Freelance Experience:
June 2016 to date:
Freelance writer, speaker, podcaster, producer, arts and culture consultant, voice artist
March 2021:
- Narrator, Moonshot: The Remarkable Journey of Apollo Chamber Players, 45-minute documentary by Jeffrey Mills about the Houston-based chamber ensemble
January-January 2022:
- Writer/Producer/Host, Young Texas Artists YTA Insights: A Journey into the World of Classical Music, a 4-episode FaceBook Live & YouTube video series
May 2020 to date:
- Host, Houston Chamber Choir’s With One Accord: Behind The Music, weekly audio podcast & YouTube video series
August-November 2020:
- Host, Apollo Chamber Players 20x2020 Virtual Festival series (20-episode FaceBook Live & YouTube video series)
October 2020 to date:
- Host/Producer, St. John Flynn: A Life With Culture YouTube channel
April 2020 to date:
Public Media Experience:
March 2014 to June 2016:
Arts & Culture Director, Houston Public Media (HPM):
- Coordinate the Arts & Culture Unit generating content across all HPM platforms (TV, radio news, classical radio and online)
- Produce Arts & Culture content across all of HPM’s platforms
- On-going responsibilities as program director of Classical 91.7FM
- Supervise a staff of 6
- Liaison to Houston arts organizations
- Maintain a strong presence in the community and on social media
- Co-Host/Producer, Opera Cheat Sheet, weekly podcast, co-hosted with opera expert Eric Skelly, offering light-hearted introductions to operas
- Host/producer, HPM’s weekly Houston Symphony concert broadcasts on HPM’s News 88.7 and HPM Classical
- Co-host, On the Music, Houston Symphony podcast focusing on works from upcoming concerts, produced in collaboration with HPM
- On-camera talent for HPM’s TV 8 including as regular cast member (2014-16) on Manor of Speaking, HPM’s nationally-distributed, regional Emmy Award-winning Downton Abbey after-show carried on 80 stations across the U.S.
- Host/Executive Producer, TV 8 Houston Symphony Season Announcement program, 2014, 2015, 2016
- Host, TV 8 interstitials with Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada for the orchestra’s classical subscription concerts
- Host/Executive Producer, TV 8’s Skyline Sessions, monthly program of classical performances by local musicians and ensembles recorded in HPM’s Geary Performance Studio
- On-camera talent, TV 8 on-air membership drives
May 2011 to March 2014:
Program Director, KUHA/Classical 91.7, Houston, TX & Host/Exec. Producer, The Front Row:
- Founding program director of Classical 91.7, the second FM signal acquired by KUHF/Houston Public Radio, Houston’s only full-time classical station.
February 2008 to May 2011:
Program Director, KUHF-Classical, Houston, TX, & Host/Executive Producer, The Front Row:
- Supervise music and audio recording staff of 15 at major market NPR affiliate station
- Coordinate programming for KUHF-Classical including FM, HD and web stream;- executive producer for KUHF local music and cultural programming including The Front Row, KUHF’s daily arts magazine, Houston Symphony and Houston Symphony Pops broadcast series, Houston Ballet broadcast series, live Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera broadcasts
- Host, The Front Row, producing interview and live performance segments for daily arts magazine
- Artistic administrator, KUHF Chamber Ensemble (2010 American Masterpieces NEA grant recipient) and co-producer of its American Zeitgeist CD; producer, KUHF/The Front Row music CDs
- Represent KUHF at community cultural events
- Member of the KUHF leadership team.
August 2007-January 2008:
Senior Editor, Arts & Culture, Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB), Atlanta, GA:
- Develop and coordinate GPB arts & cultural content across all GPB platforms: Radio, TV, Education, Web
- Serve as GPB representative to arts & cultural organizations across the state
- Produce and commission content for specific platforms
- Develop Cover to Cover (monthly live, call-in Georgia author and book program) into a weekly program
- Write and produce Cover to Cover Footnote, a daily 5-minute program module focusing on Georgia books and authors
October 2005-August 2007:
Radio Manager, GPB, Atlanta, GA:
Reporting to Executive Director, combine duties of Program Manager with overall direction of 16-station radio network:
- Supervise network staff and station managers
- Supervise build-out and updating of network stations and bureaus
- Hire staff
- Member, GPB senior management leadership team.
October 2001-October 2005:
Radio Program Manager/Producer, GPB, Atlanta, GA:
Reporting to Radio Director, responsible for program schedule and daily sound of GPB network stations:
- Supervise full- and part-time staff at network headquarters
- Schedule on-air announcers and board operators
- Produce content for monthly paper program guide and website
- Continue as GPB network host of NPR’s Morning Edition
- Continue as host and producer of Cover to Cover
- Continue to produce literary content for GPB local productions.
September 1995-October 2001:
Cultural Affairs Producer/Announcer, Radio, GPB, Atlanta, GA:
- Statewide network host, All Things Considered, 1997-98 and Morning Edition, 1998-2006
- Host, classical music programming, 1995-1997
- Host and producer, Cover to Cover, award-winning monthly live, call-in author and book program
- Producer, various spoken word programs and series
- Feature producer/author interviewer, Georgia Gazette, GPB’s weekly news magazine
- News reporter, spot producer for GPB news and NPR national newscasts.
