2026 Program Faculty

Each summer’s core team of faculty consists of five vocal coaches, five music directors, and several clinicians who work with each of our students to guide them through Songbook Academy Week in a personalized coaching capacity. 

Explore the 2026 lineup of artists from all corners of the music industry who will be working with our students!

Don't forget to check out our guest mentor reveals too!

Core Faculty
 

CAELAN CARDELLO - Music Director

Born and raised in Teaneck, NJ, Caelan Cardello has been playing piano since the age of 5. He grew up studying jazz and classical separately, and was performing professionally by the age of 16. He attended Jazz House Kids for 7 years, and was given opportunities to learn from the greatest jazz mentors and play on stages like Dizzy's Club, The Jazz Standard, and the Newport Jazz Festival.
 
Caelan has performed with Christian McBride, Joe Farnsworth, Jimmy Cobb, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Bill Charlap and Rufus Reid, to name a few. He was selected as one of 5 finalists in the prestigious 2023 American Pianists Association Jazz competition. Caelan graduated from William Paterson University with a bachelor’s in Jazz Performance in 2022 and just graduated this year with his master’s degree from the Juilliard School. He regularly plays in NYC leading his own bands or as a sideman, and tours around the country frequently. 

LA TANYA HALL - Vocal Coach

La Tanya Hall’s versatility in a variety of musical genres has allowed her to travel the world and work with some of the world’s most celebrated artists, including Steely Dan, Seal, Diana Ross, Bobby McFerrin, Michael McDonald, Quincy Jones, Rob Thomas, Michael Feinstein, Patti Labelle, Harry Belafonte, Steve Tyrell and Aretha Franklin. She has also appeared as a solo artist in her own right with the American Composers Orchestra, The Denver Symphony, and the St. Louis Symphony and at jazz clubs around the world. Her last record, Say Yes (Blue Canoe Records) debuted in November of 2020 and has garnered rave reviews, including being named one of the top ten vocal jazz albums for 2020. Her new release, Pretty Eyes, will debut in August.

Hall is also an active educator, teaching clinics in Basel, Switzerland for the Stimmen (Voice) Festival, as well as teaching master classes on vocal performance and the Great American Songbook for various institutions in the US. She created the first vocal jazz degree program at Oberlin Conservatory nine years ago and continues to teach there as an associate professor of jazz voice. In addition, she was an adjunct professor at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan for 12 years.

La Tanya is an accomplished actress, having lent her skills to numerous voice-over projects, Broadway shows, movie and television appearances. TV shows include Blue Bloods (Sabine Winston), Law & Order, 100 Centre Street, The Sopranos and Now and Again. Broadway and theater appearances include Cotton Club Parade with jazz master Wynton Marsalis; the role of Deena in the last national tour of Dreamgirls; Promises, Promises for City Center Encore Series; and Sally in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden.

For more information about La Tanya Hall, visit www.latanyahall.com.

MICHAEL HANLEY - Vocal Technique Clinician

 
Michael Hanley is an Associate Professor of Voice at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he teaches applied voice for both classical and musical theatre degree programs and serves as the Program Director of the Vocal/Choral Intensive. A sought-after pedagogue recognized for his expertise in vocal cross-training, Hanley maintains thriving private studios in Boston and New York. His students perform on and off-Broadway, in national tours, and in regional opera and musical theatre productions, alongside winning national competitions and gaining acceptance into top-tier pre-professional programs.
 
An active clinician and researcher, Hanley frequently presents on multi-style pedagogy at prestigious national conferences, including NATS, the Fall Voice Conference, and the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop. At the Eastman School of Music, he co-created and presents the summer teacher training workshop Schubert to Sondheim: Pedagogy for the Male Voice. As an active concert and operatic baritone, his performance highlights include the baritone solos in Carmina Burana and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, alongside roles at the Aspen Music Festival, including Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette. Hanley holds a B.M. from the Eastman School of Music, an M.M. from Penn State University, and was a selected participant in the NATS Intern Program.

JEFF HARRIS - Music Director

Jeff Harris is equally at home as a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and lyricist. He has worked with such diverse singers as Bernadette Peters, Maureen McGovern, Chaka Khan, Jack Jones, Barbara Cook, Marilyn Maye, Lea Salonga, Michael Feinstein, Freda Payne, Karen Akers, and Cleo Laine. His longest association has been with Maureen Mcgovern, playing and arranging seven of her CDs (co-producing her most recent “You Raise Me Up”), writing many songs for her (she has recorded seventeen including “Why Can’t I Forget?”), and appearing with her frequently on television, in concerts, and by request of President George H.W. Bush at The White House.
 
Mr. Harris has worked extensively on Broadway as both pianist and conductor in the shows GYPSY (directed by Arthur Laurents; starring Patti Lupone), ON THE TOWN (both revivals), CHICAGO, FOSSE, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and CRAZY FOR YOU. Jeff Harris is a frequent guest as a pianist and conductor with many of the leading symphony orchestras including the Boston, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, National, and was, for several years, the regular pianist for the New York Pops. Born in California to a musical family, Mr. Harris attended the University of Southern California on a full scholarship receiving his Bachelors of Music in Composition. He now makes his home in the New York City area.

