FACULTY DIRECTORY

VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS

Jennifer Chambers (she/her) completed her undergraduate degree in Music Education f (she/her)rom DePaul School of Music, DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, and her Master’s in Vocal Performance from Hunter College in New York. Jennifer has taught in London, New York City, and most recently has been the Music Coordinator at Hanover High School for 10 years. She currently serves on the NH All State choral committee and is the President elect for the New England Music Festival Association. She holds her CAGS from New England College and is one of the founding members of NESA.

HUMANITIES

Alexis Schleicher (she/her) grew up in Norwich, Vermont, studied abroad in high school, attended college in Los Angeles, and worked in New York City before returning to the Upper Valley to pursue teaching. She has worked in private elementary schools and public high schools, museums, and has taught English, Social Studies, and a Flexible Pathways course at Hartford High School in WRJ, VT. She holds a BA in Art History & English from Occidental College and a M.Ed from New England College. She is a Highly Qualified Teacher in secondary English and Social Studies, and was 2020 VT Teacher of the Year Finalist.

MATH & SCIENCE

Matt Huyck (he/him) holds a BS in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University. His first job was teaching corporate executives new ways to use technology as they navigated a surge of interest in the internet in the 1990s. He has managed and analyzed data for research studies, built computer tools to make sense of diseases and pathogens using AI techniques, and contributed to the scientific literature and open source software community in the process.

Matt has been a Maker since before there was a name for it. He lives in the Upper Valley with his family and his vast collection of math and science books and electronic parts. During the pandemic, he developed a passion for teaching as a substitute at the Lyme School and as a volunteer coach for their FIRST Lego League robotics team.

CARTOONING

Michael Albrecht is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Vermont. His work explores queer expression through speculative fiction, the complexities of love without romance, and why robots keep making him cry.

THEATRE

Ashley Barrow hails originally from Hendersonville, NC and received her BA in Theatre Arts and Dance minor from Catawba College, in Salisbury, NC. Her theatre credits include Cape Fear Regional Theatre, South Carolina Children’s Theatre, North Carolina Theatre, Springer Opera House, Hanover High School, City Center Ballet, and Opera North. Ashley’s most recent engagement was as the Theatre Programming Coordinator for Artistree and the Grange Theatre in South Pomfret, VT. She is one of the original founding members of NESA.

STAGE PRODUCTION

Joe is very happy to be joining NESA for its 2nd year! He is currently the production manager at Dartmouth where he lectures and has been involved in theatre production for the past 15 years. He could not be more thrilled to bring his experience to the students and team at New England School of the Arts!

FINE ART

Fred Faudie works out of his studio in Norwich, Vermont where he lives with his wife and teenage son who share his painting, photography, and design studio: SeeingMind. He has exhibited his drawings, prints, and paintings in numerous juried shows across the country, including having his work accepted to group and one-person exhibitions in Washington, D.C., Andover, Massachusetts, Boston, and New York City. He is a Professor Emeritus with the Art Department of the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he taught studio courses for thirty-four years. During his tenure there he taught basic, intermediate, and advanced studio courses, various art history courses, set up several analog darkrooms, and taught the first computer art course. He was a key player in developing their accredited B.A. and B.F.A. degrees. Fred Faudie holds an A.B. in Art History from Cornell University, an M.A. in painting from the University of Iowa; participated in post-graduate studies in photography at the University of Iowa, and holds an M.F.A. in Illustration from Syracuse University.

DANCE

Denise Frawley has been in theatre since the age of 7 when she performed with the Regale Players in Waltham, Massachusetts. She toured the country as a dancer and singer and performed for artists such as Frank Sinatra and John DeLouise. She was the first female to win the state championship in Waltham, Massachusetts for soap box derby racing and went on to represent Boston at the world championship in Akron, Ohio. Denise has spent the past 20 years of her life in the Upper Valley choreographing shows at Hanover High School, Crossroads Academy, the Lyme School and Hartford High School. She is passionate about starting a performing arts school and believes in any opportunity that provides more access to the arts for the Upper Valley community.

DANCE

Jennifer is an experienced dance teacher and dance coach specializing in technical training and performance preparation. She is classically trained in the Vaganova method of ballet, classical modern techniques (Horton & Graham), and jazz (Luigi, Maddox, Hachett). She graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts in 1989, and supplemented her training with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre from 1985-1991 before being signed, working and traveling with the Campbell Agency (Dallas) and Fontaine Agency (Los Angeles). In addition to walking the runways in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, Jennifer worked in print, editorial, catalog, and commercial television advertising. Jennifer is one of the founding members of NESA.

