Our Staff
Don Crafton, Ph.D. Interim Executive Director
Don Crafton received the Distinguished Career Achievement Award, the highest honor from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS), and the Jean Mitry Prize from the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, both in 2019. Additional awards for his scholarship have come from the Jean Vigo Institute (France) and the International Animation Festival in Zagreb. He was an inaugural Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Scholar. He has received major fellowships, including two from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2014-15 he was a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He was the 2007 recipient of the University of Notre Dame’s Presidential Award. He held the first endowed professorship in film studies at the University of Notre Dame. He received his doctorate in History of Art from Yale University in 1977. He taught at Yale and the University of Wisconsin before arriving at Notre Dame in 1997. As an archives administrator, Crafton was the founding director of the Yale Film Study Center (1982-1986) and directed the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research (1987-1994). He has been the chairperson of the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre and also chaired the Department of Music at Notre Dame. He served in 2012-13 as the interim director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. Most recently, he has been writing screenplays.
Thomas Rosenberg Artistic Director
Thomas Rosenberg has served as Fischoff’s Artistic Director since 1981. A nationally known dynamic teacher, performer and chamber coach, he teaches cello and chamber music at Carleton and MacAlester Colleges and maintains an award winning pre-college home studio. Prize-winner at Munich and Portsmouth Quartet Competitions and a three-time Naumburg Award finalist, Tom is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Richard Kapuscinski and The Eastman School of Music where he was teaching assistant to both Paul Katz and Laurence Lesser. His chamber music studies were with the Budapest, Cleveland, Juilliard, Guarneri, and Tokyo quartets.
Kara Kane Education Director
Kara Kane has been a musician, IT consultant, teaching artist and now arts administrator. She earned her BA double majoring in Music and Sociology at Rice University. Kara started her career as an IT consultant and worked for Ernst & Young, LLP, Continental Airlines and Northwestern University. She returned to Rice for a MM in voice and continued her studies at festivals in Aspen, Salzburg, and Rome. After being a member of the Aldeburgh Music’s Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in their Education Residency, she found her niche as a teaching artist and arts administrator. Kara was the Director of Education for Chicago Opera Theater, taught as an adjunct voice instructor at University of Notre Dame, and serves as a teaching artist with Classical Kids Music Education’s Music Inspires! outreach program in the Chicago Public Schools. Kara resides in South Bend with her husband and three kids.
Miki Strabley Competition Director
Miki Strabley joined Fischoff in August 2000. Her primary responsibilities include running the annual Fischoff Competition, recruiting and coordinating competition volunteers, and coordinating logistics for the Winner’s Tour. Miki received her undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Political Science at Saint Mary’s College. She holds a Master’s degree in Education from Indiana University South Bend and a Master of Nonprofit Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Carrie Lehman Media Director
Carrie Lehman joined the staff in 2012, but has been a part of the Fischoff Competition for over 25 years, currently as the Competition’s Junior Division Quarterfinals Manager. As Media Director, she is responsible for media, graphic design, and technology efforts. She received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Spring Arbor University and resides in Chicago.
Geena Kam Chamber Music Summer Intensive Director
Geena Kam has been a competition volunteer since 2012 and joined the Fischoff team in January 2020. Geena is a classical pianist, pedagogue, and art administrator. She has concertized throughout the Midwest, Asia, and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician, and her piano students have won regional and international competitions. A passionate educator, Geena has created and directed venues for young pianists as well as presented workshops and masterclasses for area music teachers. Geena is also a piano faculty at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN, and received her D.M.A degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa.
Megan Simmons Academy & Operations Manager
Megan Simmons is a versatile and passionate violinist with years of performing and teaching experience. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon with a Master’s of Music in Violin Performance specializing in Violin/Viola Pedagogy under Professor Hal Grossman, and magna cum laude from Ball State University with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance under Professor Anna Vayman. She regularly plays with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Elkhart County Symphony Orchestra. Alongside her performing career, Megan is dedicated to teaching, having taught private and group lessons for eight years across a multitude of institutions and youth orchestras within central Indiana, Oregon, California, and South Bend. Last summer, she was concertmaster and violin section coach at the Fischoff Chamber Music Summer Intensive and started as a Fischoff National Chamber Music Academy Coach. She is thrilled to spread her love for chamber music with the next generation of players, educators, and music advocates within her hometown!
