Ronda Combs has been with Bravo! Vail Music Festival since February 2020. She has more than 20 years of experience as a marketing and communication professional in the arts and culture industry and nonprofit sector. Since opening ACG’s Nashville office in 2015, she has provided numerous interim management services, led
significant earned revenue enhancement projects, and guided several national executive searches. Her additional areas of expertise include strategic marketing, branding, pricing strategies, media, and public relations.

Engaged by the newly opened Marathon Center for Performing Arts to serve as Interim Marketing Director, Ms. Combs helped create membership packages, a robust pricing model, and an effective and economical season ticket campaign. The organization’s first season ended with a large increase in both its membership program and tickets sales. Total ticket revenue for the venue’s second season saw a 17 percent increase from its inaugural season.

During her tenure as Interim Vice President of Marketing at Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Ms. Combs managed dynamic pricing strategies, directed existing marketing and advertising budgets, and created expense and revenue budgets for the fiscal year. Additionally, she created and executed public relations plans for five major media announcements, including Bravo’s first ever opera production, Puccini’s Tosca, for which she also developed a comprehensive international marketing plan.

Prior to joining ACG, Ms. Combs served as Vice President of Marketing and Communication at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and War Memorial Auditorium. During her tenure, she led intra-departmental efforts to develop innovative pricing strategies that resulted in one of the organization’s most successful years, with nearly 360,000 tickets sold and $20 million in total ticket sales. Ms. Helton also spent seven years with the Nashville Symphony, ultimately becoming Senior Director of Marketing. She was a key member of the team that opened Schermerhorn Symphony Center and helped lead its recovery efforts after the building suffered severe flood damage. The Nashville Symphony’s annual ticket sales revenue more than tripled during her time with the organization.

Ms. Combs holds a bachelor of arts in government and English from Western Kentucky University.

Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott has been Artistic Director of the Bravo! Vail Music Festival since 2011. She enjoys performing, recording, commissioning, and planning a tremendous variety of music encompassing many centuries and styles. She is currently working on recording the complete Mozart Concertos with the Odense Symphony in Denmark and all of Haydn’s Piano Sonatas for release on Bridge Records. This summer she is looking forward to presenting all nine of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas (which she has recorded) together with pianists Anna Geniushene and Ilya Shmukler, whom she discovered while serving as a jurist for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.  Last summer she premiered a new concerto by Chris Rogerson, commissioned for her by Bravo! Vail in honor of her 10^th anniversary. She will premier an expanded version of the work with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in April 2024.  Anne-Marie has been devoted to chamber music her entire career and performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where she has been a member since 1995. She is the Artistic Director of two chamber music festivals: one at the McKnight Performing Arts Center in Oklahoma; the other in Ocean Reef, Florida. 

Her discography also includes Bach’s English Suites and Partitas (named Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice), Gershwin’s Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra with the Dallas Symphony and conductor Justin Brown, plus recordings devoted to works by Haydn, Chopin and Schubert. Plans are in place to record all of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos with Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria and the conductor Carlos Miquel Prieto. She has performed concertos with dozens of American orchestras, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. International ensembles include the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Moscow Virtuosi, and the Taipei and Vancouver Symphonies. With the latter she and the late conductor Bramwell Tovey premiered Poul Ruders’ Piano Concerto. Other conductors with whom she has collaborated include Stéphane Denève, Michael Francis, James Gaffigan, Alan Gilbert and Jaap van Zweden.

Anne-Marie has curated and performed several composer-focused projects including: the Complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas and Chamber Music, a three-concert series of Shostakovich’s chamber music, as well as a series of recitals devoted to Haydn and Beethoven Piano Sonatas. She has performed and premiered dozens of works by living composers, among them, Clarice Assad, Stephen Hartke, Chris Rogerson, Roberto Sierra, George Tsontakis, and Charles Wuorinen.

A proud alumna of Young Concert Artists, Ms. McDermott enjoys nurturing young pianists, and participating both as a juror and performer in festival such as Piano Jacobins in Toulouse, where she will make a return visit in fall 2023.

