Meet the Team
Alex Canovas
General & Artistic Director
Alex Canovas is a Brooklyn-based vocal artist, conductor, and teacher committed to exploring and celebrating the human voice through the power of choral music.
He is the General & Artistic Director of the Young New Yorkers' Chorus (YNYC), leading both their Mixed and Treble Ensembles. In 2023, YNYC was named the winner of The American Prize in Choral Performance — Community Division, and in 2024 Alex was named the winner of The American Prize in Choral Conducting — The Dale Warland Award — Community Division.
An ardent supporter of new music, YNYC has given the world premiere of over 30 works over seven seasons under Alex’s direction. Alex also oversees YNYC’s celebrated Daniel Thompson Memorial Competition for Young Composers, which has led to the commissioning of over 55 new works by young composers since 2005, many of whom have gone on to become some of the most influential voices in choral music.
Alex has collaborated and worked with with creatives working in a wide variety of mediums, including John Luther Adams, Sxip Shirey, Paul Pinto, David Bloom, Caroline Polachek, Brad Wells, Pentatonix, Kent Nagano, Tina Roth Eisenberg & Creative Mornings, Philip Glass, R.B. Schlather, Matt Oltman, Dale Trumbore, Mark Shapiro, David Conte, and Vance George. He has led and prepared ensembles for appearances at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, National Sawdust, The Town Hall, Rockefeller Center, and other venues across New York City. He has extensive experience in church music, most recently serving on the music staff of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn for almost ten years, where he was named Director of Music & Choirmaster in 2018. Other previous positions include Associate Conductor of Choral Chameleon, Operations Manager and Assistant Conductor of the Empire City Men’s Chorus, and Assistant Conductor of the Ridgewood, NJ-based Ars Musica Chorale.
He is an active member of Chorus America and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), currently serving as the New York ACDA Webmaster and on the ACDA National Composition Initiatives Committee. Alex is a graduate of Ithaca College, where his teachers included Dr. Brad Hougham, Lawrence Doebler, Dr. Janet Galván, and Brian DeMaris.
Artistic & Administrative Team
Treble Ensemble Assistant Director
Emily Crowe Sobotko is a Brooklyn based choral conductor, teacher, administrator, and mezzo-soprano. She is the choral teacher at the Brooklyn New School in Carroll Gardens, where she works with three different youth ensembles and an adult chorus. Emily is the Senior Manager of Music Programs for Uncommon Schools, a high-performing charter school organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap in urban schools. Overseeing fourteen K-12 music programs, Emily coaches elementary, middle and high school music teachers, develops general and instrumental curriculum, leads professional development, and manages the strategic growth of music programming for the network.
As a vocalist, Emily has sung on many ambitious artistic projects and with incredible musicians. Her musical career as a teacher and singer has brought her to great stages in Chicago, San Francisco, Canada, South Africa, Qatar, Sierra Leone, and Luxembourg. She joined the Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus at a young age, which sparked her passion for choral singing. Over the last twenty years, she has sung with accomplished ensembles like Choral Chameleon, The NY Oratorio Society, and the New York Chamber Choir.
Emily has been singing with YNYC in the Treble Ensemble since 2019. Reawakening her love of SSAA and treble music has brought her immense joy, and she is grateful to serve the ensemble as associate conductor. Emily holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the Conservatory of Lawrence University, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. She is a certified Kodaly and Orff-Schulwerk teacher and is an active ACDA and AOSA member.
Emily Crowe Sobotko
Mixed Ensemble Assistant Director & Pianist
Mike Gaertner is the Mixed Ensemble Assistant Director & Pianist of the Young New Yorkers' Chorus. Described as “nothing less than remarkable” by Theaterjones.com, Mike works as a freelance musician, vocal coach, and administrator in the New York City area. Past professional affiliations include the Nashville Opera, Knoxville Opera, Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, the Juilliard School, the Mannes School of Music, the Occasional Opera Company, Aspen Music Festival, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series, the Cabaret at Café Sabarsky series at the Neue Galerie, Titus Art Song Recital Series of the Dallas Opera, Emerging Artist Recital Series of Opera America and Shreveport Opera. Mike was the 2014 Pianist Winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition which launched a recital tour across the United States with soprano Michelle Bradley. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Ithaca College.
Mike Gaertner
Development & Operations Associate
Erin Quinlan (She/They) is a Queens-based development and fundraising professional, photographer, and proud queer mom of two.
They currently serve as Development & Operations Associate for Young New Yorkers' Chorus, supporting the organization's fundraising infrastructure, donor communications, and development operations. With over eight years of experience in nonprofit fundraising and community building, Erin has worked across individual giving, special events production, and performing arts program management — including four years as Senior Manager of the Kentucky Center Governor's School for the Arts, where she oversaw programs serving 1,800 young artists annually across 120 Kentucky communities. She also currently consults for Queer Kentucky for their individual giving campaigns.
Outside her development work, Erin runs Bounce House Creative Studio, a New York City creative practice serving LGBTQ+ families and artists. They are a certified 200-hour RYT yoga instructor, a former birth doula, and a photographer specializing in portraits, families, birth stories, and live performance.
Erin holds a Master of Arts in Arts Management from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, Philosophy, and Art History from the University of Louisville.
