ABOUT THE panelists

ARMAND HALL | Dr. Armand Hall is the Director of Programs for the Gateways Music Festival and an adjunct professor at the Eastman School of Music. Previously he has held positions as the Executive and Artistic Director of the ROCmusic Collaborative (Rochester, NY) and the Associate Director of Bands and Coordinator of Instrumental Music Education at the University of Memphis. In addition to collegiate-level teaching, he has taught, adjudicated, and been a clinician at the middle school and high school levels and worked as a teaching artist in El Sistema-inspired community music programs around the country. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music education from the University of Michigan and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in wind conducting at Michigan State University. Additionally, he is the Board Chair for El Sistema USA and serves on the boards of the Archipelago Project, Rochester Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and is one of the administrators of the Dr. William P. Foster Project, aimed at supporting excellence in music education and community impact in under-resourced areas.

LUCINDA ALI-LANDING | Lucinda Ali-Landing is the founder of the Hyde Park Suzuki Institute in Chicago and violinist with the Chicago Sinfonietta. As part of the Chicago Sinfonietta, she also plays with the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, performing Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream and more. Ali-Landing earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Northern Illinois University and Master of Music degree in violin performance from DePaul School of Music in Chicago. As a freelance musician, she has performed with artists such as Ray Charles, Barry White, the Winans, Brian McKnight, Oprah Winfrey, Three Mo' Tenors, Ben Vereen and more. Ali-Landing is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the Chicago Music Association, among other professional organizations.

HERBERT SMITH | Freelance musician, clinician, composer-arranger, conductor and Conn-Selmer artist Herbert Smith plays trumpet in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, is the founder/leader of The Freedom Trio, a jazz trio, and a member of the Gateways Brass Collective. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Smith's hands are full: from teaching grade school kids solfeggi to playing in an orchestra and from recording with a reggae band to playing jazz at a nightclub. He has been commissioned to compose for music organizations and schools as well as for his jazz trio.