meet the team

We're collaborators, community builders and storytellers.

Our team is made up of professional performing musicians experienced in crafting high-quality, curated experiences that delight audiences and build community.

Cantor Jamie Marx

Cantor Jamie Marx has served as the cantor of Temple Sholom, in Broomall, PA since 2014. A composer, songwriter, and performing artist, Cantor Marx has written, recorded, and published numerous pieces, including two albums of Jewish rock (In Pursuit and Restless Heart) and various settings of Jewish liturgical texts. He has performed with his alt power-pop band The Lucky Break since 2022. As The Spiel Guy, Cantor Marx has written more than two dozen Purim spiels that have been performed in over 450 communities across North America, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Alexandra Cutler-Fetkewicz

Alexandra is co-founder and CEO of Philly Music Lab, an entertainment company committed to connecting diverse, cross-genre musicians to new audiences throughout the Philadelphia region. A classically trained musician, she received master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music. As a freelancer in her hometown of Philadelphia, she is a tenured member of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Academy of Vocal Arts Orchestra, and performs regularly with many other local organizations. Alexandra serves as President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy (NARAS) in addition to being an active Voting Member and the DREAM (Diversity Reimagined by Engaging All Musicmakers) ambassador for the chapter.

As a violinist, Alexandra has toured and performed with many of popular music’s greats, including Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Branford Marsalis, Jill Scott, Peter Gabriel, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Harry Connick Jr., Rod Stewart, Julie Andrews, The Who, Lauryn Hill, and others. She won critical acclaim for her performance with John Williams, in a concert conducted by the composer himself, and is proud to have contributed as principal second violin to the Grammy-nominated album “Voyages” by The Crossing, and to the Grammy-nominated children’s record, “Creciendo,” by Lucy Kalantari.

In 2024, she contributed several arrangements and recorded on the Billboard No.1 Holiday Album “A Philly Special Christmas,” featuring players from the offensive line of the Philadelphia Eagles football team, as well as a star-studded group of accompanying musicians. This year, her choral arrangement and performance of the classic NFL Battle Theme was featured on the season finale of ESPN’s “They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce.”  Along with motherhood, serving her music community is one of her greatest joys.

Samantha Wittchen

Samantha Wittchen is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Philly Music Lab, an entertainment company committed to connecting diverse, cross-genre musicians to new audiences throughout the Philadelphia region.  Classically trained at the Eastman School of Music, she is also a performing harpist, teacher and arranger and has served as the Professional Associate for harp at the University of Pennsylvania since 2005. 

Committed to showcasing the harp’s versatility in an array of musical contexts, Samantha has performed in studio orchestras for such recording artists as McCoy Tyner, Olivia Newton-John and Connie Francis, as well as popular touring shows like Video Games Live and A Salute to Vienna.  She appears on the recordings of numerous Philly bands, performs with regional orchestras, such as the Allentown Symphony, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and Philadelphia-based Orchestra 2001, and has premiered works by living composers from around the globe. 

She was named one of the 150 Most Influential Philadelphians by Philadelphia magazine in 2023 and received the 2024 Innovator of the Year award from The Philadelphia Citizen.

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Help us make the festival a success!  Your donation supports fair wages for all performers, high-quality programming for adults and kids, and outreach to make the festival more accessible to all. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

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