Laura Sabini grew up in a musical family where parties became jam sessions. She has sung various types of music including gospel, classical, a cappella, but her heart lies in jazz. A graduate of Trinity College in Psychology, Laura focused on counseling children. While living in Italy Laura continued to work with children, always using music as an educational tool. Upon returning to USA, Laura created Groovy Baby, combining her love of children with her passion for music. Using original jazz and blues songs, she taught interactive music education throughout the Boston area. With the success of Groovy Baby Laura was eager to train with the Center for Music and Young Children and began teaching Music Together^® in Cambridge and Brookline in 2000. Over the years, she has continued her commitment to offering the best in music education to the community: training teachers, and expanding to Cambridge, Brookline, Boston, Somerville, Charlestown, and Southie. Now the scope widens beyond Music Together, as GroovyBabyMusic offers new programs: Canta Y Baila Conmigo, and Rhythm Kids. While Laura's directorial duties beckon, her favorite place continues to be in the GroovyBabyMusic classroom: seeing her teacher's excel, children dancing, parents singing, families experiencing The Joy of Family Music^®....she can only beam!

Vanessa Trien comes to the Music Together® family after 13 years of experience performing as a singer and songwriter and working in the field of music education. After earning her Masters from Harvard University, she taught music at Cambridge Montessori School. Recently, she has produced various arts festivals around the Boston area. Now a mother herself, of 5 year old Ellis, and baby Laila, Vanessa is excited to share her love of music with families in the community. Check out Vanessa's CD of her original music, entitled, "Wash Away," at vanessatrien.com Vanessa enrichens her classes with her original kids songs. Her fabulous CD's of children’s music has won numerous awards and praise from parents and children alike. Check out HOT AIR BALLOON Vanessa's second CD, "Carnival Day" has also gotten rave reviews!
PARENTS' PRAISE FOR VANESSA

Michael Glashow grew up with music and movement all around him: along with his mother (a dancer), his father (a drummer), and his two sisters (who played piano, flute and saxophone), Michael (a singer and guitarist) was the youngest member of a very artistic family! While at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he studied music and served as music director of the award winning a cappella group Vocal Suspects. Since moving to Boston 5 years ago, Michael has been active in local musical theater as a music director, performer, and instrumentalist. He also teaches private lessons, performs professionally, and works as a Reiki healer. Making music with his niece and nephew inspired Michael to work with very young children. The combination of his calm demeanor, joyous vocals and guitar playing, and enthusiasm about teaching make him a wonderful member of our team. He is very excited to continue sharing his love of music and life with everyone in the Groovy Baby Music family.

PARENTS' PRAISE FOR MICHAEL!

Julie Rama has spent most of her life surrounded by music. She grew up in a
family of musicians, and was staging renditions of "The Sound of Music" in
her livingroom by age 5. After college, she was on her way to becoming an
opera singer, when she realized that she wanted to use her musical talents
in other ways. She recorded a CD of original songs and began performing at
clubs around the Boston area. Meanwhile, she also took a teaching position
at Echo Falls Preschool in Newton, MA, realizing that she could use music to
inspire and educate her preschoolers. Over the next eight years, Julie
learned many different ways to talk about and involve the children in music.
Her funky and downright goofy style is contagious; it helps her to draw her
students in and allows them to express their own musical creativity.
Currently, Julie is the music specialist at Echo Falls, plays in a folk/funk
band called Smooch, and spends lots of time "rocking out" with her 3 year
old son, Elias, and new baby, Kai. PARENTS' PRAISE FOR JULIE!

Jeff Jam is a friendly, goofy guy that sings and performs children’s songs
for kids of all ages. He travels all over Massachusetts, New England and the world with his acoustic guitar, bringing songs and smiles to children everywhere. Born in Massachusetts, Jeff Jam grew up watching Sesame Street, reading Dr. Seuss, and listening to The Beatles. Three of his favorite things are books, music and baseball. When he gets to sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame in a library, Jeff is in heaven.Jeff Jam’s debut CD, "Grin Happy Goofy Style," is now available. Containing 16 fun tunes (classic kids songs and originals) you will find yourself singing and dancing along, and playing it again…and again…and again! He is now working on his second CD, "Elephant Shoes!" Jeff leads a Sing-A-Long every Thursday morning from 11–11:30, at theStella Bella toy store in Porter Square,Cambridge. CHECK OUT THE MUSIC OF JEFF JAM!

PARENTS' PRAISE FOR JEFF!

Eric Bloom is a 29-yr old trumpet player that hails from Bristol, RI. In 2001 Eric enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music and while there, studied under Wynton Marsalis, Charles Schulter, Danilo Perez. After a couple of years of college, he was asked to do a 3-month contract to play aboard the famous Queen Mary 2, and has done 9 cruise ships since then.

After finishing cruise ships, Eric has performed at many of America’s most prestigious musical institutions such as the Blue note, Carnegie Hall, The Fillmore, and the Newport Jazz Festival. Along the way, Eric has also had the opportunity to perform for such luminaries as Larry David, Justin Timberlake, Bill Murray, The Rev. Al Sharpton, George Bush Sr., Joe Biden, the Gore family, and the Clinton family.

More recently, Eric has been a member of the Diane Birch band, a highly acclaimed singer-songwriter. With Diane, he has done tours in the US, Asia, and Europe and has been featured on national T.V. shows including the Today Show, David Letterman Show, Craig Ferguson Show, Carson Daly Show, Jimmy Kimmel Show, and the Conan O’Brian Show.

