About

A passionate arts leader, pianist, and music educator, Rhapsody Snyder serves as the Director of the historic Prince George’s Publick Playhouse for the Performing Arts, part of the M-NCPPC Department of Parks and Recreation in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

She previously worked as the Chicago Institutional Sales Manager for Steinway & Sons, where she developed key institutional partnerships across Chicago’s cultural and educational sectors. Following her tenure at Steinway, she served as the Music Department Director at the School of Performing Arts in Naperville, IL, and as Director of Operations & Student Affairs at the New Music School, where she strengthened recruitment and retention initiatives.

Rhapsody also served as the Community Engagement and Executive Support Manager at The Chicago Philharmonic Society, expanding its community partner network by 76%. She later became the Executive Director of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, where she led organizational growth strategies, significantly advanced audience and donor development, and increased the annual budget by more than 50% in two years.

A member of the Naperville Chapter of the Music Teachers National Association, Rhapsody was named the 2017 Member of the Year for revitalizing the chapter’s Sonata & Sonatina Festival. She was featured in Voyage Chicago’s 2018 Trailblazer Series and highlighted in Roosevelt University’s 2021 alumni spotlight stories.

Rhapsody frequently presents workshops on grant writing, leadership development, and organizational capacity-building. Her engagements include sessions at DePaul University School of Music, Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, and private corporations. She also serves as a grant review panelist for Ingenuity, an organization dedicated to expanding arts education access, quality, and equity.

Rhapsody is the Vice Chair of the Advisory Board for Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts and a founding board member of Keymore in Chicago. She was the on-site organizer and former Board Secretary of Active Blessing Uganda, an orphan relief organization based in Mbale, Uganda. She has served on the Board of Directors and as an advisor for the Chicago-based violin and piano duo Bow & Hammer, and volunteered in fundraising and grant writing for the Black Music Experience, an online streaming platform for Black artists.

Rhapsody began her career as the Program Coordinator for Chicago’s PianoForte Foundation, where she organized educational programs, concerts, festivals, and competitions, including the 2010 and 2012 International Chicago Amateur Piano Competitions. She later served as Program Director for Foundations of Music, managing music education programs across Chicago Public Schools.

She has over 20 years of experience as an accompanist and educator, and has taught piano at the Chicago School of Music, the School of Performing Arts, and as an Artist Faculty member at Foundations of Music, teaching in public schools on Chicago’s south and west sides. Rhapsody has also been Co-Music Director and pianist for Wellington United Church of Christ in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. She has maintained a private piano studio for students of all ages since she was 14.

Rhapsody has performed in a wide range of ensembles—from classical to rock to musical theater—at notable Chicago venues including the House of Blues, The Metro, and Lincoln Hall. She performed in the Chicago premiere of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians at DePaul University, appeared on WBEZ’s Vocalo 90.7FM Live from Studio 10, and has been featured on recordings with The Lifeline and Rachel Eve. Her theater work includes featured pianist roles in It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play at American Theater Company and serving as Music Director for Attend the Tale of Danny Tanner: A Full House Musical. She also enjoys performing as both a pianist and a harpist.

Rhapsody is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from DePaul University and a Master of Arts in Performing Arts Administration from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She is a Maryland native and lives in Hyattsville, Maryland with her husband and two young sons.

Photos by Elliot Mandel