
Dr. Jenny Seham, Chair Montefiore Medical Center
Dr. AZA Allsop Yale New Haven Hospital
Dr. Michelle Loy Weill Cornell Hospital
Olga Lucia Torres Columbia University
Dr. Michael Willers The Children’s Heart Center
Dr. Meredith Winter Children’s Hospital Los Angeles