Tayloe Harding is a composer and music administrator and serves as the Dean of the School of Music at the University of South Carolina.  He also holds the Ira McKissick Koger Professor of the Arts and recently served as Interim Provost (2019-20) of the University after acting in interim deanship roles with the university’s #1 nationally-ranked South Carolina Honors College (2010-11) and its College of Social Work (2016-7). A passionate advocate for advancing the impact of higher education music study and experience on American communities and national society, Tayloe Harding is devoted to an array of organizations whose missions are consistent with this advocacy. As President of the College Music Society (CMS) from 2005-2006, he led the creation of the Engagement and Outreach Initiative where the efforts of the music professoriate are articulated with a variety of national constituencies, including other higher education disciplines and populations, music businesses and industries, and general audiences in an effort to meet common musical and civic goals.  He also served as

president of that Society’s foundation, The CMS Fund (2009-16), where he led the Fund’s first-ever capital campaign to a successful 2011 completion and served as president of the national music honorary society, Pi Kappa Lambda (PKL) during its 100th anniversary season (2018).  From 2015-2020 he was national Secretary of the National Association for Schools of Music (NASM) the accreditation, national policy and research, and professional development association for collegiate music schools, and in 2021 was elected Vice-President (2022-4)/President-elect (2025-7) of that organization.

As Dean at South Carolina he has envisioned and brought a bold idea to fruition beginning in 2007: to prepare tomorrow’s professional musicians more fully by combining conventional professional music study with a systematic curricular and co-curricular exploration of music advocacy, music entrepreneurship, and community engagement by forming SPARK: Carolina’s Leadership Laboratory (formerly the Carolina Institute for Leadership and Engagement in Music). His 2014 TedX talk Music and Hope: Towards a More Musical America, constitutes a public expression of his interests and work at Carolina and beyond. His work with SPARK has also resulted in the USC School of Music hosting and producing two international-renowned summits on the Design of the 21st Century Music School, as well as the hiring of the nation’s first tenured professor of Music Entrepreneurship and the first Professor-of-Practice in Music Leadership and Advocacy, and the launch of a nationally distinctive and inspiring strategic plan entitled Vision2025 where the USC School of Music articulates the aspiration to be the nation’s model public music school.

Tayloe Harding’s interest in the power of music and the arts to transform communities to value the virtues of diversity, equity, and inclusivity and to advance individual’s lives by positively contributing to their health, happiness, safety, fulfillment and hopefulness has been evident in his work with both local and SC state arts education and advocacy organizations as well as national entities. In addition to keynote speeches on this subject at each of the international summits he has produced at Carolina and dozens of others throughout the North American regions of the College Music Society, PKL member institutions, and as private consultant/speaker, he has been a visiting re-accreditation evaluator for the NASM since the 1990s, observing the music functions of over 50 US colleges and universities. He has participated in and led efforts locally and statewide as diverse as invited membership on the SC Arts in Basic Curriculum (ABC) Steering Committee (2006-2018); consultant for the City of Columbia’s One Columbia initiative/office and the Amplify Columbia cultural plan for the city; service on the board and arts granting panels of the Richland/Lexington County Cultural Council (2008-2014); and in his regular engagement with the SC Arts Alliance for Arts Advocacy Week (2007-2015).  He teaches a unique course for young musicians, Introduction to Music and Arts Advocacy: Understanding the Power of Your Music  to approximately 90 freshman arts majors at USC each year—annual outcomes of this course has been table tents and broader participation at the Arts Advocacy Week luncheon for SC state legislators each February, and the preparations of hundreds of young musicians more fully capable to make a case for the vitality and necessity of music and the arts to all constituencies.  These state-wide engagements, as well as his national contributions as music education executive, as well as his work as Dean at South Carolina earned him recognition by the South Carolina Arts Commission as the winner of 2021 Governors’ Award in Arts Education, the state’s highest honor for an arts educator.

As a composer, he has been honored by Phi Beta Kappa (1981), Pi Kappa Lambda (2010), the Diehn Composers’ Room at Old Dominion University (2000), and as a composer-in-residence with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra (2005-7) and at over 20 US colleges and universities.  He remains active earning commissions, performances and recordings for his works around the world.

Ayanna N. Hudson joined Americans for the Arts as Chief Programs Officer on June 2, 2025, where she now plays a pivotal role in leading and advancing programmatic initiatives to effectively serve AFTA’s membership and the broader arts community and champion the arts and their essential role in society. With three decades of visionary leadership, strategic direction, and relationship building, Ayanna has dedicated her career to expanding arts access for all, fostering inclusive participation in local communities across the country, particularly those with limited opportunities to experience the arts, and strengthening the arts ecosystem.

During her 13-year tenure at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Ayanna held several impactful roles, including Chief Strategy, Programs, and Engagement Officer. She oversaw three national grantmaking programs for non-profit organizations and Local Arts Agencies, ensuring alignment with the agency’s priorities and delivering measurable results. Under her leadership, the budget for the Challenge America funding opportunity increased by 20%, extending the reach of the arts into rural and other underserved communities.

