"It's Time to Play"
Stringing the generations together!
Board of Directors
Standing left to right: Dr. Matt Gibson, Geoff Trotier, Andrew Kallies, Neil Albrecht, Andrew Laird.
Front: Gail Waring (not pictured: Jian Sun)
Chairman of the Board
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DR. MATT GIBSON is an educational and community leader. He served as superintendent of the School District of Elmbrook for 17 years, elevating student achievement while successfully guiding three successful building referendums.
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In “retirement”, Dr. Gibson serves as principal of Wisconsin International Academy (WIA). He also consults for executives and organizations and serves on a variety on non-profit boards.
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Dr. Gibson earned a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from UW-Madison. He has always loved music. It is interesting that his first professional job was as a music educator.
WIO is thrilled that Dr. Gibson will be an advocate for our powerful mission.
Board Member
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NEIL ALBRECHT is a lifelong resident of Milwaukee with an extensive background in leadership and fundraising and in the non-profit sector.​​​
Albrecht began his career working in the corporate sector but quickly transitioned to non-profit work as a Regional Director for the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. From there, he became the founding Executive Director of Milwaukee's LGBTQ community center and then moved into a government role as the Election Commissioner for the City of Milwaukee. Albrecht served as Commissioner for 15 years (2005-2020) before returning to non-profits as Interim Director of the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Art Museums. Albrecht's last position prior to retiring was the Interim Director of Communications and Marketing for Milwaukee Public Library.
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Albrecht's board experience includes the Fair Lending Coalition, Friends of Art, Bay View Neighborhood Association, and the Social Development Foundation.
Albrecht joined the WIO board because of its critically important intergenerational programming and exceptional commitment to providing an inclusive, welcoming environment for its musicians and audiences.
Board Member
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ANDREW KALLIES is a proud lifelong Milwaukee resident and avid music lover. Andy grew up surrounded by music in his home, church and school and believes in the power that music has to inspire and enrich our lives.
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Andy earned his B.A. in Communications from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and has spent his entire career in the financial services industry. He is currently the Director of Branch Support for Baird’s Private Wealth Management division. Andy maintains his Series 6, 7, 9, 10, 63 and 65 securities licenses and brings a broad range of experience to the Board including marketing, communication, project management and strategic leadership.
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Andy believes that a key to working toward peaceful and prospering communities lies in the power of understanding and collaboration amongst people of all ages, experiences and backgrounds. He sees that happening with the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra in the most beautiful of ways and is excited to work with the Board of Directors to help this great organization further its mission and impact
Board Member
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ANDY LAIRD, growing up in central California, began his musical adventure at age five with piano. Then from eight until fifteen violin. Violin was set aside for tuba, euphonium and bass played through high school (Lodi, CA), college (Elsah, IL), grad school (Denver, CO) and military service with the Colorado Air National Guard Band. Andy’s professional career as a broadcasting engineer began in Denver, staff engineer KWGN-TV then chief engineer of radio stations KLAK AM & FM.
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A job opportunity in 1972 moved Andy to Los Angeles as the Chief Engineer of one of only three full-time fifty kilowatt AM stations in Southern California. Work responsibilities grew, involving travel most every other week to other cities nationally. Andy’s musical interest, ensemble playing, was no longer possible as rehearsal and performance dates were preempted with work obligations. Andy moved to Milwaukee in 1998 assuming similar broadcast engineering responsibilities for Journal Broadcast Group as Vice President Engineering, Chief Technology Officer.
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Planning for retirement Andy wanted to resume violin study and to play in an ensemble. In 1998 Andy purchased a violin, having it ready for retirement. Andy retired in 2014 as the Journal Broadcast Group became part of E. W. Scripps. Total retirement came in 2016 after completing a number of Scripps consulting projects. The violin didn’t come out of the case until the summer of 2018. After a few weeks Andy realized he urgently needed help after a sixty four year hiatus from violin. For lessons Andy connected with Dr. Alexander (Sascha) Mandl at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Several months later Dr. Mandl suggest Andy contact the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra. Andy joined WIO in the spring of 2019 and continues private lessons with Dr. Mandl
Board Member
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JIAN GUO SUN is Founder and President of the Wisconsin International Academy (WIA), an innovative, residential and academic Total-CareTM Program for international students coming to attend high schools in the United States. By partnering with local high schools, WIA provides opportunities for students to improve their English skills and to learn about American culture through both classroom learning and interactive co-curricular activities. WIA won the second place award for Fastest Growing Firms by the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2016 and Future 50 business award by Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce (MMAC) in 2017 and 2018.
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Mr. Sun moved to Wisconsin in 1992, where he earned his masters in Chemistry as well as in Math, Statistics and Computer Science at Marquette University. He taught undergraduate courses in chemistry, computer science and calculus at Marquette University. Mr. Sun earned his bachelors degree in Science from Peking University. He performed research in chemistry and physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences before he came to the states.
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Outside of education, Mr. Sun served as General Manager at an Internet service business for over 15 years. He provided consulting services and gave training classes to many IT staffs from large organizations. Most of the organizations were Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Pfizer, Kimberly-Clark, Kohler Company, Kellogg’s, etc.
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Serving the community has always been one of his core values. In partnership with several music directors from Elmbrook Schools, he co-founded the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra in 2015 to provide opportunities for musicians of all ages from the community to come together.
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Mr. Sun is married with two children and has lived in Brookfield since 1999. He enjoyed first hand, the benefits of a thriving public school system, one that both of his children attended. He believes it is time to give back to the school district and was elected to the Elmbrook School Board in 2017 and served the school district for two terms since.
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Mr. Sun currently had also served as president for Milwaukee Chinese Community Center (MCCC), a non-profit organization in the greater Milwaukee between 2017 and 2023. He is also serving the executive committee at the AAPI Coalition of Wisconsin since 2018.
Board Member - Secretary
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GEOFF TROTIER is a Wisconsin native, growing up in many of the Milwaukee-area arts organizations. Geoff studied Horn Performance at Northwestern University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, later returning to school at the University of Minnesota Law School, where he received his J.D. Geoff currently is an employment attorney at von Briesen and Roper, s.c., representing businesses and non-profit organizations in employment disputes.
Geoff has been fortunate to have the opportunity to perform throughout the U.S., Japan, and Portugal with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Music Festival, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory Philharmonia, the Music Academy of the West Orchestra, the Cincinnati Ballet, the Lexington Philharmonic, and the Dayton Philharmonic. He is extremely excited to become involved with the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra, both onstage and behind the scenes by serving on the Board of Directors.
Board Member - Treasurer
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GAIL WARING a California native, grew up playing violin in her formative years. After receiving her B.S. and M.S degrees in Biology from San Francisco State University, she earned her PH.D in Molecular Biology at the University of Oregon. Following three years of postdoctoral study at Indiana University, Gail accepted a faculty position in the Biology Department at Marquette University. After 37 years of teaching and research, she retired in Dec 2014 as Professor Emerita of Biology. In retirement Gail has maintained her ties with Marquette, currently serving as Executive Director of the Marquette University Retiree Association. After sporadic violin playing during her working years, she was thrilled to join the inaugural Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra in spring of 2016. Making new friends of all ages as well as rehearsing and performing with such talented colleagues, has been a truly transformational experience. By joining the WIO Board, Gail hopes to serve an organization and community that has brought much joy into her life.