Staff List

Lisa Foss — Program Manager

Lisa is the continuing Program Manager for Wesleyan's Center for Creative Youth. She has led the program since 2014, when it was a program of the Capitol Region Education Council. She was the Education Director of Hartford Children’s Theatre for many years, designing programs, as well as teaching, and directing shows for both the Education Department and the Main Stage. In 2012, those programs transfered to Hartford Stage, and Lisa  continued as the Children’s Theatre Implementation Manager. She has also designed and led programs for Three Rivers Community College, The Garde Arts Center, UCONN Community School of the Arts, Spirit of Broadway Theatre and others. She has been the Board President for Chestnut Street Playhouse since 2015. Lisa continues to direct, choreograph and perform at every opportunity. She earned her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in Musical Theatre (summa cum laude.) Lisa has been a proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association since 1995.

Noah Baerman — Music 

Pianist/composer Noah Baerman studied at Rutgers University in the 1990s under Kenny Barron. Since then he has produced nine CDs as a bandleader featuring all-star sidemen such as Ron Carter, Ben Riley, Steve Wilson, Robin Eubanks and Barron himself. These albums have included the Martin Luther King tribute “Soul Force,” the suite “Know Thyself” (created with a "New Works" grant from Chamber Music America/Doris Duke Foundation) and “Patch Kit,” which raised awareness and funds for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (an incurable connective tissue disorder with which he was born) and led to Marian McPartland’s invitation to be a guest on Piano Jazz. His most recent release is the widely acclaimed “Ripples,” which features both the Jazz Samaritan Alliance and Baerman’s jazz chamber octet. An active educator, he has penned nine instructional books published by the Alfred Publishing Company. He lives in Connecticut and teaches at institutions including Wesleyan University, where he directs the Jazz Ensemble. He also serves as Artistic Director of the non-profit Resonant Motion, Inc., an organization committed to the intersection of music and positive change.

Brian Jennings - Musical Theater 

Bio pending...

 

Diana Moller-Marino — Theater 

Diana is Associate Professor at the Hartt School of Music, Dance and Theatre at the University of Hartford. Specializing in movement-based actor training techniques, Diana has taught master classes and residencies nationally and internationally for students, teachers and professional actors and dancers. Diana has been a Guest Teaching Artist at many institutions including: Wesleyan University, The University of Utah, Trinity College, Santa Barbara City College, Red Lotus Movement Center (Salt Lake City) and at the cultural centers on the islands of Santiago and San Vicente in Cape Verde, Africa. Diana was a core faculty member at The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts from 1993-2001. Diana holds a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in Theatre from Wesleyan University and a Master’s Degree in Directing from Emerson College.

Wesley Santiago - Visual Arts

Bio pending...