Erin Quinlan
Social Media Manager
Stephanie Jones has been singing with YNYC since 2018, and started helping out with social media slowly but surely before officially taking up the Social Media Manager mantle in 2021. Social media is also her day job, but she's always more than happy to create content for the best choir in the biz.
Steph Jones
Choral Conducting & Leadership Fellow
Jenia Marquez is a conductor, music director, and music assistant from New York City. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University with a BA in Linguistics and minors in French and Choral/Musical Theater Conducting. She currently serves the Artistic Planning Coordinator and a vocal and violin teaching artist at INTEMPO Music in Stamford, CT, and was the Director of the Trenton Youth Orchestra in its final year of programming. In the realm of musical theater, Jenia works as a music director and assistant all around the city, with recent credits including You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown at Princeton Summer Theater (Music Director), Suddenly Last Summer at Bard SummerScape (Music Assistant), Lark at the Court Square Theater (Conductor/Sound Mixer), And The World Goes ‘Round at the Gulfshore Playhouse (Copyist), and the Hell’s Kitchen National Tour (Music Direction Fellow). During her time at Princeton, she served as the president and student conductor of the Princeton University Glee Club, the Music Manager and frequent music director with the Princeton University Players, the student leader/conductor of the Trenton Youth Singers and Orchestra, and the assistant music director of the Princeton Tigerlilies, in addition to singing with the Chamber Choir. Outside of music, Jenia works as a Research Assistant at the Computing Integrated Teacher Education (CITE) Initiative at the City University of New York.
Jenia Marquez
Board of Directors
President
Cory Reeves' affiliation with YNYC began in 2009, and has served on the board for over 14 years of that time. Prior to his role as President of the board, he served as Treasurer from 2010-2015, Interim President from 2015-2016, and Vice-President from 2018-2021. Cory also serves on the Board of Directors for Kinnara, the Atlanta-based professional chamber choir. He is an executive with Lexia, an educational technology firm specializing in Grades K-12 literacy and language education.
Cory Reeves
Vice President & Secretary
Lucy Mayer works at a boutique marketing and communications agency in Manhattan. She was a member of the Mixed Ensemble for nearly 10 years and also serves on the board of the New York Choral Consortium.
Lucy Mayer
Treasurer
RJ Gary works as an Investment Banking Associate within Private Capital Advisory at Evercore. He holds degrees in Finance and International Business from the University of Georgia, where he also served as treasurer for the university's chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). RJ previously worked in positions at Societe Generale and CIC Market Solutions, an affiliate of the French institution Crédit Mutuel. He is proficient in French, enjoys learning new languages, and has cross-cultural experience. RJ has been a member of YNYC's mixed ensemble since 2022, and is a lifelong musician who began playing violin at the age of 5.
RJ Gary
Fundraising Chair & Member-at-Large
Elena Price joined the Treble Ensemble in the fall of 2023 and quickly became involved as Fundraising Co-Chair in the summer of 2024. In the fall of 2024, she joined the Board of YNYC, fully bringing together her love for singing and her passion for fundraising to support a cause she cares about. Elena is currently the Manager of Individual Giving at Sanctuary for Families in New York and has been dedicated to supporting nonprofits in various roles since childhood. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations (2019) and a Master’s degree in Public Administration with a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management (2021), both from NC State University
Elena Price
Member-at-Large
Richard Berg first joined YNYC in 2008, and has sat on the Board since 2023. Local affiliations have included the acclaimed ensemble Choral Chameleon; the music ministries of St Vincent Ferrer, St Luke in the Fields, and Holy Trinity Episcopal; and new-music champions Cantori New York, where he served as Board President from 2018-2023. Richard is also a jazz instrumentalist, software engineer, and host/trainer for an ever-growing cast of foster dogs.
Richard Berg
Member-at-Large
Constantine Schidlovsky is a Senior Director within the Business Development team at KBRA focusing on Funds, Asset Managers and BDCs. He is also a lifelong musician; Constantine is a member of the Synod Cathedral Choir and Tsar Nicholas Men's Choir, and he was the Principal Trumpet in the Boston College University Wind Ensemble and BC bOp! jazz band. Constantine has been active with a variety of charity groups, serving as a Young Patrons Committee Co-Chair for the Russian Children's Welfare Society and has run the NYC marathon three times, raising funds for Fred's Team (MSKCC). He holds degrees in Finance and Marketing from Boston College.
Constantine Schidlovsky
General & Artistic Director (ex officio)
Alex Canovas
Volunteer Leadership
Mixed Ensemble Manager
Lily Coll is based in New York and joined Young New Yorkers’ Chorus in Fall 2024. She currently serves as the Mixed Ensemble Manager, supporting ensemble operations and helping ensure a well‑organized, welcoming experience for singers. Outside of YNYC, Lily works as a government consultant specializing in strategic communications and process improvement. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and Political Science from Duke University, where she served as Music Director and President of the Duke Lady Blue a cappella group and was a member of the Duke Student Alumni Board. She remains actively involved with Duke as a member of the Duke Next G.E.N. Philanthropy Board.
Lily Coll
Treble Ensemble Manager
Ashley Huntington may have only just recently joined YNYC back in 2023, but her love for singing and the YNYC community was instantaneous. A graduate of Hamilton College (B.A.) and the University of Cambridge (MPhil), Ashley passes her time campaigning for the Oscars and the Emmys as an awards publicist. Most importantly, she identifies as a Swiftie.