Caitlin Murray has served as Bravo! Vail’s Executive Director since 2018. During that time she has led the organization through the challenges of the pandemic and maintained the presence of world-class music in the Vail community. She is deeply committed to Bravo! Vail’s mission to enrich people’s lives through the power of music.

Caitlin has been associated with Bravo! Vail for over a decade, previously serving as the Vice President of Development. Throughout her tenure she has played an integral role in innovative projects which have led to major programmatic advancements and an ongoing elevation of the Festival’s artistic excellence. She has previously worked as Director of Leadership Gifts at Colorado Public Radio, as well as an Account Executive at Westword newspaper in Denver. Caitlin is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and history.

Caitlin’s love for music began at a young age and she studied violin in her youth. She and her husband Dan enjoy living in the Vail Valley by hiking with their dog Porky, snowboarding, and biking. They love to travel and take in as many concerts as possible wherever they are.

Jeff Herring is a guitarist, composer, and teacher living in Vail, CO, since 2022. Jeff grew up in Montgomery, AL, where he began his musical studies at the age of 11. Quickly finding inspiration in the music and the community, his early music education included a healthy dose of ensemble and solo performances in various settings and styles around the Southeast. Jeff completed a Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance at the Florida State University, where he would also begin teaching, both privately and in classroom settings. At the University of Denver, where Jeff earned his Master of Music in Guitar and Composition, he was awarded a Teaching Assistantship for Guitar, and a separate assistantship for Music Theory. During that time, he also started to compete internationally in guitar, as well as broaden the scope of his musical experience with his compositional collaborations.

Hannah Ploughman is a singer, educator, and longtime enthusiast of Bravo! Vail. Currently working as a teacher in the Music Makers Haciendo Música program, she happily accepted the offer to work as an Executive Assistant for the company.  

Hannah grew up in the Vail Valley and began teaching for Bravo! when she was in high school in one of the first iterations of the After School Piano Program. She received a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado. During this time, she also taught Elementary Music in Poudre School District. Hannah loves to travel and perform and has had the opportunity to sing opera and choral music in Germany, France, Austria, and the Czech Republic.  

Creating meaningful connections and inspiring musical curiosity is something that resonates deeply with her personal and career values. She believes that music has the unique power to provide us with a high-level cognitive skill, while also connecting us emotionally and intellectually to the world around us. It is such a joy to be back in her hometown and to have the opportunity to share her passion for music with her students and her community. 

Monica White joined Bravo! Vail in 2016. Monica received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Penn State and is an active CPA. After spending over ten years in public accounting, she moved to the non-profit world of accounting. Monica currently serves on the Listen Foundation and Red Ribbon Project boards. She enjoys skiing, rafting, reading, and being outside.  Monica lives with her husband Dan and daughter Sage.

Shannon Murray, a Denver, CO native, discovered her love of arts administration in 2016 while working as the International Chorus Coordinator for Opera Classica Europa. She holds bachelor's degrees in music education and classical vocal performance from the University of Northern Colorado. An avid traveler, she has had the opportunity to perform in venues across the world including St. Peter’s Basilica, the historic Shubert Theater in New Haven, CT, and many castle ruins throughout Germany, France, and Holland. Through these experiences, she has gained a deep reverence for the connection music offers to the communities it touches. After having joined Bravo! Vail as the 2022 Operations Intern, she is ecstatic to be back in the Vail Valley contributing to some of the most breathtaking live music out there. Aside from being a music fanatic, Shannon is also an avid houseplant-keeper, visual artist, and video game player.

Jacqueline Taylor discovered her passion for classical music administration starting in 1983 while working as the Orchestra Manager for the Pre-College Division of The Juilliard School, where she studied trumpet. She eventually became the Managing Director of Performing Arts at the 92^nd Street Y, under the tutelage of her mentor, Omus Hirshbein, followed by six years as the Executive Director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2002 she and Omus founded and ran the concert series,  Free for All at Town Hall.  Since joining Bravo! Vail in 2010, her son now plays the horn, her husband rides a Pinarello bicycle, and she is a giant fan of 6 pm concerts.

