Allison Emm is a musician, teacher and entrepreneur based in the Milwaukee area, WI. She began Wisconsin Music Ventures in the summer of 2019 as a way to offer musician friends fun, engaging performance experiences while serving as accessible listening opportunities for her private music students and others who might “find” the live music. Since COVID-19 WMV has shifted to become a diverse music community that helps musicians thrive in Wisconsin – through its continuation of hosting/co-hosting live music events, promotional support and networking efforts directed primarily toward member musicians. WMV launched its own podcast, The Musician’s Venture, in the fall of 2020.
She and WMV have been featured on a variety of radio shows, TV news segments and other media. Allison has spoken on the topic of music business in classrooms at UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Millikin University (IL) and more.
Allison has worn a variety of hats within the arts and entertainment field: from music journalism to house management to box office to arts education to orchestral business management to marketing; having been everything from the Executive Director of a local symphony orchestra to a Guitar Festival Consultant. As a musician she has worked as a performer, conductor, composer, arranger and accompanist. She’s also been actively involved as a volunteer with local non-profits such as the Tosa Farmers Market (Fundraising Chair/Vice-President), 88 Nine Radio Milwaukee (Music Education Task Force) and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Docent for Educational Programming). Since 2022 Allison has assisted with the #iVoted Concerts, a nation-wide event series.
Suzanne Singh is a vocalist and songwriter performing in Milwaukee-based bands Rocket Cat and Mixtape, earning four WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) Award nominations from 2018-2020. She is a co-owner of Rocket Cat Productions where she manages artists, creates opportunities for youth performance, and serves as a music booking liaison for community groups. Suzanne has a Master’s in Public Administration and has worked extensively in the non-profit sector including 2 years in Romania as a Peace Corps volunteer. Before moving to Wisconsin, she was the Associate Director of Community Building for Metro United Way in Louisville, Kentucky, specializing in neighborhood development and community capacity building initiatives. Suzanne’s intense love of music and performing led to a shift in career focus after a 25-year hiatus from the music industry when she began working with her bands and enrolled in the Audio Production program at MATC. Suzanne joined Wisconsin Music Adventures in 2021 as the Experience Planner and Liaison and also works as a podcast producer for Podcast Town.
Maya Thielen-Herrera is a saxophonist from Racine, Wisconsin. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2020 with a bachelor’s in Music, emphasis in Recording Technology and Music Business. While in college, she held a stage manager position for three years with the music department. She was the House/Technology liason for a student-run organization called, Students For Music and Titan Saxophones. This allowed her to work with musicians like The Branford Marsalis Quartet, Otis Murphy, Capitol Quartet, Mr. Chair, and Mariachi Herencia de México. As a musician, she performed and traveled with the UWO Wind Ensemble, UWO Jazz Ensemble and Au Quartet all over Wisconsin, Indiana and Virginia. Besides from being a musician, she is a full-time artist as well. Maya joined Wisconsin Music Adventures in 2021 as the Community Experience Orchestrator.