Deb Smoller has been a Monteverdi board member since 2017 and President since 2019. Deb has taught piano lessons for 27 years (bio here) and flute for 18 years. Her early careers in Burlington included work in the nonprofit sector including Flynn Theatre for Performing Arts, Discover Jazz Festival, and Burlington City Arts as well as in the for-profit sector in cinema. More recently Deb spent 6 years with a local/sustainable food organization as operations manager and currently as a manager sub with Hunger Mountain Co-op.

Erin Eberhardt is a multi-instrumentalist and music educator from the Adirondacks. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, where she studied education, marimba, and how to best serve students with special needs. Erin’s goal as a teacher is to give customized instruction, with student-created goals.

Erin specializes in teaching music to students with diverse needs. She started teaching a United Sound chapter in 2016, and has been using the arts to unite people since then. Erin also works with the Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs.

Maddy Winn is a Senior Accountant at the Vermont Community Foundation with a passion for music and music education. She holds her bachelor’s degree from SUNY Potsdam, where she specialized in trumpet. She spent 3 years as a 5-12 band teacher before transitioning into accounting which she’s done for the past 5 years. Her passion and involvement in local music led her to join Monteverdi’s board in early 2025. 

When Maddy is not working, she can be found enjoying long walks, or couch time with her 3 dogs and her husband. 

Jeff is a self-taught multi instrumentalist who's played in many bands and recording projects over the past 25 years. He currently plays drums and tours with Magic User, a synth and sax post-punk band based in Vermont. Past projects include Lake Superior (drums) and July 26 Movement (bass/drums/keys). He is also the founder and co-owner of several businesses including Naive Melody Instrument Exchange, an instrument store in downtown Montpelier. He is a graduate of Vermont Law School (JD & MSEL) and a former member of the Vermont Bar Association.

​Liz Benjamin has been a member of the Monteverdi Music School board of directors since 2018 and secretary since 2019. She has been studying composition with Erik Nielsen for six years. She has included music and singing in her work with children, youth, and adults all her life. She taught Music Together for ten years and was a kindergarten teacher and a minister of religious education.

Leslie Welts is a state government attorney with a background in music performance and education. She has a bachelor's of music degree from UMass Amherst where she concentrated in bassoon performance. She also studied, and later worked, at Kinhaven Music School in Weston. Now she plays bassoon with the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra and is a Suzuki parent to an elementary school-aged pianist. Leslie lives in Montpelier with her husband James, their daughter Anna, and dog Yuki. She spends time with her family enjoying Vermont's beauty and taking in as much live music as possible.

A vocal performance major at NYU, Jolynda worked as a performing artist and stage technician in New York City for a number of years after school. In 2017, she returned to Vermont with her family and a breadth of nonprofit management experience gained in both NYC and Philly.

Since returning to Central Vermont, she has worked with Just Basics, the nonprofit that runs the Montpelier Food Pantry, and chaired the board of MRPS Partners in Education for 3 years.

Jolynda happily joined Monteverdi Music School in 2022. Working in the arts again has been a breath of fresh air for her, and the opportunity to help Monteverdi build more programming and strengthen its community reach is a dream job for her!

Born and raised in Vermont, Annalise is a classically-trained vocalist and performer based in the Upper Valley. After graduating Northern Vermont University - Johnson, they worked for VPR both as an on-air announcer and behind the scenes in operations.  Annalise has been involved in the arts in Vermont through many mediums, including arts installations, operas in converted barns, serving on non-profit boards, composing, and performing with local choruses, orchestras, and in films.

As Monteverdi has played a big role in their development as a musician, they’re excited to bring their diverse skill set to continue to serve Central Vermont and grow to support the ever-evolving musical landscape of the state.