BRANDON LOGAN - Vocal Coach

Melvin Brandon Logan is a New York City based song coach, director, performer, and educator. Brandon is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Marymount Manhattan College where he recently directed RENT and serves as the Musical Theatre Production Coordinator.

Stage credits include: The Doctor in The Book of Mormon (1st & 2nd Broadway National Tours), The St. Louis MUNY, Florida Studio Theatre, Arvada Center, The Marriott Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Signature Theatre. Brandon has appeared in concerts at Feinstein's/54 Below, The Triad Theatre, and was a Featured Soloist with The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Other Directing credits include The Caucasian Chalk Circle & First Daughter Suite at MMC, Northwestern University, The Triad Theatre, Unity Stage Company, Imagine Works Youth Theatre, Applause New York (Producing Artistic Director), and The American Music Theatre Project. Brandon has taught workshops, masterclasses and created curriculums for Musical Theatre College Auditions (MTCA), Marriott Theatre, Broadway Vocal Aspire, Marymount Manhattan College, UC Irvine, BroadwayEvolved, The Broadway Collective, Amy Murphy Studio, Broadway Method Academy, Actors Training Center, and the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development.

Brandon earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he was awarded the Laurie Beechman Award for Vocal Excellence in Musical Theatre and has been a returning Guest Artist for their College Prep Program. Proud member of AEA & MTEA

MICHAEL MALIAKEL - Vocal Coach

MICHAEL MALIAKEL (pronounced “MOLLY-uh-kell”) recently finished a year as Nick Carraway in the new Broadway musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby on Broadway. Michael's spent three years as the title role in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway, leading the show through its 10th anniversary celebration. A trailblazing Indian-American performer, Michael was the featured guest artist in “Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir,” PBS’s widely-viewed annual television special. He also performed on two other PBS concert specials: “Broadway’s Brightest Lights,” alongside Megan Hilty, and “An Evening with Lerner and Loewe” with the American Pops Orchestra. Michael's other stage highlights include The Phantom of the Opera (National Tour), Titanic (NY City Center's Encores), Prince Eric in Disney's The Little Mermaid (MUNY), Sunset Boulevard (Kennedy Center), and Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Rep). Michael’s on-screen work includes roles on CBS’ “BULL” and “FBI,” "Before" alongside Billy Crystal (Apple TV+), as well as appearances on "Good Morning America" and "The View."

A classically-trained multi-genre vocalist, Michael has performed with orchestras across the country including the National Philharmonic, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Greenville Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, Asheville Symphony, American Pops Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He has received top awards from the American Traditions Vocal Competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition, and the NATS National Music Theater Competition. @michaelmaliakel

BECKIE MENZIE - Music Director

Beckie Menzie has appeared at the legendary Carnegie Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center and Birdland in New York, Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre and the Ravania Festival, as well as at concert halls and art series across the country. Hailed by Chicago’s WGN Radio as “indispensible to Chicago cabaret,” Beckie was featured in Michael Feinstein’s Now & Then Series for her Carnegie Hall debut. She has been featured at many Mabel Mercer Cabaret Conventions in New York, The Hamptons, and in Chicago, as well as performances for the Chicago Humanities Festival, where she has served as a performer, director and musical director.

She performs regularly with Tom Michael and as a duo they have toured their many concerts across the country, including Carnegie Hall’s 100th birthday celebration for Cole Porter, they’ve performed with the Rich Daniel’s City Light’s Orchestra and headlined with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and others including the Racine Symphony and the Danville Symphony. Beckie is one third of the GIRLS LIKE US group that includes Laura Freeman and Marianne Murphy Orland. Beckie is the co-host for Monday Night Live at Petterinos and is an award-winning songwriter who coaches Chicago’s young musical talent.

For more info please visit www.beckiemenzie.com.

KENNY SHEPARD - Choreographer

Kenny Shepard (AEA, SDC, AAUP) writes, directs, and choreographs projects starring Grammy, Tony, Emmy, Obie and Drama Desk award winners as well as American Idol stars. He is also an on-camera choreographer for Broadway Jr. and their Disney Collection used in theatres and classrooms worldwide. Most recently, Kenny choreographed Jasmine Amy Rogers’ live concert Where I Wanna Be filmed for PBS. Kenny is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Ball State University and has fellow students with credits including Broadway, National Tours, So You Think You Can Dance, and America’s Got Talent. Kenny directs and choreographs at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, produces ESQUE Burlesque at Feinstein’s, and was named Broadway World’s “Best Choreographer” for his work on The Rocky Horror Show. His performance credits include Off-Broadway, Atlantic City, Branson, the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, and over 100 professional regional productions including Virginia Opera’s Oklahoma! (dream ballet), CATS (Munkustrap), The Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow), La Cage Aux Folles (Hanna), and many more. Other credits include NCL and RCL world cruise ships touring the Americas, Africa, Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia, and Disney World/Hollywood Studios’ Beauty and the Beast where he performed in multiple tracks including Belle’s Prince in over 1,500 performances. Kenny is an adjudicator for the Junior Theatre Festivals, the Miss America Organization, dance and show choir competitions, and the NFL Colts Cheerleaders. Kenny is a graduate of Butler University with a BS in arts administration and dance.

Instagram:@kennydshepard