I had the pleasure of composing the score for Broadway's second production by a black woman following Lorraine Hansberry's ​A Raisin in the Sun. Written by Ntozake Shange "For Colored Girls" premiered at the Booth Theater in 1976. My song, I Found God In Myself ​aligns with the play's resolution. With a line of dialogue as the lyrics, the song speaks of the journey to peace, self-love and self-acceptance for its protagonists. The play won the Tony award for Best Actress, an Obie award and a Drama Desk Award. It was also nominated for the Tony for Best Play. The play explores various experiences and challenges in black womanhood and of our a collective journey to healing. 

​I've served as a composer, member and pianist for the world renowned vocal ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.  As an all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey is a three-time Grammy Award–nominated troupe who express their history as African-American women through song, dance, and sign language.

​I am a curator of the Women in Jazz Series through my music publishing company Ellika Music. Our mission is to honor the historical and contemporary contribution of women composers in the jazz genre. Through the series, I've had the pleasure curating performances by local women artists. We've also brought a diverse group of women artists to perform throughout Baltimore. Our latest performance was at the University of Baltimore African American Heritage Festival.

What I Feel reflects my interest in mentoring and collaborating with local women artists. Musically it fuses various genres and generations of music while emphasizing the power of the female voice.   It contains 11 selections. In the album liner notes, celebrated Baltimore culture writer Bret McCabe states: 

"The solo female vocal album can feel a bit dusty, a relic of a time when jazz was popular music and American Idol didn’t exist. The trick to making it work today isn’t trying to appeal to contemporary audiences, it’s writing songs that compliment the voice. That’s exactly what Diana Wharton Sennaar and Jaara Sennaar do for Hána on What I Feel, 11 tracks of ethereal beauty spotlighting a voice that feels whisper soft but lands a powerful emotional punch. Sure, some right-now sounds seep in—the R&B beat bounce of “Insanity,” the gentle hip-hop pulse of the title track—but for the most part the Sennaars recognize that a voice this refined needs only to be wrapped in a ghost of a melody and arrangements as delicately ornate as flowers. Look no further than “Heart 2 Love,” a flirtation between Hána and an acoustic guitar that starts off as a hushed secret and blossoms into a levitating rush as refreshing as a deep breath of ocean air. Elsewhere, the Sennaars put a dash of rhythmic spice underneath Hána’s husky vibrato (“Doin’ Things Together”), let her slow dance with a bass and drums groove that is as tender as a caress (“Pride”), and provide her with a fingersnapping ripple created by interlacing a lissome guitar line and percussive textures (the positively exuberant “Joy”). Perhaps most stunning of all is the haunting “Lovely Day,” a gentle piano and strings ballad that allows Hána to swoop in and take your breath away." 

I am the co-founder and director of Piano for Youth, an award-wining Maryland-based organization. As the leading organization of its kind in the US, Piano for Youth aims to close the academic achievement gap by fostering academic excellence, confidence and leadership skills through music education, piano instruction and public performance. Acknowledged in 2013 by Howard County, Maryland with Piano for Youth Day and as a recipient of a 2014 Bright Minds Grant, PFY continues to be the annual recipient of honors and proclamations from Maryland's Governors, Baltimore's Mayors and the Baltimore City Council from 2013-2017. Our programming features year-round piano lessons, a summer camp which was last held at School 33 Art Center an elite core of touring young performers. Performance venues include: Walters Art Museum, Johns Hopkins University, the Baltimore War Memorial Museum, the Douglass Myers Maritime Museum, Howard University, the New Jersey Public Library in Jersey City and For My Sweet Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY.

I recently composed original music for the The Fall of the Kings. Designed in consonance with the play's World War II backdrop and ballet themes, the music is full of uptempo jazz and ballads featuring strings.The soundtrack also features Grammy-nominated trumpeter Chrisitan Scott aTunde Adjuah. The Fall of the Kings play featured an award-winning cast & crew: Choreographer, Dyane Harvey-Salaam’s credits include The Wiz (original stage and film versions) and the classic Spike Lee film School Daze. Set designer, Christopher Cumberbatch’s, work has appeared both in theater and in the Spike Lee films Crooklyn and Malcolm X. The play was written and directed by NYU alum playwright Mai Sennaar.