2025 SENIOR COUNSELORS

Vandy is the Executive Director of Carpe Diem Theater, having served as the Choreographer from 2011-2014. She currently works at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. as the Manager of National Community Partnerships. There she serves as the lead for two national programs: Any Given Child, a collective impact initiative which brings together stakeholders in communities to advance equity in arts education, and Partners in Education, a program which partners with arts organizations and school districts to provide professional development for teachers in arts integration. This work has given her the privilege of collaborating with leaders from over 100 cities across the U.S. such as superintendents, principals, teachers, artists, executive directors, and elected officials.

Vandy received her master’s degree in Theater Education from Emerson College, which focused on community engagement through the arts, and her bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies from Wheaton College in Massachusetts. Vandy received a Certificate to teach English from Cambridge University, and spent a year teaching in Rabat, Morocco and Istanbul, Turkey. She has worked for arts organizations such as WaterFire Providence in Rhode Island, ArtsEmerson in Boston, and The Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico. She is an amateur photographer and shares her work in Washington DC as a member of the Mount Pleasant Artists Collective. You can find her work on https://www.instagram.com/vdh.photo/ and https://www.flickr.com/people/alexvandy/.

Brady is a multi-disciplinary teacher, creator, and arts leader. He is the Artistic Director of Carpe Diem Theater (CDT) in Round Lake, NY, where he was previously the Music Director from 2011-2014. As CDT's creative lead, he oversees all productions, develops workshops with visiting teaching artists for their ROOTS master class series, and directs their Showcase program, in which the Capital Region's brightest young performers, ages 16-22, workshop material on-site before making their debuts in New York City. Opening pathways for young people has been central to Mr. Walsh's career, as he spent the better part of a decade as the Associate Director of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, evaluating singers across the country and in auditions at the Met.

He now runs a private voice studio, BTW Voice, comprising 22 high school and college students in New York's Capital Region and 12 young professionals in New York City. He holds degrees in Music Education and Music Business, as well as a Certificate of Opera Performance, from the Crane School of Music. His teaching and speaking engagements have included the Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Opera Saratoga, Mannes School of Music, The National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS), The University of North Dakota, Crane School of Music, and more. 

In addition to the Met Competition, Brady was named a special guest at the inaugural Nicola Martinucci International Vocal Competition in Lucca, Italy and consequently produced voice competitions internationally including the Queen Sonja International Music Competition and CCM’s Corbett Competition. As an actor, he has performed leading roles with regional and community theaters in the New York City area. Additionally, Brady has completed a course of study in libretto writing through Einhorn School of Performing Arts and gone on to write an original full-length musical about Georgia O’Keeffe, The Artist, currently in development with collaborator Hannah Corneau.