Our Teachers

Liz is the Founder of Musical Folk with locations in New Haven, North Haven, Branford, Cheshire & Milford offering the Music Together programs. Liz was a native of County Meath, Ireland and made her home in Hamden, CT.  Liz played a variety of instruments, including guitar, ukulele, bódhran (Irish drum) and banjo and has recorded 3 CDs.  She had a wonderful energetic and bubbly personality that you and your child will love.

Liz had been involved with music her whole life, starting at a young age while living in Ireland and had continued her passion for music on stages here in the US. She was a well known folk/celtic singer and had sang throughout the US with the Acclaimed Irish Traditional all female group “Cherish the Ladies”, and then her own folk band here in the CT area called "The Crickstones".  Liz had recorded 3 albums "Grand Central Station" (Folk/Irish), "Tiny Lights" (Lullaby Album), and "The Crickstones" (Americana/Folk) which are available on all streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music etc).  

Liz was assistant manager at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for 10 years, where she gained immense experience during her tenure there & also worked at Music Together of Fairfield County managing their office for 5 years. Her business experience combined with her passion for music & The Music Together Program allowed her to open Musical Folk in New Haven County where she gots to make music everyday.

For more information on Liz's band visit www.lizmc.com.

Christina joined the Music Together family after participating in the program for two years with her son, Cooper. His enthusiastic response to the Music Together songs and the positive impact on his emerging vocabulary and musicality has brought such joy to their family music making. Christina now enjoys making music with Cooper and her daughter, Cecelia who has benefitted from constant music-making from birth!

Prior to her adventures as a mom of two (and having a child with special needs), Christina spent nine years in arts administration and fundraising at Long Wharf Theatre. Music has always been a part of her life - singing in choirs from elementary school through college, musical theatre performances, church choirs since childhood, a dozen years of voice lessons, and sixteen years of performance with the New Haven Chorale. Christina is honored to teach the Music Together program and to share her love to music and singing with so many wonderful families! 

Christina teaches our Babies classes and our Mixed Age classes and is a Co-Director.

Contact Christina at [email protected]

See all of Christina's classes HERE

Alicia’s Music Together journey began in 2015, soon after the birth of her son.  Long before she discovered the joys of Music Together, she always had a special relationship with music.  Some of her earliest and happiest memories are being gathered around the piano as a child, singing and harmonizing Christmas carols with her family.  Her father had a large impact on her; he was a music teacher and aficionado who taught her to appreciate a wide range of music. 

As she grew, she continued to love and study music.  She took piano lessons for 13 years.  She participated in dance competitions and spent many weekends traveling to various parts of the country to dance.  She learned to play many other instruments, as well, including the flute and piccolo.  She was in her high school marching, jazz, and concert band as well as all types of choirs.  When she got to college, her major was computer forensics but she continued her relationship with music.  She performed in many musicals in college including Godspell, Cinderella, and Bye Bye Birdie.  Most recently, she has begun learning to play the ukulele. 

Music Together has allowed her the opportunity to explore her love of music with her two children, Connor and Amelia.  Both of them have attended many Music Together classes and have developed a love of music along with her. Alicia's energetic and enthusiastic teaching style makes her so engaging to children and adults alike. 

Alicia teaches Mixed-Age classes, Babies, and  Rhythm Kids^®.  She is a Co-Director and then office manager.

Contact Alicia at [email protected]

See all of Alicia's classes HERE

Rashele’s love of music began in a childhood home (and car) filled with music by a DJ dad who also loves to sing – whether he knows all the words or not! One of her favorite games as a child during family road trips was competing with her family to be the first to guess the next song coming up on her dad’s R&B mix tape in the car stereo from just the first few notes.

Rashele has been making music all her life - singing herself to sleep on long car rides, engaging in short stints with piano and oboe lessons and singing in church choirs and music teams for many years. She has honed a love for hearing and making harmonies through practice with everything from old school R&B to Contemporary Christian and Gospel music to beloved Disney songs. Growing up, she also participated in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, ethnic, pointe and hip-hop dance classes, further building her musical ear and rhythm development. She later went on to join the liturgical dance ministry at her church while attending medical school and to teach tap and ballet classes to preschool and elementary-aged children in a Christian Dance Academy.

Her favorite stage, by far, has been introducing her daughter Hannah to the joy of music, including taking Mixed Ages and Rhythm Kids^® classes together for multiple semesters at Musical Folk. They love to have musical fun together at home! Rashele was even inspired to begin to learn playing the ukulele herself when Hannah wanted to sign up for lessons with Miss Liz. When she realized that she did not want her Music Together journey to end when Hannah reaches the upper age limit for Rhythm Kids^® classes, Rashele decided to become a Music Together teacher to share her own love of music – and her high silly quotient! - with other children and families. She is thrilled to join the team and can’t wait to make more musical memories. 

