April 2025 Newsletter: A New Monthly Look at OpporTUNEity

Introducing the Monthly Round-Up

Welcome to our new monthly newsletter! This newsletter will arrive at the beginning of each month as a companion to our weekly round-ups.

Each edition will highlight new grants, celebrate our talented team and the programs they lead, and share milestones from the communities we serve. We're grateful to have you with us on this new journey.

Here is what we’ve accomplished during the month of April:

Introducing The OpporTUNEity Songwriters Circle: A Creative Space for Music, Community, and Reintegration

Image: Songwriters Circle Instructor Dan DeCristofaro leads participants through a writing activity at Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Center.

At OpporTUNEity Music Connections, our mission is to provide ongoing support for individuals who have participated in our music classes during their time as incarcerated citizens. Created in response to the growing need for post-release assistance, our Songwriters Circle aims to help individuals reintegrate into society, reduce the risk of re-offending, and foster a sense of community through music.

Led by Teaching Artist Dan DeCristofaro and Harman Kaler, the Songwriters Circle meets weekly to provide a space for creative collaboration. Participants gather in a relaxed, casual space to write songs, share stories and musical ideas, and engage in meaningful dialogue that nurtures both their artistic development and personal growth.

This initiative is about building relationships, offering support, and helping individuals reconnect with themselves and their communities. Through the OpporTUNEity Songwriters Circle, we encouraging participants to express themselves creatively while forming bonds that can carry them through their journey of reintegration.

Join us at one of our weekly sessions:

Wednesdays at Open Sky Community Services, 288 Grove Street, Worcester, MA 01605, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Saturdays at Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Center, 25 Pleasant Street, Worcester, MA 01609, 1:00 - 2:30 PM

Whether you’re an experienced songwriter or just starting, all abilities are welcome.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Songwriters Circle Sign Up

Calling All OpporTUNEity Alumni!n

If you've taken part in our music programs for incarcerated citizens in the past, we invite you to reconnect through the Songwriters Circle using the "Sign Up" button above. This is your space to create, build community, and stay connected with fellow artists as you move forward. We’d love to see you there!

After School with the Joy of Music Program

Image: Inclusive Jazz Fundamentals Instructor Rhiannon Hurst guides Lincoln Street School students through a percussion activity.

For the 2024-2025 school year, we are excited to partner with the Joy of Music Program (JOMP) and the College of the Holy Cross to support our after-school youth programming. This school year marks a formal partnership with JOMP, stemming from our initial pilot program in the spring of 2024. We launched the JOMP pilot program with three Holy Cross students, one of whom – Rhiannon Hurst – has continued teaching OpporTUNEity students throughout the current school year.

We are deeply grateful to JOMP for providing a space through which we continue to strengthen our ongoing partnership with the Worcester Public Schools and Lincoln Street School. This year, we've offered weekly after-school music classes for eighteen students from Lincoln Street School, spanning from grades three through six.

This spring, we have run two main courses through the Joy of Music Program: Inclusive Jazz Fundamentals with Rhiannon Hurst and Creative Expressions with Catie Verostick, MT-BC. Each week, the students are divided into two groups, with each group spending an hour with both instructors.

This year, we continued to offer our Creative Expressions class to students from Lincoln Street School. Established in 2018 by our Founder/CEO and Director of Higher Ed Partnerships, Dr. Melissa Martiros, our partnership with Lincoln Street - through the Creative Expressions course and OpporTUNEity Community Connections - remains strong. The course encourages students to bring their own voices, cultures, and backgrounds into learning music. Centered on mutual learning and a music-therapy-based approach, our instructors have worked with students throughout the fall and spring semesters as part of our year-long project with JOMP.

In the fall, Jess Gelineau, MT-BC of Lovely Little Melodies led Creative Expressions, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Jess in the future. This spring, Catie Verostick, MT-BC has been leading students through ukulele lessons and music therapy activities. Each student has received a ukulele to take home, which OpporTUNEity’s Administrator and Project Manager, Juliet Maglitta, graciously donated.

Rhiannon Hurst, a class of 2025 Fenwick Scholar at the College of the Holy Cross, has taught Inclusive Jazz Fundamentals as a year-long course. As part of her Fenwick Scholarship Project, Rhiannon has partnered with OpporTUNEity, the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning, Teaching, and Engaged Scholarship, the Scholarship in Action Program (SIA), and Holy Cross.

In the fall, the students focused on building a foundational knowledge of jazz – exploring jazz theory and styles, basics of jazz harmonies, and key jazz composers. This spring, they have engaged in lab work, including scatting, improvisation, and drumming. The JOMP after-school class and Rhiannon’s Fenwick Project will culminate in a final recital at The Prior Performing Arts Center on Saturday, May 3 at 2:00 PM.

OpporTUNEity students will perform alongside Rhiannon, jazz professionals, and Holy Cross community members that have contributed to Rhiannon’s Fenwick Project. We are thrilled for the OpporTUNEity and Lincoln Street students to showcase their learning at the Fenwick Scholar Recital!

Meet Our New Team Members

Maggie Frederick

Research and Communications Coordinator

Maggie is a recent graduate of the University of St Andrews, where she earned a Master of Letters in Modern History with Distinction. At St Andrews, Maggie studied the intersection of American religious history and capitalism. This research culminated in a dissertation on gender roles within the Nation of Islam, as seen through the women’s section in the Muhammad Speaks newspaper.

Maggie holds a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College, where she majored in History and Religion. Maggie also competed on the field hockey teams at Bowdoin and St Andrews. Maggie is passionate about transferring her academic background into mission-driven work. She is adept at studying power structures and inequities and believes in the power of community and human connection to foster positive change.

