Our Officers

Jeff Smith, NYSCAME President, is the Director of Fine Arts in the Churchville-Chili Central School District where he supervises all Music, Art, and Theater programming and staff. Prior to joining the Churchville-Chili Central School District in 2014, Jeff spent 10 years working in the Wheatland-Chili Central School District as a 6-12 Vocal/General Music Teacher and 2 years as an Assistant Principal. Jeff also spent 5 years as an Adjunct Professor at Nazareth University teaching the Men’s and Women’s Choirs. Jeff regularly works with undergraduate Music Education students on the topic of making the pre-service transition into the professional field presenting numerous times at local colleges and the NYSSMA Winter Conference on this topic. 

Jeff has been a leader in local and statewide music organizations previously sitting on the Monroe County School Music Association Board and chairing a number of solo and honors ensemble festivals. Jeff is currently a member of the NYSSMA Advocacy Committee as well as the Immediate-Past President of the Rochester Area Council of Administrators of Music Education. Jeff earned his Bachelor's degree in Music Education from SUNY Fredonia, Masters degree in Music from Nazareth University, and a degree in School and District Administration from SUNY Brockport.

Matthew Royal, Vice-President of NYSCAME, is the Director of Fine & Performing Arts for the Harrison Central School District, where he oversees award-winning music, dance, drama, and visual arts programs. Under his leadership, the district has expanded arts enrollment through innovative programming and flexible scheduling structures while consistently earning recognition as a NAMM Foundation “Best Community for Music Education.” Previously, Matthew spent eleven years as a middle school chorus director in the Clarkstown Central School District. He currently serves as President of the Westchester County Arts Leadership Association (WCALA). Matthew holds degrees from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and a CAS in Educational Leadership from SUNY New Paltz, and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.

John J. Gallagher, Ed.D., is the director of music & fine arts for the Longwood Central School District, and has served the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education (NYSCAME) as past-president and president.

Since 2002, John has held the position of state chairperson for public relations and information for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA). Other positions include government relations co-chair and commercial membership chair for the Suffolk County Music Educators Association (SCMEA). More, he has held various leadership positions in the Suffolk County Chapter of NYSCAME and the Suffolk County Art Leaders Association (SCALA).

Drawing on experiences from previous positions in journalism & public relations and corporate marketing & communications, he has held positions in public & media relations for school districts handling all aspects of communication including news releases, district calendars, press conferences, and newsletters.

A dedicated advocate for arts education, Dr. Gallagher joined with leaders on the state and local levels to spearhead the creation of the Long Island Scholar Artist program. It provides media coverage to students with academic and artistic success in each of the five areas of the arts. Students are featured each month of the school year in Newsday and were first introduced in September, 2007. In 2008, WLIW-TV, Long Island’s local PBS station, aired a documentary on the program.

He created an instructional arts advocacy clinic for music educators that has been presented at All State and All Eastern conferences in Rochester, NY; Hartford, CT; Providence, RI; Pittsburgh, PA; and in Chicago, IL at The Midwest Clinic. More, he has presented a modified version to students at the Music for All Summer Symposium in Muncie, IN. His writings on the topic have been published in NYSSMA’s Magazine, School Music News, NAfME’s Teaching Music and The Instrumentalist. John’s doctoral research studied the role of music administrators and music educators as advocates for their school music programs. 

A portion of his dissertation was published to create NYSSMA’s Advocacy Manual.

He holds a B.S. in Communication Arts from St. John’s University, an M.S. in Music Education from LIU-Post, an Advanced Graduate Certificate in School District Administration from the University at Stony Brook, and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration from Dowling College. 

He and his wife are proud of their children who have each begun careers in the arts and music education. 

Dr. Katherine Sinsabaugh is the Supervisor of Fine and Performing Arts and UPK Administrator in the Port Chester Union Free School District and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. An active researcher and writer, she has presented at major conferences including the International Suzuki Conference, MENC, Gender and Music, and RIME, and her work has been published in the ASTA Journal, Teaching Artists Journal, MENC, and RIME publications. Her research interests include gender issues in music education, instrumental selection, self-regulated learning, and collaborative music partnerships.

Dr. Sinsabaugh serves as President-elect of NYSCAME and sits on the Lower Hudson board of NYSAWA. She is a past member of the  NAfME Teaching Music Advisory Committee and the ASTA Journal Advisory Board. 

A well-regarded violist, Dr. Sinsabaugh is a member of the Cara Quartet and continues to perform regularly. Her performing career has included collaborations with ensembles such as the Sinsabaugh/Hall Duo and Trio Angelicus, with appearances in venues including Carnegie Recital Hall. She has also performed in numerous Broadway productions and toured with artists including Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, and Andrea Bocelli.

Dr. Sinsabaugh holds a Doctorate in Music and Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, an MM from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Karen Tuttle and Burton Kaplan, and a BA from Barnard College–Columbia University, where she studied with Paul Doktor of Juilliard.