✉ Contact Jacqueline via email 

Aileen Pagán-Rohwer has served in a variety of roles throughout her career including educator, performer, administrator and community collaborator. Having spent over 35 years building relationships with performers, presenters and educators, Aileen brings a wealth of knowledge, dedication, and persistence to bringing performers and audiences together.

First and foremost as a teacher and administrator, she was the founding director and cello instructor with Cultural Art Strings, a program under Riverfolk Music and Arts Organization in rural Manchester, Michigan that did not have a strings program. She has additionally held roles as a private cello instructor with the Chelsea Center for the Arts, Toledo Symphony School of Music, and in the cities of Cleveland and Houston. Additionally, she initiated and led a mixed strings class (violin, viola, cello, bass) at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor upon discovering that allowing a child to choose their voice will result in a higher retention rate and commitment.

As a performer, she has worked as a cellist with the Houston Symphony as a fellow, the Memphis Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, and Akron Symphony and in various chamber music capacities throughout the United States.

In administrative capacities, with organizations such as Chamber Music Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan, Riverfolk Music and Arts and most recently Great Lakes Performing Artist Associates (GLPAA) as executive director from 2015-2021. Her extensive non-profit skills include strategic planning, financial administration, grant writing, and community collaborator. 

Some of the highlights of her career in establishing community collaborative programs include supporting the careers of emerging, developing and established musicians through the artist management services at GLPAA, expanding the Caravan Educational Outreach programs connecting professional musicians with GLPAA to underserved youth programs throughout the Midwest Region as well as reaching senior living communities, initiating the GLPAA Neighborhood Concerts during the pandemic taking live music directly to driveways, backyards and gardens, and launching the GLPAA Stone Chalet Concert Series.

With Riverfolk Music and Arts, Aileen is credited with launching the Blacksmith Shop Concert Series, a monthly live music performance in a historic blacksmith shop, the Riverfolk Community Orchestra, Live from Riverfolk livestream series during the pandemic that reached over 10,000 online views, and the Riverfolk Passport to Manchester tour focusing on expanding the history of the rural town to include the many cultures that passed through the land and pairing those cultures with food, music and art presentations.

In her spare time, Aileen enjoys cooking, hiking, biking, gardening and spending time with her three sons, husband Robert Rohwer and new lab puppy Clover. Although moving to Colorado had never crossed her mind, the opportunity to serve another community with the robust cultural offerings of Bravo! Vail, utilizing her bilingual background, and fulfilling the needs of its educational and engagement goals was an easy sell for this longtime Midwest gal.

Aileen holds a bachelor of music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a master of music from Rice University Shepherd School of Music both in cello performance under the guidance of Norman Fischer.

Amara Sperber -As a violinist and educator, Amara Sperber works to cultivate creativity in others. Amara currently lives in Eagle, Colorado, where she works as the Education and Engagement Programs Coordinator at Bravo! Vail Music Festival. There, she helps direct after-school piano and violin classes for over 200 students in addition to teaching violin classes and private lessons.

Linda Stamper Boyne joined Bravo! Vail in January 2019 after 10 years with East West Hospitality in a variety of roles including lead concierge, group sales manager and reservations sales consultant. For seven years she wrote a humorous, human interest column for the Vail Daily while raising her two sons. Before moving to the Vail Valley in 1996, she worked in public relations in Denver for a non-profit, a PR agency and for the government. She is originally from Oregon and is a graduate of University of Denver with a degree in communications. Linda has deep appreciation and love of the arts and enjoys hiking, reading, and traveling.

Jason Denhart joined Bravo! Vail in April 2018. Prior to this, he served as the executive director for the Merwin Conservancy on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Prior to moving to Maui, he spent 19 years in the Vail Valley and served in multiple positions in the Vail nonprofit community, including a prior stint at Bravo! Vail from 2002 to 2008. His Vail nonprofit leadership experience includes his role as development and special events officer at The Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis (now Can Do Multiple Sclerosis); associate director of development at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival; senior director of development at the Vail Valley Foundation; and director of development and communications for the Eagle Valley Land Trust.

