Linehan Scholars | 3rd Year
Ambar Maren Auth is pursuing an Acting BFA with a Minor in Vocal Music. She enjoys playing dramatic roles that require emotional intimacy and vulnerability. Her aspirations include working in musicals and regular theatre, taking on dream roles such as Christine from “Phantom of the Opera,” Anastasia from “Anastasia the Musical,” and Betheina from “Fences.” Ambar Maren is also very interested in film roles. With many career interests, she has talents in vocals, professional modeling, and acting, and she is working to further her skills in dance. Ambar Maren plans to use all these avenues to get her to what she wants for her life. And that is to have a comfortable life doing what she loves. While also pursuing pre-physical Therapy, Ambar Maren would always feel like she had missed out if she hadn’t tried her very best to build her artistic career.
Rickerra Bassett is a second-year Linehan scholar. She plays viola and is double-majoring in Music Education and Viola Performance. From Pre-K through 12th Grade, she was in the BSO Orchkids program, where she developed her love of music. She was also a Preparatory student at Peabody and was involved in both the Tuned-in and Pathways scholarship programs. These programs helped her receive private lessons and orchestral and Chamber experience. These programs have also allowed her to gain teaching experience during the summer and school year. She loves teaching because seeing younger kids enjoy playing as she did at their age brings her so much joy. She sees herself in them. She decided to double major because she still wants to gain more skills in performing, and she loves that as well, while also learning better methods of teaching in the classroom. Rickerra hopes to achieve a promising teaching career and/or a solid performing career that she enjoys.
Brianna Bates is a Linehan Scholar from Pasadena, MD in her third and final year of her studies. Here at UMBC, she is a Music Teaching and Learning major on the instrumental non-licensure track. Currently, she performs in UMBC’s Jazz and Percussion Ensembles, and has previously participated in the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. As a pianist and percussionist, she can grow and perform on both of her primary instruments through these groups. Outside of campus, Brianna teaches piano lessons to students ranging from elementary to high school. Upon graduation, she plans to take on internships outside of music, and expand her private lessons to instruments beyond the piano, with the knowledge from her studies of various instruments through the instrumental education program at UMBC.
Trinity Brechtel is a third-year Linehan Artist Scholar and Honors College student, pursuing a major in Dance. She began her dance training at the age of four at Centre Pointe Performing Arts, where she studied a variety of styles including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. As a competitive dancer, Trinity has had the opportunity to work with professional artists through numerous conventions, summer intensives, and choreographic projects at her home studio. Notably, she performed with the Tap Dancing Santas at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Spectacular, has appeared in Student Choreography showcases at UMBC, attended 2 ACDA Mid-Atlantic Conferences, and this July she attended the CLI Conservatory Intensive program, where she got to train for a whole week with professional dancers and experienced what the commercial dance world is like. She is also currently teaching dance at her home studio, sharing her passion and experience with the next generation of dancers. With her dual focus in dance and education, Trinity aspires to become a professional dancer and choreographer, with the goal of inspiring and educating young dancers across the country.
Lee Dugan is a junior Linehan Artist Scholar and dance major. He began dance classes at four years old and has attempted nearly every genre. Before entering college, he was a member of Kinetics Dance Theatres Youth Ensemble, and also had the honor of performing and choreographing with the Kinetics Dance Company. He has appeared in student works at UMBC, ACDA showcases, and the Eastern Shore Arts Festival. He has also worked with Rob and Amy Kleinendorst to perform Paul Taylor repertory works at the winter 2026 intensive, and Orange Grove Dance artistic directors Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves in the site-specific work Site/Unseen. He is currently sharing his love of movement to the next generation by teaching dance classes with Charm City Music School. He is excited to continue growing through the artistic, athletic, and academic challenges and opportunities ahead.
Brooks Anthony Giro is a music education and music technology major hoping to earn a degree in both. He began playing percussion and drum set at age 8 and has been playing ever since. He is also an independent musician who produces rap lyrics and instrumentals and has been making professional records since 2021. Brooks loves how music can make people feel, express themselves, and bring them together, and overall enjoys the art of creation. He played in Mount Hebron High School’s percussion ensemble, symphonic band, marching band, jazz band, and wind ensemble, and performed alongside the school’s choir, serving as the lead drummer in the last two musicals. This past year, he played in Towson University’s symphonic band and participated in multiple concerts with the ensemble. He won the “Jazz Musician of the Year” award in his senior year of high school and was the section leader for the wind ensemble and marching band. Throughout the Linehan program and at UMBC, he hopes to become a top-notch producer while learning what it takes to become a teacher. When he gets into the classroom, he hopes to make a difference in a child’s life, not only with music but in general.
