Korsa Musical Theater Board and Staff at the annual strategic planning retreat, October 6, 2019. L-R: Celeste Kamiya (production stage manager), Molly Marion (board chair), Alexa Wilkie (behind), Nancy Ostrow, Christine Kolm, Katherine K. Campbell, Bob Kliger, Jennifer Boesing (producing artistic director) & David Möschler (resident music director). Not pictured: Tamar Gershon and George Rose.

Molly Marion (Co-Chair) has been a Korsa Musical Theater fan since attending the 2012 production of Ragtime with her son who, after the show, asked, “Do you think I can do that some day?” When Molly’s son began his own Korsa Musical Theater journey in 2017 with Guys and Dolls, she rolled up her sleeves to help as much as possible with this amazing community. An avid lover of music, theater and dance, Molly feels at “home” with Korsa Musical Theater and is thrilled to be part of an organization that takes so much time and care with youth to help them grow and shine as performers, and to present musical theater to a broad audience. Molly was a “theater nerd” in high school and awarded the esteemed “Best Thespian” award her senior year. She has a BA in English with a minor is sociology from San Diego State University and works in Human Resources.

Alexa Wilkie (Co-Chair) is Program Manager of the Environmental Health Tracking Program for the California Department of Public Health. She has worked for 25 years in management of health care programs with a focus on increasing access to care for marginalized communities. She worked for over a decade in management of blindness prevention programs at the Berkeleybased international non-profit Seva Foundation, with a focus on building eye care capacity in Tibet Coming from a family rooted in theater, she is delighted that both her sons have had the chance to experience the amazing training that Korsa Musical Theater offers. Volunteering as Box Officer Manager gave her a really good excuse to see most performances of every show.

Katherine K. Campbell (Secretary) has been a life long educator and musical theater fan. She is currently the Learning Specialist at The Berkeley School for K-5 and has worked in schools for over 20 years on the east and west coasts. She has a passion for working with and advocating for children with diverse learning needs. Katherine is passionate about music and currently sings with the Piedmont Community Church Choir. In the past she has sung with many concert choirs and accapella groups. Katherine has three children and one is a recent alumni of Korsa Musical Theater who is now working on her BFA in theater at Emerson College in Boston thanks to the training she received from Korsa Musical Theater. As a board member Katherine would like to spread the word about the amazing Korsa Musical Theater shows so that every show is sold out!

Craig Broscow is part of the global strategy and operations team at Salesforce, where he has worked since 2013. Prior to that, he spent over 10 years in sales with LexisNexis. He has also spent time working as a family law attorney and teaching high school speech and debate. Craig has lived in the East Bay for 30 years and received his B.A. and law degree from UC Berkeley. A lifelong theater-lover, Craig lives in Oakland with his wife Courtney, and children Jonah and Ellie.

Rosa Luevano grew up in the Los Angeles area and has lived in the Bay Area since 1979. Rosa retired from the work force in 1998 to care for her children. She was an active volunteer in the Berkeley public schools for 23 years. Her love of theater began in her teens when attending her first Broadway show of the King and I; that love continues today and is enjoyed by the whole family. Rosa lives in Berkeley with her husband and three children, one who is a “graduate” from Korsa Musical Theater.

Ariel Mazel-Gee is an alum from Korsa Musical Theater’s “early years.” She trained with the company from 2003-2008, beginning with Les Miserables, and continuing on to perform in Korsa Musical Theater “oldies” such as Sweeney Todd, Guys and Dolls, and Into the Woods. Training with Korsa Musical Theater was formative to Ariel’s artistic and personal development. She went on to study Theater, along with Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University, followed by a masters in Occupational Therapy from inspire teens to live their high school years with meaning, dynamism, and intentionality. She supports students, both domestic and abroad, at every stage in developing college applications that highlight unique personal and intellectual potential. Artistically, Ariel sings Lead with Fog City Harmonia, an all-women’s vocal ensemble that is furthering the San Francisco barbershop revolution.

