Anna Pietraszko, Executive Director
Anna Pietraszko is an educator, arts executive, double-bassist, and music activist whose mission is to reestablish music's central place in the development and education of all young people. Pietraszko was appointed Managing Director of the Miami Music Project (MMP) in January 2010. Her appointment comes just as MMP is developing a series of vital initiatives that will add meaningful new music opportunities for thousands of under-served young people in the public schools and beyond.

Pietraszko's wide and global experience in a variety of music-related fields will help her guide MMP through its exciting growth and the implementation of these new initiatives. As a music educator and member of the Organization of American Kodaly Educators, she has taught general music education, piano, ear training, choir, and music theory to children in Miami-Dade County, in her native Poland, as well as in some of Los Angeles' roughest neighborhoods. She also has extensive experience as a teacher trainer and music instructor for adults. Her experience in different environments and strong pedagogical background is an asset as MMP strives to transform music education in the public schools and beyond. Pietraszko is guided by the belief in the power of music education—not only as a reward in itself, but as powerful aid to learning in all subject matters, and as a tool for strengthening community bonds and social engagement. She earned her Masters in music education from the Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland.

As an arts executive, Pietraszko co-founded, along with her husband, New York City Opera Trombonist Maciej Pietraszko, the Trombone Festival in Zywiec, Poland, a weeklong celebration of the instrument that attracts renowned performers, composers and educators from the United States and Europe. The festival, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in the summer of 2010, features multiple performances, seminars, master classes, and private instruction in several venues across the ancient city of Zywiec. Pietraszko currently serves as the festival's chief financial officer.

As a double-bassist, Pietraszko has performed with, among several other orchestras, the Florida Grand Opera, the Miami Pops Orchestra, the West Coast Symphony, American Youth Symphony, Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, the University of Southern California Thornton Symphony, the International Youth Symphony in Germany, the New Music Orchestra and AUKSO Chamber Orchestra in Poland.

Pietraszko lives in Miami Beach with her husband.

Enide Dufresne, Program Assistant and Coordinator
Enide Dufresne has an Associates Degree in Music Performance from New World School of the Arts, and a Bachelor Degree in Sociology & International Studies from Northwestern University. She has been studying the viola for 15 years, learning from great musicians such as Werner Christof of the Mozarteum, Ab Sengupta of the Florida Philharmonic, and Richard Fleishman of New World School of the Arts. Music and education are her passions. She recently moved back to Miami in hopes to meet with like-minded musicians from different backgrounds to bring music to everyone.

Susan Siman, Program Director, Miami Music Project Orchestral Academy
Susan Siman has been a involved in classical music internationally for over 30 years. She has been a role model as a violinist, musical director and devoted teacher.

Susan is one of the founders, together with Jose Antonio Abreu, of the National System of Youth Orchestras in Venezuela, better known as El Sistema. Siman also founded the system for Pre-School Musical Initiation and its Specialized Capacitation in Strings with Special Education programs for children between the ages of 2 and 6.

Her valuable contribution to the Venezuelan Musical Movement has been developed through El Sistema. Siman has achieved a transcending capability of service towards the musical and social education of children. With hard work, love and dedication, she has assumed the commitment of social work to the service of the collective development.

Susan has also served as an international ambassador of El Sistema and as consultant in the field of Pre-School Musical Education in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Siman is also involved in the development of El Sistema USA and collaborates with Youth Orchestra programs in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, San Antonio and Boston.

For over 15 years, Siman served as Director of Montalban's Children Academic Center. This center is the headquarters of El Sistema Children Orchestras in Caracas and the largest "nucleo" of El Sistema with over 1,500 students and 50 instructors.

Prior to joining El Sistema, Siman was a violinist for the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. She founded the Antioquia Youth Orchestra in Colombia, and served as Musical Director and teacher in the Simon Bolivar Music Conservatory. Through the years she formed hundreds of violinists, many of whom have received national and international awards.

Susan started her music studies in Maracaibo, Venezuela with professor Francoise Delaval. Siman founded the Maracaibo's Youth Orchestra and in 1983 moved to Caracas to join the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra (by winning a national competition). She also joined the violin program by the eminent teacher Jose Francisco del Castillo in the Latin America Violin Academy. She has studied with several important teachers including Yossi Zivoni y Margaret Pardee and has participated in various National and International Violin festivals.