MakeMusicNOLA Team

Outstanding Musicians, Outstanding Teachers.

STAFF & TEACHERS

Dr. Jee-Yeon Ko - Executive Director

Dr. Jee-Yeoun Ko, a distinguished Korean American cellist, educator, and concert organizer, boasts a rich and diverse background that has cultivated her wide-ranging musical interests. Her educational and professional journey spans across Asia, Europe, and North America, allowing her to explore an array of musical styles, from tango, pop, and Asian folk tunes to jazz and classical music.

Throughout her career, Dr. Ko has had the privilege of collaborating with renowned artists, including Marta Casals, Aldo Parisot, Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Phil Wood, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and the Faubourg Quartet, of which she is the founder and leader. She has also graced prestigious events, having been featured at occasions honoring figures like the Dalai Lama and Congressman John Lewis, where she delivered mesmerizing performances of Korean folk tunes.

Notably, Dr. Ko is recognized for her roles as a producer and headliner in numerous sold-out events, spanning concerts, auctions, galas, and fundraisers. These endeavors have served diverse causes, benefiting children, artists, natural disaster victims, and the public school system.

One of her standout accomplishments is the creation of “Dr. Ko’s Coats-for-Kids Concert” in 2009, which has collected over 3,400 coats for underserved children in her current hometown of New Orleans.

In the fall of 2019, Dr. Ko joined Xavier University of Louisiana as a professor in the string instrument division, following an 11-year tenure as the Chair of the Classical Instrumental Department at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. At Xavier, she imparts her knowledge in Applied Strings, Chamber Music, Music Appreciation, and conducts the Symphonic Band. Additionally, she is pursuing her studies at the university’s business school as a part-time student. Starting in the summer of 2023, Dr. Ko’s long-standing passion project, the ‘Coats-for-Kids Concert’ transformed into “Koats for Kids”; a nonprofit organization with an expanded mission. This mission now includes an initiative for at-risk juvenile music programs, and Dr. Ko will continue to serve as its Executive Director. Her commitment to contributing her expertise and passion to support youth and artists also led her to assume the role of Executive Director at Make Music NOLA. In taking this position, she hopes to bring her dream closer to reality: that every child in New Orleans can experience the pure joy of playing music. 

Whitney Cooper - Intern Teacher

Dr. Tucker Fuller - Senior Program Manager, Music Theory & Violin Teacher

TUCKER FULLER was born on a farm near Ellendale, North Dakota. As a child he studied violin, and composition. He moved to New Orleans in 2010. Recent projects include a quartet of song cycles in collaboration with poet Megan Levad: Murder (2010), Love (2012), Labor (2014), Gilded (2019). For the Marigny Opera House and Marigny Opera Ballet: Salve Regina, for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra (Winner, 2014 Tribute to the Classical Arts Award for Best Performance of New Classical Music); Orfeo, Giselle Deslondes, Book of Saints (Winner, 2017 Tribute to the Classical Arts for Best Performance of New Classical Music), and A Midsummer Night's Dream full-length ballet scores (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned and premiered Louie the Buoy (2016), a piece for narrator and orchestra. His music has been played by the Albany Symphony, New Resonance Orchestra, Polymnia Quartet, Musaica, Da Capo Chamber Players, and the American Symphony, among others. He holds degrees from Bard College (B.A.), Peabody Conservatory (M.M.A.), and the University of Michigan (D.M.A).

Julius Mckee - General Music & String Teacher

Julius is a veteran brass band musician here in New Orleans. Julius grew up in the Lower 9th Ward where he learned to play sousaphone in the marching band. He is currently a member of the Preservation Hall Brass and a staff member here at Make Music NOLA!

Thomas Donald - String Teacher

Xavier University student and music education major. Cellist and Memphis native.

Sonya Khoobehi - Program Director, & Strings Teacher

Sonya Martinez Khoobehi, holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Education and a Masters Degree in Music Performance from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (formerly known as University of Texas - Pan American). She is also a Suzuki Teacher for double bass. She has over 15 years of teaching experience in Texas and Louisiana with students ranging in age from 5 years old to adults. Sonya’s goal is to help students be better than they were the previous moment/class/day through music education. She enjoys performing with the local community orchestra/ensembles she lives in to help promote music opportunities for all.

Dr. Moises Bonella Cunha - Violin Teacher

Brazilian-born violinist Moises Bonella Cunha has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Brazil, Italy, Russia, and United States. As winner of several competitions, Moises has been featured as a soloist with major Brazilian symphonic and chamber orchestras, including Bahia Symphony Orchestra, Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, and Theatro Sao Pedro Chamber Orchestra. He has also appeared as a soloist with ARCO Chamber Orchestra, University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Florianópolis, Santa Maria Symphony Orchestra, SESI FUNDARTE Chamber Orchestra, Caxias do Sul Symphony Orchestra, and Unicamp Symphony Orchestra, receiving excellent reviews. Moises has also performed on Brazilian television.

Moises is Artistic Director of the Northern Neck Chamberfest, and a frequent artist at the Northern Neck Chamber Music Series in Virginia. He is a frequent artist at the Bell’Anima Concert Series in Brazil, and has toured Brazil and abroad with Camera Ontoart.

Moises Cunha serves as director and string faculty of the Crescent City String Academy and the Crescent City String Camp & Festival in New Orleans. He has given numerous masterclasses in the United States and Brazil, including Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra, Xavier University of Louisiana, FUNDARTE, and Pelotas Federal University. He is a frequent Artist-in-Residence with Recanto Maestro Youth Orchestra in his native Brazil, where he presents masterclasses, and coaches chamber music and orchestra sectionals. In 2020, Moises was a guest artist at the Goiás Federal University International Music Festival. He has also been a guest artist at Loyola University New Orleans, working closely in sectionals and performance with undergraduate and graduate students in orchestra repertoire.

Moises Cunha holds a B.M. and a M.M. from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he was a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship, Conrado Wessel Foundation Scholarship, The Scott C. and Kathrin Schutz Latin American Scholarship, and the Artistic Excellence Award. Moises Bonella Cunha completed the D.M.A. at University of Georgia in the spring of 2018.

Board of Trustees