NIA SPONGBERG – Development Manager
Nia has called Ann Arbor home since 2011. Originally from New England, Nia has lived on both coasts and brings a diverse perspective to her work and community involvement. Her career spans a range of experiences, including 7 years in development at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, where she managed database systems and coordinated the grants program. As a solopreneur for 13 years here in Michigan, Nia ran her own professional organizing business and life coaching practice. Her background also includes roles in renewable energy sales and hospitality. Nia has supported and served on boards and board committees, including with the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society and the Michigan chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College. Although Nia does not have a formal musical background, she has always been inspired by the transformative power of the arts. Her first experience with Kerrytown Concert House was in the fall of 2023 when she attended two concerts in short succession. Those experiences left a profound and lasting impression on her. Outside of work, Nia enjoys gardening, hiking, golfing, weaving baskets, and cheering on the University of Michigan women’s basketball team.
Prior to taking the reins as Artistic & Executive Director in 2019, Monica was an active member of the Kerrytown Concert House community for over 20 years as a performer, producer, studio teacher, and volunteer. Most recently, she has served as the newest creator and director of KCH’s popular cabaret concert series, Wine, Women, and Song! As a regional artist, Monica’s versatile singing and engaging performances have spanned a broad scope of genres from opera roles at the Lincoln Center Institute in New York City, to orchestral solo appearances with symphonies in Adrian, Toledo, Ann Arbor, and Graz, Austria, to jazz gigs at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and to cabaret clubs like Davenport’s in Chicago. Also a seasoned voice teacher, she held a long-term appointment on the voice faculty of Eastern Michigan University, and maintained a private voice studio in the Ann Arbor area for over two decades. Additionally, she is the Founder and Director of Front and Center Cabaret Works, LLC, a performing arts organization whose mission is to develop communication skills and self-confidence in young performers through the act of cabaret performance. A Michigan native, Monica lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, John, and daughter, Delaney, and holds a Master’s Degree with Highest Honors in voice performance from The University of Michigan where she continues to build artistic connections with students and faculty. Monica believes passionately that Kerrytown Concert House brings live performance to music lovers in an up close and personal way that is like no other in Ann Arbor! She enjoys building upon the concert house’s rich artistic history while also helping it expand and grow in meaningful, impactful and delightful ways.
