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.

P. Conor Grimes -- Chief Financial Officer

Conor currently works for an investment fund in midtown New York.  Prior to that, Conor was employed at Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners, where he focused on leveraged buyouts primarily in the energy and industrial space.  Before that, Conor worked in Lehman’s Investment Banking Division, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions primarily in the energy sector.  Conor has been playing the piano since he was 5 and continues to play today.  Conor received his AB in Economics cum laude with a minor in Music from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa is a parent of three teenagers, one of whom was has been a Piano School of New York City student for 6 years. Lisa gained first hand knowledge about the needs of public school children in NYC during her four years on the Executive Board of the PTA at the Lilli Devereaux Blake School P.S.6 Manhattan, first as Chairman of Fundraising, then as President of the PTA. She is currently a member of the Parents Association of the Riverdale Country School as Chairman of the Friends of the Arts Committee. Lisa graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art and worked as a Graphic Designer before running her own successful design business for many years. She most recently has become obsessed with knitting which is a perfect hobby to do while listening to her son’s piano practice. She works part-time as a knitting instructor and lives in Manhattan with her husband, Andrew, and children Erica, Ethan and Aaron.

Christine Kunhardt

Christine is a Special Education Consultant with a specialty in Learning Disabilities. Prior to this endeavor, she had a Special Education Tutoring business providing services to hospitals and private schools. She has also worked as a special education tutor for Catapult Learning and an elementary and middle school special education teacher at the Eagle Hill School. She has a MEd. Degree in Special Education from American University.

Jiin Wen Burns

Jiin is the proud mother of two young budding pianists, both with the Piano School of New York. She is the Piano School of New York's parent liaison at the Ross Global Academy, a Public Charter School in Lower Manhattan.

She currently leads the Geographic Information System Unit at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Architecture and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning. She lives with her husband, two daughters and mother in Brooklyn.

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.

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.

Board of Advisors

Mireya Kam

Martha O'Day

Rebekah Hodge