Jennifer Kawar is Chief Investment Officer at Nonprofit Finance Fund, a national Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Jennifer manages investor relations, leads the development of impact investment funds, financial products and initiatives to advance NFF’s impact in low-income communities. Prior to joining NFF in 2009, Ms. Kawar spent 15 years in the financial services mainstream, managing the business development, underwriting and credit began her career as a securities analyst at TIAA in New York. She has an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and dual undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Sixto F. Montesinos Jr. holds key roles at Saint Mary’s College of California in the San Francisco Bay Area, serving as Assistant Professor of Music, Chair of the Music Department, and Director of Instrumental Studies. Most recently, he led the Sonora Philharmonic Orchestra in Hermosillo, Sonora (Mexico) and conducted the Bay Area premiere of Cruzar la Cara de La Luna, a Mariachi Opera with the West Edge Opera Company in Oakland, CA. He serves as a regular Orchestra Clinic, as well as the WASBE conference in Prague. Furthermore, he has been a recent guest on the Everything Band Podcast, The Score Podcast, and Putting it Together Podcast (The Music of Stephen Sondheim).

OUR STAFF

Producing Artistic Director – Jennifer Boesing

Jennifer Boesing began working professionally as a singer/actor in Minneapolis at the age of nine.  Before she graduated from high school, she had performed with  At the Foot of the Mountain Theater Company, Mabou Mines Theater, Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Minnesota Opera.

Jennifer graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York City, where she studied acting with Sanford Meisner and Richard Pinter.  In 2002 she earned a Masters in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Operatic Performance.  Locally, she has performed  opera, oratorio, and new music theater; her professional credits include work with San Francisco Opera Center, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Pocket Opera, Golden Gate Men’s Chorus, Gold Coast Chamber Players, Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Berkeley Opera, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Oakland Opera Theater, Festival Opera, and North Bay Opera.  She has been teaching voice privately since 1998.

Boesing began working with Korsa Musical Theater in 2000 as Music Director, and served as Vocal Coach in 2002. In 2004, she came on board as Korsa Musical Theater’s stage director, assisted the company in forming a board and incorporating as a non-profit in 2004, took on the mantle of Artistic Director, and began to design, implement and teach acting and musical theater workshops throughout the season. Boesing has been leading the company as its Producing Artistic Director since 2012.

Resident Music Director – Dave Möschler

David Möschler is an award-winning San Francisco Bay Area-based musical director and conductor, and has music-directed over one hundred productions of musical theater, opera, and theater productions for companies such as Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory, Shotgun Players, Center REPertory Theatre, Ray of Light Theatre, Boxcar Theatre, Erika Chong Shuch Performance Project. Möschler is the recipient of two Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, and won second place for the 2012 The American Prize in Music for Korsa Musical Theater’s production of Ragtime. In addition to staying active as a frequent guest lecturer, vocal coach, cabaret artist, orchestra contractor, in the spring of 2013 he founded the Awesöme Orchestra Collective, a non-profit incubator orchestra. Möschler has also served as adjunct faculty for several Bay Area high schools and colleges, and served on the the conducting staff of Cape Cod’s College Light Opera Company for six summers. After receiving his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts in Physics at UNC Chapel Hill, he completed his Master of Arts in Music for conducting, under the tutelage of Professors D. Kern Holoman and Jeffrey Thomas at UC Davis, publishing his thesis on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. Möschler began music-directing Korsa Musical Theater productions in 2010, and in 2012 was named the company’s first Resident Musical Director.