Briana Hausler is a second-year visual arts major studying at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, pursuing a BFA in graphic design with a minor in photography. She started her creative journey at a young age, with a growing interest in traditional art, and later branched into the digital arts field in her teens. In high school, she cultivated an interest in design programs with an Adobe-focused intermedia productions course and an intro to photography class. Achieving both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator certifications, she was selected for the Computer Technology of Engineering scholarship and received an Excellence in Digital Media award in her senior year. Briana is currently in the Linehan Artist Scholars program at UMBC, where she has explored workshops across disciplines alongside a range of experienced alumni and their artist-in-residence, Melissa Hyatt Foss. Notably, she has taken on collaborative projects such as an interactive installation for the Arts Boulevard and an interdisciplinary project inspired by works of the Walter’s Art Gallery. Always open to learning new media and techniques, Briana continues her passion for the arts, creating pieces that resonate with others and capture life in the moment.
Kayla Laucks is an artist and theatre maker from Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. She is majoring in Theatre Design and Production at UMBC and is also a Linehan Artist Scholar. Kayla fell in love with theatre because of its unique ability to unite people of different backgrounds and create pieces that encompass many different art forms and subject matters. While in high school, Kayla was the Stage Manager for her school’s spring musicals (The Addams Family, Into the Woods, Fiddler on the Roof) and helped to create her school’s first-ever Fall One-Act productions in 2022 and 2023. She has also been a part of many local Berks County theatre productions, including the creation of new works with Reading Theater Project (In Nature’s Studio, 5-Minute Fringe Festival), stage managing for Reading Area Community College’s Winter Musicals (Young Frankenstein, Something Rotten), and Berks Ballet Theatre’s 2023 The Nutcracker. Kayla looks forward to continuing her artistic and theatrical journey at UMBC and aims to work in theatre professionally in the future.
Jaime Loza is a second-year Linehan scholar and visual arts major at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, studying 3D animation and photography. He is certified in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro and has experience in Adobe Lightroom, Illustrator, After Effects, Maya, Unity, and several other software programs. Jaime has displayed his work at the Howard County Junior/Senior Artist Showcase, the Howard County Council Center for Arts, and the Columbia Mall Howard County Artist Exhibit. Most notably, he received three gold keys and a silver key for his photography in the Scholastic Art and Writing competition. Jaime is primarily drawn to the liberty of expression within different media, seeking to emotionally connect with others through his work. He hopes to be able to create art in professional settings, continuing his exploration of various media while maintaining the sentimental value that art holds for him.
Sydney McDonald is a National award-winning artist based in Maryland, studying Photography and Computer Science at UMBC. What Sydney loves about photography, as well as other forms of art, is how expressive, complex, and experimental pieces can be and how easy it is to craft a narrative and create a visual story. Sydney has been recognized by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her photographic work as well as her drawings and paintings. She has had her work displayed in multiple galleries, and she continues to improve in her practice. Sydney aspires to work as a professional artist while working in computer science as a way to combine her STEM and art identities.
Maranna Nwozo is a writer, animator, and artist majoring in Visual Arts Cinema and Photography, minoring in Entrepreneurship, and obtaining a Certificate in Japanese Language. What Maranna loves about art is its power to tell stories that renew people’s minds and deeply captivate their hearts. Maranna also enjoys creating short films, such as her “Gyattebayo” series, and executing fantasy-esque photoshoots, such as the Baroque Baroque Femininity photography series. Maranna aspires to use the knowledge gained from her education at UMBC to start a production company that creates diverse and globally-minded shows through the medium of Japanese-style animation.
Abby Wheatley is a multifaceted artist currently working towards a BFA in Graphic Design at UMBC. In addition to being a Linehan Scholar, Abby is an Acting minor, Medieval and Early Modern Studies minor, and a member of the Honors College. They work on campus as a part of UMBC’s Event and Conference Services team, have devised and performed an original clowning performance at the Voxel theater in Baltimore, and are participating in UMBC’s production of The Serpent Under’t in the fall of 2026. Abby is a storyteller and communicator, and constantly strives to translate the ideas in their head into the world- be it on a piece of paper, a screen, or a stage. They draw most of their inspiration from the nature surrounding them and comic artists online, and are constantly experimenting to improve their own work. Abby hopes to make a living after graduation creating tactile pieces of art that audiences are encouraged to physically interact with. Connection makes us human, and they want to use their art to bridge gaps and help people feel seen.
Joshua Wittenberg is a sophomore at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, majoring in Music Education. He started music at a young age and has been singing for ten years. As an Academy for the Fine Arts graduate and current Linehan Scholar, he has had four years of experience studying music at the collegiate level. In high school, he was the President of the Tri-M Music National Honor Society, won the departmental music award, and was awarded a superior score at the MMEA state solo & ensemble festival. Joshua plans to pursue a master’s degree in vocal performance to continue his educational journey. His goal is to get the next generation of students involved in music so that they can express their passions and emotions as freely as possible.