September 1995-January 2008:
On-air & voice over talent, GPB TV, Atlanta, GA:
- On-camera talent for GPB TV membership drives
- On-air host for GPB TV productions
- Voice over talent for GPB TV interstitial promo spots.
April 1993-September 1995:
Part-time Announcer/Board Operator, WUGA-FM, Athens, GA:
- Classical music host
- Board operator
- Continuity announcer.
Teaching Experience:
Winter 1992:
Visiting Professor, School of Christian Religious Education, Christian College of Georgia, Athens, GA
September 1989-June 1995:
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Comparative Literature Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
September 1986-August 1989:
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Romance Languages Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
July-August 1986, 1987:
TESOL Teacher, Coventry International English Studies Centre, Coventry, UK
September 1985-June 1986:
Lecteur d’Anglais (English language teaching assistant), Department of Modern Languages, Université de Nancy II, Nancy, France
September 1983-July 1984:
Assistant d’Anglais (English language teaching assistant), Collège d’Enseignement Secondaire (middle school), Cluses, France
Professional Service:
- September 2013: Featured presenter, “Creating a Classical Station Agenda: Confronting the Present,” Public Radio Program Directors (PRPD) annual conference, Atlanta, GA.
- May 2013: Convener/organizer, the “Houston Classical Summit,” a 2-day invitational meeting of public radio classical music executives to begin to define the way forward for classical radio
- September 2012-2016: President of AMPPR, elected to lead the board at the 2012 annual meeting
- March 2011: Session organizer & moderator, “Community Engagement for the Classical Station,” AMPPR annual conference, New York City. Panel featured a presentation by Sandra Bernhard, Director of HGOco (Houston Grand Opera’s community engagement department)
- April 2011: Featured presenter, “Community Engagement for the Classical Station,” peer webinar hosted by the National Center for Media Engagement
- 2009 to 2016: Member, board of directors, AMPPR (Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio), the national organization representing public radio stations that feature music as part of their format, whose goals include the promotion of the broadcasting of music on public radio stations, enhancement of the audience for music on public radio, and to enhance the role of music personnel in public radio by providing educational resource opportunities in the form of national conferences
Professional Awards:
- 2017 Houston Grand Opera Guild Crescendo Award
- 2010, NEA American Masterpieces award to KUHF Chamber Music Ensemble of which I was Co-Artistic Director
- 2011, Houston Press Music Awards, Best Radio Personality (nominated)
- 2011, Houston Press Music Awards, Best Radio Program, The Front Row (host & exec. producer), nominated
- 2002, Georgia Historical Society, “History in the Media” Award
- 2001, 1st place, Community/Public Affairs in Radio, Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ) annual awards
- 2001, 2nd place, Best Interview, PRNDI Awards (national)
- 2001, 1st place, Best Locally-Produced Radio Program (Host & Producer), Georgia Association of Broadcasters “Gabby” Awards
- 2000, Finalist, Criticism, Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Awards (regional)
- 2000, 1st place, Community/Public Affairs in Radio, AABJ annual awards
- 1999, Honorable Mention, Best Series Reporting (one of a team of six), Georgia Associated Press Awards
- 1999, 1st place, Community/Public Affairs in Radio, AABJ annual awards
- 1998, Finalist, Business Reporting, Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Awards (regional)
- 1997, 1st place, Best Series Reporting (one of a team of four), Georgia Associated Press Awards
- 1996, 1st place, Best Investigative Reporting (one of a team of four), Georgia Associated Press Awards
Academic Awards & Scholarships:
- Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Comparative Literature Department, University of Georgia, 1989-1995
- University of Georgia Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, 1991
- Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Romance Language Department, University of Georgia, 1986-1989
- University of Georgia Graduate School Enhancement Award for Merit, 1988
- Pi Delta Phi, French National Honor Society, 1988
Publications:
- Producer, American Zeitgeist: 20th-Century Chamber Music, CD release featuring performances of works by Walter Piston, David Diamond and Ned Rorem by the KUHF Chamber Ensemble (HPR00619, 2009)
- Foreword to The Sunrise Remembers: Memories from the Journey by Jackie K. Cooper (Mercer University Press, 2008), pp. xi-xvi
- Back cover blurb for The Bookbinder by Jackie K. Cooper (Mercer University Press, 2006)
- Back cover blurb for The Rutherford Cipher by William Rawlings (Harbor House, 2004)
- “The Saint of the Womanly Body: Raimon de Cornet’s Fourteenth-Century Male Poetics” in Sex and Gender in Medieval and Renaissance Texts: The Latin Tradition, Barbara Gold, Paul Allen & Charles Platter, eds. (SUNY Press, 1997), pp. 91-109
Academic Conference Papers:
- “Abbot Suger and the Maternal Self,” Virginia Medieval Symposium and SEMA (Southeastern Medieval Association) conference, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, September 1992
- “The Virgin and the Saint: The Cistercian Poetics of Raimon de Cornet,” 27th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, May 1992
