Board Members

Meet our board and staff.

Executive Director
Joanne Haroutounian, Ph.D.

Founder of the MusicLink program and director of the program since 1992. International consultant in musical talent identification. Adjunct professor of piano and pedagogy (retired) at George Mason University for over 20 years. Author of over 30 publications across the fields of music and gifted education including Fourth Finger on B Flat: Effective Strategies for Teaching Piano(Kjos Pub.) and Kindling the Spark: Recognizing and Developing Musical Talent,Oxford University Press. For more information: www.joanneharoutounian.com.

National Staff

Click on the module to bring up the contact form.

Pam Jensen

Administrative Assistant

Herndon, VA

Sue Wege

Independent music teacher, Director of MusicLink Coordinators

Cottage Grove, MN

Board of Directors

Dr. Joanne Haroutounian

President

George Mason University (retired), Fairfax VA

Andrea Shore

Secretary

Director of Enrollment and Community Engagement, Pinecrest School, Annandale, VA

William Haroutounian

Treasurer

National Symphony Orchestra (retired), Washington, DC

Charles Kinney

Attorney

Washington, DC

Sue Wege

Independent music teacher, Director of MusicLink Coordinators

Cottage Grove, MN

Virginia Gutierrez

Public Relations Director

Miami, FL

Kathryn Karg

Teacher, composer and co-owner of 2Gether Productions

St. Paul, MN

Corine Maldonado

Independent Music Teacher and South Central Regional Coordinator

Rio Grande City, TX

Pam Jensen

Administrative Assistant

Herndon, VA

Karin Chambless Nandkumar

Independent Music Teacher and Northeast Regional Coordinator

Silver Spring, MD

Advisory Board

Verdine White, CA
Bass guitarist with Earth Wind and Fire, director of the Verdine White Foundation

Scott McBride Smith, KS
Director of the International Institute for Young Musicians

Carolyn Callahan, VA
Chair, Dept. of Educational Leadership, Foundations and Policy, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia. Leading research and expert on gifted education

Doug Schmitt, MN
Vice President of Schmitt Music Co., a major music dealer in the West and Midwest

Marvin Hamlisch

Andre’ Watts

Verdine White

In Memoriam:

The MusicLink Foundation was privileged to have several world known concert artists on our Advisory Board. We include quotes that they provided to us about the importance of MusicLink in the lives of disadvantaged youth.

Quote from Marvin Hamlisch - Advisory Board: "Too often I have heard stories about children who display a a musical gift at an early age, but because of lack of funds in their family they were unable to pursue that gift. So it is a wonderful thing to know that MusicLink is an organization that comes to the rescue of these talented kids."

Quote from André Watts – Advisory Board: Bringing music into the lives of our children means bringing imagination, enthusiasm, discipline and the joy of creation into their world. Expanding personal vistas for the youth of today makes for a better world of tomorrow. Music transcends fear and hate, and it is the most pleasurable duty imaginable to bring this to our young people.