Here at EtM, our Jamaica artists just began their residency, three Con Edison composers are hard at work in their host facilities and we’re in full swing prep for our End of Year Bash.

But in the midst of this, we want to take a minute to thank the amazing group assembled to provide support, ideas and enthusiasm for this event.  A few are returnees, some are Board members and some are new colleagues. They’re artists, producers, performers, business executives, attorneys and philanthropic leaders and we are grateful for their energy and advocacy.  You can read more about these arts champs below.

This year’s event will take place at the cell in Chelsea on Thursday, November 29, 2018. You can reserve you tickets here! Space is limited!

There are still volunteer opportunities available for this event! Email Program Manager Katie Cox at katie@exploringthemetropolis.org

 

Our 2018 Event Committee members are:

 

Caroline Connolly, Client Service Associate with First Republic Private Wealth Management (headshot and bio coming soon!).

 

John Glover has received commissions from organizations including On Site Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York Youth Symphony, Milwaukee Opera Theater, Washington National Opera, Mirror Visions Ensemble, and the Five Boroughs Music Festival. His work has been presented in venues ranging from Rockwood Music Hall to Carnegie Hall, Rothko Chapel to The Invisible Dog. He is the Director of the DiMenna Center for Classical Music and the Artistic Director for the Look and Listen Festival. Previously he managed productions for the American Composers Orchestra and their EarShot initiative, supporting readings of new orchestral music with orchestras around the country.

 

Matthew Principe is a producer of works spanning various disciplines. Regularly working with international performers of the highest caliber, Matthew is the Associate Producer for the intermission content of the Metropolitan Opera’s Grammy, Emmy, and Peabody Award-winning Live in HD series, which transmits live opera performances to movie theaters in 70 countries around the world. He is also Associate Producer of the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts on SIRIUS / XM Satellite Radio, broadcasting over 1000 live broadcasts throughout North America as well as via the Met’s website. A graduate of Temple University with a degree in Vocal Performance, Matthew has collaborated with arts institutions such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Orlando, The Cleveland Orchestra, National Sawdust, American Composers Forum, and Columbia Artists Management Inc., where he scouted emerging talent for their roster. A graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute, Matthew serves on the board of the art song platform Sparks and Wiry Cries and the Artistic Advisory committee for MasterVoices. As an independent producer, Matthew oversees development, production, and distribution for stage and screen projects such as the short film, Monsura is Waiting, and Stag, both directed by frequent collaborator Kevin Newbury. Matthew has various projects in development including the avant grade monster opera, Sasquatch, written by Roddy Bottum, keyboardist for the rock group Faith No More; A new opera by Cuban-American composer Armando Bayolo; and three feature films. Matthew is Co-Chair of the Diversity Committee, East for the Producers Guild of America.

 

Marni Raab As an actress, Marni Raab is best known for her extended run as Christine Daaé in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater on Broadway. She is the fourth-longest running actor to play the role in New York history. She has also toured in the role, both in the U.S. and Canada, and in Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, and Hong Kong. Other performance credits include Jellylorum in Cats (Hamburg, Germany), Julie Jordan in Carousel, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Lily in The Secret Garden, Guinevere in Camelot, an original one-woman show featured at LA’s Show at Barre. Concert engagements include appearances with the South Dakota Symphony, Christmas at the Cathedral, and Douglas Tappin’s operatic memoir of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, I Dream, at the Kennedy Center. Marni holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Oberlin Conservatory and a Masters in theater history from Brooklyn College. She serves as Literary Manager for Midtown Direct Rep in Maplewood, NJ where she programs and co-produces a new play reading series featuring extraordinary local talent. Marni also works as a story analyst for Amazon Studios. She recently taught acting at the Joffrey summer musical theater intensive and is a faculty member at The Institute for American Musical Theatre. Marni currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and three amazing step kids.

 

Ingrid Sletten is President of the Greater New York and Long Island Chapter of the National Association of Women In Construction.(2018) She is the Director of Sales for the general contracting firm X-Act Contracting Corporation of New York City and the Hamptons (2012-2018) Responsibilities include architect and owner relationship development, contact and bid negotiations, sales and marketing. Ingrid has extensive executive level experience in sales and  integrated media marketing working for twenty plus years in the advertising and media field for major agencies such as Ogilvy and Mather, Group M, Grey Global Group and DMB&B. Major Fortune 500 Clients include Anheuser-Busch Inc, Johnson and Johnson, Monsanto. Ingrid was a pioneer in the integrated media space taking ten clients through the dot com boom and into the present. Ingrid graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors in Art History and Archeology, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia and Master’s Degree in Religion from Fordham University, Bronx, NY.

 

Marieke Spence is Senior Manager of the Global Philanthropists Circle at the Synergos Institute, where she works with a dynamic network of leading philanthropic families from across the world committed to using their time, influence and resources to fight global poverty and social injustice. Ms. Spence was previously a Senior Consultant at TCC Group, a management consulting firm that develops strategies and programs to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of foundations, nonprofits, and corporate community involvement programs. Prior to joining TCC Group in 2013, she provided strategic counsel, research, analysis, planning, and program design to clients as an independent philanthropy advisor, and served as a Summer Fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.  Her thought leadership on philanthropy and impact investing has been published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Foundation Review, GrantCraft, and in the book Social Finance(Oxford University Press, 2015).

Ms. Spence was formerly Director of Corporate Communication and Strategy at The Kessler Group, a financial services company; a producer of “On Point with Tom Ashbrook,” a nationally-syndicated NPR program; and Assistant Director of Communications at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. She received her BA from Brown University, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and completed an executive course in impact investing at Said Business School. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters, is a lapsed violist and pianist, and enjoys biographies.

 

Andie Springer is a violinist and performer. Her audio visual album “Dandelion” will be released in the spring of 2018. She is the cofounder and musical director of Wild Shore New Music, now in it’s sixth year as Alaska’s premier new music festival and the New Music Coordinator at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. She has toured internationally as a company member of the New York City Players and has served as a multi-instrumentalist in theater groups Object Collection and New Paradise Laboratories. Musical collaborations include a duo with guitarist James Moore and new music ensembles Hotel Elefant and Transit. Her album with James Moore, “Gertrudes”, was released on New World Records in 2016. She has performed at LA Opera, The Kitchen, The Pompidou, and Carnegie Hall. Springer is faculty at Larchmont Music Academy and St. Lukes School. Her work has been reviewed by the New York Times, New Sounds Live, and The Wall Street Journal.

 

Phyllis Taylor is the Vice President for Legal Services at Consolidated Edison Company of New York, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies.  In this capacity, she is responsible for the General Litigation, Mass Torts, Labor, Employment and Retirement Benefits, and the Workers’ Compensation Practice Groups. Ms. Taylor has held a number of senior leadership positions throughout her career, including Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Battery Park City Authority, where she was responsible for the real estate transactions portfolio, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, Vice President of Independent Fiduciary Services (institutional investment and fiduciary services), and Deputy Comptroller and General Counsel for the New York City Comptroller’s Office.

She is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Council at Con Edison, a mentor in Con Edison’s Executive Mentoring Program, a Member of the New York State Bar Association (Employment Law Committee), a Member of the In-House Benefits Counsel Network, an Emeritus Member of the Executive Board of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys, and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Community Service Society of New York.