It takes a village!
Click below to learn more about our team.Core Staff
Katen Reynolds, Executive Director
Katen, a native of Lexington, VA moved to Charlottesville in 2006 after graduating from University of Mary Washington and serving a year in Americorps. Before joining The Front Porch she worked as a gardener, dance teacher, and most recently, an elementary school teacher after earning her Masters in Education at UVA. Katen joined the Front Porch team in 2018, and became Executive Director in 2023. Though music has always been an important part of her life, she didn’t start learning an instrument until about 10 years ago, when she picked up a guitar for the first time. Working at The Front Porch has been the perfect way for Katen to combine her love of learning, music, and community.
Jess Knicely, Music School Director
Originally from Charlottesville, Jess has a passion for traditional roots music and the arts. This enthusiasm was cultivated through years of volunteering with music festivals, workshops, and concerts organized by the Virginia Folklife Program at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Jess brings a wealth of professional expertise, including experience in managing both low and high-volume operations, team leadership, business development, interior design, merchandising, and art installation. As a Senior Visual Manager and District Visual Manager for Anthropologie, Jess honed skills in creating impactful visual strategies and driving operational success. Jess was recently accepted into the University of Virginia to continue her lifelong learning journey, studying Early Childhood Development.
Melissa Mossinghoff, Director of Community Outreach
Originally from northern Virginia, Melissa moved to Charlottesville to attend UVa and has happily called it her home ever since. Beginning with piano and ballet/tap lessons as a child, her affinity for dance and music has persisted throughout her life. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Affairs and French from UVa and a Masters in Education from Marymount University. Professionally, she taught in local elementary schools and worked as communications coordinator at Building Goodness Foundation. Connecting people to each other and the world around them remains her overarching desire in life.
Kaitlyn Brown, Enrollment Manager
Originally from a small town in Virginia called Colonial Heights, Kaitlyn began her musical journey when she started taking piano lessons at the age of 6. She continued these lessons, and eventually picked up french horn in middle school band. She quickly fell in love with everything about the instrument, and decided to pursue a degree in music industry with a concentration in Horn at James Madison University. During her time at JMU, she participated in many ensembles, including the JMU Brass Band, Symphony and Opera Orchestras, and the Wind Symphony. These groups gave her the opportunity to perform and travel in places across the country and the world, including participation in the North American Brass Bands Association competition every year, and the Royal Northern College of Music’s Brass Band Festival in Manchester, England. She has worked in recording studios, on staff for the JMU marching band, and as a quality control inspector for vinyl records. In her free time, Kaitlyn enjoys gardening and tending to her houseplants, and spending time bird-watching with her cat, Poe.
Sam Cushman, Director of Concert Programming
Sam is a Charlottesville native trained in an eclectic mix of musical styles. He started gigging as a drummer in high school and deepened his ties to the local community while double majoring in history and music at the University of Virginia. Sam’s interest in global percussion eventually led him to study Hindustani (North Indian) tabla drumming, and in 2015 he decided to pursue graduate studies in music at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Alongside his graduate studies, Sam learned to play Indonesian gamelan and performed with various collegiate and professional percussion ensembles in California. In 2022, he also lived in New Delhi where he researched North Indian drumming and dance accompaniment with the support of a Fulbright grant. Sam completed his Ph.D. in 2023 and spent the next two years teaching. As an educator, he has taught everything from private drum lessons to lecture courses at universities and community colleges. After more than a decade away, Sam has returned to Charlottesville to start a family and reconnect with the musical community.
Sophie Trawalter, Director of Advancement
Originally from France, Sophie moved to Charlottesville in 2010 by way of North Carolina, New Hampshire, Illinois, and again North Carolina. She is a mission-driven scholar and educator with more than fifteen years of experience advancing equity and belonging through research, teaching, service, and civic engagement. Most recently, she served as a professor of public policy and psychology at the University of Virginia. She is also the proud mom of a Front Porch student learning to play ukulele. She brings this commitment, expertise, and love to The Front Porch, where she is excited to help connect everyone through music.
