Student Life
Students at the Bolz Center have access to a world-class university, full of arts and cultural opportunities for learning and leisure time. For more on campus life, visit the UW-Madison Odyssey. For more on arts activities at UW-Madison, see Arts on Campus.
Student Central
Links, events, and resources for current Bolz Center students. Go there...
Meet the Students
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Current Students
Bolz Center students represent a broad cross-section of interests and experience in arts and cultural disciplines, allowing them to contribute to the program as much as they gain from it. Students with specific interests and expertise in performing arts, dance, media, theater, visual art, folk arts, and other areas are encouraged to add their voice to the seminar discussions, and help build the Center's environment of constant learning.
The current Bolz Center student roster is just a recent example of this cross-disciplinary approach. Each incoming class adds a new depth and richness to the program's development, and eventually adds new breadth to our nationwide alumni network. Following are the brief bios of the current class.
Andrea Albrecht
As a former Wisconsin Badger, Andrea Albrecht is excited to return to her alma mater for her second year as an MBA at the Bolz Center. After receiving her degree in Journalism, French, and Business, she held several positions in public relations and advertising in her hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shortly after, she took a position with an American company in Pontlevoy, France, as the assistant director of public relations and fundraising efforts for the Abbey of Pontlevoy. The historic monument was bought and renovated just a few years ago in an effort to create an educational institution and cultural events venue. Situated in a tiny town in rural France, Andrea was responsible for the organization of a variety of classical music, dance, and theater programs and performances. This experience, coupled with a childhood filled with music and dance instruction, sparked her desire to go into Arts Administration. This year, Andrea continues her work at the Overture Center for the Arts, supporting their development, outreach, and education programs.
Jeffrey Collier
Jeff comes to Madison from New York City, where he worked at The Juilliard School for three years, first as an intern, then as Chamber Music Manager. While in NYC, he performed with several community orchestras, including the New York Repertory Orchestra and the Richmond County Orchestra. In addition to his work at Juilliard, he has served in various capacities at summer music programs in Aspen (CO), Brunswick (ME), and most recently at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara (CA). He is a Southern boy at heart, originally from Cleveland, Tennessee, and is an alumnus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he graduated in 2004 with undergraduate degrees in music education and bassoon performance. His interests include classical music, cooking, LSU Tigers and UW Badgers football, and traveling. He is in his first year at the Bolz Center and works as the Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Michal Fischer
As a recent UW alumna, Michal is very excited to return to Madison to continue her education and further her career in arts administration. Michal began acting with the Children's Theater of Madison when she was eight years old and quickly developed an addiction to the stage, making theater one of the biggest priorities in her life. Throughout college, Michal was constantly involved in Madison's community theater. She performed, choreographed, and served on the Board of Directors for both the Madison Theater Guild and the Bartell Theatre. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theater & Drama as an Acting Specialist major, as well as her Certificate of Business from the UW-Madison in May of 2006. After graduation, Michal was accepted into the Arts Management Internship Program at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. There she worked in the Theater for Young Audiences department, using theater to educate children all over the nation. It was here that she heightened her knowledge and passion for using art as an education tool. She returned to Madison from Minneapolis, MN, where she worked for two art centers, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Old Arizona Performing Arts Center.
Marla Hahn
Marla's combined interest in dance and international affairs has taken her around the world and back again. While studying at Kalamazoo College in Michigan, she served as the Executive Director of the Frelon Dance Company and attended the French ballet academy, Conservatoire Régional de Clermont-Ferrand. After graduation she received grants from the French Education Nationale and the Fulbright Commission to teach English in Europe, where she had the opportunity to perform in places like Barcelona, Vienna, and Ile de la Réunion (off the coast of Madagascar). In 2005, she was invited to represent the US as a judge for the Constellation International Talent festival in Budapest, Hungary. Marla's experiences while living abroad also include working as Logistics Director and International Liaison for the European Show Dance Union (ESDU), winning choreographic titles such as Austrian National Champion and European Dance Champion, and being wined and dined by members of the Ukrainian mafia. Before moving to Madison with her puppy Billa, she worked with the ESDU to develop a program that sent talented European youth to the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood, CA.
