Saturday Morning Arts Spring Showcase

Trenton Arts at Princeton (TAP) is a collaboration between the Department of Music, Lewis Center
for the Arts, and Pace Center for Civic Engagement. Our mission is to build a multidisciplinary
community of artists across Trenton and Princeton University through student leadership and
volunteer opportunities, youth programming, community performances, and more.
Our Saturday Morning Arts (SMArts) program was founded to establish a community where
Trenton and Princeton University students can gather regularly to create art together. Trenton
students and Princeton University student volunteers can participate in one of four SMArts groups:
Trenton Youth Dancers, Orchestra, Singers, and Theater. Rehearsals take place every Saturday from
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM in the Lewis Arts Complex.
PROGRAM MANAGER
Lou Chen
PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Nancy Agosto
STUDENT CORRESPONDENTS
Chirag Kumar
Danielle Ranucci

Originally from San Bernardino, CA, Trenton Youth Orchestra director LOU CHEN graduated from
Princeton University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in music (summa cum laude, Phi
Beta Kappa) and certificates in orchestral conducting and American studies. Having founded the
orchestra as a sophomore, after graduation Lou was hired by the University to develop a larger arts
outreach initiative, now known as Trenton Arts at Princeton (TAP). He is a passionate advocate for
accessible arts education and place-based community engagement. He also serves as the program
manager for TAP, responsible for the stewardship and growth of the program.

Trenton Youth Theater director JAMIE GOODWIN, hailing from Cherry Hill, NJ, is a 2022 Princeton
University graduate. She is an interdisciplinary maker, storyteller, and thinker obsessed with beauty,
bodies, and our collective humanity. Jamie is a 2023 US Student Fulbright Award recipient and will
spend the next academic year in Germany working with local Black theater artists. She is one of the
New Jersey Theater Alliance’s inaugural Career Accelerator fellows, with placements at Mile Square
Theatre in Hoboken and McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton. Her work was recently featured in
the Genesis Festival at Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick. She also serves as one of
ArtsEmerson’s teaching artists in Boston.

While at Princeton, Jamie received the Toni Morrison Prize and the Award for Innovation in Theater
Making for her senior thesis show, a devised theatrical performance that tackled the complex reality
of living in a marginalized body through poem, story, and movement. In addition to her time in
theater, in 2020 she co-founded and led an education justice initiative in her hometown which
attempted to reframe educational inequities through the lens of oppressive systems and ideologies
and to ultimately support her community to become better questioners and dreamers.

Trenton Youth Dancers director RACHEL SCHWARTZ, Princeton University Class of 2018, is an
artist, dancer, designer, and educator based in NJ. This is her third year with TYD. She is dedicated
to pursuing both her own artistic practice and a career in arts education. Her artistic work includes
painting, choreography, puppet-making, and costume design for devised theater works, in
collaboration with Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn and GASH Theatre Company in London.

Previously, Rachel has taught in special education settings, such as The Quad Manhattan, and with
girls’ empowerment organizations throughout NYC. She was also a teaching artist for Art as a
Catalyst for Change, a NYC initiative that brings anti-gun violence messaging and opportunities for
creative expression to middle and high schools with high incidences of gun violence. Based on
these experiences and her study of dance pedagogy at Princeton, she has developed a teaching
style that is attentive, compassionate, fun, and rigorous. She believes that dance and choreography
have the power to help young people develop personal agency and access powerful modes of
self-expression.

Trenton Youth Singers director SOLON SNIDER SWAY is Lecturer in Music Directing and Choral
Programs at Princeton University, where he also directs the Playhouse Choir and Playhouse
Orchestra. In addition to his work at Princeton, Solon is a composer, music director, conductor,
singer, actor, accompanist, arranger, and educator.

