Young Mozarts Conductor & Education Coordinator
Nerissa Manela is a music teacher, board-certified music therapist, and violinist in Miami, Florida. She has experience teaching chorus, strings, and modern band instruments to students of all abilities in her general music program and works with the Visual and Performing Arts department as a Curriculum Support Specialist. Outside of school, she conducts the Young Mozarts orchestra with Greater Miami Youth Symphony and runs Miami Jam Sessions, a free music therapy socialization group and mentoring program for teens and young adults with special needs. She also volunteers as Chair of Practicing Musician’s Professional Development Roundtable, coordinating a summer symposium and ongoing professional development on educational technology tools and resources for concert band and orchestra teachers. Nerissa was recognized by the Florida Music Educators Association as a 2020 Emerging Leader and is the 2021 Rookie Teacher of the Year for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.