Stephen Shiman attended Yale University and has B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Juilliard School where he majored in oboe. He has maintained private teaching and free-lance performing to this day. In 1975, he became Executive Director of the Newark School of the Arts where he remained until 1983, when he became Executive Director of the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City. For a 10-year period he was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Guild of the Community Schools of the Arts. In February 1997, he was reappointed Executive Director of the Newark School of the Arts.

Nadine Herman, Music Director, Newark School of the Arts Soprano, Nadine Herman, received her M.M from the Juilliard School and her B.M. from Temple University. Some of her solo appearances have included performances with the Festival of Contemporary Music of the N.Y. Philharmonic (Richard Dufallo,Conductor) under the auspices of Pierre Boulez; the Orchestre de Bordeaux-acquitaime with the legendary Pierre Dervaux and Orchestre de I'le de France. She has been heard in concert in such festivals as the B.K.A. in Berlin, Germany (one woman show); Festival de I'le de France, Festivale of Trieste, Italy. Ms. Herman has won critical acclaim from the NY Times for her performances of contemporary music ranging from the German composer, Aribert Reimann to the U.S. premiere of "Harawi," the brilliant song cycle of Oliver Messiaen, one of the great composers of the 20th century. She has been a teaching fellow at the Juilliard School, given master classes at the College of William and Mary and the C.I. F. M. of the Nice Conservatory in France with Lorraine Nubar and Dalton Baldwin. Voice teachers and coaches have included Beverly Johnson, Lorraine Nubar, Dalton Baldwin and Gérard Souzay. Latin singing sensation Frankie Negron studied with Nadine Herman at Newark School of the Arts.