To see all of Rahele's classes - click here

Alyssa is ecstatic to be teaching the Music Together curriculum and working with our youngest music makers! She loves building up the energy in the room, strumming her ukulele, playing with contrast and anticipation, and being extra silly to fully engage children and their grownups. Alyssa also integrates American Sign Language (ASL) in her classes, with first-hand experience modeling for her son who wears a cochlear implant.

Alyssa joined the Musical Folk Family in 2017 while attending classes with her oldest daughter. She discovered classes were intensely bonding for them both, and was enthusiastic about extending the fun at home. She currently still attends with her son in Cheshire, and loves every minute of it!

Alyssa’s musical journey began as a young child attending music classes with her mom. She began teaching herself piano in middle school and went on to formally take lessons for six years. However, the largest influence was her father, who shared his love of classic rock in the car and at home, showcased his latest vinyl collections, and booked concert outings. She attended college in Atlanta, where she joined as a vocalist in her church band. In that time, she taught herself guitar and dabbled in songwriting while studying abroad. Fun Fact: she bought a djembe drum at a street market in Turkey and began trying it out right away…eventually passerby started leaving coins and the shop owner gave her a headdress to draw customers!

She is known by friends for her animal impersonations, with hilariously precise sheep and monkey sounds, and loves putting those skills to use in class! Her dynamic theatrics and soothing lullabies on the ukulele offer a rich musical experience. Alyssa supports the continuation of children’s development from our mixed-age classes to Rhythm Kids^® to expanding on musical expression in Ms. Liz’s ukulele classes.

It is her privilege and joy to bring families together in a live music-making experience each week!

To see all of Alyssa's Classes - Click HERE

Danielle is new to the teaching team but not to Music Together. Before becoming a mother of three boys, she nannied for two girls, totaling her involvement with the program to be over 13 years!

She is incredibly humbled to be working, side by side, with the teachers who have helped bring so many milestones to her own children. Danielle has three sons, Ronan, Zealand, and Gryffin who are all diagnosed with Autism. Their involvement with Music Together has complimented their development beautifully. This program is one of the only activities her children have taken to, on and off, the “Music Together” floor. It is only natural she would want to give back to a program who has given her family so much.

Danielle worked for Walt Disney World for seven years, is a Cub Scout Leader for her oldest son, and is also a Certifed Cruise Counsellor, specializing in planning Walt Disney World and cruise vacations for families traveling with special needs. She is an avid theater fan and has been in numerous theater productions over the years. Fun Fact: She met her husband in a production of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Danielle is proud to come into this new role as a parent who has been freshly in your shoes. This program has taught her how vital the parental role is in our children’s music development. She is downright giddy to share this joyful information with other parents.

To see all of Danielle's Classes - Click HERE

Crissy is thrilled to be joining the family at Music Together!  Growing up outside of New Haven, Connecticut, Crissy began singing at the age of 7 in musical theater and opera. She studied bel canto technique with her grandmother, a professional opera singer.  She was inspired by a family of musicians ranging from classical to jazz and rock.

Starting at age 13, Crissy began studying piano.  She wrote her first instrumental piano composition at age 16.  She obtained a B.A. in Music at SCSU where she studied piano, voice and composition. While attending college, she played keyboard and sang background vocals in a “bubblegum garage punk-pop” band called, The Battlecats and was voted Best Band in Connecticut.  She did coursework in a Master’s Degree in Music Composition at the University of Portland in Oregon, then opportunities presented themselves and she moved back East to pursue her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. 

After recording her first demo 4 Songs she created a band and played across the East Coast.  She then moved to Los Angeles to record with a Grammy-winning producer and performed throughout L.A.  Her first full-length album, Safer in the Dark, features a song currently licensed on various streaming services, including Peacock, HULU and Apple TV.  Her latest album, Cover, is available for streaming on Spotify and other streaming services.  

She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Music Education: K-12 at the University of Bridgeport and is teaching private voice lessons.  She lives with her husband and 2 year old daughter Francesca who loves to play the drums!  Crissy is an enthusiastic and committed new teacher who can’t wait to engage with kiddos and parents alike!  

Kim comes to Music Together with a love for music, young children, and their families.  Kim has been a certified Music Together teacher since 2013, back after a hiatus for graduate school and raising babies.  Kim’s main instrument is voice, but she also plays guitar and basic piano.  Kim’s background includes A cappella in college.

Kim holds a Master’s degree in Special Education (Early Childhood Concentration) from Southern Connecticut State University as well as a BA degrees in Psychology and Music from Fairfield University.  Kim has taught Pre-K for 13 years, spending the last 8 years teaching Pre-K/Special Education within Cheshire Public Schools.  “Miss Kim’s guitar” is a highlight of her student’s pre-k year time and again, and she loves growing a love for music in preschoolers.

Kim has two boys, aged 6 and 3, who enjoyed many semesters of Music Together! The Ambrose family has many family memories that include MT songs, such as a very long car ride to NC in their “Little Blue Car” or endless belly laughs to “Inanay” on the changing pad.  Kim can’t wait to help your family experience the joy of Music Together!