Mr. Roberto Gandara is a graduate of the University of Michigan (BM) and the Juilliard School (MM).  He is a founding member of the Gabrieli Brass, with whom he has toured, world-wide, and has taught music performance on four continents.  In addition to his teaching duties, which include being a  faculty member of the Juilliard School's MAP Division, he is a member of King's Brass and an associate trumpet player with the Metropolitan Opera.  Mr. Gandara has also worked as a clinician, specializing in brass instruments, at New York's Celia Cruz High School, LaGuardia School of the Arts, and the Robert F. Wagner Middle School. He has also been a Teaching Artist for the Harlem School of the Arts, Third Street Music School Settlement and the Bronx Arts Ensemble. 

Mr. Uthman Ebrahim is a professional dancer and educator who has been teaching in New York City for ten years. He trained in ballet and modern dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he received his High School Diploma and BFA. He went on to receive an MS in Childhood Education from Touro College and an MS in Dance Education from CUNY Hunter College. As a professional dancer, Ebrahim has toured internationally with Sensedance and Complexion Contemporary Ballet. Ebrahim was awarded the Astor Fellowship in 2016 where he was chosen as an ambassador for the NYC Department of Education in Australia. In 2017, Hunter College honored Ebrahim with the opportunity to perform and teach in Camaguey, Cuba with the Windows Project led by Pedro Ruiz. Ebrahim is very excited to teach ballet and modern dance at Renaissance School of the Arts.

Ms. Vickie Byron is an artist who paints figurative and urban subjects. She received her B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and her M.F.A. in painting from Queens College, City University of New York. She has exhibited her paintings in galleries and museums across the country. This is Ms. Byron’s ninth year teaching middle school. Her students have won many awards, scholarships, and prizes, and their artwork has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Queens Museum, Morgan Library Museum, Casita Maria Center for Art, New York City Hall, and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Center. Their work has been published in exhibition catalogs, newspapers, posters, postcards, and online newsletters. Ms. Byron’s students have gained acceptance into the city’s best art high schools including Laguardia School of Music, Art, & Performing Arts, the High School of Art and Design, and Frank Sinatra School of the Arts.