Nicoleen Willson, General Manager

2011-2012 marks the inaugural season for General Manager, Nicoleen Willson. Originally from Los Angeles, Nicoleen has lived throughout the U.S. earning degrees in Clarinet Performance and Arts Administration at the University of Michigan (BM), Baylor University (MM), and the University of Oregon (DMA, ABD), in addition to earning a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Oregon.

Nicoleen’s primary areas of interest and research include performing arts management, board governance, and volunteer management. Specifically, she seeks to develop and employ models of arts management which spur collaboration between artists, administrators, board members, and the community. Her recent doctoral paper “Arts Governance: Issues and Practices in Arts Governance with an Emphasis on Nonprofit Orchestral Organizations,” can be found at https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/11215. As a clarinetist, Nicoleen has performed and taught throughout the U.S. and is currently researching pedagogical approaches to clarinet instruction which incorporate practices of Teaching Artists.

Nicoleen currently lives in Annapolis, MD with her husband, who plays horn in the United States Naval Academy Band.