Musicians of Mercy

Musicians of Mercy (MOM) is a non-profit collective of over seventy musicians and artists based in the Metropolitan D.C. area. Founded and directed by violist Robin Fay Massie, the group was formed in January 2010 to raise funds to assist victims of natural disaster and other tragedies through benefit concerts.  MOM appreciates all of its volunteers, both on the administrative and artistic level.

Meet our Executive Director

ROBIN FAY MASSIE is a professional violist in the Baltimore/D.C. area.  She is Assistant Principal Violist with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and Co-Principal Violist with the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra (Philadelphia, PA).  She has performed with The Philadelphia Orchstra and National Symphony Orchestra among other ensembles.  Also an active chamber musician and soloist, she maintains a private studio in Columbia, MD.  Ms. Massie attended The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), The New England Conservatory (Boston, MA) and The University of Maryland (College Park, MD).  With a heart for service, she founded MOM in Janurary 2010 and serves as its executive director.

Meet our Board of Directors!

GORDON GREEN is a conductor, contrabassist, and composer in the Baltimore area.  He is a graduate of The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in 2008, and earned a B.M. in Composition.  With a minor in Conducting and a concentration in Bass Performance, Mr. Green has built the foundation of a varied music career.  When he is not composing or performing, he is a private instructor to forty students in Howard County and Severna Park, MD.  In addition to serving on our Board, he is one of our principal conductors.

WILLIAM H. MCCULLEY, JR., bassoonist, was a 2005 recipient of the Emerson Scholarship to the Interlochen Center for the Arts (MI), where he studied with Jeff Lyman.  He continued instruction as a former student of Phillip Kolker at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.  He has performed with many orchestras in the mid-Atlantic region of MD including Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony, and others.  When not performing, Mr. McCulley resides in Annapolis, MD and enjoys cooking and sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.

REBECCA LEMUS ... coming soon!

IGOR SARMIENTOS is a dedicated conductor and cellist.  Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, he earned a B.M. from the National Conservatory of Music and earned a M.M. in Cello Performance and Orchestral Conducting at the University of North Texas.  In Guatemala, he was conductor of the Symphony Orchestra Jesus Castillo for ten years.  As a guest conductor, he led ensembles in Mexico, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, San Francisco (U.S.), Bulgaria, El Salvador, Cuba, and Peru.  In 1993, he won the First International Latin-American Conducting Competition of the OSUSP in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  In addition to serving on our Board, Mr. Sarmientos is one of our principal conductors.

NANA GASKINS VAUGHN, violist, earned both her B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.  She served as a substitute with the Indianapolis Symphony, a school orchestra director, a youth orchestra director, adjunct violin professor at Purdue University, and private violin and viola instructor.  In 2005, she founded the Fishers (Indiana) Chamber Orchestra, collaborating with members of the Indianapolis Symphony and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, as well as music professors from surrounding universities.  She has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and Delaware Symphony Orchestra.  She and her husband Michael ahve three children who are all musically-inclined.