2026 M2 Summer Adult Retreat

Sylvia Jiang is a young concert pianist from New Zealand and serves as Artistic Director and co-founder of non-profit organization Muffin Music Inc.. Hailed by critics as a ‘gifted young pianist of genuine substance’ and ‘New Zealand’s most notable young emerging pianist,’ Sylvia has been featured on BBC News, The Washington Post, ABC Australia, Radio New Zealand Concert, and other notable news networks and publications. 

Sylvia has performed as a soloist with numerous internationally renowned Orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, Queensland Symphony, Music Academy of the West, and Juilliard Chamber Orchestras. Solo performance highlights include Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Auckland Town Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Sylvia has served as Artistic Director for multiple arts organizations and events, with a focus on her interest in multi-disciplinary collaborative work. She was invited to be a featured soloist in The Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Miami City Ballet. 

Over the years, she has won numerous top prizes at national and international level competitions including the prestigious Lev Vlassenko, Kerikeri, Music Academy of the West, and Hastings International Piano Competitions. She most recently served as the sole Artist Diploma Candidate at Johns Hopkins University.

She is currently on faculty at Special Music High School in NYC and has served as guest faculty at the University of Aukland School of Music.

Learn more about Sylvia here

Jeff McKinnon is a dynamic teacher, actor, and writer with 25 years of experience in Santa Barbara County, including 23 years at Santa Ynez High School, where he founded the SYVHS Theatre Group. His students have graduated to go on to joining top theater programs including Pacific Conservatory Theater (PCPA) and Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. 

His most recent book, Cheat Out, is a go to for teachers, actors, and presenters at all stages in their careers. The book offers invaluable insight on how humans work together, play, and listen to one another. 

Prior to teaching, he showcased his acting talent in regional theaters across the Midwest, West Coast, and Europe. Now residing in Solvang, California, he enjoys life with his wife, Carey, and their beloved cat, Charlie.

Lisa is an international award-winning brand strategist, marketer and creative director whose career has long been at the forefront of building brands that are as good for business as they are for the greater good.

Now working primarily as a mentor to Executive Directors and social/environmental entrepreneurs, her work includes NGOs like One Thread Collective, Muffin Music and Tribal Trust as well as former clients ranging from ocean conservation organization Sailors for the Sea founded by David Rockefeller, Jr., recording artist and environmentalist Jack Johnson and Target Corporation—to small, enterprising boutique brands—her campaigns educate and activate consumers while building awareness and driving impressive results.

In addition to being one of the first to launch an advertising agency dedicated to environmental and mission-based companies in 1990, she has also held senior positions at both the Utne Reader magazine and The Organic Center. Her love affair with words began in first grade when she became enthralled with novels about truth-seeking teen detective Nancy Drew, and at 10 she became an activist by starting a petition to save a forest near her home. Since childhood, she has been passionate about the power of story and its impact on creating change in the world. 

She began her career as a print and broadcast journalist and currently lives in the Santa Ynez Valley in California.