MPower 2025 Recipients

Alejandra Switala

Award-winning violinist Alejandra Switala combines her American and Mexican roots with an energetic, curious spirit to explore repertoire from the Baroque period to living composers. Praised by Chicago Classical Review for performing with “unabashed emotion,” Allie is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborator.

Since her professional debut with the Fort Worth Symphony at 13, Allie has performed as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and most recently, the Indianapolis Symphony performing Clarice Assad’s *Dreamscapes*. Highlights of her orchestral and ensemble work include serving as concertmaster of the Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra, The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, and Cleveland Opera Theater, and performing with Matt Jones Orchestra, Shattered Glass, Fulcrum Point, Zafa Collective, Sphinx Virtuosi, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She has appeared on albums for Noname, John Legend, and Dionne Warwick, and on soundtracks for *Honk for Jesus* and *Linoleum*.

A laureate of the 2023 Sphinx Competition, Allie has also been recognized at the Cooper and Klein International Competitions, winning the Best Performance of Commissioned Work and the Pablo Casals Bach Prize. She has been a featured artist on PBS’s *From the Top at Carnegie Hall*, NPR’s *Performance Today*, and Chicago WFMT’s *Introductions*.

Most recently a student of Ilya Kaler at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Allie is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank. Her early teachers include Jan Mark Sloman and Roland and Almita Vamos. Alongside her career as a chamber musician and soloist, she runs Pilsen Classical, a chamber music reading series in Chicago, with her friend Everardo Sanchez.

Brittney Bryanna Burgess

Brittney Bryanna Burgess is a music educator, arts administrator, and Black opera singer from Queens, NY. She currently serves as the Program Manager for Partnerships and Access in the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at The Juilliard School, where she supports initiatives that enhance access to arts education.
She is also the co-founder and Executive Director of Black Collegiate Musicians (BCM), a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting and supporting Black musicians in higher education. BCM’s mission is to provide Black collegiate musicians with access to financial, professional, and mental health resources. Through a strong network of community support, BCM empowers students as they navigate their academic and artistic journeys. BCM was founded in 2024 by Brittney and her co-founders, Alexis Prescott-Polk and Brianna Garcon.

Brittney is an alumna of the fifth cohort of SphinxLEAD, a leadership program under the Sphinx Organization. She holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and Vocal Performance from Nazareth College. She remains active as a performer, teacher, and advocate for access in the arts.

Christopher Johnson

Christopher Johnson, a Brooklyn-based bassist originally from Boston and born in New Jersey, has been playing the bass since the age of 7. He began his musical journey through the Project STEP (Strength Training Educational Program), which laid the foundation for his career. Johnson went on to study at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, earning a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory and later a degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

Johnson's early career saw him securing prestigious positions with the Philharmonic of the Americas under Alondra de la Parra and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, which marked significant steps in his classical music journey. In 2013, he won the International Society of Bassists’ Orchestral Competition, further advancing his career. He has since performed with renowned ensembles such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, NYC Ballet, and Sphinx Virtuosi. Johnson has also collaborated with celebrated artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Lauryn Hill, Spike Lee, and Hans Zimmer, among others.

As a freelance bassist, Johnson continues to perform and curate events. His primary project, Strauss Hauss, provides a platform for emerging talent and fosters a sense of community within the music world. Through this initiative, Johnson remains committed to both artistic growth and supporting the next generation of musicians.

