Our Staff
The Neighborhood Music School is run by the following dedicated administrative staff:
Karen Louis, Executive Director
“Where words fail, music speaks” – Hans Christian Anderson
Music has played a definitive and restorative role throughout my life and career. I am thrilled, honored and humbled to serve as Executive Director of Neighborhood Music School and to be part of this artistic anchor and home in the Boyle Heights community. As a child, music- and the process of building music- was integral to my discovery, play, problem solving and comprehension. As a teenager, music took on another role as a mentor, a destination, a community, and a directional guide through endless challenges and opportunities. As a teaching and performing artist, music became an incredible tool for storytelling and identity. As I continue to grow, so do the awareness and appreciation of the massive power that the arts- and music in particular- have on all of us, all of the time.
With an undergraduate degree in Theatre from the College of Wooster, a M.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College, Chicago, and a M.A. in Nonprofit Management from Antioch University, Los Angeles, I have worked as an actor (who sang often, if not well), arts administrator and teaching artist, teaching and performing on stages and in classrooms in New York City, Memphis, Chicago and many other places along the way. Since establishing my home in Los Angeles, I have built a path that includes arts administration, development and advocacy through my work as Executive Director of the LACHSA Foundation, raising funds for the arts programs at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, as Deputy Director of Arts for LA. I currently serve of the Board of the Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce and LA Dance Chronicle. I recognize that the nexus of creative development fuels all other development: personal, communal, societal, universal. To do this well, and fully, relies on the level to which we honor our voices, experiences and our humanity while exploring and trusting the craft and the discipline with which we build our relationships. Neighborhood Music School is built upon the practice of honoring voices, artistry and development from teaching artist to student, community engagement, and as the anchor of being an artistic home to so many generations before, and so many generations ahead.
I am thrilled to lead this talented team as we fulfill the mission of Neighborhood Music School and continue to fill this home with stories, growth, creativity and music.
“Music is the best.”- Frank Zappa
karen@neighborhoodmusic.org
Dr. rafael Liebich, Director of Programs and Evaluation
Brazilian-American pianist Rafael Liebich has earned degrees from the State University of Campinas (B.M., 2001), the Federal University of the Rio Grande do Sul State (M. M., 2004), and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music (2012). He was faculty and Artist-In-Residence at University of La Verne (2015 - 2021), and currently holds teaching positions at El Camino College (where he also acts as Coordinator of the Applied Keyboard Area), and Neighborhood Music School in Los Angeles (where he also acts as Director of Programs and Evaluation). Much sought as a performer, collaborative, and recording artist, he has performed for various concert series throughout Southern California, and worked in studio recordings for soundtracks of short movies and documentaries. An advocate of contemporary music, Dr. Liebich actively pursues embracing diversity in his performances as well as in his pedagogical practice. He is a member of the International Society for Music Education, and his scholarly work includes publications in music analysis, music education and sociology, and music interpretation and aesthetics. From USC Thornton School of Music he received honors such as the Keyboard Ensemble Award, the Keyboard Studies Department Award, as well as induction into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honors Society. In his spare time, Rafael enjoys long walks, cooking, and taking care of his orchids.
rafael@neighborhoodmusic.org
Melissa Martinez, Registrar
Melissa has deep ties to both Boyle Heights and to the Neighborhood Music School. She attended Roosevelt High School and graduated in 2014. While a freshman in high school, she worked for the Boyle Heights Beat community newspaper. Her second feature story, in 2011, was about our school. She spent the next year and a half taking lessons here at NMS, and has remained a faithful volunteer until joining the staff, first as an LA County Intern focused on bringing summer programming to NMS. She continued as a Program Assistant, and is now the full-time Registrar for NMS.
She loves traveling and hopes to travel to every single continent one day. Melissa has two younger siblings and currently lives in East Los Angeles.
Luis Ramirez, Archives & Facilities coordinator
Born and raised in Compton, CA, Luis began to play piano in 2012 at Compton Community College under the guidance of Professor Uch. Transferring to El Camino College in Torrance, CA to study with Dr. Chambers-Salazar to continue his piano studies, Luis received his A.A. in music performance in 2018. Transferring to Cal State University Los Angeles in 2020, Luis would study with Dr. Deak & Dr. Liebich continuing his B.M. in music performance. During the summer of 2023, Luis interned at Neighborhood Music School in Boyle Heights, CA and to this day Luis has been a proud member of neighborhood school of music.
Matthew Hernandez, Scheduler & Teaching artist
Teaching Artist Matthew Hernandez is a saxophonist, flautist, percussionist, vocalist, composer, songwriter, bandleader, and recording artist from Boyle Heights. He first picked up the saxophone when he was 13 years old at El Sereno Middle School and through Neighborhood Music School, he studied saxophone and jazz theory privately with several teaching artists, but most notably saxophonist Joe Santamaria and guitarist Balam Garcia. He also studied composition in a private setting with Professors Trevor Anderies and Kevin Kelly of the Herb Alpert Music Center in Los Angeles. Matthew has had the honor to share the stage and learn from many distinct artists and music educators such as Arturo Sandoval, Oscar Hernandez, Eddie Resto, Luis Conte, Germaine Franco, Euro Zambrano, Justo Almario, David Urquidi, George Shelby, Jose “Perico” Hernandez, Kevin Ricard, Dr. JB Dyas, Dr. Rafael Liebich, Kassandra Kocoshis, Aaron Serfaty, Chamo Saurez, Brain Carmody, Tony White, Dr. Milen Kirov, Carlos Eduardo Verde Jr., and Joey de Leon.
Within his time at Neighborhood Music School, his role resembles a sort of metamorphosis, as he began as a student in 2016. He was reintroduced to the school as the Program Intern in 2020, and then again in 2021 within his current administrative role of Scheduler. Since June of 2022, he began working as a Teaching Artist with varying teaching assignments. Through Neighborhood Music School, he has also provided community enrichment programming at Puente Charter Elementary School, and Art in the Park LA. leading the Art in the Park Latin Jazz Band. Additionally, Matthew has performed masterclasses and special presentations around Latin music and dance for the Cochlear Implant Music Hour Lab of USC Keck Medicine and other educational institutions around Los Angeles on his own time.
Matthew has also been featured on the recordings of “Para Ti” and “Mueven Bien” by Timba Tumbao. Since becoming the music director for Timba Tumbao in 2020, Matthew has helped establish the band’s identity as one of the top performing salsa cover groups in Southern California. He also founded his own latin jazz quartet last year in 2024 named Latin Mantra Project. Both under the creative lead of Matthew Hernandez, Timba Tumbao and Latin Mantra Project are currently in the recording process and are expected to release their debut albums in 2025.
Julianne Papadopoulos, Community Partnership & Development Coordinator
Julianne Papadopoulos (she/her) is a music facilitator and researcher with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Psychology from Elon university and a Master of Music in Community Music from the University of Southern California. Her work is motivated by her belief that everyone deserves a space to participate in music in a way that is meaningful for them. She has worked as a music researcher for those with cochlear implants at the Bionic Ear Lab and as an early childhood music instructor at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. In her role as Community Partnership and Development Coordinator, Julianne has the pleasure of building relationships between Neighborhood Music School and educational organizations throughout Los Angeles. Julianne also co-facilitates a weekly music appreciation class for cochlear implant users and co-teaches group music classes for pediatric cochlear implant users and normal hearing listeners. In her spare time, Julianne enjoys baking, sewing, and making music with friends.