Catie Verostick, MT-BC

Teaching Artist/Creative Expressions Instructor

Catie Verostick is a Board Certified Music Therapist currently residing in Putnam, CT. In 2022 she graduated from Anna Maria College with a Bachelor’s degree of Music in Music Therapy and minors in Psychology and Musical Theatre. She became a Board Certified Music Therapist in 2023, and has been working in the field ever since!

Her first job was in Early Intervention at the Kennedy Donovan Center in Southbridge MA, where she worked as a music therapist, service coordinator and group leader for families and children aged 0-3 with developmental delays. She is now working as a contracted music therapist with Melodic Goals LLC, working in a variety of facilities such as assisted living and daycares.

In addition to music therapy, Catie also works teaching as a private lesson instructor at the Complex Performing Arts Centre in Putnam, CT.

Catie enjoys writing and recording original music as well as performing live music at gigs in the Worcester area. She has released two songs titled “Home” and “Honest” since 2022 and will be releasing an EP in September 2025!!

Catie is passionate about creating opportunities and adapting creative experiences for all students to feel comfortable, confident and successful! She is honored to be a part of the OpporTUNEity team!!

Rhiannon Hurst

Teaching Artist/Inclusive Jazz Instructor

Rhiannon Hurst is a current senior and Brooks Music Scholar at the College of the Holy Cross. Rhiannon is a recipient of the prestigious Fenwick Scholarship, the highest academic honor awarded to one senior at the College of the Holy Cross. Rhiannon has developed and recorded a jazz album that highlights the voices of female, nonbinary, and queer jazz artists.

This project will culminate in a performance entitled “Vanguard for a New Age: Artivism through Jazz,” featuring OpporTUNEity students, Holy Cross students and faculty, and Boston-based music professionals.

Rhiannon is also a 2021 National YoungArts Foundation Award winner for jazz voice and a New England Conservatory Prep graduate, where she received honors and earned the Frances B. Lanier award.

Dan DeCristofaro

Teaching Artist/Songwriters Circle Instructor

Dan DeCristofaro is a singer, songwriter, producer and arranger based in Massachusetts. His recent “genre bending” content series has pulled in over 50k followers across multiple platforms. He is also a founding member of Blue Light Bandits, an award winning, 4-piece independent groove rock band from Worcester, MA that has amassed over 3 million streams on Spotify over the course of 3 full length albums, 2 EP’s, and an array of singles.

They recently made their festival debut at Boston Calling in May of 2023. In 2022 he formed quiet thrill, a singer / songwriter super duo along with long time friend and collaborator Joel Ansett. They released their debut self-titled album in July ‘22 and their song “Grace” was featured in Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist. In 2024, they were awarded the Jon Lennon Songwriting Contest Song of The Year for their song “Lost For Now”.

Whether Dan is performing with the band or as a solo artist, Dan has been a staple of the New England music scene for over 10 years and stays busy with local showings and record production from his home studio in Northbridge, MA.

Harman Kaler

Teaching Artist/Songwriters Circle Instructor

Harman first began studying music at the age of 11. Throughout middle and high school, he pursued extracurricular studies in guitar and piano. His sophomore year at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC, he elected to begin collegiate level studies in music, and for the first time considered higher level music education as a career path. During his time at Catawba, Harman performed in R&B, funk, rock, and jazz ensembles under the instruction of Dennis Reed, Jr. and Jeff Little, where he was inspired by both his educators and peers—who were sincere, skillful, and personable musicians—to pursue a career in music education.

Since receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Music in 2022, Harman has enrolled at Boston University College of Fine Arts to obtain his Masters of Music in Music Education, with a goal of conducting doctorate research in musicology or music psychology.

When not engaged in his academic pursuits, Harman teaches private lessons for guitar, piano, and bass guitar. His diverse assemblage of students provides him with fresh perspectives on music and fuels his desire to do research. He enjoys studying jazz guitar in his free time.

This Week's Round-Ups

Watch Video Reel

We’re excited to share a clip from our Songwriters Circle at Everyday Miracles from this spring. We love seeing the collaborative and supportive community OpporTUNEity artists foster through music.

To learn more about OpporTUNEity and to sign up for Songwriters Circle, visit our website: www.opportuneitymusic.org

Watch Video Reel

This is “Tears of a Clown” – a reflective original song performed at the Worcester County House of Corrections in December 2019.

The 2019 OpporTUNEity songwriting class was led by instructors Dan Thomas and Paul Boisvert.

A Special Thank You to Our Supporters

We are deeply grateful to the Mass Cultural Council, the Worcester Arts Council, and the Kirby Foundation for their generous support of our programs.

Through a $2,500 Festivals & Projects Grant from the Mass Cultural Council, we will continue to offer and expand our Songwriters Circle. Our Circle provides a creative space where citizens in recovery share their experiences of reintegration into society and express themselves through original music.

The Mass Cultural Council and Worcester Arts Council have each awarded us $5,000 Creative Experiences Grants to support our ongoing partnership with Worcester Public Schools. This funding helps us sustain our after-school program, which expands access to music-based education and addresses equity gaps amongst local youth.

We're also honored to receive a $5,000 unrestricted grant from the Kirby Foundation, which we've allocated to the Songwriters Circle. This flexible funding allows us to invest in our instructors, whose dedication to fostering artistic and musical expression plays a critical role in the success of our program. It also enables us to continue providing essential services to citizens navigating the challenges of systemic inequity and social injustice. An earlier grant from the Kirby Foundation in summer 2024 was monumental in kicking off our community-based projects, laying the groundwork for the Songwriters Circle to take root and grow.

We remain thankful for each foundation's support, as these grants help us create inclusive, community-driven spaces where music serves as an essential tool for connection and empowerment.