Ashleigh
Milner is in her final semester in the Master of Arts Management
program at the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management
at Carnegie Mellon University. She worked for the Education and
Community Outreach Department of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and in
Artistic Administration and Donor Relations for the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra. As her capstone project at Carnegie Mellon, she is involved
in a research project examining the motivation of nonprofit arts
organizations to utilize information technology. This project will be
presented at the 2007 Americans for the Arts Conference. Ashleigh
earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Education at the University of
Colorado, Boulder. After graduation, she taught at Colorado’s Westlake
Middle School, where she organized regional student festivals, managed
a private violin studio, and worked as a freelance musician. Ashleigh
completed the League’s Essentials of Orchestra Management Seminar in
2006.
A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Emma Murley earned a B.M. from Indiana University and master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music in trumpet performance. She also studied at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto and Vienna Conservatory. Previously, Emma served for a season as Artistic Coordinator with the Omaha Symphony, Artistic Intern at the Grant Park Music Festival, and Marketing Intern for the Cleveland Orchestra. Most recently, she was the Dean's Secretary and Planning & Programs Assistant to the Dean of Humanities at University of Chicago and an Artist Assistant for the Chicago Symphony. Emma participated in the Aspen Music Festival and International Festival Institute at Round Top, and has toured with various ensembles to China, Italy, and Japan. As a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, Emma performed throughout North, Central, and South America. She is native of Kentucky.
Carolyn Nishon, of Okemos, Michigan, earned her bachelor’s from the University of Michigan in 2007. A member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society, she received her degrees in English and Psychology. While at the University of Michigan, Carolyn became involved in the Michigan Pops Orchestra, a one-hundred-member student-led symphony. She served as the Publicity Director from 2005-2006 and became the Executive Director and Concertmistress in the 2006-2007 season. As the Michigan Pops Orchestra liaison and spokesperson, she also served on the general board of the University Activities Center, a regents-funded association supporting student-run arts organizations. From 2006 to 2007, Carolyn interned at the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, where she worked closely with directors of marketing and education. In 2007, Carolyn attended the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference in New York City with representatives from Ann Arbor’s University Musical Society.
Martin Sher received his bachelor's degree in violin performance from the Peabody Institute and his master's in viola performance from SUNY Stony Brook. He was a fellowship recipient at both the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals and has performed extensively throughout the US, Canada, and Germany as a chamber musician. Martin has been a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) for seven seasons, and for the past four years has performed as a guest with the Berlin Philharmonic. At the CSO, Martin serves on the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee; he is the Vice-Chair and Chair-elect of the Artistic Committee and until the beginning of the Fellowship was the CSO's ICSOM delegate. He has also been actively participating in the CSO's efforts to upgrade its performance facility, having served on the Programming Committee, the Case Statement Task Force, and the Planning Committee. In 2007, he participated in the League of American Orchestras's "Essentials of Orchestra Management" seminar. Martin lives in Denver with his wife Cecily and their son Aidan.
Brandon VanWaeyenberghe comes to the Fellowship Program from a position as Development Manager for the Cincinnati Ballet, where in addition to his fundraising duties he also works on marketing and database projects. Prior to this, he worked for both the National Repertory Orchestra and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in development and the Evansville Philharmonic in operations. Brandon holds a BS in Music Management from the University of Evansville (IN) in addition to a MA in Arts Administration and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati. His master's thesis regarding the supply and demand of orchestra musicians has been published and quoted in several publications including the Los Angeles Times, myAuditions.com, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Cincinnati Business Magazine, and for a radio program on WVXU Cincinnati. Originally from Bremen, Indiana, Brandon enjoys reading, cooking, studying American lieder as a lyric baritone, and running 5k races.