Recent music direction/conducting projects include shows and events at Second Stage Theater,
Avaloch Music Institute, Princeton University, Theater 2020, Infinity Theater Company, Ghostlight
Theater Camp, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and Ragtag Theater. Recent composition projects
include Thebes (Rattlestick Theater and Quinnipiac University), The Swallow and the Tomcat (Yale
Summer Cabaret’s “Verano Season”), The Tempest (Yale School of Drama), and Thank You for
Trying (United Solo). Solon’s musicals Crescent City Baby (music/lyrics/libretto) and Cupidity
(music/lyrics) were both produced at Yale University, and his original concert music has been
performed by the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, UMBC’s RUCKUS
Ensemble, Yale Whiffenpoofs, Walden School Players, Peabody Preparatory Percussion Ensemble,
and more. He has also written and arranged music for video games, television, choirs, and a
cappella groups.

Solon previously taught music and theater at the Dalton School’s After School Program, American
music history through the Road Scholars Program, and voice, piano, and musicianship through his
private studio. He was an improv pianist for the Story Pirates comedy group and an accompanist,
vocalist, and arranger for the Young People’s Chorus of NYC. Solon holds a B.A. in music
(intensive) and theatre studies, with distinction in both majors, from Yale University, where he
served as music director for The Duke’s Men of Yale and the Yale Whiffenpoofs.

Trenton Youth Dancers student leader JENNA ELLIOTT is a Princeton University sophomore from
Douglas, MA, studying psychology with certificates in creative writing, entrepreneurship, and
neuroscience. When she was two years old, she began taking dance classes at a local studio. Since
then, she has studied a variety of different styles from tap, jazz, lyrical, and hip-hop to ballet, pointe,
contemporary, and acro. In second grade, she was lucky enough to compete for the first time with
a team of other dancers and fell in love with the experience of working to constantly improve a
routine based on feedback from teachers, judges, and choreographers. On campus, she takes part
in the arts scene as a member of the Performing Arts Council, eXpressions Dance Company, and of
course, TYD. Outside of dance, she serves as academics chair for the Rocky College Council and
participates in the USG Communications Team, the USG Student Life Committee, Princeton
Women in Entrepreneurship, and the Mental Health Initiative.

Trenton Youth Theater co-student leader DESTINE HARRISON-WILLIAMS is a Princeton
University first-year from Miami, FL, by way of Sylacauga, AL. He grew up writing and performing
spoken-word poetry and really enjoyed engaging in the theater scene of his high school.
Somewhere along the line, he found himself teaching children’s theater at a local non-profit and
eventually the YMCA. He has come to see theater as a form of both self-exploration and cultural
exposure, so he can’t help but encourage everyone to try it out…at least once!

Trenton Youth Orchestra student leader SEAN PARK is a Princeton University junior from Mahwah,
NJ, majoring in molecular biology and pursuing certificates in global health and health policy. Over
his musical career, he has participated in numerous youth orchestras and chamber groups around
NJ/NY. He has been teaching violin for over seven years now and is excited to continue this
journey—this time as TYO student leader! On campus, he is involved in Princeton Roaring 20 (a
cappella) as president and Princeton Camerata (chamber orchestra) as a violinist. Outside of music,
he enjoys spending time outdoors, whether that be running, biking, or traveling.

Trenton Youth Theater co-student leader KATE STEWART is a Princeton University sophomore
originally from Denver, CO, and now based in NYC and Los Angeles. She is an actor, dancer,
singer, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, and songwriter who will follow her love and passions wherever
they take her. Her goal is to combine different styles of performance to instigate conversations and
understanding that transcends barriers.

Trenton Youth Singers student leader JULIANA WOJTENKO is a Princeton University senior from
Princeton Junction, NJ, majoring in history and pursuing certificates in Russian and Eurasian studies
and medieval studies. She grew up singing in church and school choirs and performing musical
theater. At Princeton, she sings in the Playhouse Choir and Glee Club and performs with several
campus theater groups, including the Princeton Triangle Club and Princeton University Players. Off
campus, she sings in and assistant-conducts St. Vladimir’s Russian Orthodox Choir in Jackson, NJ.
She is interested in exploring a variety of musical styles, from medieval chant to big-band jazz to
Latin pop to North American folk, and is writing her thesis on the history of Russian opera. After
serving as a coach and private teacher for TYS, she is excited to serve as the student leader this
year.