The People That Make It Happen
Our Team
Sammy Gonzalez Zeira, CEO/Founder
Young Musicians Unite was founded by Sammy Gonzalez, a Miami-born, internationally acclaimed musician and mentor. Sammy recognized the staggering lack of music education in many of Miami’s underserved communities and created YMU as a response to this deficiency.
Sammy has over 21 years of experience working in music education; and under his leadership, YMU has impacted over 25,000 students since 2013. As an educator, Sammy has been teaching since 2004. His students have gone on to excel in schools such as New World School of the Arts, Juilliard, Harvard, NYU, Georgetown, Cornell, Vanderbilt, and Penn State. Sammy has personally raised over $20,000,000 for music education.
Zachary Larmer, COO
Zach Larmer is an internationally acclaimed jazz musician and educator. As a performer and composer, Zach has received three GRAMMY awards and embarked on numerous world tours. He has had the chance to work alongside artists such as Pat Metheny, John Scofield, and the Steve Miller Band. Zach is also the guitarist on American Dreamers: Voices of Hope and Freedom, an album that gained bi-partisan support in the house and senate for its advocacy of citizenship for DACA recipients.
As a music educator over the last 11 years, Zach has focused on creating an infrastructure for musicians to support their growth as they transform into fully capable artists.
Melanie Greenwald, CFO
Melanie Greenwald, a Certified Public Accountant, spent four years in New York at a major CPA firm and then transitioned to a finance and accounting role at Fortune Magazine. In 2018, Melanie joined as YMU’s Chief Financial Officer overseeing all financial aspects as it grew from serving 8 students to over 4,900 students today. Melanie is thrilled to be able to work with the team to accomplish its mission and looks forward to YMU expanding its footprint and impact on our community.
Pedro Diaz, CPO
Pedro Diaz is a project manager, film producer, and cultural promoter who has worked in a wide variety of organizations, institutions, film, and social projects in South Florida, Guatemala, Panama, and Costa Rica. As a native of Guatemala where he grew up and started his career, Pedro was able to witness the importance of real-life changing opportunities while working with underserved communities. Pedro’s expertise lies in creating, planning, developing, and overseeing projects throughout their full life cycle to ensure success. He’s passionate about images, stories and serving his community.
Alan Valladares, Arts Access Manager
Alan Valladares is a Mexican-born guitarist and educator. By the age of 17, Alan had started taking private classical guitar lessons with Dr. Federico Bonacossa. Only two years later, he was admitted with a Full Scholarship to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Classical guitar performance at New World School of the Arts under the guidance of Dr. Albert Kunze. He graduated Cum Laude in 2016. Alan completed his Master’s degree in Music in 2018 under the distinguished teacher and performer Rafael Padron at University of Miami - Frost School of Music.
From 2013 to 2020, Alan worked as a Teaching Artist, Regional Director, and Director of Shows and Events for Young Musicians Unite; from 2020-2023 served as the Musician Advancement Manager at the New World Symphony. During his time at NWS, Alan oversaw key aspects of the Community Engagement department, cultivating close ties with community leaders around Miami and managed the College Track Mentorship Program.
Hakim Lahlou, Production Manager
Hakim is a business developer with 20 years of experience in the Performing Arts. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, he organized and produced successful entertainment concepts and world class events with a portfolio of 550+ shows.
Paul Rabut, Miami Regional Manager
Paul Rabut is a drummer/composer born in Baltimore, MD and raised in Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela. After receiving his bachelor degree from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, Paul toured North and South America with Grammy Award-winning artists Beatriz Luengo and Yotuel Romero. Paul then became drummer and director of his own salsa band, Miami on Beat, producing and arranging the group’s self-titled EP. As a music educator over the last 7 years, Paul is passionate about finding new ways to increase the emphasis on music in the classroom in order to help kids discover their passion and find true meaning in their lives.
Juan Pelaez, Academic Manager
Juan Pelaez was born and raised in Medellin, Colombia, where he got his first guitar at the age of 12, and just a year later he was playing in his first band and writing songs. Music played such an important part in his life that he decided to move to the United States to study Jazz Guitar and Music Production at Miami Dade College and continued studying Music Composition at the New World School of the Arts.
Julian Bermudez, South Dade Regional Manager
Julian is a multi-instrumentalist from Miami, FL. He started playing Piano at the age of 5 at the encouragement of his grandmother and would eventually learn to play the saxophone as well in high school. He’s a jazz-lover at heart who is interested in many other genres ranging from Salsa to Rock to RnB/Soul. He is an active member of the South Florida music scene who currently composes, arranges and performs with his 2 projects: Lotus Collective and Gather ‘Round Live. Julian is passionate about music and sees it as en essential part of the human experience. Fostering a love for music in others is a personal mission of his and a guiding force in his personal and professional life.
Diana Fernandez, Studio Manager
Diana Fernandez is a multiple-woodwind musician with a B.A. in music performance from Florida International University, Private lessons instructor, and Twitch Affiliate. She has 4 years of arts administration experience at Performance Management International LLC. representing artists such as Shesh Besh of the Israel Philharmonic, The Edge Effect, Jeri Sager, Chicago Dance Crash, and more.
As a school volunteer and lifelong brother of Kappa Kappa Psi - service to music programs is a strong passion of hers. She is thrilled to be able to have this opportunity to promulgate and foster a deep appreciation for music in young musicians.
Carlo Barbacci, Audio Engineer
Carlo Barbacci is a Peruvian-born Songwriter and Audio Engineer. Before moving to Miami at 23 years old, Carlo produced well-known independent songwriters in Peru like Camille Jackson, Santino amigo, Elisa Tokeshi, and Paco Barriga, among others. He has also toured internationally with his Beatles Tribute band "Los Rigbys”, named the Best Beatles Tribute Band of South America in 2015.
Once in Miami, Carlo pursued a 9 month audio diploma at SAE Miami and graduated from Miami International University with a B.S. in Audio Production. He also founded the music collective MOLD!, which is gaining popularity very fast in the South Florida scene. The debut album is mixed by Ryan Haft (Jacuzzi Boys, Torche, Las nubes) and mastered by Dave Cooley (Tame Impala, Diiv).
Eric Levy, Miami Gardens Regional Manager
Eric is a percussionist, educator, and composer with 18+ years of experience in performance and instruction. He has directed and arranged for WGI Finalist REEF Independent Percussion Ensemble, the Miami Heat Drumline, and Palm Beach State College, among others. His compositions have been performed at universities like Penn State and Florida State, and his students have earned top awards in marching and concert competitions.
He has consulted for major sports teams and international events, taught abroad, and presented at industry workshops.
