Board of Directors
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Georgia Stitt – Founder/President
Composer/Lyricist/Music Director
Board Service: 2017-2023 | Maestra Profile | Website
GEORGIA STITT (Founding Director/President) composer, lyricist, music producer, and pianist. Her original musicals include Snow Child, Big Red Sun (Harold Arlen Award), The Danger Year, Samantha Spade, Ace Detective (“Outstanding New Musical” from the National Youth Theatre), The Water (winner of the 2008 ANMT Search for New Voices in American Musical Theatre), and Mosaic. Georgia has released four albums of her music: A Quiet Revolution, My Lifelong Love, Alphabet City Cycle, and This Ordinary Thursday. She is currently writing a collection of theatrical art songs, a new show called The Big Boom, and an oratorio to be developed at Princeton University where she is an artist-in-residence. Georgia’s non-theatrical compositions include several choral pieces and Waiting for Wings, an orchestral suite for orchestra that was premiered and recorded by John Morris Russell and the Cincinnati Pops. Georgia has worked as a music director on projects including NBC’s The Sound of Music (Live!), The Last Five Years (starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan), Off-Broadway’s Sweet Charity (starring Sutton Foster), several musical TV shows and the upcoming film 13: The Musical for Netflix. In addition to her work at Maestra, Georgia holds leadership positions at The Dramatists Guild, The Recording Academy, and MUSE (Musicians United for Social Equity). She has received Artist/Activist Awards from Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) and The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
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Laura Ivey – Treasurer
Producer
Board Service: 2020-2023 | Website
Laura Ivey is a solution driven producer of film, television and theater with 23+ years of experience in the production, finance and sales sectors of the entertainment industry. Laura’s most recent production is the Broadway musical MRS. DOUBTFIRE starring Rob McClure, which opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theater on December 5, 2021. In development is the musical, AMERICAN ECLIPSE, from the genius musical mind of Michael John LaChiusa. Her latest film, WALKING OUT starring Matt Bomer, Bill Pullman, and Josh Wiggins, premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Also, recently produced was Meg Ryan’s directorial debut ITHACA, starring Hamish Linklater, Sam Sheperd, Jack Quaid and Tom Hanks which was released by Momentum Pictures in 2016. Among the many films Laura has shepherded over the years are the musical adaptation of Jason Robert Brown’s Tony-Award winning THE LAST FIVE YEARS, directed by Richard Lagravenese and starring Anna Kendrick, as well as the Sundance breakout hit THE SPECTACULAR NOW starring Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller.Laura is a member of the Board of Directors of Maestra Music, the only organization providing support, visibility, and community to the women who make the music in the musical theater industry. Previously she served for two terms as Co-President of the Board of Outfest in Los Angeles, CA. Laura received her Juris Doctor from Fordham University Law School and is a member of the State Bar of California.
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Emily Grishman – Secretary
Emily Grishman Music Preparation
Board Service: 2019-2023 | Maestra Profile | Website
EMILY GRISHMAN (Secretary) has been a music copyist for Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours and regional theatre for over 30 years. Emily Grishman Music Preparation has supervised over 130 Broadway productions including Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, Dear Evan Hansen, Mean Girls and more. Other theatrical endeavors include work for most of the New York not-for-profit theatres, film and TV projects and copying/library work for many individual artists. Emily’s classical background has allowed her to work with major symphony orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony. In the course of her career, Emily has become expert in the use of both Finale and Sibelius notation software, after having started out with pen and ink. As a point of interest, her career has lasted long enough for her to be working on revivals of shows for which she was the original copyist! For a list of Broadway shows that Emily has worked on or is currently working on, see www.ibdb.com.
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Christie Chiles Twillie
Board Service: 2021-2023 | Maestra Profile
Christie Chiles Twillie is a Music Director, Piano Conductor, Vocal Coach, Sound Designer and Composer. She has Music Directed over 40 productions, and written original scores for several plays and films including, A Raisin in the Sun (Invictus Theatre), Yellowman (Fleetwood Jourdain), In The Red and Brown Water (Northwestern), Homeland 24 (Music for Theatre CHICAGO), America 2.0 (Definition Theatre), The Pandemic Trilogy and Alone. In 2019, Christie was awarded the Footlights Best Musical Direction Award for a Professional Production (Skylight Music Theatre’s Five Guys Named Moe), and a Rachel Rockwell “Fierce Women Behind The Table,” award for Music Direction by Porchlight Music Theatre. In 2018, she earned a BTAA nomination for Best Music Direction for her original score for Yellowman. In 2017, she was a Chicago Broadway World Finalist for Best Music Direction for Big Fish (Big Noise Theatre). Regional credits include Skylight Music Theatre’s “Five Guys Named Moe,” “Newsies,” and “The Gospel at Colonus” and the Chicago premiere of Porchlight Music Theatre’s “Minnie’s Boys.” Her Bachelors and Masters Degree are in Piano Performance, she holds a minor in Dance and was a Young Artist Concerto Competition Winner. Her production company is Music for Theatre CHICAGO.
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Valerie Lau-Kee
Board Service: 2023 | Website
Valerie Lau-Kee has served most recently as the Producing Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS where she has produced annual productions of the Easter Bonnet Competition, the Red Bucket Follies, the Broadway Flea Market, and Broadway Bares. Valerie’s Broadway career spans over 35 years, beginning onstage with The King and I then moving to the production side of the industry, working as a stage manager beginning with Carousel at Lincoln Center Theatre, spanning eight Original Broadway Companies through Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Valerie is an alumna of Brown University.