Steve and Ashley will be presenting the following five sessions during their residency:

• Lunch & Learn: “How to Develop a Multi-Faceted Identity As a Classical Musician”
• “Art & Business: Brand Identity, Design, and Development for Musicians”
• “Education, Experience & the Value of Hosting Musical Informances”
• Lunch & Learn: “The State of Arts & Music Entrepreneurship in the U.S.”
• Lunch & Learn: “3 Things You Need to Build & Manage a Portfolio Career in Music”

Please RSVP for the Lunch & Learn events by Wednesday, February 11, 2026. RSVP links for the Lunch & Learn events are located on the individual event pages linked above.

Ashley Danyew is a musician, educator, writer, and researcher. 

With a Ph.D. in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music and over 20 years of music teaching experience in community, studio, church, and college settings, Ashley manages a private piano studio of K-12 students, hosts the podcast Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning, and has taught over 2,600 music teachers and directors how to develop their skills and teach with creativity and confidence 
through her online courses and workshops. 

She has presented at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and the College Music Society Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, been a guest speaker in professional masterminds and college classes, and is a featured artist in the book, The Savvy Music Teacher. 

Her work has been published by Piano Magazine, Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education, Oxford University Press Choral Blog, MTNA Business Digest, NAfME, Colla Voce Music, Peake Music Publishing, and Growing in Grace. 

Ashley is the Founder and Editor of Musician & Co., helping classical musicians develop the skills they need to be small business owners. She is dedicated to providing tools, resources, and services to support self-employed musicians and music freelancers so they can build and manage a music career that’s as diverse and unique as they are. 

When she’s not teaching, researching music education strategies, or writing content for her blog or podcast, you can find her baking biscuits or biscotti, eating pasta, or painting postcard-size acrylic landscapes. 

Ashley lives in Rochester, NY with her husband, Steve, and their lab-greyhound rescue, Rory.
 

Steve Danyew’s music has been hailed as “startlingly beautiful” and “undeniably well crafted and communicative” by the Miami Herald, and has been praised as possessing “sensitivity, skill and tremendous sophistication” by the Kansas City Independent.

Danyew (b. 1983) is the recipient of numerous national and international awards for his work and his compositions have been performed throughout the world in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and the steps of the US Capitol. 

Danyew’s recent work Into the Silent Land was named the winner of the 2019 Walter Beeler Memorial Composition Prize. 

An early work for orchestra, The Night Eagle was awarded a prestigious BMI Composer Award. Five of his compositions for wind band are featured between Volumes 11 and 12 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band (GIA). In addition to composing, Danyew is a passionate educator who teaches composition lessons through his own private studio. He also teaches courses focused on helping young musicians craft their own creative careers at the Eastman School of Music’s Institute for Music Leadership.

He is the contributing author for the 2nd edition of Ramon Ricker’s book Lessons from a Street-Wise Professor: What You Won’t Learn at Most Music Schools (Soundown, 2018). He is also a frequent guest composer and lecturer at schools throughout the United States. 

In 2020, Danyew and his wife, Ashley created Musician & Co. to equip 21st-century musicians with the tools and education they need to be both artists and business owners. They offer business education, a resource library, a template shop, and personalized career strategy sessions, professional writing support, and brand development for musicians who want to build and manage their own music careers.

Danyew grew up in New England, playing the saxophone and improvising music on the piano. After a performance of his own work, the South Florida Sun Sentinel proclaimed him a “saxophone virtuoso par excellence, making the instrument sing as well as shout.” Danyew performed as a saxophonist in the University of Miami Wind Ensemble under the direction of Gary Green, and this formative experience led him to begin composing works for wind band. 

Danyew received a B.M. in Composition from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami where his primary composition teachers were Scott Stinson and Dennis Kam. He also holds an M.M. in Composition from the Eastman School of Music. Additionally, Danyew has served as a Composer Fellow at the Yale Summer Music School with Martin Bresnick, and as a Composer Fellow at the Composers Conference with Mario Davidovsky.