Production Manager and Director of Programs – Molly Bell

Molly joined Korsa Musical Theater in January 2022, culminating a five-year tenure as Director of Dramatics at a Marin County high school. Recent producing/directing (musical) credits include “Anastasia,” “The Wedding Singer,” “Little Women,” and “Cinderella.” Previously she created and implemented curriculum, taught, and facilitated a variety of arts education programs in university settings, social service agencies, private schools, and museums – working with students ranging from age five through adulthood. A Berkeley native, Molly is lifelong performing artist, a Korsa Musical Theater alum (“Sweeney Todd,” ‘05), and BHS graduate; she earned her MA in Applied Theatre at the University of London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where she specialized in youth theater practice in non-traditional settings (e.g., hospitals, prisons, museums) to address and explore solutions to social concerns (e.g., bullying, domestic violence, social equity and bias).

Director of Marketing, Casting, and Outreach – Celeste Kamiya

Celeste Kamiya is a San Francisco-born actor, singer, and teaching artist. As a child, she couldn’t get her hands on enough classes and workshops in singing, acting, and performance. She trained and performed with the San Francisco Girls Chorus for 6 years, appearing during that time in the children’s choruses of Il Tritico: Suor Angelica and Die Tote Stadt at San Francisco Opera. A Korsa Musical Theater alum, Celeste appeared in and worked on many, many Korsa Musical Theater productions, from Anything Goes in 2010 to Carousel in 2016 – and she credits Jennifer, Dave, and Pam with instilling in her a deep love and respect for teaching the arts to young people. After gaining her BA in Theater at The New School in New York City, and studying acting at the British American Drama Academy in London, she realized she wanted more than anything to return to Korsa Musical Theater and be a part of the astounding work going on with the young artists there – so she came back as a teaching artist in 2018 and to perform in the inaugural Korsa Musical Theater+ production and hasn’t left since! She worked as Resident Stage Manager from 2018–2022, becoming Casting and Outreach Director in 2021 and the Marketing Director in fall 2022.

When not working at Korsa Musical Theater, Celeste holds a variety of odd jobs, but always keeps performing. She has performed, stage managed, and taught at Contra Costa Civic Theater,  West Edge Opera, Oakland Theatre Project, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Custom Made Theatre Company, Theatre Rhino, and South Bay Musical Theatre. Being a part of Korsa Musical Theater has been the joy of her life, and she looks forward to helping train the young artists of tomorrow.

Director of Development – Martha Westland

Martha Westland recently stepped down from her position as Executive Director of the San Francisco Bach Choir, which she led (and sang with) for 12 years. In previous incarnations, she has been a software development project manager, radio host and arts reporter for Capitol Public Radio, and has taught at CSU Sacramento, San Francisco Conservatory Pre-College and Continuing Education Divisions, and the San Francisco Community Music Center. Other projects include working with archival material and exhibits at the Museum of Performance + Design, and coordinating a dance preservation video project for the Dance Heritage Coalition. A former professional French horn player, she earned a M.Mus. from Northwestern University, B.A. in English literature and B.Mus. from Oberlin College and Conservatory, and maintains a PMP project management credential.

A parent alum of two kids who have participated in 9 Korsa Musical Theater shows and multiple workshops, Martha is a big fan of the amazing work that Korsa Musical Theater does and is delighted to be a part of the organization in a new way.

Registrar – Pam Crane

Pam Crane received her BA in Drama and English Literature from Occidental College, and her MBA from Golden Gate University.  Her past choreography credits include Kiss Me Kate, Anything Goes, How to Succeed in Business, Guys & Dolls, Godspell, Cabaret, Fiddler On The Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story, The Drowsy Chaperone, Urinetown and The Music Man. She was a founding board member when Korsa Musical Theater was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2004, and served as Board President until 2009, and as Managing Director until 2010.  She is currently Korsa Musical Theater’s Registrar, but is trying to fade away into obscurity.

A parent alum of two kids who have participated in 9 Korsa Musical Theater shows and multiple workshops, Martha is a big fan of the amazing work that Korsa Musical Theater does and is delighted to be a part of the organization in a new way.

