About Staff & Board
Executive Director Melissa Smey
Melissa Smey is Associate Dean and Executive Director at Columbia University School of the Arts, where she leads the Arts Initiative, Miller Theatre, and oversees the new Lenfest Center for the Arts. Passionately dedicated to creating new work and fostering audience development, Smey has commissioned 37 new works from leading international composers including Chaya Czernowin, Enno Poppe, Tyshawn Sorey, Augusta Read Thomas, and John Zorn, launched a visual art commissioning project for the theater’s lobby, produced free programs serving over 16,000 audience members, and commissioned critically acclaimed chamber operas from Hannah Lash and Missy Mazzoli. A two-time recipient of the ASCAP-Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming and one of Musical America’s 2019 Top-30 Professionals of the Year, Smey has served as speaker and panelist for organizations including the American Academy in Berlin, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and Philadelphia New Music Project. Smey is also the host and co-producer of Mission: Commission, a new podcast that demystifies the process of how classical music gets made.
Miller Theatre Staff
- Melissa Smey EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
- Lauren Bailey Cognetti DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & ENGAGEMENT
- Taylor Riccio DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION PLANNING
- Adrienne Stortz DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS & FINANCE
- Taylor Crichton AUDIENCE SERVICES MANAGER
- Arlene R. Kriv MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
- Garrett Rollins PRODUCTION MANAGER
- Bryan Lin ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATOR
- Rhiannon McClintock EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
- Aleba & Co. PUBLIC RELATIONS
- The Heads of State GRAPHIC DESIGN
Advisory Board
- Mercedes I. Armillas
- Rima Ayas
- Elaine S. Bernstein
- Sean T. Buffington
- Stephanie French
- Marcella Tarozzi Goldsmith
- Mark Jackson, chair
- Eric Johnson
- George Lewis
- Kirk E. Pillow
- Jeanine Plottel
- Marian M. Warden
- Janet C. Waterhouse
- Elke Weber
