Board of Directors
Connecting and Creating
Robyn El Kay - Board Chair
Robyn (she/her/hers) is the Senior Engagement Officer at Cara Collective, a workforce development organization and social enterprise. She also serves as Communications and Development Assistant for Chicago Chamber Choir, and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Chair at B Local Illinois. She started her career as a musician, with a Music Education and Performance degree in voice from Ithaca College. She is a Baumhart Scholar MBA ('22) at Loyola University Chicago, a program focused on equity, sustainability, and values-driven leadership. She is eager to bring her business and social impact mindset alongside her music background to develop and grow LYNX Project.
Megan Moore - Mezzo-Soprano
Secretary, Co-Founder
Mezzo-soprano Megan Moore is quickly making waves as a young artist of versatility and depth. Recognized as an award-winning opera and concert singer, she won first prize in the 2020 Young Concert Artist International Auditions and was a top prize winner at Gerda Lissner Lieder & Song Competition in 2019. She is currently completing her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. For her appearance as Doraballa in Così fan tutte at Juilliard, OperaWire praised her “undeniable sex appeal” and “strength as an actress”.
Acclaimed for her Rossini interpretations, "elegant vocal gymnastics," and "rapid-fire coloratura", Megan's signature roles include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the title role in La Cenerentola. Her vocal agility also shines in baroque music, and Megan currently prepares a tour-de-force debut as the sorceress Medea in Handel’s Teseo at Juilliard. Equally at home with a long bel canto line, Megan recently portrayed Costanza in Haydn’s L’isola disabitata under the baton of Ramon Tebar at Opera Naples. An advocate for new music, Megan will create the role of Ino in The Lord of the Cries at Santa Fe Opera in summer 2021, and counts the creation of LYNX’s Amplify Series among her greatest endeavors to date.
Steven Humes - Tenor
Treasurer, founding member
An operatic performer, passionate music educator, and instinctive conductor, Steven Humes has already experienced a diverse musical career. As the current Manager of Audience Development for Opera Philadelphia, Steven has been able to successfully combine many of his musical passions. As Education Manager with Opera Philly, he helped develop the company's education program, Sounds of Learning, which provides opportunities in the arts for students of the greater Philadelphia area. Steven has also found success on the operatic stage, most recently as the title role in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring. He is a member of the Opera Philadelphia Chorus.
Beyond performance, Steven works as the Administrative Assistant for Si parla, si canta, and Italian immersion program, set in the small town of Urbania, Italy. Steven holds degrees in both Vocal Performance and Music Education from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY and a Masters in Music from the Eastman School of Music. Steven has studied privately with Dr. Brad Hougham and Robert Swensen.
Victor Ribadeneyra
Victor Ribadeneyra (He/him/his) is a nonprofit programs director, teacher, and musician currently serving as Director of Community Engagement at the Music Institute of Chicago (MIC), a nonprofit music school with 7 Chicagoland locations. The MIC Community Engagement Department, founded in 2017 through Victor's hiring, focuses on community relationship building, data-driven arts programming, and community arts programs that reflect the diversity of Chicagoland.
Victor's results at MIC include over 200 new Chicagoland community partnerships, over $150,000 in new achieved funding, and MIC's Music as Service Direct Service Learning program. MIC community engagement programs have also achieved new, landmark funding from individual donors and foundations including the RRF Foundation for Aging, Highland Park Community Foundation, Evanston Arts Council, Y.O.U. Highland Park, the Les Paul Foundation, and the DuPage Community Foundation.
As a musician, Victor teaches jazz and classical music lessons at New Trier High School, Evanston Township High School, and the Music Institute of Chicago. He has received multiple honors for his music including finalist at the United States Air Force Golden Band of the West trombone audition, finalist at the Indiana University Concerto Competition, and Jazz Fellow selection at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute. Student groups under his direction have earned two trips to Indiana Class B Marching Band State Finals and Munster High School's first top ratings at ISSMA jazz competitions in over a decade.
Prior to the Music Institute of Chicago, Victor served as Orchestra & Chamber Music Program Coordinator with Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, Production Assistant with the Ravinia Festival, and K-12 Band Director & General Music Teacher with the School Town of Munster.
In his free time, Victor volunteers as a Cat Care Shift Leader with Community Animal Rescue Effort (C.A.R.E.), a volunteer led animal shelter in Skokie, Illinois.
LYNX BOARD ALUMNI
Benton Hess
American conductor, composer, pianist, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Voice, Benton Hess, the founder and Artistic Director of “Si parla, si canta,” began musical studies with piano and several orchestral instruments at age five, encouraged by musical parents. By his early teens, he was already performing professionally and winning piano competitions. After finishing his own studies at the New England Conservatory, Hess was named Musical Director of the Opera Department at Boston University at age twenty-one and began conducting opera professionally. Since then, he has conducted hundreds of performances encompassing a myriad of musical styles for dozens of opera companies, including Annapolis Opera, Augusta Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lake George Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Minnesota Opera, Mobile Opera, New York Lyric Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Theatre of Rochester, Shreveport Opera, Tacoma Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Washington Summer Opera. He has led several world premieres, and has assisted many noted composers in preparation for premieres of their works. In addition to his time at Eastman, Benton Hess has served on the faculties of several prestigious institutions, including Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Rutgers University, Mannes College of Music, Hartt School of Music, and was the Covington Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for seven years. His contributions to the genre of song are numerous and include recordings, compositions, and an anthology of Russian song repertoire, co-edited with Ksenia Leletkina. Benton Hess' recordings may be found on the Albany, BIS, CBS, and Crystal labels.
Katie Masotti
Katie Masotti is a Soma® Certified Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) Provider located in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the founder of Masotti RPM Support LLC and works to provide meaningful learning opportunities for individuals with autism and other disorders through the implementation of RPM. Katie spent 5 years as a classroom special education teacher and has been practicing RPM for 10 years. Katie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Moderate/Intensive Special Education from Xavier University in 2014 and now serves as an adjunct faculty member for the University as a supervisor for student teachers receiving their degree in special education. Katie has enjoyed supporting the LYNX Project’s Amplify Series as this continues to inspire her in the work she does with students every day.