Tod Brody, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Director
415.864.0400

Tod Brody, flutist, educator, and administrator, has enjoyed a career of great variety. His early flute studies were with Marie Moulton (Chicago Lyric Opera) and Walfrid Kujala (Chicago Symphony). He later studied with Paul Renzi at San Francisco State University, and also with Merrill Jordan and Lloyd Gowen. He was a member of the Sacramento Symphony for many years, where he was a frequent soloist on both flute and piccolo. Brody currently teaches flute and chamber music at the University of California, Davis, where he also performs with the faculty wind quintet and with the Empyrean Ensemble, a contemporary chamber ensemble in residence at UCD. As a member of Empyrean, Earplay, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Brody has participated in many world premieres, and has been recorded on the CRI, Centaur, Arabesque, New World, and Magnon labels. When not performing contemporary music, he may often be found in the orchestras of the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and in other chamber and orchestral settings throughout northern California. In addition to his life as a performer and teacher, Mr. Brody also has a strong background in administration, as general manager of a prosperous medical laboratory and as proprietor of his own music contracting business.

Katy Clark , Philadelphia Chapter Director
215.243.2098

Katy Clark is a recent graduate of the American Symphony Orchestra League's Orchestra Management Fellowship Program. In the past year, Katy has worked at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Between 1994 and 1999 Katy was a violinist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, and has performed with a number of ensembles including the Scottish and English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , the Opera Company of Philadelphia and Orchestra 2001. Katy has also had a career as an educator; teaching violin and coaching chamber music at St. Paul's School and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and at Temple University Music Prep in Philadelphia. During her tenure at the BBC Symphony Orchestra she was an active participant in the orchestra's in-school program, and an elected member of the Player's Committee. Katy is a graduate of Cambridge University where she received her bachelor's degree in History. She also holds a master's degree in Violin Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Beth Denisch, Boston Area Chapter Director
617.338.4392

Beth Denisch received her Bachelor of Music degree in composition from North Texas State University, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from Boston University. She has studied with Pulitzer laureates Bernard Rands, John Harbison and Earl Kim. Denisch has won numerous awards including ASCAP and MFJCAP grants and has received a recommendation to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her works have been performed in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall in Boston, Boston Architectural Center, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, Michigan, San Francisco and China. She has been a member of the Composers in Red Sneakers and is director of the American Composers Forum - Boston Area Chapter. Denisch currently teaches at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and writes for exciting ensembles and soloists. She has been commissioned by the Arcadian Winds, the Boston Composers String Quartet, the Brockton Symphony and the Wellesley Symphony.

Paula Giannini, Chicago Chapter Director
312.922.6311

Before joining the Forum, Paula Giannini was, for nine years, Executive Director of The Poetry Center of Chicago. She has been Executive Director of the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation; Director of Community Relations/Concert Manager at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee; Program Publicist for PBS television; Director of Public Relations at the School of the Art Institute; editor and translator of exhibition catalogues at The Art Institute of Chicago; teacher of French and Italian at University of Illinois-Chicago, Skidmore College, Lake Erie College; as a Fulbrighter scholar, teacher of English at a lycee and a university in France; free-lance writer for magazines and newspapers. She has advanced degrees in French Literature and Education.

Renita Kalhorn, New York City Chapter Director
212.873.5315

Renita Kalhorn has had a varied career in the worlds of music and business. After graduating from Juilliard with a bachelor's degree in piano, she went on to live in Rome, Tokyo and Paris, where she combined teaching and performing with work in bi-cultural communications and investor relations. In 1995, she earned a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD, the principal business school in Europe, and for the past five years, has had management, marketing and business development roles at several Internet and multimedia companies in New York. Renita is also an avid martial artist, and is preparing for her black belt test in tae kwon-do.

 

Heidi Lesemann, Los Angeles Chapter Director
562.464.6644

Heidi Lesemann has served as Assistant Director of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at the University of Southern California, Assistant to the Director of the Monday Evening Concerts at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Manager of the Ojai Music Festival, and record producer for Delos Records. She has organized composer festivals, concert series of contemporary music, and music outreach programs in the inner-city schools. She coordinated composer commissioning projects, support groups, and a docent volunteer program. She is trained as a pianist, taught privately in the public schools, and holds a lifetime California teaching credential. She recently returned from several years in Berlin, where she served as artistic collaborator in the reconstruction of the original film music for classic German silent films and managed live film concerts with orchestra in festivals in Europe, Indonesia and Los Angeles.

 

Jonathan Matis, Washington, D.C. Chapter Director
301.270.6240

Jonathan Matis studied composition at Connecticut College with Noel Zahler, and at the Hartt School of Music, studying with Steven Gryc, Robert Carl, and David Macbride. He received the Mahan Prize in Music from Connecticut College in 1993, and the Diemente Prize from the Hartt School in 1999. Jonathan plays the electric guitar primarily, and has performed in many different types of ensembles at a wide variety of venues. He played in the prog-core band Snuggles and the ambient free improv ensemble Tiktok, both in Austin, Texas. Jonathan was also a member of Casual Saturn, a Connecticut-based collective of improvising musicians. Currently, he performs improvised music for percussion and guitar with Brian Fending, and in a larger improvising ensemble called Gray Code.

Lane Wilson, Atlanta Chapter Director
404.355.5744

Lane Wilson has served as Director of the Atlanta Chapter since May, 1998. An active supporter of the performing arts, she has worked as a volunteer board member, grant writer, state arts council panelist, and performer in dance, opera, and contemporary chamber music for over 20 years. She has served on the board of directors for seven non-profit organizations, and has sung with symphony and opera choruses, as well as in her church’s choir. Lane’s extensive business experience includes 17 years in the hospitality industry with responsibility for managing employee training and corporate communications departments.

David Wolff , Minnesota Chapter Director
651.251.2833

David received his Masters in Composition from the University of Minnesota, where he worked as a teaching assistant in both theory and musicology. He earned his Bachelor of Music in composition, graduating with research honors from Illinois Wesleyan University. An active composer and advocate of new music, his instrumental and choral works have been commissioned for university, high school and elementary ensembles, public radio shorts, and academic and religious ceremonies, as well as for individuals and chamber ensembles. A freelance music engraver since 1991, David has done Finale™ work on pieces performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis’ Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble, the University of Minnesota and Illinois Wesleyan University Wind Ensembles and numerous chamber ensembles as well as the BandQuest® series from Hal Leonard and the American Composers Forum. Joining the Forum in 1998, David most recently coordinated the operations of the Forum's rapidly growing chapter system as the Associate Director of Chapters. He was recently elected to the Board of Directors for the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra.