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Education Team

At the Lyric we know seeing live performance coupled with training in the arts can transform a young person’s life. Our in-school and after school programs in dance, theatre, music, and creative writing are supported by the belief that every person has a unique and important story to share. Increased involvement in the arts can reflect the joys and struggles of our communities in new, compelling ways. 

 

 

Denise Kumani Gantt, Director of Education

dgantt@mdlyric.org
Denise Kumani Gantt is currently the director of education at the Lyric. She serves on the events committee for Maryland Citizens for the Arts, the BAEI Advisory Committee and the Urban Arts Leadership Council. Her plays and performance works include meditations/from the ash, winner of the Artscape’s Best Play Contest; anatomy/lessons part of Penumbra Theater’s Cornerstone Project, and The Gift, which in 2011 received staged readings at ACT (Seattle) and New York’s Drama League. In January 2013, her solo work, Eve’s Lament, was part the Lekhana Literary Weekend in Bangalore, India. In 2003, her collection of poetry, conjuring the dead, was awarded the Maryland Emerging Writers Award. Gantt is a founding member of the theater ensemble Medusa Speaks, is an adjunct professor at Coppin State University, and holds an MFA in Theatre from Towson University.

 

Ebony Evans, Deputy Director, Education Specialist

eevans@mdlyric.org
Ebony Evans is a multifaceted musician, performing artist, arts educator, lightworker, chief curator, small business owner and passionate activist dedicated to advocating for the freedom, agency, empowerment, and self-expression of Black women and femmes. She has emerged as a prominent leader in rallies, organizing, and protests that align with the Say Her Name movement, tackling the pervasive culture of misogynoir in our society today. Ebony earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Arts Theater from Coppin State University, where she was honored with an award for outstanding achievement in performance during her senior year. With over a decade of teaching experience, she has developed arts programs, summer camps, workshops, and classes. As a teaching artist, she successfully curated an African Folklore program at Creative Alliance, which emphasized the significance of connecting youth to their cultural identity, enhancing their performance skills, and discovering their purpose. In 2018, Ebony became a Community Art Collaborative fellow at the Maryland Institute College of Art and served as a Resident Artist and Education Specialist at the Lyric. She currently holds the position of Deputy Director of Education at Lyric Baltimore. In 2025, she was selected for the CAELII Leadership Transformation Cohort by the National Guild for Community Arts Education. Ebony’s impactful work has been featured in various media outlets, including WYPR, Mic, The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Beat, Baltimore Magazine, Bmore Art, and more.