logo Francesco Lecce-Chong, Music Director
Resident Orchestra, Green Music Center

Administration

Meet the administrative staff of the Santa Rosa Symphony.

J. Andrew Bradford, President and CEO

J. Andrew Bradford comes to the Santa Rosa Symphony from Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, where he served as Executive Director. During his tenure, the Chorus increased enrollment to a record 440+ choristers, achieved consecutive budget surpluses, and won a GRAMMY Award. Prior to Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Bradford served as Executive Director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Colorado Music Festival & Center for Musical Arts, and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra in Chicago. He has also worked in fundraising, marketing, and operations for the Kennedy Center, National Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Houston Symphony, and San Francisco Classical Voice.

Originally from New York City, Bradford was trained as a cellist and received his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, where he was recipient of a graduate fellowship and studied music and management. Bradford is also a graduate of the prestigious Arts Management Fellowship program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Bradford lives in Santa Rosa with his wife MyungJu Yeo, principal flute of the Marin Symphony and Symphony San Jose, and daughter Saemi.

Timothy L. Beswick, Director of Artistic Operations

Tim Beswick has been the Director of Artistic Operations for the Santa Rosa Symphony for the past nineteen years. Previously, he held the same position for the defunct San Jose Symphony where he also was a conductor for the San Jose Symphony Youth Orchestra. A native Californian from the Bay Area, Tim first studied the violin with his father, Gary J. Beswick, and went on to study music at San José State University’s School of Music where he studied with Lauren Jakey. He graduated with a degree in violin performance. After graduation, Tim began working for the San José Symphony as the Orchestra Librarian and as a free-lance musician. With the San José Symphony, he also held positions as the Interim Administrator, Concerts Manager and Education Programs Administrator. Tim also worked for many years as the Orchestra Librarian and Stage Manager of the Midsummer Mozart Festival, taught instrumental music programs for several schools in the San José area, including Los Gatos High School, the Oak Grove and Union School Districts and directed the Cupertino Junior Chamber Orchestra.

Tim has been a member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras for over thirty years and served on the board of directors from 1994 to 1996.

Enid Rickley-Myres, Director of Development

A native Californian, Enid has lived in the North Bay area since childhood. Falling in love with nonprofits when only a teen, she was inspired at a summer camp led by the Sonoma County YMCA. The events of that summer ignited an aspiration within her—the desire to help others through charitable work. That resolve became a passion that persevered into adulthood.

For nearly two decades, she has enjoyed a rewarding career at the Santa Rosa Symphony as Donor Liaison and Executive Assistant, working directly with the President and CEO, and assisting the Symphony’s loyal, generous patrons.

Enid’s rich experience and background have uniquely prepared her for the responsibilities of the position of Director of Development. Her diverse work as an arts administration professional has encompassed operations, public relations, analysis and reporting of data, planning special donor events, and cultivating sponsorship support from individuals and businesses.

She provides support to the development team and spends her days working to establish and deepen strong relationships with stakeholders.

Enid and her husband, Marcus, along with their Goldendoodle “Riff,” enjoy a contented life together in Santa Rosa. In her free time, she loves to cook, garden, knit and read.

Brenda Fox, Director of Marketing & Patron Services

Brenda hails from Massachusetts where she graduated from Salem State University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. She spent 12 years as a Senior Buyer purchasing electronic components and materials. In 2008, Brenda joined the Imaginists, an artist-run performing arts organization in Santa Rosa. There she established box office, front of house and office policies and procedures. She participated in long-term planning, fund development and marketing strategies. Brenda continues her service at the Imaginists, serving on the Board as secretary.

In 2013, Brenda became the Patron Services Manager at the Santa Rosa Symphony. Highly focused on customer service and patron experience, Brenda managed the annual season subscription campaigns, worked with nonprofits to provide free tickets to low-income or at-risk youth, worked closely with the Director of Marketing on strategies to increase ticket sales as well as the Symphony profile in the community. In 2021, the Symphony promoted her to Director of Marketing and Patron Services.

Brenda’s pride and joy are her two children. She is an avid quilter, mostly giving away what she makes to friends and family. She lives in Santa Rosa with her two ridiculously cute cats.

Wendy Cilman, Director of Education

Wendy Cilman has been the Director of Education for the Santa Rosa Symphony since 2015. She was enticed to move to Santa Rosa from Oakland by Simply Strings, an El-Sistema inspired after-school program, and by the scope and range of all the twelve of the SRS Institute for Music Education programs.

In Oakland, she founded IDEA, Institute for the Development of Education in the Arts, a non-profit to connect seniors and children through the arts.

As the first Executive Director of Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, the oldest youth orchestra in California and the second-oldest in the country, she took the 100-member orchestra on four tours, three of them international. In 2009 she started the Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival (BAYOF Hope), a benefit for homeless youth that has raised over $200,000 and is now presented by San Francisco Symphony.

As a performing cellist, her first professional gig was as section cellist for Santa Rosa Symphony, for nine years when Corrick Brown was conductor. Her primary cello instructors were Irving Klein and Michael Grebanier, and she studied chamber music with the legendary Bernard Abramowitsch and Felix Khuner. She loves teaching and has eight private students.

Omar Diaz, Concert Operations Assistant

Omar joined the Santa Rosa Symphony in July of 2022, directly after completing his bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance at Sonoma State University. His background lies in teaching and freelancing around the Bay area. Omar is passionate about the fine arts and hopes to gain the experience needed to drive the organization forward.

