Mark Miller - President
Mark Miller was a 1995 recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Rural Residencies grant, and has been performing and organizing musical events in Mount Vernon and the northeast Texas region for the past ten years. Presently concertmaster of the East Texas Symphony and Longview Symphony Orchestras, he performs with the Fort Worth and Dallas Symphony Orchestras and other area ensembles. Since 1997 he has produced The Color of Sound, a series of chamber music concerts underwritten by the Music Department of Texas A&M University-Commerce. Together with his wife, violist Ute Miller, he has performed in the violin/viola ensemble Duo Renard, whose recordings can be purchased at http://www.cdbaby.com/duorenard1 and http://www.cdbaby.com/duorenard2
Lillie Bush-Reves - Vice-President
Among the charter members of MVM, Ms. Bush now brings her 30 plus years of journalism and marketing experience to the organization’s board of directors. Ms. Bush is employed as editor of the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald. She is a native of Mount Vernon. She is a 1976 graduate of the Nikon School of Photography – Dallas. She was named Journalist of the Year by the North and East Texas Press Association in 2000. Ms. Bush is chairman of the Mount Vernon Main Street Alliance and vice-chairman of the City’s Landmark Commission. She is on the county appointed Franklin County Historical Commission Board of Directors. Ms. Bush has worked actively with Boy Scouts of America for more than 20 years, and as a director and/or officer of the Franklin County Historical Association for more than 10 years. She is a member of the Franklin County Arts Alliance, Franklin County Genealogical Society and Friends of the Library. A Lay Eucharistic Minister with the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas for more than 20 years, Ms. Bush serves Trinity Parish of Northeast Texas. Ms. Bush and her husband of more than 13 years, Nathan Reves, have three children, and five grandchildren.
Ute Miller - Treasurer
Ute Miller is principal violist of the East Texas Symphony and performs with the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras. She performs with her husband Mark Miller in the violin-viola ensemble Duo Renard (CD's available athttp://www.cdbaby.com/duorenard1 and http://www.cdbaby.com/duorenard2), and has been bringing concerts of chamber music to Mount Vernon and the region since 1995, when she was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Rural Residencies grant. In addition to playing with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, she served for seven years as assistant principal violist of the Gürzenich Orchester/Cologne Philharmonic, and for eight years as principal violist of the Dallas Opera Orchestra.
Elizabeth Elsner - Secretary
Elizabeth Elsner is currently Concertmaster of the Abilene Philharmonic. Since her move to the Dallas area, she has performed with the Fort Worth Symphony, the East Texas Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony and other various area orchestras. Previously Elizabeth held the position of Concertmaster of the Midland/Odessa Symphony and was a member of the Permian Basin String Quartet. Elizabeth received her Bachelors and Masters of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Linda Cerone, Stephen Majeske and Stephen Rose, as well as chamber music studies with Peter Salaff and the Cavani Quartet. She has been a member of the National Repertory Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, and Cleveland Pops Orchestra, as well as Assistant Concertmaster of the Peoria (IL) Symphony.
Daryl Coad - Trustee
Daryl Coad is an active performer and teacher in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Formerly a member of the Rochester Philharmonic and the New Orleans Symphony, he has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Dallas Chamber Orchestra. He has been on the faculties of the Brevard Music Center and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he also served as music director for the University Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared on recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Claudio Abbado and Andre Previn and was featured on a recording of William Walton’s Façade with David Zinman conducting members of the Rochester Philharmonic. His principal clarinet teacher was Robert Marcellus. Other teachers have included Larry Combs, Clark Brody and Robert Listokin. He has studied conducting with David Zinman, and holds a B.M. in clarinet performance and an M.M. in conducting, both from Northwestern University. He frequently performs with the Fort Worth Symphony and has been on the faculty of the University of North Texas since 1999.
Lawrence Coleman - Trustee
Larry Coleman was born and raised in St. Paul, MN. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Minnesota. He worked for Boeing Airplane in Seattle, Butler Manufacturing in Minneapolis and Chicago, and for Cummins Engine Company in Chicago and in Dallas. He owned and operated Fabricating Machinery, Inc. of Dallas for twenty-four years, and retired and sold the business in 2005. Larry and his wife Nancy (married for over fifty years) have lived in a home in Tall Tree on Lake Cypress Springs since 1990. They remodeled it to a year-round house and moved in as "full timers" in 2007. The Coleman’s have 4 sons and 2 grandsons. They are members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Mt. Vernon and also of the Franklin County Historical Association and Arts Alliance.
Dr. Ron Clinton - Trustee
Dr. Ron Clinton currently serves as Executive Vice President for Instruction at Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant, TX. Before coming to NTCC as a faculty member in music and humanities, he performed extensively throughout the United States, Asia and South America as a concert pianist, appearing as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Houston, Austin, Lubbock, and the Republic of South Korea. In 1983, he was awarded a Doctor’s Degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Piano Performance where he studied with William Race and performed in master classes with such notable artists as Augustin Anievas, Claude Frank, Anton Kuerti, and Leon Fleisher. He later went on to serve as artist in residence at the University of Mokwon in Taejon, South Korea. During the 2000-2001 academic year, Dr. Clinton was invited to join the faculty at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Southern Chile in Valdivia, Chile where he taught piano, served as guest conductor of the Conservatory Orchestra Austral de Chile, and performed concerts throughout the country, including performances at the prestigious Frutillar International Music Festival in southern Chile. He was married to Betty Whitlock (a violinist and former MVM Board member) for 36 years until her recent passing last year and has two children, Amy Muldoon and Evan Clinton.
Brad Strottman - Trustee
Brad Strottman is a general practice lawyer serving legal needs in estate planning, probate, estate administration, business law, guardianships and more with a practice in Pittsburg, TX. He and his wife Karyn have three children, and they have been using their member discount to attend MVM events for several years.
Sherry Daniel - Trustee
After a career as supervisor of a hospital Anatomic Pathology laboratory, Sherry Daniel completed a Bachelor of Music degree at UT Arlington. She has previously served on many non-profit boards, including Walden Chamber Music Society and Dallas Chamber Music Society. She currently teaches private piano at NTCC and enjoys showing her Bernese Mountain Dogs, Truman and MacArthur, in draft and obedience. She and her husband Clif, live on a farm in Titus County where they enjoy playing with grandchildren, raising cattle, reading and, of course, music!
