Who We Are and Why Music Matters
The Songbird’s Gift is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to bringing the transformative power of music to our community. We believe that all human beings are musical and that music has the ability to inspire, nurture, and connect people of all ages and abilities.
Our mission is to give life to music, foster confidence and creativity, and cultivate a lifelong passion for the arts.
Since our founding in 2012, The Songbird’s Gift has supported a range of impactful community music initiatives. Our past initiatives include ROCK.Out.Loud, the sponsorship of ukuleles for local music instruction, and community fundraising through events such as our annual Soirée. Today, our focus continues through The Cornerstone Community Arts Project (CCAP), providing educational programs, camps, mentorship, and performance opportunities that empower youth to explore their musical potential, develop artistic skills, and build meaningful connections—enriching both their lives and the broader community.
Music fosters countless benefits: achievement, self-expression, discipline, perseverance, confidence, creativity, and connection. At The Songbird’s Gift, we strive to share these benefits with every person we reach, nurturing talent and inspiring joy along the way.
We invite you to join us in this mission—through participation, volunteerism, or donation—helping us continue to bring music, inspiration, and opportunity to Central New Jersey and beyond.
Meet Our Board
Laura Hines Wittman
President and Founding Board Member
Growing up on a steady diet of classical music of such composers as Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Debussy, and Chopin hardly prepared Laura for her current repertoire of music of Sara Bareilles, Coldplay, The Eagles, Brandi Carlile or Carole King. Laura grew up in a musical family, beginning her classical piano studies at a typically young age. Laura’s fondest memories include those of playful, intricate duets which she performed with her sister, Dianne. Fortunately, her parents always believed in the value of learning a musical instrument. Gratefully, she didn’t have a choice!
As a resident of Millstone Township, NJ for over twenty years, Laura has enjoyed her share of volunteer appointments to various committees, boards, and foundations within the community and Monmouth County. Several years ago, while (as a mother and homemaker raising daughters, Olivia and Isabel), Laura began teaching piano lessons in her private studio. It was a modest arrangement, yet it served an important purpose. As the years progressed, she became inspired to create a space in the community that would welcome and nurture music students across a wide range of instruments. The opportunity presented itself, and Cornerstone Music Studios at Millstone became a reality.
Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a Master of Arts in Organizational Communication from the University of South Florida, where, during a part-time assistantship, she spent semesters in a dance rehearsal hall, accompanying USF ballet students in their demanding advanced performance classes. She currently assists with the St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Freehold, NJ, “Wiggle-n-Worship” music program.
Holly Deitz
Vice President and Founding Board Member
Holly received a BA in communications and political science from Douglass College at Rutgers University and a law degree from The American University in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a lobbyist. After living in Michigan and England, Holly and her family settled back in their home state of NJ, where Holly served on the Millstone Township Board of Education for 7 years. Holly and her husband Bob moved down to Belmar 5 years ago, where her three children often come to visit.
Danyel Shiflet
Treasurer and Secretary
Danyel Shiflet earned her Master of Music in Voice Performance, cum laude, from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati in 2013 and her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance, cum laude, from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in 2011.
Ms. Shiflet has participated in several distinguished young artist programs, including the Florence Voice Seminar in Florence, Italy (2010), SongFest at the Colburn School in Los Angeles (2012), and the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute (BASOTI) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (2013). During her time at BASOTI, she performed the role of the Governess in Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and studied scenes including Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. At SongFest, she worked closely with contemporary composer Jake Heggie and participated in master classes with renowned collaborative pianist Martin Katz.
While at Westminster Choir College, Ms. Shiflet performed major works under the direction of internationally acclaimed conductors. Her performances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert at Avery Fisher Hall, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony Orchestra under Shinik Hahm at the United Nations, and John Adams’ El Niño: A Nativity Oratorio with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall under the composer’s direction.
At the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she was selected to participate in Opera Fusion: New Works, a collaborative initiative between Cincinnati Opera and CCM Opera that develops and workshops new operatic compositions. As part of this program, she contributed to the development of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Morning Star.
Danyel loves igniting a passion for music with her private students, her small but mighty students in the Mini Music Makers and Storybook classes, campers during the Music & Theatre Arts Camp, Storybook Series Camp, and all of the students who enter Cornerstone Music Studios’ doors!
Danyel has an adorable pup named Duck and enjoys going to new places she hasn’t been before!
“Fortunately, something always remains to be harvested. So let us not be idle.” — Gustav Mahler