Administration and Staff

Robert Shay became Dean of the College of Music at the University of Colorado Boulder in August 2014, having previously served as Director of the School of Music at the University of Missouri (from 2008 to 2014) and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Conservatory at the Longy School of Music, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (from 2000 to 2008).

Boethling provides administrative support to the dean and helps to schedule his calendar. She prepares guest artist honorariums and serve as the travel liaison for the College of Music. She also works with the associate dean for administration on sabbaticals, post-tenure review and promotion and tenure.

Alexander George provides administrative support to the dean, particularly in areas related to long-range planning, program review and accreditation. He also helps facilitate communications for the dean.

Johnston provides finance, accounting and payroll support for College of Music, CU Presents and Macky Auditorium.

Mallett provides oversight of the College of Music's finances. He works with the dean and his team to develop the College of Music's budget to ensure the long-term sustainability of the college.

James Austin is Professor of Music Education and Associate Dean for Enrollment Management and Undergraduate Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. He currently teaches graduate courses, and directs master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.

Steven Bruns is an associate professor of music and currently serves as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. He also teaches courses in music theory and analysis. He holds a BME magna cum laude from Northern State College, SD and received his MM and PhD in music theory from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Veronica Greuel directs recruitment efforts and manages the admissions process for the College of Music, serving as the main point of contact for new and prospective students.

I assist the associate dean for undergraduate studies with the management of undergraduate student advising, undergraduate enrollment/academic status, undergraduate music scholarships, the undergraduate studies office and serve as a liaison with other major campus offices.

Martin provides professional and educational support to College of Music graduate students. He also helps develop, organize and coordinate all processes and procedures within the graduate studies office.

Mileski assists the associate dean for undergraduate studies on course scheduling, course catalog updates and new student advising. She also works with the welcome program for new students and advises students on study abroad opportunities.

Emily Chesnic is the development assistant for the College of Music Advancement Team, supporting the College of Music, Colorado Shakespeare Festival and University Libraries on the CU Boulder campus. She manages office administration, gift processing, expenses and scheduling, and helps connect students, faculty and donors with the Advancement Team. Emily joined the College of Music Advancement Team in June 2017. She is a proud CU Boulder College of Music alumna;...

Ashley Harkrader joined the College of Music advancement team in April 2017. She is thrilled to help connect donors to their passions. Harkrader started her development career at Denver Center for the Performing Arts. She most recently worked in New York City as a remote fundraiser for Colorado College and prior to that was a fundraiser at New York University. She’s happy to be back at CU Boulder, having worked...

Meagan is working to create mentorship programs, career advising services, performance opportunities and networking tools and opportunities, along with fun and inviting events and social opportunities for the College of Music's alumni. In addition to these programs, Meagan is working to create a strong sense of community among the alumni and current students through relationship building and engagement.

Madison manages stewardship services for the advancement team, connecting donors with the impact of their giving and creating donor connections with our deans, faculty, students and staff. She also facilitates communications to our College of Music boards and provides research and data support for the College of Music Advancement Team. In 2014, Madison graduated from the CU Boulder College of Music with a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance under...

Katie plans and executes all donor-related events and faculty and staff functions for the College of Music and the arts and culture programs. She also organizes and coordinates the College of Music and arts and culture Advisory Boards. She brings more than six years of experience working with CU Boulder development teams for the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School to the Music,...

Colleen Reese joined the College of Music Advancement team as the assistant director of development in January 2018 and is excited to work with university supporters who are passionate about music and higher education. Before coming to CU Boulder, she led the prospect development department at the University of Wyoming, where she created and drove strategies to increase fundraising efficiency for UW. Colleen started her development career in the prospect...

Courtney Rowe joined the College of Music Advancement Team in May 2015. She is thrilled to work with donors in support of the exemplary programs offered through the College of Music and is focused on music+ , the college’s $50 million campaign. She also enjoys working with donors who are passionate about the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and University Libraries. Prior to joining CU, Courtney held several programmatic and fundraising positions...

Jeni manages fundraising appeals and CU Presents membership benefits for the College of Music. She also manages the Adopt-A-Student Program, corporate sponsorships and grant writing. She brings over 10 years of experience working in the CU Foundation and CU Boulder, holding the following positions: Processing Specialist, Matching Gifts Coordinator, Development Assistant, Program Manager, Senior Program Manager and now Manager of Annual Giving. Prior to working on the College of Music...

Thomas L. Riis, the Joseph Negler Endowed Chair in Music, Professor of Musicology and the Director of the American Music Research Center at the College of Music, earned his degrees from Oberlin College (1973) the University of Michigan (1976, 1981). Riis is a specialist in Musical Theater and writes and lectures frequently on many topics in 19th and 20th-century American music.

Hansen administers programming and facilitates communications for the American Music Research Center.

She provides leadership and direction for the College of Music's concerts and strategic communications team. Together, they market and promote the College's performances as well as bring visibility and attention to its activities and accomplishments. Joan McLean Braun also curates the Artist Series and serve as executive director of CU Presents.

Jessie Bauters helps guide and execute the content marketing and public relations strategies for the college, telling the stories of student, alumni and faculty accomplishments on the College of Music website, print publications and social media pages.

