Founder, President & Teacher

Mary Anne Block received her Bachelor of Music degree in 1983 from the University of Michigan School of Music (Music History/Musicology with a piano principal) and received her Juris Doctor in 1987 from DePaul University School of Law.  After practicing law for 14 years, Mary Anne returned to her first love, music.  She started working with her own children studying Suzuki violin, cello and piano and served as President of the Barrington Suzuki Strings organization.  Mary Anne returned to her own piano studies in 2004. She completed courses at Harper College in piano pedagogy with Dr. Cathy Albergo and resumed her private piano studies as well as piano ensemble classes, both with Dr. Albergo and Dr. Janice Razaq.  Mary Anne has been teaching students from age 5 to adult in her private studio since January of 2005.  Mary Anne is certified through and a member of the Music Teachers National Association. She is also a member of the Illinois State Music Teachers Association and Northwest Suburban Music Teachers Association, where she has served in various officer and committee chair positions throughout the past several years. Mary Anne enjoys teaching students of all ages and abilities and seeks to inspire in every child, a lifelong love and appreciation for music and offer to them the opportunity to enjoy the many benefit of music study. Mary Anne is currently the Music Blocks instructor for Barrington area students, conducting lessons at the Lutheran Church of the Atonement in Barrington as well as her private studio. 

 Helen Chang earned her Masters of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana in piano performance and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in piano performance from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her principle teachers were William Heiles, Theodore Edel, and Reid Alexander (Piano Pedagogy). In addition, she participated in chamber coachings from the Pacifica Quartet, master class with John O’Connor, and served as teaching intern at the University of Illinois Piano Laboratory Program. Helen was the recipient of the Chicago Bar Association Award scholarship for piano, as well as the Steinway of Chicago Music Educator Grant.  Helen has been on the faculties of McHenry County Music Center, Adler Music and Arts Center and Harper College Community Music Center where she currently teaches individual piano lessons, group lessons and theory classes for all ages. In addition to teaching, she enjoys performing on various solo and collaborative recitals. Helen has been an active member of Music Teachers National Association as well as serving as Co-chair for the NWSMTA Achievement in Music Program. Her students have been scholarship recipients, prizewinners at the Grandquist Memorial Contest, IMA State Olympic Contest, NWSMTA Sonata-Sonatina Festival, and participants of the Chicago Symphony Young Artists Auditions. Helen has a passion for developing and working with students to establish a solid foundation of music reading, music appreciation and to spark a life-long love for music. She recognizes peer learning as a source of motivation and affirmation, and brings a positive and encouraging attitude to her classes so that every student can succeed.

Jack Schaefer, Board Chair:  Jack and his wife, Carolyn, moved to the Village of Barrington 45 years ago where they subsequently raised their two sons. With an interest in environmental issues Jack served as board member for Citizens for Conservation, The Natural History Society of Barrington and The Stillman Nature Center. Governmental involvement includes having served on the Barrington Zoning Board of Appeals for ten years and the Village of Barrington Board of Trustees for four years. Currently he is a member of the BACOG Water Resource Committee and is a Board Member and Past President of the Barrington Area Development Council. Jack is an initial member of the Barrington Cultural Commission and has served on the Barrington’s White House Advisory Board since it’s inception in 2015. He received his BBA in Business from the University of Iowa and his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. After military service from 1969-1971 he worked in the financial services industry in Chicago for 36 years. Jack enjoys music of all kinds and looks forward to contributing to the success of Music Blocks. 

Maureen Sieger, Secretary:  Maureen has lived in Barrington for over 30 years, raising three children. She was a 30 year member of St. Anne Women's Club, a past president, member/fundraising chair of many District 220 fundraisers, a member and fundraising chair for the fine arts boosters at BHS, and has served on the athletic boosters for BHS and St. Viator.  Maureen continues to be a tireless advocate for the mentally disabled, working with Special Olympics, Special Gifts Theater, NISRA, job vocation programs and district 220's work transition program.  More recently Maureen served on the board for the Parker Playhouse (currently the Parker Players) and serves on the cultural committee for programming for Barrington’s White House, where she is also a volunteer coordinator. Professionally, Maureen has worked at the College of Lake County for over 20 years, teaching marketing, advertising and various business courses and more recently joined Bataille Academie of the Danse, working to coordinate communications with clients and helping to coordinate many studio sponsored community events, including BACOA's Dancing With the Stars.  When not working or volunteering, Maureen enjoys travel, gardening and spending time with family. 

Julie Smith, Treasurer:   Julie and her husband, Tim, have lived in the Barrington area since 1995 where they raised two children, and all have been involved in various music programs.  Julie has been active in the community and served as Treasurer for Barrington Suzuki Strings for three years (2004-2007).  She also served on the St. Anne’s Catholic School Board for 5 years (2004-2009) and subsequently served on the St. Anne’s Catholic Church Finance Council for three years (2010-2013).  Julie received her B.S. in Accounting from Illinois State University, and her MBA from the University of Chicago. Since 2003, Julie has worked as an independent accountant and prior to that she worked in finance at Motorola for 11 years and in audit at KPMG for 5 years.  Her hobbies include painting and photography, hiking, and traveling.  Julie is looking forward to serving on the Music Blocks board.

Laura Ornelas, Director:  Laura is a Music Blocks parent, with two of her children enrolled at   in the Music Blocks Piano Program since it's inception in the fall of 2017, She has been a vital member of the operations team, helping to shape the program, communicate with District 220 administrators and most recently, was instrumental in arranging the new program site for our Carpentersville students at Faith Lutheran Church, across the street from Sunny Hill Elementary.   Laura currently works as a human resources specialist at CUSD 300 and has served as a volunteer on many District 220 school related organizations, including past President of Sunny Hill PTO.

Joanne McDade, Director:    Joanne is a lyric soprano, pianist, and choral conductor. She enjoys singing opera, oratorio,  cabaret, musical theatre, and sacred music, as well as giving solo recitals, in which she frequently  performs works by contemporary American composers. She earned the Master of Music degree in  Vocal Performance from the University of Oregon and previously earned the Bachelor and Master’s  degrees in Piano Performance from California State University, Sacramento. Ms. McDade has  extensive teaching experience with students of all ages in both private and academic settings. She  currently teaches piano and voice on the faculty of Knight Music Academy in North Barrington.  Joanne lives in Lake Barrington with her husband, Dr. Rollin R. Potter.

Pamela H. Conroy, Advisor     Pam is a dedicated business professional, community volunteer, and mom. She currently serves as a professional independent trustee on the board of an  exchange-traded investment fund complex.  As a volunteer, Pam has been a past member of the board of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and has served in various roles, including Board Chair, for Music Blocks. Her professional career began in the mid-1980s where she worked in the trust and investment areas of the Northern Trust for 10 years, and then 14 years as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Institutional Capital Corporation, an employee-owned investment management firm in Chicago. Pam received her B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.