Joshua Garver (Josh) began learning violin in 4th grade in his neighborhood public school system. Beginning private lessons in 6th grade, Josh studied violin, chamber music, and music theory at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and the Eastman Community Music School. He was also a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. His primary teachers during his youth include Amy Murrell, Dr. Andrea Dawson, and Dr. Lee Wilkins. In 2006, Joshua attended Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, pursuing a degree in Instrumental Music Education with an emphasis in strings. There, Joshua was fortunate enough to study with string pedagogues Dr. Brenda Brenner and Mimi Zweig. He began his teaching career in 2008 under Dr. Brenner’s tutelage at the Fairview Violin Project. In 2011, Joshua graduated and moved to Boston to begin his work as an El Sistema Resident Artist at Conservatory Lab Charter School. He completed his Masters of Music in Music Education at Boston University in 2017. Joshua currently teaches Middle School Strings at Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, MA and teaches privately through Conservatory at Highlands and his own studio, Spy Pond Strings. Recently, Josh has been appointed Co-Artistic Director of Longy School of Music’s Side-by-Side Program.
As a violinist, Josh has performed with several community orchestras in the Greater Boston area, including the Brookline Symphony Orchestra and the Me2/Orchestra. Joshua currently serves as Concertmaster of the Me2/Orchestra. Josh is a frequent contributor to the Virtual Video Game Orchestra.
Joshua currently lives in Arlington, MA with his wife, son and cat.
Jared L. Cassedy is the K-12 Performing Arts Coordinator for Lexington Public Schools in Lexington, Massachusetts where he oversees and supports all music and dramatic arts programming and curriculum development in collaboration with the performing arts teachers, and also conducts the LHS Wind Ensemble. He is also the conductor of the Junior Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble at New England Conservatory of Music’s Preparatory School, an adjunct faculty member teaching Conducting for students enrolled in The Longy School of Music’s in-person Masters of Music in Music Education degree program, and is one of the Artistic Directors for The Longy School of Music’s Side-by-Side Program. Jared is the 2015 recipient of the prestigious GRAMMY Music Educator Award furnished by the GRAMMY Museum (formerly Foundation) and The Recording Academy and has most recently been named a 2022 National Music Teacher of Excellence by the Country Music Association (CMA) Foundation. He is currently the President-Elect of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and is past-chairperson for the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Northeastern District. Jared is an active member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) serving on the Equity Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and the Council of Music Program Leaders. Prior to coming to Massachusetts, was the President Elect for the New Hampshire Music Educators Association (NHMEA).
Before coming to Massachusetts, Jared was the Director of K-12 Performing Arts for the Salem School District in Salem, NH and was the Director of K-12 Fine Arts and Director of Bands at Windham High School for the Windham School District, in Windham, NH. Through Jared’s continued collaboration with his students his ensembles have been selected to participate in a myriad of national and international festivals and performances including the National Concert Band Festival and NY Wind Band Festivals at Carnegie Hall in NYC, Festival of Gold at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, performances in Montreal and Quebec, Canada, and at the NAfME Eastern Division Conference in Hartford, CT. Most recently his wind ensemble has performed at the Pacific Basin International Music Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii (2023) and the Washington D.C. International Music Festival at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts (2024).
In 2011 the New Hampshire Band Directors Association named Jared the “Outstanding Young Band Director of the Year,” and he was nominated as New Hampshire Teacher of the Year in 2014. Jared is a highly sought after conductor for a myriad of regional honor bands throughout New England, given a variety of lectures on leadership and best practices in teaching across the country, and has participated in TEDx talking about his journey and philosophies through education. Most recently, Jared co-presented the session, “Fine Tuning Ensemble Culture and Why it Matters: Intentionally Creating a Positive Community through Conversation and Collaboration” at the International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Jared graduated Summa cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire – Durham where he received his Bachelors of Music degree in Music Education and has a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in Educational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. He is a member of NAfME, MMEA, NBA, and ASCD, and the prestigious Pi Lambda Theta Education Honors Society.
Dr. Erin Zaffini (DMA) is the Director of Teacher Education for Longy’s online and on-campus Master of Music Education degrees, where she teaches practicum seminar and licensure, and advises the master’s final project. She is also a faculty member for the University of New Hampshire’s Professional Development Department, where she teaches in-service teachers how to integrate music and movement into their classroom, as well as teaches Early Childhood Music and Movement. She has taught preK-8 general music, choral and instrumental music, and musical theater. She is an active clinician around the country, serves as the Eastern Division Representative for NAfME’s General Music Council, is the Collegiate Coordinator, General Music Chair and Mentor Program Coordinator for the New Hampshire Music Educators Association, and sits on the Advisory Committee for the Music Educators Journal. Dr. Zaffini is the project leader for instituting music educator mentor training within the Society for Music Teacher Education and the National Association for Music Education. She is the recipient of the Keene State College Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Performance Awards. She has recently published articles in General Music Today, Music Educators Journal, Qualitative Research in Music Education, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education.