Dr. Lori Hicks

Dr. Lori Celeste Hicks has crafted a diverse career spanning various roles such as a classical singer, composer, arranger, vocal coach, professor, clinician, lecturer, opera director, arts administrator, and entrepreneur. As the founder of LCH Studios, a vocal training company based in North Carolina, “Dr. Lori” is committed to nurturing healthy voices across all music genres. She has held positions as the Director of Opera at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chair of Performing Arts at Kentucky State University, and Voice Faculty at the University of Dayton, Central State University, and Claflin University. Dr. Lori’s expertise, research, and dedication to Black Arts and the Voice have developed initiatives including "From The Black Church To The Opera Stage" interactive lectures, "Music of My Voice" recital series reflecting the Black Experience through Classical Song, "#Warmuppraise" Gospel Vocal Warmups and Exercises, "Vocal Wisdom for Worship Singers" bootcamp for Gospel Singers, and "The Black Women Composers Summit" Virtual Conference celebrating the works of Black Women Composers. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Hicks holds a BME from Kentucky State University, a MM from Bowling Green State University, and a DMA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her most recent publication "Affirmations for Singers" is an empowering guide providing daily affirmations that cultivate vocal confidence and inspire personal growth.

Francesca McNeeley

Haitian-American cellist Francesca McNeeley has received critical acclaim as a collaborator and soloist. She enjoys an eclectic career in the Boston area as a chamber musician, orchestral player, and modern music advocate. She is a core member of the Grammy-nominated A Far Cry “self-conducted” chamber orchestra, and a frequently performer with Castle of Our Skins. She has also performed, recorded, and toured with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras. She graduated Princeton University Phi Beta Kappa, and went on to receive scholarships to attend the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and the New England Conservatory for her graduate degrees in cello performance. She has earned fellowships and prizes from the Tanglewood Music Center, where she also served as a New Fromm Player. She is dedicated to community engagement through teaching and mentoring. In addition to her private teaching studio, she serves on the faculties for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Intensive Community Program, Project STEP, as well as the Charles Ives Music Festival at the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestras.

Jóse Hernandez Romero

Venezuelan oboist, José Hernandez Romero, is an accomplished player and educator in the Austin area. He grew up in Coro, Venezuela and began studying the oboe within the world renowned music program El Sistema where he performed under conductors including Simon Rattle, Daniel Baremboin, Rafael Payare, and Gustavo Dudamel. After he began his professional oboe education at the Simon Bolivar Conservatory, he had the opportunity to move to the United States to earn his university degrees.

José holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance from Shenandoah University Conservatory of Music. He regularly performed as a member of the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and in 2014, he played the world premiere of Blues Symphony by Wynton Marsalis.

He then completed both a Master of Music and Graduate Certificate in Oboe Performance from the University of New Mexico. While in Albuquerque, José was a Graduate Assistant in Enchantment Winds, a graduate scholarship wind quintet. He won the 2019 UNM Concerto Competition and performed the Goossens Oboe Concerto with the UNM Symphony Orchestra. He also was a substitute musician with the New Mexico Philharmonic.

José worked on his Doctorate of Musical Arts at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He was one of the first oboists in the newly popular Ensemble Obiora. José’s primary teachers include Kevin Vigneau, Victor Morles, Jaqueline Leclair, and Stephen Key. Jose has also played for well known oboists including Eugene Izotov, Liang Wang, Jared Hauser, and Humbert Lucarelli.

José now lives in Austin, Texas and teaches oboe lessons to a studio of 30 students. He has a growing reed business, making and selling reeds for his students and schools in the Austin/San Antonio area. He is also a substitute musician with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.

Karen Slack

Praised for her “sizeable voice that captured all of the vacillating emotions” (The New York Times) GRAMMY Award winning soprano Karen Slack is celebrated as both an extraordinary performer and a change maker in classical music.
Highlighting Slack’s 2024-2025 season is the nationwide tour of her new commissioning project, African Queens, a recital of new art songs by Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon and Joel Thompson. In July 2024, she released her debut commercial recording, Beyond the Years, alongside pianist Michelle Cann and ONEcomposer on Azica Records, and the project won the 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Slack has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Scottish Opera and many others. In concert, her credits include the Melbourne and Sydney symphonies, Bergen Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall and Philadelphia Orchestra. She made her New York Philharmonic debut in May 2024.A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack is an Artistic Advisor for Portland Opera, serves on the board of the American Composers Orchestra and holds a faculty position at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. In the 2024-2025 season, she serves as Artist in Residence at both Lyric Opera of Chicago and Babson College. A native Philadelphian, Slack is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and Adler Fellowship Program.

