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Spencer Hansen (He/Him) is a music director, actor, composer, pianist, and educator having recently finished his Master’s degree at West Virginia University. He teaches Musical Theatre Song Analysis, Acting the Song, and Collaborative Performance, a course designed to help students approach working with accompanists and other performers with confidence and skill. Spencer has been combining his skills as a music director and actor through pioneering theatrical fields of study at Texas State University and West Virginia University. Professionally, Spencer has served as both Music Director and Actor for National Tours, Off-Broadway Productions, Regional Theatres, Cruise Lines, and Universities across the globe. Some professional favorites include, Cabaret, Ride The Cyclone, Mamma Mia!, and Follies.
Spencer holds a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Theatre from Texas State University, and a Master’s in Acting from West Virginia University. He has studied with Rob Clare (Royal Shakespeare Company), Jerry McGonigle (American Conservatory Theatre), and Lou Gonzalez (Upright Citizen’s Brigade). He also attended the Scott Freeman Acting Studio in New York City where he trained under Alexandra Neil, his original musical Redshift is currently under finalist consideration for the Broadway Licensing New Works Grant, and he has recently published his thesis on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.
Kaitlyn O'Leary (she/her) is a New York based actor, singer, dancer and choreographer. She began her performance training at the age of five, and attended Orange County School of the Arts. She went on to graduate in 2023 with Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Texas State University, under the direction of Kaitlin Hopkins. Her credits include Pippin (Assistant Director), Spring Awakening (Assistant Choreographer) and Into the Woods (Baker's Wife) at Texas State University, and regionally in Beauty and the Beast (Silly Girl) and Cinderella (Swing).
Blayne Salerni studied Trumpet Performance at the University of Delaware. There, he studied with NFL Films trumpet player Rob Skoniczin. He also received a Jazz Studies minor where he studied with Broadway Saxophone great Todd Groves, and local jazz artist Tom Palmer.
Celebrated by the Dallas Morning News as “clearly a pianist with considerable skill and force of personality,” Eduardo Rojas has graced the stage as a soloist with orchestras across both South and North America. His remarkable performances include collaborations with esteemed ensembles such as the Richmond Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, Bogotá Philharmonic, Bogotá Symphony, Philharmonic of Cali, Panama National Orchestra, Colombia Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, Van Cliburn Foundation, Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Great Lakes Symphony, American Wind Symphony, Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Symphony among other orchestras. He has also performed in various countries, including Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Panama, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Taiwan and under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Andrés Orozco, Paolo Bortolameolli, Zoe Zeniodi, and Rafael Payare.
In the summer of 2013, Rojas recorded a live DVD at the renowned New World Center in Miami Beach, Florida, featuring Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Subsequently, in 2015, he released two albums: “Eduardo Rojas Plays Beethoven
Vol. 1” and “Regenwald – Melodies from the Rainforest,” which showcase his distinctive arrangements of Latin American music. In 2016, he was invited to Taipei, Taiwan, to conduct master classes and serve as a judge for the Asian Pacific International Piano Competition.
Driven by a desire to combine his musical talents with a passion for teaching and entrepreneurship, Eduardo Rojas established the Rojas School of Music in 2014. This private institution aims to elevate the impact of artistic education in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where he resides. Rojas is committed to making a positive difference in his community by nurturing young orchestras throughout the Metroplex. He is also recognized as an International Bösendorfer Artist and a Yamaha Artist.
Eduardo has served as a collaborative pianist and a coach for various organizations, including Fort Worth Opera, Southern Methodist University, and Dallas Chamber Symphony. He has collaborated with musicians such as Gary Levinson, Simon Gollo, Santiago Canon, and Allan Steele, among many others. Currently, he holds the position of Artistic Director at the International Music Festival in Popayan, Colombia.
Daphne Gerling enjoys an active career teaching, performing, and writing about the viola. From Amsterdam to Vietnam, and New Zealand to Costa Rica, Daphne’s travels have taken her to 38 universities around the United States, and to 16 countries overseas. She has been a summer fellow at Lincoln Center Education in New York, and performed on baroque viola with the Washington Bach Consort. Her dissertation, “Connecting Histories: Identity and Exoticism in the 1919 Viola Works of Ernest Bloch, Rebecca Clarke and Paul Hindemith (2007) led to her involvement in the 20/19 project.
Praised by the Strad for her “enterprising programming” her debut recording, “Encircling”, is released on the Acis label. It features lesser-known works by female composers active at the time of the 1919 Coolidge competition, and was presented as a featured recital at the International Viola Congresses in Thailand in 2023 and Brazil in 2024. Dr. Gerling studied viola, vocal performance, and historical musicology at Oberlin, CIM, and Rice.
She is deeply grateful to have been mentored by viola professors Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Karen Ritscher, and James Dunham, and to have served as their graduate teaching assistant throughout her degrees. She undertook further studies with Heidi Castleman, Victoria Chiang, Joan DerHovsepian, Thomas Riebl, and Simon Rowland-Jones. She completed long-term Suzuki teacher training in Books 1-4 with Teri Einfeldt, and books 5-9 with Elizabeth Stuen-Walker, and loves working with pre-college students. Dr. Gerling’s students currently hold teaching and performing positions throughout the United States, Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. She is Assistant Professor of Viola at the University of North Texas, and President-Elect of the American Viola Society.
She also serves on the boards of the International Viola Society, and the Brazilian Viola Society. Her website is www.daphnegerling.com
Kaitlin Hopkins is an award-winning actress, director, producer, and educator and has
performed on and off Broadway, on national and international tours, and in film and
television for more than 30 years. In 2009, she created the BFA musical theatre program at
Texas State University. Hopkins is the proud creator and CEO of Fontus Dry Mouth
Lozenges. In addition, she is the Co-Founder of Living Mental Wellness, a holistic,
evidence-based company that offers educational programs to enhance mental wellness for
performing artists through an integrated scientific life skills model.
Born in Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Diana Sánchez, a faculty member of the Peabody Preparatory of Johns Hopkins University, has developed an international career as a violinist. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the New Horizons Symphony in New Mexico (2017) and the Ibague Symphony Orchestra in Colombia (2019). She has toured internationally with the Colombian Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Mexico State University Philharmonic Orchestra, the National University of Colombia Symphony Orchestra, and the Bogotá Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Music Program
Instrumentalists and vocalists at New England Music Camp spend their mornings in four one-hour periods of music taught by a prestigious faculty of professional performers and educators from universities, colleges, and highly recognized public and private school music programs. A 4:1 faculty to student ratio provides an environment rich in sharing and learning. Students and their teachers at home often remark that “one summer of music at NEMC is like a year at home”!
Campers at New England Music Camp design their own schedules, choosing from a wide range of classes. The weekly schedule includes two one half-hour private lessons, with the option to add additional lesson time, and participation in one or more of the major performing groups. Public performances take place on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm at our outdoor amphitheater, the Bowl-in-the-Pines.
NEMC Employment
Snow Pond Center for the Arts is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Snow Pond Center for the Arts makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.
Faculty
Faculty members at New England Music Camp are carefully chosen for both their achievements as professional performers and their recognition for excellence in teaching. We live in a close knit community where we dine family style and many of our faculty enjoy joining the campers on the recreation fields.
Click on the appropriate department below to read faculty bios.
News & Updates
Snow Pond Music Festival and New England Music Camp Announce Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator and Associate Camp Director