Pit Orchestra Apprenticeship Program Coordinator – Diana Lee

Diana Lee is a classically trained pianist and cellist. She did her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, and has been teaching, performing and freelancing ever since. She maintains her own private studio in the East Bay, and has been the Music Director for various theater companies throughout the Bay Area including the San Francisco Arts Education Project, Pacifica Spindrift Players, Spindrift School of Performing Arts, and Bay Area Educational Theater Company. Most recently she has been working with San Francisco Bay Area Theater Company and, of course, with Korsa Musical Theater. She has played in the pit for many Korsa Musical Theater shows since 2012, and is grateful for the continued opportunity to work with the incredible staff and students in the program.

A parent alum of two kids who have participated in 9 Korsa Musical Theater shows and multiple workshops, Martha is a big fan of the amazing work that Korsa Musical Theater does and is delighted to be a part of the organization in a new way.

Volunteer Coordinator – Whitney Moss

Whitney Moss is the co-founder and publisher of {510} Families, the hyperlocal guide for East Bay parents. She has been a Korsa Musical Theater parent since Spring 2019 when her son completed a TAAP internship. Her daughter has performed in four Korsa Musical Theater shows during which Whitney volunteered in the box office, concessions, and as the house manager.

Whitney was not a theater kid herself; she cannot carry a tune and was last seen on stage in first grade when she played the mother of Goldilocks. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, their two teenagers, and a very spoiled cat.

Box Office Managers – Rosa Luevano and Jessica Wilan

Rosa Luevano grew up in the Los Angeles area and has lived in the Bay Area since 1979. Rosa retired from the work force in 1998 to care for her children.  She was an active volunteer in the Berkeley public schools for 23 years.  Her love of theater began in her teens when attending her first Broadway show of the King and I; that love continues today and is enjoyed by the whole family.  Rosa lives in Berkeley with her husband and three children, one who is a “graduate” from Korsa Musical Theater.

Jessica Wilan strives to spend the maximum amount of her free time connected in some way to musical theater, through supporting her three children’s theatrical interests and activities, attending shows in Berkeley, SF and NYC whenever she can, listening to the Broadway Radio podcast, and belting showtunes through the house and in the car. She is delighted to also satisfy her goal through continuing to co-manage the Korsa Musical Theater box office. She thinks Korsa Musical Theater is a truly amazing organization and is especially grateful for them having continued to provide learning and performance opportunities to their students all throughout Covid – this is true commitment and true creativity! Enjoy this wonderful show.

Facilities Manager – Bill Brewer

Based in the Bay Area, Bill Brewer has been the Technical Director and Master Builder for the last three seasons with Korsa Musical Theater, and now works as the Facilities Manager. He received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees at the University of Oregon. He has worked in design and production for most of his career, including his own bespoke furniture company and as COO and product design team lead for Solid Manufacturing. An avid athlete and former collegiate distance runner, he brings that determination, energy, and grit to his work with Korsa Musical Theater. He is privileged to contribute to providing a safe and effective space for Korsa Musical Theater students and staff  to follow their passions and reach their potential. 

Health and Safety Officer – Hali Hammer

Hali Hammer is a licensed family physician who recently retired after a 30 year career at UCSF and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. During this time, she practiced as a primary care physician at San Francisco General Hospital. Prior to her retirement, Dr. Hammer helped plan and manage San Francisco’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TEACHING ARTISTS

Susannah Martin, an award-winning director, teacher, and theatre maker, Susannah has taught and directed for organizations throughout the Bay Area. For five years, she was the Joint Artistic Director of Paducah Mining Co., a San Francisco-based theatre ensemble that produced acclaimed work by established playwrights and devised original pieces on complex material such as domestic terrorism, spousal abuse, and poverty in America. During her tenure with Paducah, she was awarded three Dean Goodman Choice Awards. She is also a Bay Area Critic’s Circle, Broadway World, and Shellie Award nominee.

