Mentors & Staff

RSSoM STAFF

Walter Bitner

Musician and writer Walter Bitner is the Director of Education & Community Engagement for the Richmond Symphony. He has led a multi-faceted career as a teacher and performer; Walter is a multi-instrumentalist and singer, teacher, arranger/composer, and conductor. He has performed and studied a wide variety of music from nearly all periods of the Western art music tradition, rock, and jazz on piano, harpsichord, lute, recorder, and as a singer.

His teaching career from 1991 – 2014 spanned public and private schools in New York, Florida, and Nashville — from Kindergarten through 12th grade — and included a broad array of music education formats including general music, choir, strings, piano, and music theory. He taught at alternative and progressive schools, traditional college preparatory schools, and a public arts magnet high school. He is Conductor Emeritus of Music City Youth Orchestra, which he founded and directed from 2007 – 2012.

From 2014 to 2019, he served as Director of Education & Community Engagement for the Nashville Symphony, where he established the award-winning Accelerando program designed to prepare gifted young students of diverse backgrounds for pursuing music at the collegiate level and beyond.

Walter holds a B.A. from Charter Oak State College, CT, and he completed his teacher certification training in both vocal and instrumental music at Belmont University in Nashville. Walter speaks regularly about music, education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion at regional and national conferences, and he writes extensively on these topics for national magazines, professional associations, and on his website Off The Podium at walterbitner.com.

RSSoM STAFF

Jennifer Tobin

Jennifer Tobin is a recent graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she earned a Master’s degree in flute performance. While at McGill, she performed with the McGill Symphony Orchestra, advised undergraduate music education students as a teaching assistant, and initiated the school’s first ever Flute Day, bringing together international artists for master classes and workshops. Concurrent to her studies, Jennifer also earned an executive graduate certificate in social entrepreneurship from the Global Leaders Program (GLP), which aims to use music as a means of social change. In January of 2020, Jennifer co-organized and taught at a flute festival in Santiago, Chile, completing GLP fieldwork as one of 45 international cohort members. She has previously honed her studies in programs at the Eastman School of Music, Carnegie Mellon University, Orford Music Academy in Quebec, and at the Conservatoire Paul Dukas in Paris. Jennifer has performed professionally as a member of the Eastern Wind Symphony and Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.

A New Jersey native, Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s degree in music education from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), where she graduated as valedictorian in 2014. She enjoyed a career in public school education as a middle school band director in Edison, NJ. Jennifer has coached chamber ensembles, marching band sectionals, and maintains an active private flute studio.

RSSoM STAFF

Jonathan Sanford

Jonathan Sanford is RSSoM’s Registrar and Program Manager and plays a number of roles to ensure the Richmond Symphony’s education programs run smoothly. Some of his main duties include creating and monitoring registration systems, social media, and websites; maintaining communication with constituents; distributing information about education programs to the community; and setting up and running events and rehearsals. The Education team has been hard at work creating and managing the Richmond Symphony School of Music in order to continue providing music education to the community, even during a time of social distancing. Jonathan earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology as well as a music minor from James Madison University, where he was a member of Dr. Andrew Lankford’s trombone studio.

Jonathan’s career in arts administration began at James Madison University’s Forbes Center for the Performing Arts as a House Manager and Box Office worker. Since then he has worked in a number of performing arts venues and organizations including Central City Opera (Central City, CO), Dairy Center for the Arts (Boulder, CO), Richmond Ballet, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (Norfolk, VA).

RSSoM STAFF

Marcey W. Leonard

Marcey W. Leonard, a Richmond, VA native, has been the Admissions Assistant for VCUarts Music since January 2017. Marcey holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a concentration in arts business and development from Virginia Commonwealth University (2019) and loves that with her work, she can give back to the department and community that gave so much to her. Besides communicating with prospective students and their parents during the admissions/audition process, Marcey organizes and produces VCUarts Music Shadow Days, a recruitment program designed to help prospective students get a glimpse of life as a VCUarts Music student. In addition, she helps current students navigate the “day-to-day” of college life in the music department with support and encouragement.

In early 2020, Marcey was appointed Dean of Students for Wintergreen Music. With the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Marcey became part of the team that created and managed the innovative Wintergreen Music Online Community. In this reinvented role, she assisted with concert operations, program proofing, and social media planning and monitoring. Previously, she worked as a supervisor for Kings Dominion’s Festival of Music, and for 14 years as Camp Administrator/Co-Director for Mid-Atlantic Camps, Inc. She administered the Greater Richmond Youth Wind Ensemble (GRYWE) at its inception and was co-director of the VCU Honors High School Music Institute. She began playing the flute at age 10, performs regularly at churches and other venues in the Richmond area, and is a member of Commonwealth Winds.

RSSoM STAFF

Anita Williams

Anita Williams is a violist, educator, and arts administrator passionate about making arts education more accessible. She holds a BM in viola performance from Shenandoah University where she studied under Doris Lederer, and is currently working towards a MS in Performing Arts Leadership Management. As a performer, Anita is passionate about expanding the classical music canon, and works extensively with young composers through commissions and reading sessions. She also enjoys musical theatre, and has been a member of the pit orchestra for the Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre (SSMT) since 2017.

As a member of the RSSoM team, Williams works primarily with the Youth Orchestra Program through operations and administrative support. She also acts as the Youth Orchestra Librarian -maintaining the music collection, as well as preparing and distributing music across all ensembles for each concert cycle. Prior to joining the RSSoM team, Anita served several positions in administrative capacities for the arts, namely within patron services at SSMT and in education with partnerships with the Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy.

Anita continues to be an active educator outside of RSSoM. She particularly enjoys coaching young string ensembles and leading sectionals for middle schools, high schools, and youth orchestras. Anita maintains a private studio of violin and viola students, and strives to make music making a joyful experience while pushing for technical excellence.

RSSoM STAFF

Caitlin Barry

Caitlin Barry is Project Manager and Lead Instructor for the Richmond Symphony’s new Youth Community Strings program, which launches Fall 2023. A violinist and music educator, she brings nearly two decades of teaching experience to her position. Caitlin began playing the violin, learning the Suzuki method, at age five. She received her degree in Music Education from VCU, also completing Suzuki Teacher Training. She started teaching violin privately while in college and has run a successful Suzuki violin studio since. She has also had teaching experiences in both public and private school programs. Caitlin launched a sought-after violin program at Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts from 2015 through 2018. Previously, Caitlin taught Music Together classes for Richmond Public School Preschools, working with nearly 300 children each week.

An active performer, Caitlin performs with RVAStrings, an ensemble composed mostly of string teachers in the Richmond area. She also plays fiddle with her brother, singer-songwriter and frontman for the band AVAIL, Tim Barry. Caitlin’s two daughters are learning to play the violin. Daughter Grace has played in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program for the last three years.