LaRob K. Rafael

LaRob K. Rafael is the Founder and Artistic Director of Hearing in Color, an organization dedicated to amplifying stories that have been historically excluded or misinterpreted in classical (music) spaces. He is actively sought after as a guest artist or speaker for institutions such as the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, Society of Disobedient Listeners (UMS), Grant Park Music Festival and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As an Arts Administrator, LaRob has also worked with Lyric Opera of Chicago's Learning and Creative Engagement Department and sits on varying boards within the Chicago Philharmonic and Picosa Ensemble. He helped facilitate programming as the Director of Community Engagement with Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival (2021), and now serves as the Artistic Director for the upcoming festival in 2025. LaRob was selected as one of 11 arts leaders nationwide to join Sphinx LEAD and is the co-host and producer of Sounds Classical, an engaging podcast-style radio program dedicated to offering a fresh perspective on classical culture, and is the weekend morning host of Chicago's Classical music radio station, WFMT (98.7 FM) where he continues to decentralize the predominantly white, European, male centered classical narrative.

Lev Mamuya

Lev Mamuya is equally fascinated by how culture is made, how it’s digested, and how it shapes our lived experiences. An active arts administrator, writer, and composer-performer, Mamuya’s Los Angeles-based work encompasses music, written media, and more.

First, Mamuya found music—a cellist since the age of three, he spent many formative summers at the Perlman Music Program before completing his MM in cello performance at New England Conservatory in 2019, studying with Paul Katz and Yeesun Kim. The love for music-making in community he developed there has guided musical pursuits including commissions from the Renaissance String Quartet, film soundtrack work with director Byung Joon Lee, recent performances with Soundbox Ventures, Castle of Our Skins, and A Far Cry, and his previous membership in the Semiosis and Boston Public Quartets.

Along the way, he discovered a passion for writing courtesy of his college literary magazine The Harvard Advocate, receiving a B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard in 2018. A critic, non-fiction writer, and poet, his work examining music, food, television, and popular culture has appeared in The Drift, San Francisco Classical Voice, and the Boston Musical Intelligencer amongst other outlets. He has contributed program notes for the San Francisco Symphony and album liner notes for violinist Max Tan and cellist Daniel Hass. He was the recipient of the runner-up award at the 2022 Rubin Institute for Music Criticism.

Both these pursuits inform his perspective as an arts administrator. Currently serving as a publicist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mamuya has also worked with From the Top, America’s largest national platform celebrating young classically-trained musicians, and contributed press efforts for a variety of institutional and individual clients as a freelance publicist.

Mariah C. Forde

Mariah C. Forde is a communications professional who is dedicated to building community through the power of the arts. She grew up in Germantown, MD where she fostered her passion for the performing arts through vocal performance from elementary through high school. What started as a dream to sing in renowned performance halls across the world, turned into a desire to bring stories and voices from the stage to the page.

Mariah obtained her Bachelor of Music in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami (Miami, FL) and a master’s degree in communication management from the University of Southern California. Her arts administration career afforded her to opportunity to work with arts institutions including Levine Music, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, and Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, FL. In 2020, she was named an honoree of Legacy Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Black Leaders of Today and Tomorrow for her contributions to the Miami community.

After receiving her master’s degree, Mariah leaned into her passion for storytelling and joined New World Symphony in Miami Beach serving as their PR and Social Media Manager. In 2023, Mariah made her way to The Big Easy to serve in a joint role as Assistant Director of Communications with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Orleans Opera Association and more recently as the Director of Marketing and Communications for The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra - developing strategic marketing and communications initiatives that promote and enhance the organization’s brand and supports revenue goals.
Mariah’s accolades include being a 2020 honoree of Legacy Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Black Leaders of Today and Tomorrow, being selected to join the League of American Orchestra’s Essentials of Orchestra Management program, and to Cohort 5 of the Sphinx Organization’s Sphinx LEAD professional development program.