Susannah has directed for Shotgun Players (company member), Mugwumpin (company member), San Francisco Playhouse, TheatreFIRST, A.C.T., Golden Thread Productions, Porchlight Theatre Company, Sonoma County Rep, La Peña Cultural Center, the San Francisco International Arts Festival, and directed countless readings and workshops for companies as varied as the Aurora Theatre Company, the Playwright’s Foundation, the Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, and Z Space.

Susannah is currently Guest Faculty at Saint Mary’s College and the Theatre Director and Arts Program Coordinator at San Francisco University High School. Susannah has also taught for UC Davis, Los Medanos College, California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Playhouse, and a variety of high schools throughout San Francisco and the East Bay. Susannah received her BFA in Theatre from NYU and her MFA in Directing from UC Davis. To keep up with Susannah’s work go to www.susannahmartin.net.

Zoë Swenson-Graham returned to the Bay Area in 2015 after living in London for nearly seven years, where she worked as an actor, dancer, and trained as a stage combat instructor and fight choreographer– working around the UK teaching in various drama schools, and working with organizations such as the Royal Opera House, The Globe, Southwark Playhouse and The Kings Head Theatre. Since returning to the Bay, Zoe has choreographed for and taught with the American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Oakland School of the Arts, Sierra Repertory Theatre Company, Broadway By The Bay, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Korsa Musical Theater, Palo Alto Children’s Theatre, Mountain Play Association and MoonSchool with 42nd Street Moon. Dance choreography credits include: Newsies (Hillbarn Theatre), Camelot (Sierra Rep Theatre), Mamma Mia (Mountain Play and Hillbarn Theatre), White Christmas (Sierra Rep Theatre Company), The Producers, A Chorus Line, Company (Mayhem Musical Theatre Company, London) and she worked as the Associate Choreographer on Music Man and Saturday Night Fever at Broadway By the Bay. Zoe’s horror film Lasso features her acting and stunt work, which was released internationally last year and her motion capture and voiceover work will be seen in an upcoming feature film. Zoe still loves to perform on stage, most recently appearing in Cabaret at the SF Playhouse and A Chorus Line at Sierra Repertory Theatre.

Sheela Ramesh is a music director and composer, and is excited to be working with Youth Musical Theater Company again! Bay Area theater credits include work with Korsa Musical Theater, Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Musical Cafe, Spare Stage, Theatre Rhinoceros, Inferno Theatre, and more. Sheela received undergraduate and graduate degrees in music at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music and the Royal College of Music, and she has performed as a mezzo-soprano in musical theater and opera productions in the US and UK. Sheela also holds degrees in psychology/cognitive science (BS, Carnegie Mellon; MSc, University College London) and law (JD, Yale Law School), and has spent her nonmusical professional life working to ensure that youth who’ve experienced trauma have opportunities to thrive.

David Crane is a teaching artist and Korsa Musical Theater alum based out of New York City. He has performed all over the Bay Area and California, including in Korsa Musical Theater+ productions of Next to Normal and Don’t Stop Me. He most recently spent a pandemic year teaching physical theatre, acting and performance at Oakland School for the Arts—all over Zoom! He’s very excited to get back to working and playing in person. A graduate of UCLA’s Ray Bolger Musical Theatre program, he has continued to study movement and composition with award-winning theatre companies Steppenwolf Classes West and SITI Company. More info at www.davidtcrane.com

Dean Linnard is a bicoastal actor and teaching artist … and proud Korsa Musical Theater alum! He holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and trained at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Recent Bay Area acting credits include The Three Musketeers and Love’s Labour’s Lost with Marin Shakespeare Company, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Good Person of Szechwan with California Shakespeare Theater, and Groundhog Day: The Musical with San Francisco Playhouse (for which he won a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award). Dean toured to 25 states with the musical The Lightning Thief . He has performed with and taught acting at Marin Shakespeare Company, Vermont Shakespeare Festival, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Dean is also a teaching artist for Broadway.com’s Broadway Classroom in New York City. Dean founded the Anti-Isolation Arts Factory ( @ai_artsfactory ) in November 2020 to give creative opportunities to out-of-work artists. www.DeanLinnard.com