Geneviéve Carreño Program and Marketing Manager
Geneviéve Carreño is a musician and arts manager from Goshen, Indiana. She is thrilled to be launching her professional career with Fischoff amongst such a dedicated and caring staff. Geneviéve is a 2024 Summa Cum Laude graduate of Baldwin Wallace University (BW) in Berea, Ohio, with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Theatre Management and a minor in applied music (voice). Growing up, Geneviéve played viola for 8 years and sang in school and community choirs and theatre productions. She graduated with honors from Concord High School in 2020 and was an avid participant in the performing arts, student council, and speech & debate. In her spare time, she likes to crochet, travel, spend time with friends and family, and volunteer in the community.
Board of Directors
Officers
John De Souza, President
President, Cressy & Everett Real Estate, South Bend, IN
Harriet Hamer, M.D., Vice President
Michiana Anesthesiologists Consultants, South Bend, IN
Nels Leininger, M.D., Secretary
Internal & Geriatric Medicine, South Bend Clinic (retired), South Bend, IN
Doug Osthimer, Treasurer
Partner, Kruggel, Lawton & Co., LLC CPAs (retired), South Bend, IN
Randy Kelly, Immediate Past President
Head of School, Montessori Academy, Mishawaka, IN
Ex. Committee
Thomas Rosenberg, Artistic Director
Music Faculty – Macalester College & Carleton College, MN
Directors
Tessa Bysong
Partner, Bain & Company, Chicago, IL
Brian Casey
Partner, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, South Bend, IN
Lisa Casey
Attorney, Granger, IN
Hal Culbertson
Teaching Professor, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Marvin Curtis, Ed.D.
Dean, Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts (retired), Indiana University South Bend, Composer, Granger, IN
Kyle Everett
Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor, Baird, Mishawaka, IN
Alfred J. Guillaume, Jr., Ph.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (retired), and Professor Emeritus of French, Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, IN
Vincent Henderson, M.D.
President, Beacon Medical Group, Granger, IN
Jonathan Jessen
Vice President, Bradley Company, South Bend, IN
Sue Neeb
Retired Educator, Goshen, IN
Jill Pearon, D.M.A.
Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Indiana University South Bend, IN
Michael Pippenger, Ph.D.
Vice President & Associate Provost for Internationalization, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Teresa Roberts
Healthcare & NFP Consultant, South Bend, IN
Dana Strait, Ph.D.
Chief Workforce Officer, Treehouse, South Bend, IN
Brian Wiebe
Former President & CEO, Horizon Education Alliance, Goshen, IN
National Advisory Council
Chair Kevin Kwan Loucks
Kevin Kwan Loucks is a distinguished arts executive, strategist, and entrepreneur with a track record of transforming organizations, driving institutional growth, and shaping the performing arts on a national scale. As CEO of Chamber Music America, he has redefined the organization’s role as a national leader in advocacy, grantmaking, and professional development for small ensemble music. He has held executive roles at leading institutions, including the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Music Academy of the West, where he helped transform the institution into a year-round incubator for the arts. A Juilliard-trained concert pianist and Co-Founder of Chamber Music | OC – hailed by the LA Times for “keeping classical music going” during the COVID-19 pandemic – he has been featured in The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He serves as Chair of the National Advisory Council for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association and sits on the Boards of American Composers Forum, Performing Arts Alliance, and the Fast Company Executive Board. Loucks holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Stony Brook University, an Executive MBA from Chapman University, and completed executive education at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Learn more at www.kevinloucks.com
Interested in joining the Fischoff family? Reach out to fischoff@fischoff.org or visit our Volunteer page to get involved.