Jackie Ernst is an experienced and versatile fundraiser who joins Bravo! Vail from Seattle Symphony, where she served as Director of Individual Giving. Her experience includes fundraising positions and leadership roles with Seattle Opera and the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). Jackie has also worked as a consultant with a wide range of organizations with missions spanning the nonprofit sector, including arts and culture, environment, education, and social services. Jackie's fundraising career began at the Aspen Music Festival and School in Aspen, Colorado and she is thrilled to return to Colorado and join the Bravo! Vail team. Music has always been an important part of Jackie's life. She has played piano, trombone, and focused on choral singing, most recently performing for several seasons with the Seattle Symphony Chorale. She is a graduate of Grinnell College.

David Judd has been with Bravo! Vail since 2013. Previously, David worked as Bravo! Vail’s Implementation Specialist to Tessitura for Ticketing and Fundraising and in the implementation of N-Scan, Tessitura's Ticket Scanning product. David spent 8+ years as a Tessitura Implementation Specialist working with more than 50 different arts organizations. Before working with Tessitura, David spent 7 years with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, ending his tenure there as Information Systems Manager. David describes himself as a "recovering CPA", having graduated with a degree in Accounting from Harding University and spending the first 8 years of his career in various accounting and finance roles. David lives in the suburbs of St. Louis, MO with his wife. He has two grown children, one old cat, and his pug, Bugsi. When David is in Vail, he is likely to be with Bugsi cruising around town. When not working, David enjoys playing golf, camping, riding his motorcycle, and singing.

Chatham Mayberry joins Bravo! Vail following a successful summer season working with the development team at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina. Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, he attended American University where he graduated with a BA in International Studies. He brings extensive development experience to Bravo! Vail as a result of his time working on political campaigns throughout the country including North Carolina, New Mexico, and Missouri.

Following his campaign work, Chatham completed end-to-end hikes of the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. Between hikes, he worked at an investment bank based in Brevard, where he assisted the business development team with data analysis.

Chatham particularly enjoys the human side of fundraising and looks forward to working with the Bravo! Vail community to increase access to world-class music throughout the region. Outside of work, he enjoys reading, hiking, running, and rock climbing. He was a passionate volunteer on trail crews in and around Brevard and looks forward to continuing that work in the Vail Valley.

With over a decade of expertise in nonprofit arts management, leadership, branding, media strategy, and organizational messaging, Parker Owens has helped bring the magic of live experiences to the next level by reinvigorating trusted brands to become modern, sought-after product. He has been with Bravo! Vail Music Festival since November 2021. 

Prior to joining the Bravo! Vail team Parker served as the Chief Marketing Officer for the Colorado Symphony, helping lead the organization’s audience development initiatives, brand communications, market research, pricing, promotions, and customer service management from 2013 to 2021.  He is a graduate of the University of South Dakota, with a Bachelor of Art degree in Contemporary Media and Journalism. 

Beth Pantzer joined Bravo! Vail in November 2012. Originally from Central New York, she first moved to the Vail Valley in 2011 to serve as an AmeriCorps*VISTA with the Eagle River Youth Coalition. Before moving to the Valley, she worked as a journalist at various newspapers across the country both in sports and news departments. Beth graduated from Castleton State College in Vermont with a degree in Communications-Journalism and received a Master's degree in Nonprofit Management from Denver’s Regis University. In her spare time, Beth enjoys running, biking, hiking, and triathlons, as well as traveling and photography.

Christy Pierce is an independent writer and consultant, specializing in fundraising and communications for nonprofit organizations in the arts, humanities, and education sectors. Her 20-year career includes roles with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Baltimore, Nashville, and Dallas Symphony Orchestras. Prior to starting her own business, Christy was Senior Associate with Project Partners, a firm serving nonprofit organizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Weaving together her love of the arts with mentoring, Christy has also enjoyed teaching arts management courses at the University of North Texas and the University of Alabama. She received her master’s degree in arts management from American University in Washington, DC, and her BFA in Music with a violin concentration. A native of Pittsburgh, Christy currently lives in Tuscaloosa with her son Corbin and husband Brad, a chemistry professor at the University of Alabama (although originally from Loveland, CO!). She has been honored to work with Bravo! Vail since 2019 and is inspired each time she hears the breathtaking music of the Festival in its gorgeous natural surroundings.