Dana Thiele, Marketing and Storytelling Strategist
Originally from Northern Virginia, Dana came to Charlottesville to attend UVA as a member of the cross country and track & field teams. Aside from a few years spent in Minneapolis pursuing post-collegiate distance running, she has called Charlottesville home for more than 25 years, where she raised her three children. Dana’s connection to music began early, studying cello from a young age through high school. Today, she enjoys attending concerts, festivals, and local shows throughout the region. An Art major at UVA, Dana found her way into photography while raising children and has since built a career in visual storytelling, content creation, and social media strategy. Her work with local organizations and businesses, including Charlottesville Insider, has focused on sharing the stories that make Charlottesville such a vibrant community. Dana is excited to combine her love of music, art, and community by sharing the stories of the people, programs, and connections that make The Front Porch such a special place.
Jeb Horn, Office Assistant
Hello, My name is Jeb Horn and I am very excited to be joining the Front Porch team! I was born and raised here in Charlottesville and up until recently worked for my family’s construction company, Martin Horn. When I wasn’t swinging a hammer or digging a hole I was likely noodling on my guitar. Music means a lot to me and it feels great to be a part of an organization like the Front Porch.
Board of Directors
Susan Weiner, President
Susan received her MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University. She has had multiple careers, including working on Wall Street and as an entrepreneur. Susan grew up in Opelika, Alabama playing the piano and singing gospel in multiple choirs in her church. Now retired, she has found a spiritual home at the Front Porch where she can be seen taking multiple classes each week. Her husband often jokes, “My wife has left me for the double bass!!!”
John Whitlow, Vice President
John Whitlow is a long time Charlottesville resident who has been an active member in the music scene here for decades. For the past 25 years he has played in the acoustic group Scuffletown, which has recorded 5 albums, toured throughout the eastern U.S., as well as internationally. Scuffletown continues to actively perform throughout their region of the country. John also served as Vice President of Plow & Hearth and he has run his own consulting business for the past 20 years. When not playing music or spending time with family, John can be found fly fishing on rivers throughout the mountains of VA.
Patrick Knittle, Treasurer
Patrick grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. He has always loved listening to music,
especially live performances, and played the clarinet in his youth. He is a CPA and
graduate of George Mason University. Patrick moved back to his home state in 2022
after 33 years away. Most recently he has been the Chief Financial Officer for Sun
Tribe Solar in Charlottesville. Earlier in his career he held finance and accounting roles
at two Fortune 500 companies where he lived six years in leadership assignments in
Europe, Canada and China. His later career centered on the food industry and was
based in Keene, New Hampshire. While there, he volunteered to lead a Habitat for
Humanity chapter and was Treasurer on a regional YMCA board. Patrick has two
grown daughters who he likes to say are “off the payroll,” and enjoys playing pickle ball,
surviving half marathons, and learning to fly.
Richard Will, Secretary
Richard Will is Professor of Music at UVA, where he teaches courses on opera, 18th-century music, and bluegrass performance. He writes about folk music, orchestra music, opera, and religious music, and his new book is “Don Giovanni” Captured: Performance, Media, Myth (University of Chicago Press). A fiddler and singer, Richard performs frequently around Charlottesville and central Virginia with the Bluegrass Destroyers and other collectives.
Abigail Akre
Abigail has over 20 years of experience in nonprofit management, fundraising, and operations, including in an executive role at an advocacy and research organization in Washington, DC. Today, she serves as a fundraising consultant and grant writer, and advises on event fundraising and strategic planning for several nonprofit boards and organizations. Abigail holds a B.A. from Bates College in Environmental Studies and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University, both focused on sustainable development and agriculture. She lives in Charlottesville with her husband and three kids, and can often be found horseback riding, growing vegetables in her backyard, or enjoying the outdoors with her family.
Steve Burns
Steve has worked in Charlottesville at Quad-C, a private investment firm, since 1994. He has previously worked at Paribas Capital Markets, W.R. Grace & Co., and Peat Marwick. He was born and raised in New York. Other non-profit board work in the area includes service at the Charlottesville Free Clinic, Tandem Friends School, and The Miller Center at the University of Virginia. He received a BS from Boston College and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Steve loves music of all kinds but failed miserably in his attempt at learning to play banjo.
David Butler
David is the cofounder of the award-winning music education company ArtistWorks, and a lifelong acoustic guitarist. He grew up listening to and playing the guitar-centric music of the 60’s, surrounded by the many music influences of his hometown Memphis Tennessee. He has taught hundreds of players via the ArtistWorks teaching platform, for which he holds several U.S. patents. Prior to founding ArtistWorks, David was one of the original technologists at AOL, his eleven year tenure ending in 1999. David and his wife Patricia moved to Charlottesville in 2022.