Since 2001, Eric has been a teaching piano and brass at many New England public and private schools. In addition, Eric and his wife travel to Australia twice a year, to visit her family and to work with the "Skat Kats", a children's musical group that was created to help raise money for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick, which supports children with brain tumors. Eric is finishing a bachelor's degree in music education at Rhode Island College. He has plans to get a masters degree in elementary education.

Eric is excited to teach for GroovyBabyMusic and we are thrilled to have such a proficient jazz musician on our team! CHECK OUT ERIC'S MUSIC HERE!

Barbara Brousal is a singer and songwriter who recorded and toured for seven years with the family folk band, Dan Zanes and Friends. Her original composition, “Queremos Bailar,” appears on their Grammy nominated album House Party. She has also released three CDs of original material, Breathing Down Your Neck (‘96), Pose While It Pops (‘00), and Just About Perfect (‘02). Barbara taught Spanish for 12 years in New York City before moving to Massachusetts. She now lives in Newton with her harmonica playing daughter, drum playing step-daughter and banjo learning husband.

CHECK OUT BARBARA's MUSIC HERE!

Bridget Curzi has always valued music in her life, and loves sharing it with children.
A graduate of UVM in Communications, she also studied Music Therapy at Berklee College of Music.
As a Music Specialist at Brimmer & May School, she spent her Summer leading musical lessons for children age 3-10, formulating her own lesson plans, and musical games, to keep learning fun. She also an ambassador for the organization Autism Speaks, and was a Preschool Instructional Assistant for a 3 year old autistic boy, where she used music, drama and dance to promote imaginative play and learning. Bridget has been a featured soloist and section leader at St. John's Methodist Church in Watertown, and currently plays fiddle and guitar in a cover band, with her dad! She is happy to be teaching Music Together classes with GroovyBabyMusic and the joy of music that she shares with her classes, make her an asset to our school!

Madeleine (Maddie) de Matteis Welch is the founder/creator of CANTA Y BAILA CONMIGO™ our Spanish music and movement program for children! She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Early on in life she developed her interest in music, theatre and languages. Maddie obtained her B.A. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University and her Masters in Bilingual Education from Boston University. She then worked as a bilingual teacher at the preschool and elementary levels in Chelsea and Framingham, Massachusetts for over 10 years. During that time she performed with Soundstage7, a mixed-voice a cappella vocal band. Maddie is currently a registered Music Together™ instructor and teaches after school Spanish classes, in addition to CANTA Y BAILA CONMIGO™. She is the mother of two bilingual children ages 5 and 8. CANTA Y BAILA CONMIGO™ is the product of Maddie’s passion for music, her vocation as a teacher and her personal commitment to transmit her language and culture to the next generation. We are thrilled to have Maddie join the GroovyBabyMusic family!

María Florencia (Flor) teaches our CANTA Y BAILA CONMIGO™ program. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she grew up in a musical family, listening to tangos and folk music. Ever since she was a little girl Flor showed a special interest in instruments and music and started studying guitar at the age of 10. When she was 16 she decided that music was going to be her life and career and started studying voice at the conservatory. Later, she fell in love with the Cello and has been studying and playing Cello ever since. She is currently furthering her studies at the New England Conservatory’s school of continuing education.

Flor studied Music Therapy at the University of Buenos Aires. While studying, she worked as a music teacher at kindergartens and schools for disabled children. From all that wonderful experience she realized how much she loved music education and she started to understand music not only as a purely artistic expression but also as a creative and communicative activity that can improve the life of everyone who can experience it. That is why she loves sharing her passion for music with children.
Before coming to the U.S., Flor sang and played music with several choirs and folk bands. In the U.S. she has been teaching Spanish for children using music as a tool to engage them in the Latin American culture. She has worked for the past year as an intern and assistant in the Canta y Baila Conmigo™ program. You will hear Flor’s beautiful voice and instrumental accompaniment on several songs in the upcoming CANTA Y BAILA CONMIGO™ CD collections. She is a wonderful asset to our GroovyBabyMusic teaching staff!

Greg Nikitas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications/Media in 2008 and has been working with children of all ages for the past five years. He toured Massachusetts for three summers performing Aesop's Fables and the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales with the Central Mass Repertory Theatre as an actor, singer and dancer. Greg studied voice at the Indian Hill Music School. His life revolves around music and he plays professionally both as a solo acoustic artist and as a member of a rock band. Greg learned to play the guitar and drums early in life and currently teaches private guitar lessons and early childhood classes. He has been teaching Music Together and Rhythm Kids since 2009. He loves to provide interactive entertainment at birthday parties and has even performed for the players’ children during Red Sox games at Fenway Park. Greg's energy is contagious and inspires children to enjoy music as much as he does! GroovyBabyMusic is thrilled to have Greg join our team teaching Rhythm Kids!

Chris Belden grew up in Bethesda, Maryland and started his musical journey on the saxophone at nine years old. He studied at Berklee College of Music with renowned instrumentalists like Dino Govoni, Ricordo Monzon and David Fiucczyski. Chris plays saxophone, flute, and percussion for a wide variety of groups and organizations including; the Emerson College music theatre department, the Boston Ballet’s Adaptive Dance Program for children with Down Syndrome and he performs locally with All of the Animals, the Gary Backstrom Band, the Grass Gypsys, and the Excited People. Chris is creative, fun and helps children discover their own creative energy! We are excited to have Chris teaching Rhythm Kids classes for GroovyBabyMusic!