Casey provides customer service to patrons attending various performances on campus, while maintaining box office operations during these shows.

Green produces printed publications for the College of Music including Colorado Music magazine and event programs for faculty performances, faculty and student ensembles. Additionally, she creates programs for the CU Presents Artist Series, Eklund Opera and Department of Theatre and Dance, as well as the annual program for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Her role involves collecting and organizing content, creating layouts, maintaining branding standards and negotiating with printing companies.

Haley manages the College of Music’s marketing and public relations department. The team promotes performances, produces print materials, manages websites and media relations, handels advertising and much more. She also oversees marketing and public relations for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and the Department of Theatre & Dance.

As a member of the CU Presents communication team, Daniel is the Marketing Manager for Takács Quartet, CU Artist Series, Eklund Opera Program, CU College of Music, CU Theatre & Dance and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

Metzroth oversees ticketing operations for all ticketed events at the College of Music. He also handles the logistics and itineraries of visiting artists performing on the Artist Series.

Leigh Holman is an established stage director in the fields of Opera and Musical Theatre. As director of the Opera Colorado Ensemble Artists, she has directed two touring productions per season, concerts and other presentations to promote Opera Colorado and the young artists that are contracted into the program. In summer 2010, she served as founder, Artistic Director, and Stage Director of CU NOW premiering new operatic works by Robert Aldridge, Herschel Garfein, Dan Kellogg, and J. Michael Martinez.

Christie Conover coordinates the day-to-day operations for Eklund Opera productions. She is an alumna of the CU College of Music and brings much experience in the professional opera industry from both performance and administration.

Mueller manages technical production for the Eklund Opera Program, including implementation of lighting and scenic designs and supervision of department managers and crews. He also functions as a scenic or lighting designer and is responsible for equipment acquisition and maintenance for the Opera Program and in the Music Theatre.

Working with the technical director, Rusnak manages, supervises and implements most aspects of technical production. He also functions as the scenic shop foreman and crew manager for opera and musical productions.

Bonjack provides leadership and direction for the services, collections and personnel at the Howard B. Waltz Music Library. She also directly engages the College of Music community through outreach efforts, research assistance and classroom instruction.

Burns process serials, receives new materials and prepares items for binding, performs copy cataloging, supervises student employees for Technical Services and evaluates materials for preservation. She provide reference assistance at Norlin Library two hours per week.

Cutietta oversees the daily operations of the Howard B. Waltz Music Library, including circulation, course reserves processing, stacks maintenance, collection management and general facilities and technology requests. She also manages the student workforce of the library and enjoys answering patron, student and faculty questions.

Anita Ortman coordinates the cataloging for music materials. She also resolves conflicts and inaccuracies in the online database to ensure consistency in the online catalog.

Betancourt oversees the operations, finances, bookings and personnel management at Macky Auditorium.

Krumwiede provides administrative support including payroll and finance at Macky Auditorium.

Osnes directs and recommends equipment, technology and labor for all productions at Macky Auditorium, including the supervision of 16 staff members and the purchasing and maintenance of equipment. He also serves as one of the building proctors and consult or make recommendations on all construction improvements.

Savoye manages all front-of-house operations within the College of Music and Macky Auditorium, including the Artist Series, Takács Quartet and Eklund Opera Program performances. She hires and supervises student ushers, and maintains positive public relations with patrons, presenters and co-workers, while managing and enforcing operational policies and procedures within the College of Music.

John Davis is Professor of Jazz Studies and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Operations. He is an active clinician, performer and guest conductor throughout the United States and Canada. He joined the University of Colorado faculty in 1999 and has taught courses in jazz history, jazz administration and pedagogy, big band, combo, vocal jazz, and jazz techniques.

At the College of Music, Ted Mulcahey services the fleet of pianos including tuning, voicing, regulation, rebuilding and repair. He is the point of contact for anything related to piano and harpsichord maintenance as well as moving. Mulcahey received his advanced training from Steinway and Sons in New York City, where he became a Concert Technician and head of the Steinway Hall Selection Room.

Laura Graham provides support for the bands, orchestras, jazz and choir large ensembles. She also assists with coordinating special events hosted by these departments, including the CU Summer Music Academy, CU Honor Band and the Mile High Jazz Festival.

I am the technical director of Grusin Music Hall and oversee all archival recording of College of Music performances. I also provide technical support for those performances and engineer faculty and student recording sessions.

Hinton is the building proctor and construction liaison. She processes new employee paperwork, employee/non-employee reimbursements, liaise for parking and telephone issues, building repairs and renovations, keys and Buff Cards, and coordinate directory changes. She also assists the jazz department with the Jazz Summer Academy.

Mark Mikkelsen assists Ted Mulcahey in servicing the College of Music’s piano fleet. He has been tasked with the care and maintenance of pianos and harpsichords in the College of Music. His job includes tuning, voicing, regulation, rebuilding and repair. Mark Mikkelsen received his trai ning in piano technology through the nationally renowned North Bennet Street School in Boston, Massachusetts.

I provide support for concerts, recitals and CD production. I also provide computer and general technology support to faculty and staff, and support for classroom audio and video equipment.

Welch coordinates all building and recital scheduling, produces student and guest recital programs and facilitates the procurement of goods and services for the College of Music.