2025-'26 Board of Trustees - Concord Community Music School

The Board of Trustees of the Concord Community Music School is comprised of community leaders, professionals, and volunteers, all of whom work actively on behalf of the School. We thank all those who help support us in our mission. If you would like more information about the Board of Trustees or advocating for the Music School, please feel free to reach out to us at ccms@ccmusicschool.org.

Karen M. Jantzen - Chair

Karen M. Jantzen (Chair) has worked in non-profit administration for the past 25 years and serves as the Executive Director of the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness. In 2014, she joined the leadership team of Riverbend Community Mental Health where she oversaw Community Wellness Education programming, marketing, public relations, and fundraising as the VP of Community Affairs. Karen credits music therapy for teaching her youngest child how to talk and read. She is also witness to the powerful role music therapy has in treatment plans for children living with serious emotional disturbances and adults living with a serious mental illness. Karen holds a B.A. from Denison University, an M.P.A. from University of New Hampshire, and is a Certified Fundraising Executive. She has served on the Boards of Woodside School, St. Andrew’s Church in Hopkinton, and the Northern New England Chapter of the Association for Fundraising Professionals; she currently sits on the board of the American Furniture Masters Institute. Karen has four adult children and resides in Contoocook. She enjoys kayaking, hiking, skiing, and the amazing wonders of nature.

Carl Cooley - Vice-Chair

Carl Cooley (Vice-Chair) is a retired Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. After 12 years as a primary care pediatrician in Newport, Carl joined the faculty at Dartmouth and directed the Center for Clinical Genetics and Child Development and the Hood Center for Children and Families for ten years before becoming the Chief Medical Officer for the Crotched Mountain Foundation where he continues to serve as a Trustee. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed his pediatric training at the University of Michigan. Carl is a board member of the YMCA of Concord and serves on the City of Concord’s Energy and Environment Advisory Committee. He and his wife, Seddon Savage, have lived in Concord since 2004. Sarah, the eldest of three children, also lives in Concord and has been a long-time student at CCMS. Carl enjoys wildlife photography, birding, beekeeping, biking, and the outdoors.

Steve Murray - Treasurer

Steve Murray (Treasurer) has worked in investments for over 20 years and is currently a portfolio manager at Eldridge Investment Advisors. He is responsible for developing the firm’s economic and market outlooks, investment research, allocation, and implementation. Steve is also on the finance committee of the Five Rivers Conservation Trust and is an easement monitor at Winant Park. Steve served for nine years on the board of the New Hampshire Children’s Trust and was previously Treasurer of South Church and Woodside School in Concord. He resides in Concord with his wife of 20 years, Hannah and his two girls Grace and Caroline. Steve is far from musically gifted, but his wife is a professional singer and professor of music and his daughters both play instruments. He enjoys hiking the local trails with his golden doodle Maisy.

Karen Hicks (Clerk)

As an internationally regarded strategist and manager, Karen Hicks (Clerk) has designed and run national and state based campaigns that combine a winning strategy with a plan to build lasting power through leadership and skill development. Hicks designed and ran the large-scale consumer outreach and engagement campaign, “Covering New Hampshire,” to enroll uninsured residents in the Health Benefits Marketplace and Medicaid. The multi-channel campaign won national recognition as one of the most effective in the country.

Hicks has run and had leadership positions on electoral campaigns, including multiple Presidential, statewide and local campaigns. In 2008, Hicks served as a Senior Advisor to Senator Hillary Clinton with a focus on the early nominating states. In 2004, Hicks served as the Field Director for the Kerry Campaign and oversaw the campaign’s $80 million grassroots mobilization effort in the battleground states. In 2005, Hicks advised British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Labour Party as they sought and won a historic third term, primarily advising the Party on organization building efforts, voter targeting, as well as design and implementation of a voter contact plan.