ACTING

Alan Haehnel teaches middle and high school Theatre at NESA. He has been involved in theatre since college as an actor, director, and writer. His credits include numerous published plays and monologues that have been performed worldwide, the Vermont Playwright's Award in 1993, and several Vermont State Championships for his original one-acts entered in the Vermont One-Act Play Festivals. He lives in Hartford Village with his wife and three children.

HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE COUNSELOR

Andrea Johnstone has worked as a school counselor for over 24 years in a variety of different schools including Hanover High School and the American School of Dubai. She is passionate about supporting NESA and an integrated arts based curriculum.

BRASS INSTRUCTION

Bill Keck graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a performer’s certificate on Tuba.

He studied with Arnold Jacobs.

Bill toured internationally with the Mexico City Philharmonic and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

He has a Master’s degree in music education from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago.

VOICE LESSONS

Soprano Julie Ness is a versatile performer on the opera and concert stage. After receiving her training at the Oberlin Conservatory she went on to make her professional debut with Opera San Jose in California and lived and worked on the West coast for many years in both operatic and concert repertoire. While living in New York City, she made her Carnegie Hall debut as the featured soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah and John Rutter’s Requiem, has performed recitals with Trinity Church and the New York Festival of Song and has also sung with the American Bach Soloists and the San Francisco City Choir and Orchestra. Since moving to Vermont, she has devoted her time to teaching voice privately as well as at the Upper Valley Music Center and teaching the Vocal Performance Lab at Dartmouth College. As a performer, she explores the intersection of bluegrass, folk, and classical music. She has performed Joni Mitchell’s Blue album to sold out venues in Vermont and New Hampshire with fellow UVMC faculty member Tristan Bellerive on guitar, Dave Wysocki on bass, while Julie does vocals, piano, and dulcimer.  Her students are active in the Upper Valley and beyond with NATS, All State, NEMFA, Northern Stage’s Boot Camp program, within area high schools and local theaters, as well as graduates pursuing classical voice and musical theater degrees.

COSTUME DESIGN

Masaki Schuette started sewing and making children’s clothing in the mid- 1990s, right after she married her husband and moved to New England from Ja­pan. She went back to school to get a BFA at Mas­sachusetts College of Art and Design and majored in environmental design, with a focus on fashion design.

CIRCUS

Joshua Shack decided to become a clown when he was just three years old, and at age nine, he began performing his solo show at many local events. As a teenager, he toured for four summers with Circus Smirkus. He then toured nationally as a clown with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. 

He is a co-creator and performer of The Piccolini Trio and directed their critically acclaimed stage show Circus in a Trunk. Other directing credits include Out of Orbit at The Theater at Saint Peter’s in New York City; Nothing but Nonsense, a variety musical comedy at Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI; the Circus Smirkus 2024 Big Top Tour The Imaginarium; and more than 20 productions with Theater in the Open in Newburyport, MA. He served as creative consultant for Ragtag (Cirque Us) and The King Stag (Boston College), and Associate Director of Pagliacci (Opera Vermont).

He is a teaching artist-in-residence for Circus Smirkus, and has served in a dozen different roles with the company, including Production Manager, Director of Programming, and Associate Artistic Director.

BALLET I

Kassady Small from Enfield, NH, began dancing at the age of two at Lebanon Ballet School in Lebanon, New Hampshire. From 2001 to 2009 she worked with the Albany Berkshire Ballet as a student. She then joined City Center Ballet company in 2010 and danced professionally with them since 2015 with roles of Snow Queen, Arabian, Dew Drop (Nutcracker), Princess Jasmine (Aladdin), Crystal Fountain Fairy, Ruby Jewel (Sleeping Beauty),Caterpillar and Alice (Alice in Wonderland). She graduated in 2019 from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a BFA in dance, emphasizing in Ballet. Since graduating she has gone on tour professionally multiple seasons with Albany Berkshire Ballet. Kassady has worked with a variety of local and international choreographers such as: Jennifer Henderson (CCB), Madeline Culpo (ABB), Sydney Skybetter (BOCO), Tommie-Waheed Evans (BOCO), Gregory Dawson (BOCO), Jon Ol Stad (BOCO), Adriana Suarez (BOCO) and Gianni Di Marco (BOCO). Kassady is a current company dancer with Saving Grace Dance Ensemble in Bedford, NH. In addition to being a professional dancer, she’s an active Ballet teacher at Dartmouth College for Dartmouth Classical Ballet Theater. Kassady enjoys teaching all levels of ballet from ages three to adult and creates a safe and positive artistic environment. 

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Cathy Niboli is an experienced Administrative Assistant with over 20 years in the educational setting. She recently retired from Hanover High School after 24 years as the Administrative Assistant to help care for her grandchildren and is very excited to return to her passion of supporting educational goals at New England School of the Arts!