Daniel Alley is a music director, conductor, and pianist specializing in musical theater and opera. Recent work with Korsa Musical Theater includes the summer Songs & Scenes Workshop (music director), Light in the Piazza (cover conductor), and Merrily We Roll Along (Keys II). He is a company member at Shotgun Players, where he is music directing Passing Strange and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 for their upcoming 30th anniversary season. Recent credits include music director for Vinegar Tom (Shotgun Players), Memphis (Berkeley Playhouse), The Fantasticks (Piedmont Center for the Arts), Threepenny Opera and Spelling Bee (Oakland School for the Arts), Chicago, Pippin, Freaky Friday, and A Chorus Line (Berkeley Playhouse YouthStage) and rehearsal pianist and choir master for La Bohème, The Magic Flute, and Aroldo at West Edge Opera. He studied orchestral and choral conducting at UC Berkeley and is the choir director and organist at Christ Lutheran Church.

Katy Mlodzik is a dance teacher and theater educator working and living in the Bay Area. She graduated in 2019 from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Theater and Dance, and has been working with several companies in the Bay Area since! She is incredibly passionate about representation in the arts, and has been very lucky to be working with several companies actively working towards this through their education and outreach. She has a passion for dramaturgy and history, and works hard to bring that necessary context to her classes and her arts. A lifelong dancer, she has taken just about every kind of dance class and uses that experience to bring life and story into her movement. Her first musical theater show was with Korsa Musical Theater, and she is beyond thrilled to get the chance to bring that training to youth students.

Dr. Phillip Harris teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) on the voice faculty of the Pre-College division and as an adjunct professor in the music history and literature department where he created the first ever class at SFCM on art songs by black composers. He was previously performing arts chair and vocal music director at Head-Royce School, a voice teacher for P.A.L.S. at the Aspen Music Festival, as well as Stuart Hall for Boys. An avid researcher on the classical songs of black composers, he has given lectures on the topic at Peabody Institute of The John Hopkins University, Westminster Choir College, University of California, Santa Cruz, Alabama State University, and San Francisco City College. Co-chair of Student Auditions for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he has held masterclasses at Alabama State University and Los Medanos College. His students have graduated
from Boston Conservatory at Berklee and attend the Pre-College division at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Phillip earned voice degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Doctor of Musical Arts), the University of Michigan (Master of Music), and the University of California, Irvine (Bachelor of Music). This fall, he will teach voice and musical theatre at Menlo School and teach as an adjunct professor at West Valley College. In the spring of 2022, he co-music directed Korsa Musical Theater’s production of Shrek.

Nicole Helfer is an award-winning choreographer, director, equity actor, and Chair of the School of Theatre at Oakland School for the Arts. With over twenty years of experience, she has taught dance and theatre at such well-known bay area organizations as Dance Mission Theatre, Laureen Fender’s Ballet School, Steppin’ Out Studios, SF Park and Rec, Kid Stock Inc., Handful Players, YMCA, Spindrift School for the Performing Arts.
Nicole has also studied at SFSU, the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Big Sur Theatre Lab, the Dunham Technique Seminar in East St. Louis, and many professional workshops across the state. She has worked with many Bay Area theatre companies, including SF Playhouse, 42nd Street Moon, Broadway By the Bay, Center Rep, Ray of Light, The Mountain Play, and Pacific Coast Reparatory Theatre. Most notable choreography credits include Cabaret (TBA and SFBATCC nominee), Groundhog Day (SFBATCC nominee), Dames at Sea (TBA and SFBATCC nominee), She Loves Me (SFBATCC nominee), The Music Man (TBA nominee), West Side Story (TBA Award), In the Heights (TBA Award), No No Nanette (TBA and SFBATCC nominee), and Lizzie (SFBATCC nominee). In the fall of 2022, Nicole choreographed Korsa Musical Theater’s production of Matilda the Musical.