Board of Directors

Vera Barskaya Anselmo -- Founder / Executive Director

Born in Moscow, Russia, Ms. Anselmo started taking piano lessons at the age of five under the guidance of her mother. She continued her music studies at Dunaevsky School of Music, and thereafter, at Ippollitov-Ivanov College of Music in Moscow. Graduating at the top of her class with diploma cum lauda, she proceeded to pursue a bachelor of Music degree as a full scholarship student at the Juilliard School in New York City. She also obtained a Masters of Music Degree at the Mannes College of Music where she has been on a part time faculty at the Preparatory and Extension Divisions since 1995. Vera’s solo engagements have included her New York debut at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall as well as appearances at Steinway & Sons and the Mannes College of Music faculty recitals. Her international engagements have included multiple appearances in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Netherlands. In the last several years, Vera’s focus has been on music education. Today, as founder and Artistic Director of The Piano School of New York City, and Piano Outreach of New York (PONY), Vera Anselmo is a proud New Yorker, an American citizen, and a music educator.

Andrew Anselmo

Andrew Anselmo, a native New Yorker, is a graduate of Columbia University currently working in real estate management. His exposure to and interest in piano began after meeting his wife, and with the advent of her successful piano school his interests soon joined hers by putting forth their joint effort of helping those who want to learn piano receive the assistance they need. The result of this was our formation of the Piano Outreach of New York (PONY) project, where Andrew has been a supportive man behind the scene since its 2003 inception.

Veronica Bulgari

Ms. Bulgari currently oversees special projects for Bulgari after having held managerial positions with the company’s jewelry and fragrance division since 1991. She is a graduate of Duke University where she earned a BA in Art History and Political Science and she received her MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1990. She is a collector of photography and contemporary art and has been involved in sponsoring several exhibits including Piranesi as Designer at the Cooper Hewitt and Luigi Ghirri at the Aperture Foundation . She is active with the Carnegie Hall Notables which promotes classical music to younger audiences through the Weill Music Institute. For the last 2 years, she has rekindled her love for piano playing and is currently studying with Sofya Melikian.

P. Conor Grimes -- Chief Financial Officer

Conor currently works as an analyst for an investment fund in midtown New York. He began studying piano when he was five and minored in music during college, whereafter his career went down a very different path into finance. Conor came across Piano Outreach of New York in 2004 and has been involved since, helping primarily with the financial and strategic aspects of the organization. Growing up on Long Island and living in NYC now, he still plays piano casually and is thrilled to be a part of such a worthy cause so close to his home. Prior to his current position, Conor worked in both investment banking and private equity. He received his AB in Economics with a minor in Music from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Marina Harrison

Marina is a piano sales consultant and entrepreneur. Her vast experience in the piano industry gives her considerable insight for helping to choose the right piano for both professional and amateur pianists. She holds a BA from Columbia University and an MA from the Parsons School of Design. As a specialist in the decorative and applied arts she has a keen interest in "functional art." For Marina, working in the piano industry satisfies a passion for music, history and bridging the connection between design and functionality. Marina has spent considerable time abroad researching various topics in the decorative and applied arts field, including the history of the piano, and has lectured or written about various related topics. In addition, Marina is a strong advocate for childhood music education, supporting such organizations as Piano Outreach NY as well as a number of other charitable organizations focusing on the welfare of children and animals. Married to composer and colleague Michael Harrison, Marina shares a home with him and their beloved Havanese dog, Contessa, in Westchester County.

Lake Wang

Lake is currently an investment analyst at a Manhattan-based investment firm. Prior, he worked at Morgan Stanley as an investment banking analyst and King Street Capital Management as an quantitative risk analyst after receiving his A.B. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College in 2009. After moving to Berkeley, California from China in 1993, Lake began playing the piano at the age of 7 and was subsequently part of the Young Musicians Program at UC Berkeley, a full-scholarship program that provides underprivileged youth both academic and musical training, for over 7 years. He believes that YMP was the most influential organization he was ever part of and hopes to contribute to PONY through his experiences as a student in a similar program. He is excited to have the opportunity to work with PONY's Board on such a worthy cause and hopes that he can help PONY expand both it's breadth and depth.

Dawn Zappetti

Dawn is currently a Senior Vice President at Citigroup, responsible for marketing financial service products to retail bank and credit card customers. A marketing executive with a track record of successful turnarounds, new business launches, and product distribution, she is excited to join the PONY board and help expand the number of scholarships for music education in NYC.

A native New Yorker, Dawn has a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia University. She lives in NYC with her husband and twin sons, one of whom is a private student of the Piano School of New York. She is also the Piano School of New York's parent liaison at the Lower Lab School for Gifted and Talented Education.

Board of Advisors

Martha O'Day

Jiin Wen Burns

Patrick Riley