Dhara Goradia
Dhara Goradia has over 20 years of experience as a musician and over 10 as a licensed architect working in the Central Virginia area. Much of her success in these fields is credited to the support of the local community, and her deep interest in staying engaged with local bands and local businesses. She runs an architecture practice in Charlottesville focused on designing public and shared spaces, and teaches at the UVA School of Architecture. She continues to seek and understand the powerful relationships between music, architecture, and nature and integrate it into practice. Dhara holds a B.S. from the University of Virginia and an Master of Architecture from the University of Washington. She is currently licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She returns for her second tenure on the board, looking forward to supporting the organization as it expands its reach.
Ann JoNes
Ann is a self-proclaimed poster child for “The Hook.” A UVA graduate with a B.A. in English Literature,she first combined her passions for live music and cooking by fulfilling catering riders for artists performing in Charlottesville, from the Allman Brothers and the Black Crowes to Wynton Marsalis and the Indigo Girls. She later moved to Chicago, where she helped open House of Blues as Director of Sales, Marketing, and Special Events. But Charlottesville beckoned, and Ann returned to help build Musictoday, spending fourteen years with Musictoday and Live Nation working with hundreds of artists on online ticketing, merchandising, music sales, and fan experiences. She then spent nine years in South Florida designing “talk of the town” experiences for clients including Musicians On Call and the Billboard Latin Music Awards. Now back in Charlottesville, Ann is thrilled to reconnect with the local music community. After two years on The Front Porch’s annual gala committee, she has fallen in love with its mission, programming, and people and looks forward to helping The Front Porch expand its reach and bring people together through music.
Cathleen Phillips
Cathleen is a UVa Law-trained attorney, avid concertgoer, and parent of Front Porch students. She recently moved back home to Charlottesville after spending a number of years in Chicago, and is glad to be back in the place where she first learned to play instruments with others as part of the CHS Orchestra. You will often find her at Rivanna Roots or waiting in the Front Porch lobby while her kids finish up lessons, so serving on the board was a natural next step. She looks forward to continuing to support music education in Charlottesville for the next generation.
Ethan Tate
Ethan grew up singing in church choir and marching around with a clarinet in Bethlehem, PA. By the end of high school, he realized that musical performance probably wasn’t in his future, so he pivoted to connecting people with music as chair of the concert committee and Music Director / DJ at Dickinson College’s WDCV (where he also earned a B.A. in Comparative Religion). He has called Charlottesville home since 2006, attending hundreds of live music events over the years. He was an AmeriCorps volunteer with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville, an International Project Director for Building Goodness Foundation, and a grant manager at the community foundation before starting his own home improvement business, Old Pine Construction, in 2023. He is an insufferable Philadelphia sports fan and proud dad of a 1st grader who takes Fiddle / Violin classes at The Front Porch.
Bernard Whitsett II
Bernard DePriest Whitsett II recently retired as Executive Director of the Jefferson School Foundation, where he oversaw the Jefferson School City Center. He brings extensive experience in finance, investment management, and community leadership, including leadership roles with Operation HOPE, Legacy Asset Management Board, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Paradigm Consulting Group, and Prudential Fixed Income, where he managed more than $20 billion in short-term fixed-income funds. Bernard has been recognized for both professional and community leadership, including the Money Fund Report’s “Top Manager Award” and the National Eagle Leadership Institute’s Career Focus Eagle Award. He began his financial career at Continental Bank and later held positions with Harris Government Securities and DLJ Securities. Bernard holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA in Finance from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is the father of three sons: Bernard III, Jackson Lightfoot (deceased), and Neal Easton.
Teacher Liaison:
Abhijai Mathur
Abhijai Mathur, or ‘Abhi’ for short, is a materials scientist, environmental entrepreneur, and piano teacher from the Washington DC area. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry, with a minor in jazz piano, and independently finds business opportunities to use science to sustainably improve the relationship that humans have with the natural world. Growing up in a household with a mixture of musical influences, from Indian classical music to hard rock, provided Abhi a diverse perspective and appreciation for many genres. Further exploration into jazz piano in college, working with at-risk youth communities in the US and abroad, and performing with multiple groups in upstate New York shaped Abhi’s musical pathway towards teaching piano lessons at the Front Porch. He is thrilled to become more involved in the Charlottesville music community, and help young people transition through life with musical exploration.