Long Beach Alumnae Chapter
All events are free and open to the public. Donations are welcome and will support our SAI scholarships and other philanthropic activities.
1. Donate via the Zelle app. Direct donations to djickler@verizon.net.
2. Donate via check. Make checks out to EITHER "SAI Long Beach Alumnae Chapter" (to support our chapter) OR "CSULB 49er Foundation" (to support our scholarship fund). Mail checks to:
Dolly Ickler
266 Euclid Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90803
More information:
Vocal Wellness | Composers Panel | Music Industry Panel
Vocal Wellness Workshop
Carla Stickler
Carla Sticker is best known for her work as Elphaba in the national tour and Broadway
companies of Wicked. She is a world traveler having performed the role of Liesl in The Sound of
Music Asia Tour and the role of Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia! on the National Tour
throughout Canada and the US. Carla has headlined as a Guest Entertainer onboard
Norwegian Cruise Lines and Disney Cruise Lines. As an educator, she currently maintains a
private voice studio over Zoom. She has taught on the faculties of Marymount Manhattan
College and Molloy College as well as guest taught at Vandercook College of Music. She is a
proud member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Educational Theatre
Association, and the Musical Theatre Educators' Alliance. She holds certifications from the CCM
Institute and a 40 hour Voice Teacher Training and Certification through New York Vocal
Coaching along with a BFA from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts and an MA from NYU-Steinhardt
School of Education. She began teaching vocal wellness to students at the International
Thespian Festival in 2013 and has taken the workshop around the country to multiple festivals
and high schools. One of her main goals is to destigmatize vocal injury and empower her
students to listen to their bodies and learn when to speak up for themselves.
Website: carlastickler.com
Composers Panel
Amy Gordon
Amy Gordon is a composer, arranger, singer-songwriter, and vocalist in Los Angeles, CA. She is an active choral composer, including being the composer-in-residence for Nova Vocal Ensemble. She has been commissioned to write and arrange pieces for Choral Arts Initiative, Loyola Marymount University Concert Choir, Nova Vocal Ensemble, The Los Angeles Belles, The South Bay Chamber Singers, Ramona Convent Secondary School Chamber Choir, Graham Middle School Vocal Ensemble, and more. Her music has been described as melodic and accessible, yet with surprising harmonic twists. She is influenced by the musical styles of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Steve Reich. She loves setting poetry to music and bringing out the meaning of the text through music. She has won multiple awards, including the first annual Jim MacMillan Prize in Composition in 2019, 2nd place in the Corinfesta International Competition for Choral Composition in 2018, and an ASCAP Plus Award in 2018. In addition to composing classical and choral music, she is also an active media composer and singer-songwriter. She composes for films and web broadcasts. Her score for The Turner Exhibit (2018) won best film score by The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards. Her song “One Door Opens” was named a finalist in the SongDoor International Songwriting competition. She is an active educator and teaches Bachelor-level Music Theory, Songwriting, and Music Education classes. She is available for private Piano, Voice, Composition, and Songwriting lessons in the South Bay area. She received her M.M. in Composition from California State University, Long Beach and her B.A. in Composition from Loyola Marymount University.
Website: amygordonmusic.com
Kaitlyn Kimura
Kaitlyn Kimura (b. 1998) is a Chinese-American composer and vocalist based in Northern California. She has had her music performed by numerous professional L.A based ensembles such as Aperture Duo, Duo Montagnard, and Trio Eclipse. She is also an active film & media composer and has scored several animated shorts. Many of her works are heavily influenced by the musical styles of Ola Gjelio, Eriks Ešenvalds, and Eric Whitacre. Kimura earned her B.M in Music Composition with honors from California State University, Long Beach where she studied alongside Alan Shockley, Alexander Elliot Miller, and Adriana Verdié. In 2019, she received the Sigma Alpha Iota Chapter Music Scholarship from the CSULB College of the Arts for her musicianship. As a composer, she is extremely passionate about creating music that focuses on emotional vulnerability and the human psyche. When she isn't composing, she loves working on films, watching movies, and going to museums.
Website: soundcloud.com/kaitlyn-kimura
Bonnie Janofsky
Bonnie Ruth Janofsky is a versatile, award winning composer with “a keen sense of melody, interesting harmonies and intricate rhythms,” known for creating a full, rich sound in film, musical theater and big band. She played drums and wrote for her own Bonnie Janofsky Big Band and has composed a dozen new musicals as well as orchestrating and/or music directing shows. In the USC Film Scoring Program, she won the annual BMI Award and has scored numerous award-winning films! She serves on the Boards of SAI PAC, AFM 47, ASMAC, ASA and TMA and is a member of AWFC, NACUSA and SCL.
Paula Savastano, Moderator
Specializing in Copyright, Licensing, Royalties, and Publishing, Paula Savastano has worked in the music business for more than 25 years. As a classically trained musician, she began her career in Opera Management, but quickly made the switch to the popular music realm. She has worked in administrative management, intellectual property, and royalty departments for several notable companies including Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), Spirit Music Group, RykoMusic, Cherry Lane Music, Musical Heritage Society, and Turn Up The Music.
