Karen Nisenon, M.M., M.A., MT-BC

Founder/Director

Karen Nisenson holds a M.M. in Piano Performance from the Julliard School and an M.A. in Music Therapy from New York University. She is a certified music therapist and an adjunct faculty member in Music Therapy at NYU where she has taught since 1978. She is also affiliated with the Nordoff-Robbins Center at NYU and has worked in the field of creative arts therapy for 25 years. As a mother of five, composer and musician, Karen brings a wealth of experience to her work.

Billy Ayres

Musical Theater Workshop Coordinator

Billy Ayres specializes in improvisational musical theater with special needs children and adults. He has extensive experience in his approach that integrates many methods and forms of expression in theater arts: writing original plays and songs, improvisational acting and performances, movement, comedy, and mime. He is an artist-in-residence who has created, directed and performed more than fifty original musicals with special needs children and adults, at the Northern Westchester Center for the Arts, The Greenwich Youth Stage, Northern Westchester Boces, Norwest, and for Ability Beyond Disability, a rehabilitation facility where his work with traumatic brain injury victims received high praise by the New York Times. He conducts his workshops in a broad array of settings, from the theater, to the classroom, to community homeless shelters. His has received high acclaim in the Journal News for his work at the Westchester Arts Council, and has been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Billy is a published songwriter who has sung many national commercials for T.V. and radio, performing with Ben Vereen and Michael Bolton. He is developing a series of children’s books for special needs children and adults entitled “The Tiger and the Butterfly,” and has published “How to Conduct a Residency” for the Westchester Arts Council. He is a trained percussionist and a self-taught pianist and guitarist. He has created numerous cartoon voices for Fox 5’s children’s television show “Vanpires” both nationally and internationally. He is currently a staff writer for The Songs of Love foundation, donating original songs for children with terminal illness. He has been the host and emcee of ”Very Special Arts,” a showcase of special needs talent held at the Northern Westchester Center for the Arts.

Billy Ayres holds Masters in Special Education and a B.S. in psychology, is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Aftra.

Mary A. Newcomb

Art Therapist

Mary is an award-winning artist and designer with special interest in abstract paintings, monotype prints and found object sculpture. She received a B.A. degree from the University of Washington in Seattle and studied at Parsons School of Design, The Art Students League and the National Academy of Design in New York City as well as the School of Realist Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While maintaining her own studio, Mary has held volunteer positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Graham Windham Family Services, and the Rockland Psychiatric Center. Her personal interests include creating one of a kind wearable-art jewelry, acting, writing and supporting art and healing programs designed to empower children and adults with special needs.

Gabriel Lit, M.A., MT-BC

Gabriel has a Masters degree in Music Therapy from New York University, and a B.A. in Music from the University of North Texas. Hailing originally from Austin, Texas, Gabriel loves being in the Northeast where he was first introduced to the concept of four actual "seasons," though he misses the Mexican food.

An avid traveler, his favorite hobby is collecting musical instruments from around the world and attempting to play them without lessons. His current favorite instrument to play is the bass clarinet, which he plays in his New York City-based improvising chamber ensemble, Evil Horns, but he typically enjoys playing anything he can make a noise with.

Gabriel plays bass in a rock band and is currently working on several compositions for different individuals and ensembles including chamber groups, big band, and orchestra in his rare spare time. He enjoys making soup in the winter, guacamole in the summer, and loves mango and watermelon year round.

Barbara Yahr

Barbara is a field work student with Arts for Healing and is currently working for her M.A. at NYU in Music Therapy. She has an M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music in music theory, B.Mus. in orchestral conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music and a B.A. in music and philosophy from Middlebury College. As a conductor, Barbara has always tried to reach out to as many types of audiences as possible and feels that music therapy is a natural extension of that kind of music making.

In addition to her work at Arts for Healing, Barbara is the music director of the Greenwich Village Orchestra in Manhattan. She and her husband Alex Lerman live in Chappaqua, NY with their son Ben, who is 7.

Brooke Manning-Hinds

Executive Director

Brooke has played an integral role in New Canaan's non-profit community for over 25 years, most recently as President of the United Way of New Canaan. A New Canaan native, Brooke continues to be involved in the community volunteering with organizations such as Summer Theater of New Canaan, the Kiwanis Club of New Canaan and the First Presbyterian Church where she is a member of the FPC Choir, the English Hand Bell Choir, and is in charge of Buildings & Grounds.

Brooke loves music, art, stitching, and gardening and spending time with her three Cocker Spaniels and three Maine Coon cats.

Additional Staff

Sara O'Connor, Art Therapist
Carol Cristini, Administrative Coordinator