Ayanna also served as Acting Deputy Chair for Programs and Partnerships, playing a pivotal role in the implementation of the NEA’s $135 million American Rescue Plan funding initiative, including $20,200,000 to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and 567 awards distributed to non-profit organizations, of which 27% were granted to first-time applicants, 51% supported organizations located in high-poverty and non-metro regions, and 78% were small- and medium-sized organizations. Ayanna also co-led the development of the NEA’s inaugural Equity Action Plan and spearheaded the design of ArtsHERE, a transformative $10 million initiative in collaboration with Regional Arts Organizations. This program aimed to strengthen arts participation in underserved communities through capacity-building support, peer learning networks, technical assistance, and evaluation frameworks.

As NEA Arts Education Director, Ayanna set an ambitious vision to ensure every student has access to an excellent arts education, introducing the agency’s first systemic change funding opportunity to address gaps and foster sustainable impact. Prior to joining the NEA, Ayanna served as the inaugural Director of Arts Education at the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, where she developed and implemented, in partnership with a 100+ cross-sector community coalition, a groundbreaking strategy to provide arts education for all students across the nation’s largest educational system. Her efforts earned widespread recognition for their innovation, scale, and enduring influence. Earlier in her career, Ayanna held leadership positions at the Fulton County Arts Council, spearheading the County’s participation in the groundbreaking Youth Arts Development National Demonstration Project which measured the impact of arts programs on at-promise youth, and championing arts engagement at the local level.

Ayanna holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Spelman College and a Masters of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Hailed for his “soaring countertenor voice and magnetic stage presence that brings both spiritual depth and theatrical brilliance” (Opera Now), South Carolina native Zabriel Rivers is a Gullah Geechie countertenor and whose artistry bridges the operatic canon, sacred repertoire, new works, and the vibrant storytelling traditions of the African American South.

He has graced stages from Carnegie Hall to the Perelman Performing Arts Center, appearing as a featured soloist in performances of Margaret Bonds’ Ballad of the Brown King (2024), Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (2023), and the acclaimed concert work Freedom Song: When Gospel Came to the Empire with the Rochester Oratorio Society. In 2023, he appeared in the world premiere of Watch Night at Perelman Arts Center, followed by his debut with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in the musical drama Jubilee, portraying rich legacies of Black spiritual and folk music with visceral power.

A proud alumnus of the New England Conservatory of Music (M.M.) and Alabama State University (B.M.A.), Zabriel studied with leading pedagogues of the Bel Canto and German Lied traditions and received additional training in diction and vocal pedagogy through masterclasses with Thomas Hampson,

Martin Katz, and Florence Quivar. He was a graduate assistant in the NEC Department of Music Education, where he helped lead courses in voice instruction, men’s chamber ensemble, and vocal methods.

Operatic highlights include appearances as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni, Boston Opera Collaborative), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore, Mobile Opera), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte, Opera Birmingham), Alfred (Die Fledermaus, NEC Opera Theater), and Fenton (Falstaff, Boston Lyric Opera Outreach). He made his role debut as Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw in 2022 under the baton of rising conductor Chelsea Gallo, and recently portrayed Loge in scenes from Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the NEC Contemporary Opera Festival.

A devoted champion of new and diverse work, he originated the role of Elijah in Cosmic Cowboy at Emerson Paramount Theater and regularly performs in new compositions that explore the intersection of identity, race, and musical heritage. He is currently developing a solo operatic-theater piece centered on Gullah spirituals and storytelling.

In concert, he has sung Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and the Mozart Requiem, appearing with ensembles such as the Northwestern Summer Chorus, Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the New England Conservatory Symphony. He was recently the tenor soloist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum.

In addition to his performance career, Zabriel is a respected music educator, serving as a choral and general music teacher in Montgomery Public Schools, where he taught and lead extracurricular programs including the Highland Highlights Concert Choir and the annual Spring Musical. Previously, he taught across grade levels in Elmore County Public Schools and coordinated music technology and curriculum development initiatives.

He has presented research at the Alabama Music Education Association Conference, focusing on student-led learning and collaborative performance practices. From 2017–2019, he served as Collegiate Vice President of the AMEA and has been published and featured in the College Music Society Symposium, where he served on the editorial board for lecture-recitals.

Zabriel is the recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate in Music Award at Alabama State University and was recognized as an Outstanding & Tenured Teacher in Elmore County. He has appeared with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, Pacific Symphony, and has workshopped new roles at the Glimmerglass Festival and the American Opera Project’s Composers & the Voice program.

Future engagements include a return to Carnegie Hall for a performance of Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, a recital of spirituals and art songs for the National Association of Negro Musicians, and a new commission with composer Damien Geter exploring the legacy of Black vocal tradition.

He is a member of the College Music Society, Alabama Music Educators Association, and NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), and continues to advocate for equity and cultural authenticity in music education and performance.