- “The Saint of the Womanly Body: Raimon de Cornet’s Fourteenth-Century Male Poetics,” CAMWS (Classical Association of the Middle West and South) annual conference, Austin, TX, April 1992
- "The Wife and the Weasel: The Recuperation of Woman in Marie de France's Eliduc," SAMLA (South Atlantic Modern Language Association) annual conference, Atlanta, GA, November 1991
Selected Talks & Lectures:
- “‘orrible ‘istory: A Lighthearted Look at 400 Years of the British Monarchy,” illustrated lecture (with co-presenter Helen Mann, former Vice-Consul, British Consulate General, Houston) given in conjunction with the exhibition Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits from Holbein to Warhol, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, January 2019
- “Music Fit for a King,” pre-concert lecture for the Houston Choral Society, The Foundry United Methodist Church, Houston, TX, May 2017
- "Music and Peace," Bravura Concert Series, All Saints Catholic Church, Houston, TX, October 2016
- “Downton Abbey and Houghton Hall—Alike or Not?,” Artful Thursday illustrated lecture (with co-presenter Helen Mann, former Vice-Consul, British Consulate General, Houston), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 2014
- Houston Symphony “Prelude” pre-concert talks for selected performances throughout each season, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15
- “Beethoven’s Incidental Music to Egmont,” Houston Symphony pre-concert talk, Jones Hall, Houston, May 2008
- “The Living Dead: Giving Voice to the Skeletons in Your Closet,” A Summer of Ideas lecture series, Senior Citizens Inc., Savannah, GA, June 2007
- Commencement Address, Fourteenth Annual Fall Commencement, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, December 9th, 2005
- “Writers and the Media,” Opening Address, Southeastern Writers Association annual conference, St. Simons Island, GA, June 2004
- “From Cover to Cover: A Look at Georgia Writing from Recent Years,” Keynote Speech, Public Library Division, Georgia Library Association annual meeting, Jekyll Island, GA, October 2003
- “Because We Got Beat: Reflections on Recent Southern Writing,” Keynote Speech, Friends of LaGrange College Library annual meeting, LaGrange, GA, February 2002
Symphony Orchestra Appearances:
- October 2018: Narrator, Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf, Houston Symphony, Robert Franz, conductor
- 2008-2016: On-stage Master of Ceremonies, Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition annual Finals Concert
- June, 2016: Narrator, Britten, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Texas Music Festival Orchestra, Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
- December, 2015: Narrator, Holcombe/Moore, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Symphony North of Houston, Reynaldo Ochoa, conductor
- June 2014: Narrator, Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf, Houston Heights Orchestra, Kris Chapman, conductor
- September 2012: On-stage Host, Houston Symphony 2012-13 season Opening Night Concert, Hans Graf, conductor
- December, 2011: Narrator, The Night Before Christmas, Houston Symphony, Robert Franz, conductor
- May, 2009: Narrator, Britten, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Houston Youth Symphony, Michael Webster, conductor
- April, 2007: Narrator, Honegger, King David, Piedmont College Chorale and Orchestra, Wallace Hinson, conductor
- 2006: Narrator, Saint Saens/Ogden Nash, The Carnival of the Animals, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, James Plondke, conductor
Community Service:
- June 2019 to date: Member, board of directors, Apollo Chamber Players (string quartet)
- September 2014 to August 2018: Member, board of directors, WindSync wind quintet, 2016 Fischoff Competition gold medal winners
- 2014-2017: Master of Ceremonies, Young Texas Artists Music Competition annual Finalist Concert & Awards
- 2010-2016: Master of Ceremonies, My Table magazine annual Houston Culinary Awards
- 2008 to date: Host, Houston Grand Opera Guild, “Opera Night Live!” previews of Houston Grand Opera mainstage productions including interviews with stage directors, music directors or principal performers
- 2008-2016: Stage Host, Houston Symphony annual Ima Hogg Competition Finals Concert
- 2004-2006: Literary/Media Contracts for Services Grants Panel member, Fulton County Arts Council, Atlanta, GA
- 2000-2008: Board of Directors, The Lindberg Award (biennial award for outstanding contributions to Georgia Letters)
- 1999-2008: Advisory Board, Georgia Center for the Book
- 1992-1995: Board of Directors/volunteer, AIDS Athens (Board co-chair 1993-94)
- 1992-1994: Advisory Council, Catholic Center at the University of Georgia
Education:
- Executive Leadership Program, Georgia Leadership Institute, September 2006
- Management Certificate, Kennesaw State University, Division of Continuing Education, July 2006
- Ph.D. (not completed) ABD (All But Dissertation), Comparative Literature, University of Georgia
- M.A., French, University of Georgia, March 1989. Thesis: "The Last Troubadour: Raimon de Cornet and the Survival of Occitan Lyric"
- B.A. with honours, French, University of Liverpool, U.K., July 1985
- Bablake School, Coventry, U.K., 1973-1981 (School Captain, 1981)
Languages:
- British English – native ability
- American English – passing knowledge (!)
- French – near native fluency (if a little rusty)
- Italian – reading knowledge
- Latin – 7 years to university entrance level + 1 graduate school Medieval Latin class
December 2021