Editor’s note: Newsmakers is a regular feature spotlighting accomplishments of Newton community members, businesses and organizations.

Newton South Jazz Ensemble director wins big honor

Lisa Linde, music director for the Newton South High School Jazz Ensemble, has been named 2025 John Laporta Educator of the Year.

Linde also directs the Newton South High School Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Honors Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, Lab Jazz Ensemble and more. The school’s performing arts groups regularly receive state and national recognition.

Linde passionately advocates for gender equality in jazz and is the founder of the nonprofit, Jazzhers, an organization committed to shaping the future of jazz by helping young musicians who identify as female and nonbinary to become connected to and feel empowered within the jazz community.

She also serves as a frequent adjudicator, music clinician and speaker, and received the MICCA Hall of Fame Award for Teaching Excellence in 2022. She was the 2023 recipient of the National Federation of State High Schools Outstanding Music Educator Award in Massachusetts, and last year she was named a Grammy Quarterfinalist.

Newton actor starring in production of ‘Yellow Face’

Newton resident Mordecai SJ Choi has the leading role in David Henry Hwang’s timely Broadway hit play Yellow Face at The Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain.

The play, based on a true story, follows David Henry Hwang against the backdrop of his reaction to the casting of actor Jonathan Pryce as a Eurasian character in the Broadway musical Miss Saigon in 1990. The self-mocking, semi-autobiographical drama delves into themes of race, ethnicity, misappropriation, immigration and family dynamics.

The production is being held over multiple days throughout February, and on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 8 p.m., it will be the highlight of Asian Joy Night hosted by Chuang Stage.

Mordecai Choi stars in “Yellow Face” at The Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain. Courtesy Photo

Newton investor elected to New England Aquarium Board of Trustees

The New England Aquarium is adding seven new members to its Board of Trustees and Ambassador Council this year, and one if them is Chestnut Hill resident Tad O’Donnell, for a term of three years.

O’Donnell, a private investor, brings to the Board more than 20 years of investing experience in the healthcare industry, particularly in healthcare services and information technology.

“As a conservation organization, the New England Aquarium’s work touches everything from scientific research and animal care to policy, advocacy, and community resiliency efforts. We are so pleased that our new Trustees and Ambassadors bring a variety of expertise to the table that will help continue to advance our mission,” said Thomas R. Burton III, a Boston-based Mintz attorney and Chair of the Board of Trustees.

O’Donnell serves as the Executive Chairman of Positive Recovery Solutions and is also an advisor to several investment managers. He previously served as a partner at TT Capital Partners, as a general partner at HLM Venture Partners, and as an associate at General Catalyst during the founding of that firm.

O’Donnell earned his bachelor’s degree at Harvard College and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

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