Our Team
Jamila Tekalli Hanner, Artistic Director
Dr. Jamila Tekalli Hanner has a distinguished and award-winning career in piano, both onstage and in the teaching studio. As a soloist and collaborative musician, she has performed throughout North America and abroad, including appearances at the John F. Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and New World Center and on platforms such as the Concert Artists Guild Series, Myra Hess Concert Series, Banff Centre Chamber Music Residency, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute. Born in Tripoli to Japanese and Libyan parents, Jamila is passionate about connecting the world through the language of music.
Her distinctions include finalist in the Stravinsky International Piano Competition, third prize and finalist in the Baldwin National Piano Competition, and winner of the Steinway Indiana Collegiate Piano Competition and Indiana University Concerto Competition.
Jamila graduated with a Bachelor’s in Piano Performance from Indiana University as a Dean’s Award and Friends of Music scholar. She received her Master’s in Piano Performance from the University of Central Florida and completed her doctoral studies in Piano Performance with a cognate in Music Theory from the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Jamila has served as Director of Piano Workshops and Adjudicator of the Concurso Internacional de Música Clásica "Jóvenes Talentos" in Cuenca, Ecuador, and Lecturer of Music at Barry University School of Music in Miami, Florida. She serves as a piano faculty member at the Levine School of Music, teaching private lessons at the Silver Spring and Southeast DC campuses. She enjoys live music and theater, tennis and pickleball, and cooking/trying new foods.
Angela Hamilton, Program Manager
Angela Hamilton is an arts administrator from Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her undergraduate degree from DePaul University in Theatre Management and African & Black Diaspora Studies, which is where her passion for making the performing arts accessible and inclusive grew. In her previous position at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, she worked with young people and organizations to help build a sustainable artistic presence across communities in the city. Angela is the Managing Director of Hearing in Color, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to sharing music, stories, and composers that have been historically excluded from classical musical spaces.