MARIANNE LOCKE, Ed.D., Founding Executive Director, is a model program consultant for curriculum. For over 40 years, Dr. Locke has been a teacher and leader in arts education in California public schools. She worked with agencies including the California Music Educators Association (CMEA), Music Educators National Conference (now NAfME), and US Dept. of Education. Dr. Locke designed the Multicultural Music and Dance in Public Schools model project, aimed at improving equity and excellence for Marin County’s underserved students. Dr. Locke was named Multicultural Music Educator of the Year by CMEA. She received a Bachelor of Music Education from Northwestern University, a Master’s from UC Berkeley, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Fielding University.
RON TARICA is the Treasurer and Business Manager of Young Imaginations. Originally from Chicago, Ron moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1969 after earning a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University. He worked for Chevron for 28 years, mostly in the Information Technology field. He and his wife, Sandi, lived in Marin and Contra Costa Counties before moving to the Central Coast of California in March 2005 to be near two of their five grandchildren. Ron has three children; two sons and a daughter. An avid choral singer since 1977, Ron performed with the College of Marin Community Chorus, the Diablo Valley Masterworks Chorale, and now the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale. He also sang in the ensemble for ten operas with the North Bay Opera.
STAFF
him the title of Music Educator of the Year after he served for ten years on the board of the California Music Educators Association. Jerry earned degrees in Music Education from Humboldt State University, Eastman School of Music and Kent State University. His teaching career and his parallel performing career throughout Northern California included elementary through community college – with over 30 years of jazz and world music leadership at College of the Redwoods. Since moving to the Bay Area, he continues his fascination with jazz as an arranger/performer, as well as bringing jazz and other world musics to public school children.
FACULTY
IAN DOGLE has presented a vast array of educational programs to over 60,000 students in the San Francisco Bay Area through organizations such as the San Francisco Symphony (Adventures in Music Program), the Marin Arts Council, Young Imaginations, Youth In Arts, Young Audiences of the Bay Area, and Bread and Roses. Whether presenting educational assemblies on world percussion, master classes to smaller groups, or customized jazz and world music appreciation curricula in schools, Ian is always eager to share his wisdom, passion, enthusiasm, and knowledge in any educational environment. Underlying all presentations and instruction is a message of respect for all cultures and tolerance for different belief systems.
CHRISTY MUNGER was a mezzo soprano singer for the Bronx Opera and the Austin Lyric Opera. She studied with Amy Burton, a principal soprano at the New York City Opera and with Kamel Boutros, a principal performer at the metropolitan Opera. She studied dance at the Sandra Cameron Dance Center and taught as a swing dance instructor for the Regents School of Austin and at the Music Teacher City School of Austin. She was the Shakespeare Festival Director of City Schools of Austin.
Her career and education background includes opening the first Cru youth chapters in New York City, working extensively to help inner-city youth succeed in high school. She was a lad teacher for third grade students at the Cambridge School in San Diego where she also secured local artists from the San Diego Symphony for Regents School of Austin K-12.
DANIEL CAVALIAYE is the Executive Director. He holds a Master of Clinical Psychology from CSU Sacramento, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from CSU, Long Beach. Daniel is a twenty-four year Senior Management professional for non-profit organizations serving at-risk youth from disadvantaged communities. Those organizations include as Director of Programs and Vice President of Programs for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the North Bay, and Program Director for Threshold for Change, a residential treatment program for dual-diagnosed adolescents.
He’s played a vital role in helping underserved youth learn the transformative power of newly attained self-efficacy, self-value, and self-belief… and how those attributes can help them attain once unimagined future outcomes for self, family, and community.
CYNTHIA PEPPER has been active in multiple aspects of the performing arts world for several decades. She began her career early and performed internationally with the Utah based Virginia Tanner (Children’s Dance Theatre CDT) at the White House for President Nixon, with Bella Lewitzky at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Loretta Livingston & Dancers as a company member, The Utah Opera and Donald Byrd Dance.
After graduating from California Institute of the Arts and San Francisco State University, she created several dance outreach programs still thriving throughout the Bay Area. She has worked at Berkeley, Marin, Oakland, and San Francisco Ballet Schools on ways to bring the joy of innovative dance and movement into their worlds. She is an active dancing teaching artist with Young Audiences of Northern California, Young Imaginations, Ruth Mankin Arts, Lincoln School (a one-room schoolhouse), Star Academy, and many California arts presenting organizations.
SHAHRZAD KHORSANDI has been involved in Persian dance since childhood. Shahrzad studied Dance and Performance Art at California Institute of the Arts, has a BA in Dance, and an MA in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University. Her dance training includes Modern, Jazz, Ballet, West African, Afro-Haitian, Persian, with tastes of Flamenco and Balinese. Shahrzad currently works as a dancer/instructor/choreographer in the Bay Area, has been faculty at various colleges in the Bay Area, and is the founder of Shahrzad Dance Academy (SDA) and artistic director of Shahrzad Dance Company (SDC), based in Richmond, California. Her book, The Art of Persian Dance, draws on her Persian culture and was published in February, 2015. She has also produced several instructional and performance DVDs in Persian dance. Shahrzad currently tours the US and Europe teaching workshops, intensive courses, and residencies, along with book-signings and lectures.
MARK RUSSELL taught for many years in YI classes at the elementary and middle school level until the March 2020 Covid-19 closures. Prior to joining Young Imaginations, he led vocal and instrumental instruction at several schools in Eureka, and in small communities in the Mt. Shasta region of Northern California.
JOSHUA AND LAUREN TARICA This brother-and-sister duo joined our remote learning team in early 2022 when it became obvious that schools would be severely impacted by Covid-19 for the rest of that school year. Joshua (piano, keyboards, and melodica) and Lauren (guitar, ukelele, piano, ocarina) bring lots of opportunities for children to enjoy singing with a variety of accompaniments. Both Lauren and Joshua are accomplished vocalists who are active in diverse vocal groups, including choirs, a capella groups, and jazz.