In addition to the numerous statewide and local political races, Hicks has extensive policy experience at the state level. She served as Governor Jeanne Shaheen’s Health Policy Advisor for 3 years and as the Director for Policy at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Hicks also served as Executive Director of New Hampshire Citizen Action and has worked with dozens of progressive organizations to strengthen planning, advocacy, and organizing capacity.

Anne Baier

Anne Baier is a former medical laboratory director and a mother of 6, including a set of triplets. She served on the Bow School Board for a total of 11 years and was also a previous CCMS board member. Four of her six children studied at CCMS, and two went on to major in music in college. Anne discovered the accordion several years ago and plays in the NH Scottish Music Club, of which she is president, as well as the New Horizons Band at CCMS. She enjoys kayaking, swimming, cross country skiing, and of course, playing the accordion.

Emily Preston

Emily Preston has worked toward engaging people in the outdoors her whole life. Starting as a volunteer at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center at age 12 and continuing though a career as a naturalist in the US and New Zealand and then wildlife sanctuary director for Massachusetts Audubon. In 2000, she headed to graduate school, earning a M.S. in entomology from the University of RI. Her next move was back to NH to work as a wildlife biologist for NH Fish and Game, coordinating the efforts to engage partners across the state in implementing the state’s Wildlife Action Plan. Emily has sung in a variety of choruses including medieval, barbershop, musical theater and classical music, She currently sings with Songweavers and the Concord Chorale. She has also reignited her love of folk music and takes guitar lessons at CCMS and participates in folk jams whenever she can.

Cathy Yi

Cathy Yi is a physician s pecializing in obstetrics and gynecology at Dartmouth Health. (Her husband Gerard Dillon has been with DH since 2000 and her daughter Megan also works for DH.)

She and her husband settled in Concord in 2000 and raised their 2 children who both were students at the Concord Community Music School. Cathy was born in Korea and came to the states in 1973, growing up in New Jersey. She attended SUNY at Stony Brook for undergrad and SUNY at Buffalo for medical school where she met her husband, who fell in love with New Hampshire camping in the White Mountains. Yoga and cooking are Cathy’s favorite hobbies, and she loves opera, pickleball, Bach and the Beatles. Cathy appreciates music and the joy that it brings her. It is a privilege for Cathy to serve on the board to keep the music playing.

Daniel Acsadi - ex-officio

Daniel Acsadi (executive director) Dr. Daniel Acsadi joined Concord Community Music School as executive director in May 2022. With two decades of experience in education, music performance, and nonprofit management, Daniel deeply believes in the transformative power of the arts on individual and collective levels. As Powers Music School’s Director of Education and Community Programs, Daniel expanded the school’s offerings through the development of workshop weeks, creative aging initiatives, and a new student certificate program. In his previous role as director of the Boston Classical Guitar Society, Daniel helped revitalize the organization by growing its international concert series, community-building initiatives, and annual ensemble festivals. A sought-after guitar instructor, Daniel has taught at Tufts University, Longy School of Music of Bard College, Bridgewater State University, Powers Music School, and the New School of Music. As an active performer in the New England area, he often highlights original arrangements celebrating the rich musical heritage of Hungary, his country of birth. Daniel received his doctoral and master’s degrees from New England Conservatory while studying with legendary guitarist Eliot Fisk. He graduated from Cornell University with a BA in economics and music. Daniel has also lived in Grosse Pointe (MI), Montréal (Québec), Madison (WI), and Pécs (Hungary).

Stefani Burk - ex officio

Stefani Burk (Concord Community Music School wind department chair, oboe, woodwind ensembles) attended the University of Iowa (B.A. Music Education, M.A. in Oboe Performance). Her teachers were Robert Dean, Wilma Zonn, James Lakin, and Fred Cohen. Oboist for the Portland Symphony, PORTopera, and Portland Ballet, she has also performed as oboist and oboe d’amore soloist with the NH Music Festival, Opera North, White Mountain Bach Festival, and with many other orchestras and chamber music festivals throughout New England. Ms. Burk has taught at Bowdoin and Bates Colleges, Indian Hill Arts, and is currently on the faculty at St. Paul’s School.