Carolyn Montgomery,

Executive Director, Director of Education and Outreach

Carolyn Montgomery was graduated with honors from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. She is a multi MAC, Bistro and Nightlife award winning singer/songwriter, who has performed in major venues across 36 states, Montreal and London. In 2017, she co-founded the American Songbook Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization that promotes and preserves classic American musical legacies (Jazz, Musical Theatre and the American Songbook, old and new) through education programs, senior enrichment, live events, and Cabaret Scenes magazine. As the Director of Education and Outreach, Carolyn creates programs that reach thousands of public school students annually, across all five boroughs of New York City. She employs some of New York’s finest entertainers as instructors. She partners with some of New York’s most underserved communities, nurturing their students with music. The goal of ASA Education is not to create performers, but to expand their students scope and sense of possibility, using classic American music as a teaching tool. The results have been overwhelmingly positive. Now in her first year as the ASA’s Executive Director, Montgomery is planning a capital campaign and expanding education strategy that will greatly benefit students, seniors and all others who enjoy these genres of music.

Carolyn lives on the West Side of Manhattan with her son Eli and a Jack Russell terrier named George. (Photo: Bill Westmoreland)

Click HERE to read the article about Carolyn published in FORBES on May 22, 2024

Frank Dain

Treasurer and Editor of Cabaret Scenes Magazine

Frank has worked for Cabaret Scenes magazine since 2002, has been its editor since 2003, and is the treasurer of the American Songbook Association. He is on the board of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) and is on the Advisory Board of the Mabel Mercer Foundation. As a vocalist, he has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Café Pierre, and the Waldorf Astoria with pianist Kathleen Landis. He has also performed at Don’t Tell Mama, Danny’s Skylight Room, Metropolitan Room, and the Laurie Beechman Theatre in NYC in solo shows and as a guest artist in numerous benefits. He has also performed at the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret Conventions in NYC and Philadelphia. His CD, I Thought About You, received high praise and extensive radio play. As a graphic designer, he has providing PR materials for cabaret artists and Off-Broadway productions.

Sandra Kitt

Board of Directors

Sandra Kitt is the former managing director of the Richard S. Perkin Collection in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History in New York. Prior to the recent pandemic she worked on special bibliographic projects for the General Theological Seminary in Chelsea. She is a graduate of the original elite Music & Art High School. Sandra was also a graphic designer and was commissioned by Dr. Isaac Asimov to illustrate two of his books, Asimov’s Guide to Halley’s Comet and Beginnings. She has also contributed original art to UNICEF for its holiday cards. In her other creative endeavor as an award-winning author, Sandra has published more than 40 books, including the acclaimed The Color of Love. Her most recent release (April 2023) is The Time of Your Life, Book #2 of a trilogy. She taught Fiction Writing as an adjunct at the County College of Morris, in Dover, New Jersey and has lectured at NYU, Penn State, Sarah Lawrence, and Columbia. Sandra has also been active with several charitable organizations and has served on the Advisory Board for Coalition for the Homeless’ First Step job training program, and the Multicultural Outreach Committee of St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. She authored a book for the hospital, For All We Know, about a Black pre-teen patient with Pediatric AIDS. All proceeds were donated to St. Jude.

Wendy Scherl

Board of Directors, Gala Committee Chair

Wendy Scherl is an award-winning singer, actress and recording artist with life-long connections to NYC. During her hiatus from performing, Wendy taught Musical Theater to elementary school children in Northern Westchester and ran the Middle and Elementary School Musical Theater Program for the Chappaqua Central School District (Chappaqua, NY). She was also actively involved in that district’s arts and character development programming.

Wendy has a BS degree in Theater from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and has continued to be an active member of the Northwestern Community. She (along with her husband, David) chaired the Northwestern University New York Leadership Committee for many years. Wendy also chaired the Alumni Admissions Council for Westchester and Fairfield Counties and was Co-chair of 4 Northwestern class reunions over the course of 20 years. In addition to her work with Northwestern, Wendy has also served as a Board Member for Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester (Chappaqua, NY) and has served on numerous other committees for the various charitable, educational, and other organizations in the several communities where she and her family have resided.