Staff

Tonya Howell

Tonya Howell

Executive Director
she/her/hers

Tonya Howell, a Hyde Park resident and single mother of two, has been an educator in Chicago since 2001, serving as a classroom teacher, instructional coach for teachers, and principal…

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Char Lee Luckett

Char Lee Luckett

Manager of School and Remote Learning Programs
they/she

Char Lee is a writer, theater creator, and certified domestic violence counselor. Originally from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, she has worked as an arts…

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Lara Jenkins

Lara Jenkins

Manager of Parks and Partner Programs
she/her/hers

Lara is thrilled to bring her musical knowledge and life-long love for teaching to Intonation Music has always been her passion and her love for jazz prompted her to get a BA in vocal performance….

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Izzy Olive

Izzy Olive

Marketing Manager
she/her/hers

Izzy Olive is a musician and arts administrator originally from Southern Illinois. Upon graduating from the University of Chicago, she worked in marketing and PR for Eighth Blackbird…

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Emily O’Brien, PhD

Emily O’Brien, PhD

Development and Communications Manager
she/her/hers

A lifelong musician, Emily O’Brien grew up participating in community programs. Originally from Ohio, Emily studied voice performance and dance, eventually pursuing her PhD in musicology at Northwestern…

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Matt Espy

Matt Espy

Equipment Coordinator
he/him/his

Prior to joining the Intonation team in 2017, Matt was a managing partner at Chicago Drum Works for 10 years, where he curated drum clinics and helped to foster and grow…

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Dre X. Meza

Dre X. Meza

Education Specialist, Instructor
they/them

Dre Meza (they/them/theirs) comes to Intonation with a background as a jazz vocalist, improviser, arranger, composer, activist, educator, and multidisciplinary artist…

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Edward Anderson

Edward Anderson

Production Manager, Instructor

Edward Anderson has been an instructor since 2012. He has taught at Fuller Park, NKO Charter School, Fosco Park, Gage Park High School, CICS Irving Park, and Rock-N-Pop…

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Instructors

Kevelyn Wilson

Kevelyn Wilson

Kevelyn began her artistic career as a hip-hop, jazz, modern and spiritual dancer at Fuller Park, which led her to become interested in music. In 2008, at 14 years old, she became a student at Intonation…

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Dre X. Meza

Dre X. Meza

Education Specialist, Instructor
they/them

Dre Meza (they/them/theirs) comes to Intonation with a background as a jazz vocalist, improviser, arranger, composer, activist, educator, and multidisciplinary artist…

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Edward Anderson

Edward Anderson

Production Manager, Instructor

Edward Anderson has been an instructor since 2012. He has taught at Fuller Park, NKO Charter School, Fosco Park, Gage Park High School, CICS Irving Park, and Rock-N-Pop…

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Alex Wing

Alex Wing

Alex is a guitarist, bassist, oudist and creative musician living on the South side of Chicago. He has his B.A. in music from The University of Chicago. Alex joined…

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Nick Wilson

Nick Wilson

Nick is an electronic musician specializing in modular synthesizers and live PA. He currently plays in two bands: Long Time Friction - Reggae with Dub stylings and Wheatpaste - live abstract electronics with manipulated film projection. He enjoys teaching as a way to...

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Dakari Waddell

Dakari Waddell

Dakari started out as a student at Intonation in 2009. He played piano with his band ‘Trace’, and continued as a multi-instrumentalist with the Intonation All-Stars in 2013. He graduated High School in 2015…

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Harley Gingras

Harley Gingras

Harley Gingras is a multi-talented musician from Chicago, IL. He has been doing music since 2004, first learning the drums and quickly picking up guitar and bass. 10 years later in 2014, he…

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Nick Meryhew

Nick Meryhew

Nick Meryhew is an experimental musician, arts educator, improviser, and armchair geologist. Their work explores ideas of assemblage, hybridity, and non-hierarchy through a sculptural approach to found sound. They frequently improvise as a medium through which to...

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Cuixi Aguilar

Cuixi Aguilar

Cuixi is a multi-instrumentalist who grew up on Chicago’s South Side. His passion for music began when he discovered music’s special ability to bring people together and open portals to different emotions, periods in time, and particular human perspectives…

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Mike Simons

Mike Simons

Founder

 

Mike founded Intonation in 2006 with a carful of his own instruments, a volunteer slot at a local community center, and a hunch that learning to play and perform the music they love would be a rewarding experience for kids. A musician himself since middle school, Mike combined his love for music with 13 years of overnight summer camp experience to create Intonation.
Earlier in his career, Mike traveled the globe as a Tour Director, landing in Chicago where he and a colleague started Skyline Chicago, a Destination Management Company which thrived for 8 years. In 2005, Mike co-founded the acclaimed Intonation Music Festival, later renamed The Pitchfork Music Festival. Mike also co-founded the long-running Chicago Ukulele Cabaret and plays with several bands including Hayward and David Singer & The Sweet Science.

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