Adrian Anantawan is Shelter Music Boston's Artistic Director, as well as an Ensemble Leader and performing musician. Adrian holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University and Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a violinist, he has studied with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, and Anne-Sophie Mutter; his academic work in education was supervised by Howard Gardner. 

From 2012-2016, he was the co-Director of Music at the Conservatory Lab Charter School, serving students from the Boston area, kindergarten through grade eight—his work was recognized by Mayor Marty Walsh as a ONEin3 Impact Award in 2015. Adrian is also Juno Award nominee, a member of the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, and was awarded a Diamond Jubilee Medal from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to the Commonwealth. He is the current Chair of Music at Milton Academy and on faculty at Boston University Tanglewood Institute during the summer. Throughout the year, Adrian continues to perform, speak and teach around the world as an advocate for disability and the arts.​

Elizabeth Cook is a Boston based cellist who grew up in North Carolina where she studied cello at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She went on to obtain degrees from Mannes College and SUNY Purchase, where she studied with renowned cellists such as Marcy Rosen, Brooks Whitehouse, and Julia Lichten. Elizabeth has had the privilege of participating in masterclasses with artists such as Gary Hoffman, Peter Wiley, Paul Watkins, Zuil Bailley, The Orion String Quartet, David Finckel and Wu Han.  In 2018 Elizabeth was awarded a Gloria Miner Fellow at the 2018 Sitka International Cello Seminar and performed as soloist with the Western Piedmont Wind Symphony in the “Music Beyond Borders” concert series which highlighted the stories of refugees. 

Her passion for social change has driven her to serve in many different places all over the world such as Sounds of Palestine, a music program for refugee youth, in Bethlehem and Children of Cambodia, a sponsorship program for orphans in Phnom Penh Cambodia. Elizabeth spent three years as a cello teacher for Al Kamandjati, a music organization that exists to teach music to Palestinian children, especially those in marginalized areas. Currently, she performs and teaches with a number of Boston based music organizations such as Shelter Music Boston, musiConnects, and Neighborhood Strings.

Known for his deeply soulful tone and mesmerizing phrasing, DeShaun Gordon-King (he/him) has given performances as a soloist and principal in Europe, Asia, and throughout the United States. DeShaun grew up surrounded by oral storytelling, and jazz and gospel music. He began his classical studies while at Duke University. Inspired by the worlds and traditions of his upbringing, DeShaun grew passionate about programming that blends them all together to create unique and memorable concert experiences. While in Boston he has collaborated with Castle of Our Skins, the Boston Celebrity Series, Juventas New Music Ensemble, the Longy Afghanistan Project, and Shelter Music Boston along with engaging in DEI work at the Longy School of music. DeShaun wholly believes in pushing music toward its next evolution; consequently, he is a vocal advocate for new music, especially works by composers of African and Latinx heritage and Queer composers. ​In addition to his love of newer music, DeShaun is currently pursuing his certification as a Therapeutic Musician because of his belief in the healing power of music. His primary teachers and mentors include Sergio Pallottelli, Kaori Fujii, Keith Underwood, and Rebecca Troxler.

Violinist Annegret Klaua is a performer and educator based in Cambridge, MA. Her many chamber music performances have brought her to venues ranging from Jordan Hall and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to churches and homeless shelters, the latter as part of Shelter Music Boston. As an orchestral musician she plays with the Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms Society, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and Portland Symphony Orchestra. Highlights from her early career include performances with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, Gardner Chamber Orchestra, at the Aspen and Sarasota Music Festivals and the International Academy for Early Music, Innsbruck, being a member of the Spoleto, Italy and Verbier Festival Orchestras, and faculty positions at the Governor's School of North Carolina, Brevard Music Center, Bridgewater State University, and Winchester Community Music School. She holds degrees in violin performance from Indiana University, Bloomington, and the Hochschule für Musik, Dresden, in musicology from Brandeis University, and in mental health from Queen Mary University of London. Interested in health and human rights, Annegret works at the Institute for Health and Recovery on addiction and public health. She previously managed programs for the mental health care of refugees and for a decade was a volunteer counselor and peer supervisor with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center's Medical Advocacy program.

Rebecca Strauss is a classical violist and violinist, a Certified Music Practitioner, Music Director of Riverview Chamber Players, and a faculty member at Longy School of Music of Bard College. She is passionate about designing, producing and performing innovative classical chamber music programs that respond to social issues, promote healing, and invite community involvement. Since 2016 Rebecca has used live music to support families of homicide victims lost to gun and street violence. In 2018, Rebecca performed at Buckingham Palace for an event hosted by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal (Princess Anne), to raise awareness of survivors of acid violence worldwide. 
 
Rebecca, one of the original musicians of Shelter Music Boston, has performed more than 400 concerts at homeless shelters and substance use recovery programs and served as SMB’s Children’s Program Coordinator, creating innovative performances for children’s shelters.  An alumna of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, she has performed with ensembles such as the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Opera Boston, Boston Lyric Opera, Chamber Music Foundation of New England, and the New England String Ensemble. Rebecca is also a Certified Life Coach, with musicians making up a large percentage of her client base.