For many years, Paula’s knowledge and experience has been sought after by publishers, record companies, and music creators to assist them with audits, royalty collection and processing, licensing, and copyright issues. After significant and continued demand, she started her own company, SSA Music, which provided licensing, copyright, financial, auditing, and royalty consulting services to a diverse clientele ranging from independent musician to major music publishers and record companies. In 2012, SSA Music expanded to a full-service publishing entity, providing full administration, royalty collections, catalog pitching and song placements. In 2018, SSA Music was disbanded, and Paula went back to her roots as a freelance service provider and worked with several notable clients including Angry Mob Music Group, PEN Music Group, Reach Music Group, and McJames Music. In July 2019, she was hired full-time by Angry Mob Music LLC, as the Senior Director of Copyright and Royalties, where she oversees all of the Copyright and Royalty duties for the company.
Paula has been an active speaker at educational conferences and universities around the country for more than 15 years. She has held the position of Adjunct Professor in the Music Industry Departments at Drexel University and William Paterson University. She currently serves on the board of the California Copyright Conference (CCC), and is an active member in Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), Woman In Music (WIM), and Sigma Alpha Iota (Professional Music Fraternity). She is also an active musician who currently performs in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area as a freelance flautist.
Website: angrymobmusic.com/paula-savastano
Serona Elton
Serona Elton serves as Head of Educational Partnerships for The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). In this role, Elton directs The MLC’s efforts to engage future members of the music industry currently studying music business and related subjects at colleges and universities across the country and around the world. With extensive experience as a music industry professional and educator, Elton is also a professor, Director of the Music Business & Entertainment Industries Program, and Associate Dean of Administration at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. She is also a Yamaha Master Educator.
Previously, Elton worked for Warner Music Group, where she held the position of Vice President, Product Management, and EMI Recorded Music, North America, where she was Vice President, Mechanical Licensing and Repertoire Data Services. She has also provided consulting services to Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Zumba Fitness, and other music-related companies. A respected expert, Elton has written numerous articles about the music industry and directed several industry conferences. She is recognized by many for her extensive insight into mechanical licensing, royalties, contract summarization and management, rights management, record company operations and music industry information management.
Elton is very active in numerous music industry organizations and is currently the Immediate Past Chair of the Florida Bar, Entertainment, Arts, and Sport Law Section. Previously, she has served as President of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), a member of the Recording Academy Board of Governors for the Florida Chapter, and a Trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA. Elton holds a B.S.B.A. in Finance from the University of Florida, an M.M. in Music Media and Industry from the University of Miami and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. She is a member of the New York Bar and Florida Bar. Elton resides in Miami, Florida.
Rene Merideth
Rene Merideth’s voyage to COO and Co-Founder of Exploration, a digital media rights management company, began in rural Missouri. As a preternaturally musical 6-year-old learning backline for her grandfather’s touring gospel band, Rene found her way from churchyard guitar pulls to a formal music business education at Belmont University in Nashville. After graduation, she headed to Los Angeles, where she began her career in music publishing. Starting as a Mechanical Licensing Manager at Windswept in 2001, she then served as Director of Licensing at Bug Music, Director of Licensing at BMG Chrysalis, and VP of Operations at AdShare. However, it was her hobby of coaching and photographing rugby that lead her to meet her eventual business partner Aaron Davis. In 2014, they founded Exploration, which is committed to help music publishers, record labels, and TV/film companies protect and administer their musical works. She and Aaron combined their expertise in music publishing and software engineering to create a powerful software dedicated to metadata organization and distribution: Exploration Data is free and available exclusively to the company’s clients. Rene, based in Culver City, is primarily responsible for copyright, licensing, and royalties. The company represents 4.3 million copyrights from over 1000 songwriters, who combined had in excess of 12.5 billion average monthly asset views in 2019. Rene has been a speaker and writer at events and publications produced by Billboard, the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals (NARIP), the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), Songwriters of North America (SONA), the Grammy Foundation, the Recording Academy, and is board member of the California Copyright Conference (CCC). In addition, she hosts her own podcast called “Red Dragon Sessions,” where she tells stories – good and bad – about her childhood and her time on the road. Rene is also an active contributor and supporter of Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund, a non-profit organization helping young women overcome abuse and neglect.
Website: exploration.io
Vickie Nauman
Vickie Nauman specializes in the intersection between technology and music, focused on licensing and music data/rights, product/device integration, and international strategic development. She founded the boutique consulting and advisory firm CrossBorderWorks and is busy with an ambitious portfolio of forward-thinking companies in tech, consumer electronics, finance and music. A digital music pioneer, Nauman worked on licensing and product for one of the first legal digital services MusicNet (RealNetworks JV), led strategic partnerships for connected device company Sonos, started and ran the US business for global music platform 7digital, and did digital music business in Europe and China as a consultant. She built one of the first DMCA-compliant services at taste-making Seattle station KEXP and has an MBA through the London School of Economics, NYU-Stern, and HEC-Paris, in the executive program TRIUM. She is an advisor to UCLA’s Music Innovation Program and SXSW as well as a collection of early stage companies in music/tech. Client base listed on LinkedIn.
Website: crossborderworks.com