FOUNDER/ORGANIZER

Brandi Waller-Pace (they/she) is an artist, educator, and scholar based in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Decolonizing the Music Room, a nonprofit with a mission of centering Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian voices in music education, research, and performance. A graduate of Howard University, they earned a Bachelor and Master of Music in Jazz Studies.

During thier 12-year tenure teaching general music, Brandi served as a mentor teacher and wrote district music curriculum. In 2019 and 2020, she served on the Texas African American Studies Course Curriculum Advisory Team, which helped to formulate curriculum standards for Texas’ first state-approved African American Studies course.

After years of performing primarily jazz, neo-soul, and genre-crossing originals, Brandi found the banjo and old time, opening a deep connection to traditions of her ancestors. She subsequently created the Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival, an annual event celebrating blackness in American roots music. Brandi has co-produced, curated artist lineups, and performed with Bluegrass Pride, The Bluegrass Situation, and PineCone-Piedmont Council of Traditional Music. They are also the Program Manager for the Oakland Public Conservatory’s Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship and sit on the board of directors of Folk Alliance International.

Brandi also works as consultant, presenter, and speaker nationally and internationally. They have contributed writing to the New York Times, The Bluegrass Situation, The Orff Echo, The Illinois Music Educator Journal, Music Education Journal, and The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education.

FESTIVAL ASSISTANT

Behind Sturdy Roots is Multifaceted Entrepreneur, Lillian Werbin. Born into folk-music and social-gatherings, their calling to understand and share socio-cultural evolutions has created a legacy. Lillian was known for a myriad of extracurricular activities, always moving on to the next interest when their fill of information had been exhausted. This game of interest roulette brought about a love of different cultures, professions, life-styles, and people.

After graduating from East Lansing High School in 2008, their time started at Western Michigan University. While at University, Lillian co-led an all-female a cappella choir, further solidifying their intent to make a life of collaborative growth. While completing her Communications degree, Lillian studied abroad in Bath and London, UK with the BBC, the Guardian, and University of London and received a Bachelor’s in Public Relations from WMU in 2014. 

​Cultivating a desire to become more involved in the communities they most care about, Lillian joined their family business, Elderly Instruments and continues to co-lead it with their father. It was the family-business that gave Lillian the opportunity to learn about operational efficiency and resource allocation. This immersive journey into optimizing processes and improving interdepartmental communications ultimately allowed Lillian to bring an established business into the modern era of ecommerce. Lillian blended skills taught in adolescence with the business requirements of today’s landscape, taking on a whole new Sturdy  lease on life. 

Growing beyond the expected, Lillian has become deeply involved in a variety of national and local non-profit organizations that focus on uplifting and protecting their community. These include Bluegrass Pride, the International Bluegrass Music Association's Foundation board, the Arnold Shultz committee, and the Rhapsody Project. Lillian, as Sturdy Roots Lansing, has assisted in the organization and execution of events across the United States including the Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival (FWAAMFest), The Banjo Gathering, and Midwest Banjo Camp. Sturdy Roots has also managed stages, merch booths, and artists for events, such as the Baltimore Old Time Music Festival and Queerfest.

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Hailey Green is a production & creative professional based in the DFW metroplex. She has worked in the field of Stage Management for live theatrical productions since 2015.  You may have seen her in the booth or backstage at Casa Manana, the Actors Conservatory Theatre, The Classics Theatre Project, Stage West, Imprint Theatreworks: First Impressions Festival, Altered Shakespeare, Prism Movement Theatre, Watertower Theatre, Ochre House Theatre, Amphibian Stage, Circle Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas or Second Thought Theatre.  

Additionally you may find her in other production capacities including Production Coordinator for the Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival & the Production Manager for the Trinity Pride Festival. She currently serves on faculty in the University of Texas at Arlington Department of Theatre & Dance overseeing the departments Stage Management Practicum. She is a proud member of Actors Equity Association (AEA), the Stage Managers Association as well as a professional member of the United States Institute of Technical Theatre (USITT).

Outside of the field of live production, Hailey also heads social media & management for Dallas based Drag King & Burlesque performer King Captain. Additionally, sheserves as a staff writer & as social media coordinator for the quarterly queer publication FRUITSLICE as well as a staff writer for Keynote Music Collective & is a cofounder of the queer community organization "Sapphic Space".

Hailey also has certification hours through Theatrical Intimacy Education & works as an Intimacy Coordinator for stage productions. 
She holds a BA in Theatrical Production & a BA in Communications Public & Media.

Hailey deeply believes that her position as a professional creative worker provides her a platform to speak up about the inequality and systematic oppression this line of work often carries. It is her goal to speak up against acts & words of hate & hold individuals and institutions accountable for their actions of discrimination against BIPOC individuals, those in the LGBTQ+ community, woman & all other marginalized groups. It is her hope that she is able to instill in her students & fellow artists a want to do the same.