Omar grew up in the Monterey peninsula, where he was first exposed to the arts. He loves to spend time at concerts and shows but he mostly loves to continue playing the Viola. Omar often plays with the Sonoma State University Symphony Orchestra and Santa Rosa Youth Orchestra.

Carly Gonce, Development and Office Manager

Born and Raised in Southern California, Carly Gonce moved to Sonoma County in 2023. Carly is passionate about music and being of service to others, making the Santa Rosa Symphony a beautiful match for her and her endeavors. At an early age, Carly was encouraged by her parents to play piano, and a musical spark was ignited. When Carly was 13, her grandmother gave her an electric guitar, which she has been playing ever since. Carly has found great success and joy playing music, managing bands, booking tours, and creating fundraising events. Working for non-profit organizations over the years, Carly has not only helped organizations achieve their goals, but strives to foster community, ideation, and growth.

Riyad Koya, Development Associate

Riyad Koya arrives to the Santa Rosa Symphony and the performing arts from the humanities, where he has been a scholar of South Asian law, labor, and migration. He has published articles in Law and History Review and the Journal of World History, and an oral history of the labor economist Lloyd Ulman with UC Berkeley’s Regional Oral History Office. His scholarship has been supported by grants from the Mellon Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the American Institute of Indian Studies. As a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley, he taught South Asian History and World History. At the University of Michigan, he was a Program Associate for the Program on Intergroup Relations; at UC Santa Cruz he served as a writing tutor at the Oakes Learning Center. Riyad has a lifelong passion for music and writing, two interests combined in his role with the Symphony.

He played the French horn until the eleventh grade, competing with his high school orchestra in an international youth music festival in Vienna. He has lived in Santa Rosa for over twenty years and enjoys soccer, hiking, cooking, gardening, and the marvelous company of his wife and son.

Shekeyna Black, Patron Services Manager

Shekeyna Black has been the Patron Services Manager at the Santa Rosa Symphony since 2023. During her career, she has primarily worked in management for nonprofit arts organizations. She is passionate about creative arts and the key role that music, theatre, and dance play in our lives. She holds a bachelor’s in Theatre Arts from Sonoma State University and a second bachelor’s from Ashford University in Organizational Management and a master’s in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University.

Born and raised in the County of Los Angeles, she spent her younger years attending concerts of various genres, which sparked her interest in pursuing a career in the industry. She loves spending time with her two cats and energetic dog as well as relaxing in nature: especially amongst the Redwoods and the Russian River.

Veronica Brevik, Patron Services Associate

Veronica Brevik has been the Patron Services Associate for the Santa Rosa Symphony since 2023. She received her bachelor’s degree in Humanities from Chico State University where she studied art history, literature, film, world religions, and philosophy. She has worked in the past as a reader for Perhappened, an online literary magazine featuring the poetry and fiction of writers across the world. She continues to be greatly invested in the artistic enlightenment of Santa Rosa Symphony goers and beyond.

A Bay Area native, Veronica enjoys taking long drives along the coast, drawing, writing, and skateboarding in her free time.

Elena Sloman, Youth Ensembles Manager

Elena Sloman has been the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Ensembles Manager since 2021. She has worked as an arts administrator, freelance oboist and music teacher in Sonoma County and the Bay Area since returning from completing her master’s in oboe performance at the Eastman School of Music and bachelor’s in oboe performance at the USC Thornton School of Music, summa cum laude.

An alumna of the SRS youth ensembles, Elena is glad to support the music education program that got her orchestral experience started.

Laura Leipzig, Education & Outreach Manager

Laura Leipzig is a passionate advocate for local art and arts education. As the Education Outreach Manager, she manages the Symphony’s programs for local elementary schools. These programs include the It’s Elementary Program, Free Concerts for Youth, Performance Assemblies, and more. She is also the Orchestra Manager for the Young People’s Chamber Orchestra.

Laura’s professional background includes managing Chalk Hill Artist Residency in Healdsburg, CA, running programs for youth and adults as Education & Program Manager at the Museum of Sonoma County, and curating exhibitions and developing new programs as Gallery Manager at the Arts Guild of Sonoma. She has also taught visual art and dance to children and teens.

Laura holds a BA in Studio Art with a Minor in Dance from Sonoma State University, and a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from San Francisco State University.

Laura enjoys dancing, hiking, restoring her historic home, and weaving on her floor loom.

Ryan Contreras, Education Programs Manager

Ryan C. Contreras has been working at the Santa Rosa Symphony since 2022. In his role as Education Programs Manager, he oversees the El Sistema inspired Simply Strings music program, as well as managing the annual Summer Music Academy.

Ryan has worked throughout the Bay area and Southern California as a teaching artist, freelance musician, marching instructor, and private teacher. Ryan studied at Sonoma State University, where he pursued a degree in Music with a focus on French Horn performance. At SSU, Ryan immersed himself in many musical endeavors, including orchestra, wind symphony, brass ensembles, and opera. Moreover, his stint at the Green Music Center during an internship fueled his passion for arts administration.

A native Californian, Ryan finds solace in the idyllic weather of Sonoma County, relishing every opportunity to bask in the warmth of the sun. His commitment to music education and community outreach continues to make a profound impact, enriching the region’s cultural landscape.