Eric Harris
Eric comes to Madison from sunny Yorba Linda, California (a suburb of Los Angeles). Originally trained as a classical cellist, he attended the Orange County High School for the Arts, a magnet school for pre-professional training in the visual and performing arts. During his undergraduate studies at Chapman University (also known as Wossamotta U. in the Rocky and Bullwinkle movie), Eric caught the entrepreneurship bug during the height of the late dot-com boom, and shifted his focus from music to the entrepreneurial aspects of business. A prizewinner in several business plan competitions, Eric was selected as the resident of Chapman University's Business Incubator. For the past several years, Eric has been involved in a number of classical music-related ventures. His current company offers an RFID-based identification system for high-value musical instruments. Eric still plays the cello, and particularly enjoys chamber music. He is interested in many facets of arts administration, especially the adaptation of various business and management information technologies for cultural and arts organizations. At the Bolz Center, he is coordinating major research projects for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and the Dance Heritage Coalition.
Brooke Jackson
Brooke Jackson comes to UW-Madison from Chicago, and originally hails from the great state of Iowa. She graduated from Simpson College earning BA degrees in Music (Vocal Performance) and Journalism & Mass Communications. For the past three and a half years she was general manager of a high-end commercial offices firm in the downtown Chicago Loop. In the off hours, she was very active in the music and performing arts scene in Chicago. As marketing director and core member of Quest Theatre Ensemble, she was involved in the direction, performance, and development of many shows and festivals. She has performed and soloed at venues including Millennium Park, Orchestra Hall, Lollapalooza, and the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Happily traversing the seedy corners of Chicago live music, she also sang and played several instruments in an Americana-folk-surf-rock band.
Jara Kern
Jara Kern, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs, started playing the flute at age ten. Her devotion to music led her to the Oberlin College Conservatory, where she majored in performance. After graduation in 2001, she moved to New York, where she began freelancing, established a flute studio, and earned her master's degree in music performance at the State University of New York at Purchase. During her time in New York, Jara performed at Carnegie Hall and the 92nd Street Y and was a finalist in the New York Flute Club Young Artist competition. Her increasing interest in audience education and concern for the healthy future of the performing arts landed her in July 2004 at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as the Manager of Education Programs. Jara is also on the faculty and administrative staff of the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, Alaska; this summer was be her fourth with the camp, and her first as Artistic Director. During the academic year, she is working in the marketing department of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. She and her husband Benjamin Burney, who is in the MBA program in Strategic Human Resource Management, are thrilled to return to the Midwest, with their four parrots in tow.
Elizabeth Sustar
Elizabeth grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia, and started playing the double bass in school at age nine. She graduated summa cum laude from Providence College with a BA in Music and German and a Liberal Arts Honors Program certificate. Elizabeth was introduced to the field of arts administration when she began work with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) in 2003 as the Librarian and Operations Assistant. At the start of the 2004-05 season, she took over as the Operations and Education Coordinator, and oversaw management of the three younger orchestras in the organization as well as Music Pathways, CYSO's educational engagement program with Chicago Public Schools. In 2006 she completed the American Symphony Orchestra League's intensive Essentials of Orchestra Managment seminar. Elizabeth played bass in the New Philharmonic, the orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, for several seasons, and most recently was performing around Chicago with her alt-country band, The Lost Cartographers.
Isaac Walters
Isaac comes from the clement clime of Provo, Utah, but, alas, never learned to ski. As a shy young kid, he became involved with theatre because it provided a safe way to interact with other people and it was kind of cool that people thought he was good at it. After serving an LDS mission in Arkansas, he determined to give up the addiction of theatre and become a clinical psychologist. But, wouldn't you know it, the only way you can find out what that's like is to actually become a clinical psychologist. Deciding not to spend eight years on something he wasn't sure about, he found himself drawn back into the theatre fold. Graduating with a BA in theatre from Brigham Young University, Isaac was very interested in theatre ensembles: how they work and how to form them. He received his MFA in directing from Columbia University where he spent quality time with spectacular people and where he was Anne Bogart's personal assistant for a year. While teaching movement and directing at Utah Valley State College, Isaac founded the part-time ensemble Mountain Top Theatre, that created original works in association with Cornerstone Theater's Festival of Faith and the Kô Festival in Amherst. For the five years prior to moving to Madison, he served on the theatre faculty at IU South Bend. Following his assistantship last year with the Wisconsin Film Festival, Isaac is now providing administrative and project support to the Madison Arts Commission. Feel free to check out his website: www.isaacwalters.com.
