At Joyful Music, we are passionate about music and the social and educational development of all children.
All teachers are registered through Music Together®, and work hard to create a fun, informal, social setting that spurs engagement and supports each child's musical development. Read on to discover more about our teachers!
Karen Pokross
Karen continues to be excited teaching and directing Joyful Music. She is a registered Music Together teacher and a Registered Music Therapist with over 30 years experience creating music with children.
Karen has a Bachelor's degree in Music Therapy and an M.Ed. from Antioch Uiversity. For eighteen years she was on the faculty of Northeastern University, offering courses in Therapeutic Music, Music for Health and Creative Expression for Children. She is the mother of 2 teenagers.
Karen is looking forward to getting to know everyone and making music with you!
Emily Arwen Mott
Emily is an accomplished musician, and teaches piano privately in addition to her work as a Music Together teacher. She has a wonderful, playful style and is excited to be a part of the Music Together family!
Shayndel Kahn
Shayndel Kahn has been teaching Music Together since 1993. She was the first Music Together teacher in New England! She began teaching Music Together in Lexington and Concord and sold the business to Kate Batenfeld when she moved to Israel. Upon her return she became the director of Music Together in Melrose and Wakefield. She is happy to be returning as the co-director of Music Together in Lexington and now Winchester. She will continue to teach classes in Melrose and Wakefield.
Shayndel has a degree in Early Childhood Education from Pace University, NYC, and teaches in many preschools throughout the area. She is also a Cantorial Soloist, singer/songwriter with an album of her own and a mother of two teenage children.
Lenka Zbruz
Lenka enjoys making music more than anything else. Since early childhood she's always been involved in one musical project or another - singing in choirs, playing the piano and the guitar and traveling Europe with her high school's production of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Lenka discovered the Music Together program when she was a nanny in Hawaii. She became passionate about it and decided to turn her biggest hobby into a career. She was trained in 2007, relocated to Massachusetts and interned in Lexington. For 2 years that followed, she taught Music Together classes with her own son in her lap. Being able to model the class activities with her own child was a great experience. She has found that not only is she able to see the music through the eyes of the children thanks to this, but also can better relate to the grown ups in class who have their hands full. Lenka enjoys being able to teach on her own now that her son goes to preschool, but she still takes a Music Together class with him in her free time. Filip is 4 years old and fluent in three languages - Czech, English and the language of music. He is the living proof of how much a child who has been exposed to a rich musical environment on an ongoing basis will thrive in different areas of development. Lenka finished her Music Together Certification 1 training in August 2010.
Jane Rassmann
Jane has been a Music Together® teacher since January 2001 and a Center Director in Westford and Chelmsford since 2003.
In 2002, the Center for Music and Young Children in Princeton, NJ awarded Jane the Music Together®Teacher Certification Level I for outstanding achievement in teaching, musicianship, program philosophy and parent education.
Jane is a member of the Children’s Music Network, whose goal is to share songs and ideas about children’s music. She is the mom of two Music Together® graduates and is the proud owner of a puppy dog that can find the resting tone!
Joyful Music Teachers
The summer session is your opportunity to meet some of our teachers.
Julie Love
Julie love grew up with music, always playing the piano and singing. She studied piano performance at Boston University and has a home studio in Nashua, NH. After her own children were grown she began teaching Music Together. Julie feels Music Together defined what she had done musically with her own children. Along with Julie's love for teaching music she has also taught skiing, aerobics and yoga. Julie will add a lively, lovely environment for you and your child's Music Together experience.
Mary Gould
Originally from Louisiana, Mary Rees Gould studied piano from age five into her college years and sang with the Loyola Chorale at Loyola University in New Orleans. She got involved with community theater in elementary school and has enjoyed being on stage ever since. Most recently, she has appeared with Andover Community Theater and the Colonial Chorus Players of Reading. She discovered Music Together when her daughters were young and is delighted to share the joy of music with many families. She and her family live, sing, dance and play in Andover