Hi! My name is Ava Dillard and I’m from Randleman, North Carolina and I’m very excited to spend my summer at Wintergreen! I’m a rising freshman in college and I plan on double majoring in music (French Horn) and neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill. Some of my favorite things to do are performing in ensembles, hanging out with my friends, reading, cooking, and trying new things.

Ohio native Julia Bradley is an incoming junior pursuing a degree in Oboe Performance and Arts Managements at Indiana University. She has a passion for all things oboe, including orchestral and wind band playing, and instrument repair. Outside of the oboe world she is in, she enjoys learning about the world around her and loves cats as well.

Taylor Hawkins graduated with her Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance this past May from Florida State University and will begin pursuing her Master of Arts in Arts Administration beginning this fall. She studied under Dr. Mary Matthews and Dr. Karen Large and most recently, served as principal flute of the University Symphony Orchestra and the Opera Orchestra. Since 2021, Taylor has been a member of the FSU Flute Ensemble, performing at the Florida Flute Association Convention for three consecutive years (2021-2024) and will perform at the National Flute Association Convention this August, where she will additionally serve as a Convention Equipment Intern. Her administrative experience lies primarily in work as the FSU Flute Association’s Secretary since 2023 and other Office Assistant roles. Outside of music, she enjoys visiting local coffee shops, reading, and hanging out with her and her partners' two cats, Maverick and Phoebe.

Instagram: @taylor.hawkinss

My name is Anna Lee and I am so excited to be an Arts Administration intern at Wintergreen! I am currently a rising junior majoring in viola performance and business at the University of Maryland. I really love classical music and one of my potential career goals is to make classical

music accessible for new listeners. In pursuit of this, I’ve embarked on multimedia concerts, immersive storytelling, and most recently, qualitative research. In my free time, I enjoy learning how to dance and play the drums.

Anissa Ibrahim is a 2025 LEAD Cooperative Arts Administration Fellow. She is a Music Composition and Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership major at Vanderbilt University. A passionate believer in equitable music education access, Anissa has taught at the W. O. Smith Community Music School and is an Undergraduate Scholar of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy. Her career goals are oriented towards the intersection of composition and arts administration, leveraging the power of the arts to create a more vibrant and just society for all.

Eliza Weigelt is a violinist, worship musician, and aspiring musicologist passionate about music as an opportunity for communion across time and place. Originally from the Greater Washington, DC area, Eliza began playing violin at the age of 6 and quickly fell in love with orchestral music as a member of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra. While attending high school overseas in Okinawa, Japan and Naples, Italy, Eliza experienced firsthand the power of music to transcend barriers of language and cultural differences.

Eliza is a recent graduate of Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, where she received a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance with honors and a minor in History. At Gordon, Eliza studied under Dr. Sarita Kwok, and was a member of several honors cohorts, as well as a Presidential Fellow serving in the Office of Advancement, co-concertmaster of the Gordon Symphony Orchestra, an active chamber musician, and the Design Assistant for the Music program. She completed an honors thesis on biographical and analytical comparisons of musical works by contemporary composers utilizing source material from Hildegard of Bingen, and she carried on a 40-year legacy of interdenominational worship co-leading the Catacombs worship ministry.  Additionally a two-time participant in the Credo Music Festival, Eliza is passionate about facilitating communal experiences through music with excellence in every aspect of the process, and she’s looking forward to exploring her administrative skills in that realm while serving as a Leadership Fellow in Patron Services & Executive Management at Wintergreen this summer!

Instagram: @liza_lou_rose_

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/eliza-weigelt-a37a10287 

Hi, my name is Hannah Anderson, and I'm originally from Independence, Iowa. I recently graduated from Lawrence University with a Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance. Currently, I’ve been teaching band lessons at several high schools here in Iowa, which has been a really rewarding experience—especially given my strong interest in music education. I’m extremely passionate about representation in the arts, where diverse voices and stories are celebrated, and about ensuring equal access to music education for all, especially in underrepresented communities.

In my freetime I enjoy hanging out with friends, being outside, arranging music, and reading :)

I’m really looking forward to meeting new people this summer and learning more about the world of arts administration!

Born in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Wilhelmine is an accomplished classical pianist known for her artistic versatility and deep commitment to music education and performance. She began her piano studies in 2005 with Utari Isfandini, later continuing under the guidance of Polim Kurniawati and Lia Ristiyana. Her early dedication to the instrument was recognized when she won first place at the 2011 Yamaha Piano Competition in Semarang, which led her to compete in the national finals in Jakarta.

Wilhelmine is deeply passionate about music leadership and believes in the transformative power of music to shape character, inspire growth, and build community. Guided by the mission to use music as a tool for developing human potential, she brings empathy, vision, and dedication to every aspect of her work—whether on stage, in the classroom, or as a judge mentoring the next generation of musicians.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Wilhelmine joined Bina Musik Jakarta as a piano instructor and served as the orchestral pianist for the Trinity Youth Symphony (TRUST) Orchestra. She also curated and performed in three distinct recital programs within a single year: Polarité, featuring her own composition; 20 Dancing Fingers, a four-hands piano recital with Raphaelle Jesslyn; and Eustress, a piano duo performance with Nathania Vanessa.

Wilhelmine earned her Bachelor of Music in Classical Piano Performance from Universitas Pelita Harapan Conservatory of Music, studying under Firdy Salim, M.Mus. During her undergraduate years, she cultivated a well-rounded musical identity, performing widely as a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, choral singer, conductor, and even beatboxer. She is also an emerging composer, with works such as A Quarter of Life (for solo piano) and Polarité (for flute and piano) premiered in Indonesia.