Originally from Massachusetts, Alyson Dixon started ballet at a young age. She studied under the direction of Jessica Wilson at Ballet Workshop for New England and MetroWest Ballet, and supplemented her training at Boston Ballet, Jose Mateo Ballet Theater and Burklyn Ballet Theater. Upon completing her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education with K-12 certification from USC in 2013, Alyson continued her studies overseas, at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, where she received a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dance. While in London, Alyson worked with Corali Dance Company and the Ovalhouse Theatre where she taught and assisted dance classes for disabled adults and children. After returning stateside, Alyson taught dance as related arts in SC Richland County District One and Two elementary schools. In 2015, Alyson co-founded Dance Collaborative with Kelsey Crum, furthering her dedication to dance education for all. She continues to be a beloved instructor as well as the Director of Education and Development.

Stephanie Cureton’s dance journey began at the age of 3 in Fort Knox, KY. After moving back to Greenville, SC, she trained with Barbara English at English Theatre Arts. Graduating from the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities in the dance pre-professional program, she studied ballet, pointe, and modern under esteemed mentors. Earning her Bachelor’s of Arts in Dance/Psychology from Agnes Scott College, she studied Ballet, Martha Graham Modern Technique, Jazz, and Labanotation under Bridget Roosa.  She choreographed and performed several works for Agnes Scott College’s dance company, as well as local projects both in Atlanta and Greenville. Stephanie now serves as the Operations Director at Dance Collaborative, where she began as a teacher and advanced through various roles. She’s also adjunct faculty at Anderson University and Director for English Theatre Arts, while continuing her work as a freelance performer and choreographer.

David Platts joined the South Carolina Arts Commission team as the executive director in 2019.

For 26 years prior, David worked in South Carolina as an educator, principal and district level administrator. He served as the arts and sciences coordinator for Lancaster County School District, a position he held for 15 years.

In addition to his work as an educator, Platts has served the Lancaster County Council of the Arts as a board member and president. He has statewide experience as a member, president, and treasurer of the Palmetto State Arts Education board and as a past member of the South Carolina Arts Alliance board, where he became active as an arts advocate. On the national level, David served as a member of the Education Advisory Committee for the John F. Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education Program, and he is currently a member of the South Arts board.

David keeps his own artistic expression fresh by serving as a volunteer accompanist for church choral programs.

Jeff Robinson is the Executive Director of the South Carolina Arts Alliance, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to advocacy, leadership development, and public awareness for the arts. In his role, he leads efforts to strengthen public policy, public support, and public funding for the creative sector at both the state and national levels. The organization’s flagship event, SC Arts Day, brings hundreds of arts leaders, legislators, students, educators, and advocates together at the State House each year to elevate the significant impact the arts have in the Palmetto State.

Prior to joining the SC Arts Alliance, Jeff worked in the Office of Outreach at the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities developing professional learning, arts programming, and virtual resources for students and teachers throughout the State of South Carolina. He also worked closely with local organizations to help connect young artists and their community through the Governor’s Schools service learning program, Connecting Arts Through Service.

A lifelong musician and arts advocate, Jeff holds a Bachelor in Music Education and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Winthrop University. He serves on various statewide boards and task forces, and is the Chair of Palmetto State Arts Education. He also serves as the National-Secretary Treasurer for Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the nation’s oldest and largest music fraternity.

Jeff resides in Inman with his wife, Lori Lynne, and their calico cat, Lucky.

This string orchestra is made up of beginner and intermediate players from 6th through 8th grade. We perform a variety of music genres from Bach and Beethoven to contemporary rock music. As one of only three middle schools to have Orchestra class in our District, we perform to Advocate for our Art form and Energize our audience!

HEART provides visual arts, music, and performing arts mentorships and community engagement for adult artists with disabilities who want to grow and develop as artists. At HEART, we have created a studio where artists are loved, supported, and celebrated for being their authentic selves. We create together to enrich and transform our community.

Appearing at Arts Day through the generous support of the ColaJazz Foundation, the Soda City Brass Band is led by nationally recognized jazz trumpeter Mark Rapp—a former student of the legendary Ellis Marsalis and a veteran of the New York jazz scene—the band channels the spirit of New Orleans through a Soda City lens. Rapp’s trumpet is both lyrical and modern, honoring the brass-band lineage while pushing boldly into fresh territory.

With a powerhouse frontline of horns, sousaphone, and drums, Soda City Brass Band turns any room into a street-party celebration. It’s a joyful, sweat-happy night built for movement, call-and-response, and big smiles.

ColaJazz Foundation, a 2021 Governor’s Award-winning nonprofit, enriches the cultural fabric of South Carolina, making our capital city a premier jazz destination. Their annual season includes the ColaJazz Summer Camp, ColaJazz Fest, SC Public Radio shows, after-school programs, Jazz for Young People concerts, Great Day in Columbia, Live in the Lobby at the Koger Center, monthly Dinner & Jazz concerts, ColaJazz Crawls, International Jazz Day events, and virtual performances—bringing people from across the state to enjoy our vibrant city.