Henry Smith is a recent graduate from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a concentration in International Management. 

While in school, Henry immersed himself in various outside organizations including the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He was responsible for roles including Risk Management, Sergeant at Arms, and Community Service Chair. Henry also founded the Mental Health Chair in 2021 after the pandemic, providing further needed help to his fraternity brothers. Throughout most of his college experience, he was a Digital Marketing Intern for a consulting company in Chicago, IL. This is where he developed a passion for content creation and developing strategies to help organizations portray their influence positively and effectively. In this role, he strove to assist companies in building their social media presence through specialized content creation, consistent engagement, and analytical reviews and looks forward to continuing to develop this passion and skill to assist Bravo! Vail in growing its team and audience. 

Henry spends his free time hiking, gardening, and cooking. He also keeps an active hobby in electronic music production, specifically Bass Music and Dubstep. He has always been passionate about music, learning new instruments like the piano, guitar, and percussion since childhood. 

Nancy Stevens joined the Bravo team in 2002 as the seasonal box office manager, complementing her winter employment as a Vail Village ski school supervisor. Nancy transitioned to a year round Sales Manager position with Bravo! in 2015, maintains her passion for skiing as a part-time instructor. Nancy has been known to remember exactly where ski school clients sit at the Amphitheater. She moved to Vail in 1975 after receiving a bachelor's degree in History and German from East Carolina University. She teaches Spin classes in the early mornings at the Cascade Club and volunteers for Vail Rec District running races throughout the summers. Nancy's three children, McKenzie, Jonny, and Maddie, have all worked in the Bravo! box office. Nancy's loyal ticketing staff has graduated into marketing, development, and office manager positions within the Bravo! Vail organization. Now an empty-nester, Nancy resides in West Vail with her husband Jerry. In her spare time, Nancy enjoys squash, pickleball, skiing, and hiking.

Emily Waldman is a violinist with a passion for teaching and community. Emily began her violin studies at age three and began teaching private violin lessons that implemented the Suzuki method when she was just sixteen. Since then, she has maintained a successful private studio and received her Suzuki certifications at the University of Denver with Kathleen Spring. During her time at the University of Denver, Emily also held the position of Orchestra Director at Fox Hollow Elementary School where she taught young students of all levels how to play their instruments. In addition, Emily has worked on the administrative side of the arts, spending a summer interning at Opera Steamboat where she learned the ins and outs of how a summer music festival functions. A Denver native, Emily enjoys camping, hiking, and spending time outside with her dog, Finn, and her partner, Reyn. Making the move from the city to the beautiful mountain town of Vail has been an incredible experience for Emily!

Emily holds a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. She has performed internationally across Europe including in Italy, France, and Spain, and has spent time studying abroad at the Malmö Academy of Music in Malmö, Sweden.

Jake Cacciatore is a lifelong musician and works in the Entertainment Industry as an event production professional. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell with a focus on Sound Recording Technology. Jake has worked in theater, higher education, touring and logistics, systems design and installation, as well as studio recording and mixing, and is an expert in the technical audiovisual arts. He has a wide range of experience in the arts, media, and professional event planning. He has been a Colorado transplant since 2013 and resides near Denver. When he isn't travelling the world, you can find him working and playing in the vibrant local music scene and enjoying life in the foothills of the Rockies. Jake is a new member of the Bravo! Vail team and looks forward to bringing his expertise and enthusiasm for music to the Technical Director position. 

Elli Monroe- Director of Artistic Operations - began working with the Bravo! Vail Festival in 2008.  Prior to her time in Vail, she directed operations for the Capitol Theater in Macon, Georgia.  Elli holds a Masters Degree in Arts Administration from Florida State University's College of Music, and a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from the University of Denver.  Elli lives just outside of Boulder, CO with her family and enjoys playing bluegrass and the great Colorado outdoors.