She earned her Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Dana School of Music, Youngstown State University under the tutelage of Dr. Cicilia Yudha and Dr. Caroline Oltmanns, and served as a graduate teaching assistant in piano. Wilhelmine continues to actively perform as both a soloist and collaborative artist, appearing in concerts across the area and beyond. In 2024, she participated in the Dana Young Artist Competition, presenting Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

In addition to her piano work, Wilhelmine is a dedicated church musician. She sings with the St. Columba Cathedral Choir of the Diocese of Youngstown and studies organ with Ralph Holtzhauser and Dr. Richard Konzen. Her interest in organ music has led her to notable opportunities, including being featured as a guest organ soloist in the Youngstown Chapter of the American Guild of Organists Recital in 2025.

Composer James Bernard’s diverse output includes song cycles, chamber music, concertos, symphonic tone poems, film scores, pop songs and hip-hop beats. James aspires to write music that is both accessible and authentic with his use of rhythm and groove. He is an undergraduate student of composition studying under Dr. Melinda Wagner at the Juilliard School, in addition to

having studied under many other renowned composers such as David Dzubay, Martin Amlin, Manuel Sosa and Mary Kouyoumdjian. When he is not composing, he loves to take walks through Central Park and listen to music of all periods and styles.

Instagram: @jamesbernardmusic

Irene Huang is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in composition at the Eastman School of Music, studying under Dr. Evis Sammoutis. She earned her piano ARCT with First Class Honors with Distinction in 2018 and received the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Gold Medal for achieving the highest ARCT violin mark in Ontario in 2022. Irene served as the pianist in the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and the collaborative pianist for the North Toronto Songbirds. Since 2023, she has been the composer-in-residence for the Chinese Artists Society of Toronto Youth Orchestra. She also has extensive collaborative experience, having worked with strings, woodwinds, brass, and vocal musicians for recitals, exams, competitions, and festivals.

Irene’s diverse musical background has fueled her passion for becoming a professional composer. In 2022, her composition “Face the Music” won first place in the United Nations’ Pitching Peace Youth Music Challenge and was featured during their inaugural event for the International Day for Disarmament on March 1, 2023. In 2024, Irene’s composition “The Light of Yule” received the Promising High-School Composer Prize from Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra’s Young Composers Competition. Her work "Deaf Pillows" was selected by the Musical Life Foundation to premiere in Carnegie Hall on April 30, 2024. Last summer, Irene was appointed as the creative resident by Morningside Music Bridge, where her composition “Still Small Voice” received its world premiere in Jordan Hall. Recently, Irene’s new song “BE HAPPY!” won first prize at Sparks & Wiry Cries’ songSLAM competition.

Irene’s recent compositions and performances can be found on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/irenemusic

Jordan Owen is a conductor, composer, and curator dedicated to bringing orchestral music to a wide range of audiences. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Theory and Composition with a concentration in Music History at the Petrie School of Music. Jordan serves as the Assistant Conducting Fellow for the Spartanburg Philharmonic and the Conductor for the Sound of Carolina Music Academy, working with musicians in a variety of settings.

He studies conducting with John Young Shik Concklin and has participated in numerous conducting masterclasses. His work as a composer has been performed internationally, and as a cellist, he has performed at FESTWOCHE Stuttgart. In Fall 2025, Jordan will begin his Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, studying under Dr. Jungho Kim.

With a passion for orchestral performance and film composition, Jordan continues to explore new ways of engaging with music through performance, education, and curation.

Jarred Kennedy is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at Louisiana State University. He previously served for two years as Associate Conductor of the Williamson County Symphony Orchestra and has conducted the Austin Civic Orchestra, National Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Cascade Orchestra, and the LSU Symphony. In 2025, he will appear as a conductor at the Renova Music Festival and Wintergreen LEAD Cooperative.

As a violinist, Jarred has performed with the Austin, Waco, and Brazos Valley Symphonies, and held leadership roles as Concertmaster of the Clear Lake Symphony and Principal 2nd violin with the Longview Symphony. His festival appearances include the Colour of Music Festival, Round Top Summer Music Festival, Sewanee, and the National Music Festival.

Matthew Thomas Brown (b. 2004) is a composer, conductor, pianist, and organist from Vienna, VA. He returns to the LEAD Cooperative this year as a conductor after participating in the composition program in 2024.

Brown received much of his early musical training in the liturgical setting, an experience which sparked his passion for vocal music. He is the founder and director of the Now Chorale, a new-music choir based in Oberlin, OH, which has premiered 19 works in just its first two seasons. He is also an active church choir director at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Oberlin. In January 2025, he made his opera conducting debut with Oberlin Opera Theater’s production of “The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace” by Kamala Sankaram.

Opportunities to bring together his composition and conducting worlds are of special interest to Brown. A highlight of the past year was conducting the premeire of “Because a Poet Sang”, his original cantata in eight movements on Homeric texts. He frequently assists fellow student composers in bringing their works to the stage, taking up the baton in October 2024 to lead Benjamin Muir’s “Turbulence” for orchestra and, in March 2025, Max Allard’s “Banjo Concerto”.

Brown is entering his final year as a music composition major at the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studies with Jesse Jones, Stephen Hartke, Michael Frazier, and Soomin Kim. He is also pursuing minors in choral conducting and organ performance under the tutelage of Greg Ristow and Jonathan Moyer respectively.

Website link: mtbrownmusic.com