STAFF & BOARD
OFFICE STAFF
MICHELLE WOSTER
Executive Director
mwoster@thecedar.org
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Pronouns: She/Her
Michelle has a long history of organizational and development leadership in the Twin Cities' non-profit sector, having served as Managing Director for two Minneapolis performing arts organizations: Theater Latté Da and Ten Thousand Things. She also was proud to spend several years raising funds for The Center for Victims of Torture and The Family Partnership. Supporting organizations in service to working artists is a passion. She holds an MPA from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and a B.A. from the University of St. Thomas. She lives in northeast Minneapolis and is a proud parent in the Minneapolis Public School system.
John marks
Operations Director
jmarks@thecedar.org
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Pronouns: He/Him
John brings 20 years of experience building community and fostering collaboration across disciplines in the Twin Cities arts landscape. He served as a technical coordinator at the University of Minnesota’s School of Music for over 15 years. John is co-founder and co-director of Art of This, a project-driven nonprofit arts organization focused on creating platforms for local culture. He co-curated the Soap Factory’s 2013 Minnesota Biennial, and was co-organizer of the Tuesday Series for Improvised Music.
John is an active artist and performer working at the intersection of sound, moving image and visual art. His work has been commissioned by the Walker Art Center and Red Eye Theater, and presented at museums, festivals, and underground venues throughout North America. He is a founding member of Mirror Lab, a studio collective and programming space in South Minneapolis.
John holds a Masters of Professional Studies in Arts and Cultural Leadership from the UMN, where his studies focused on artist-led, horizontally managed organizations. He lives in the Midtown Phillips Neighborhood with his wife, musician Crystal Myslajek and their two daughters.
Mary Brabec
Booking Director
mbrabec@thecedar.org
MJ GIlmore
Sr. Box Office and Development Operations Manager
mjgilmore@thecedar.org
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Pronouns: She/Her
Background: MJ enjoys the beautiful music and heartfelt stories of musicians and community members at The Cedar. MJ has a Bachelor of Arts degree and completed graduate courses in holistic health from The University of Minnesota, and has traveled and studied in India. She enjoyed the experience of climbing to the top of The Dhauladhar Mountain Range along the Himalayas in Dharamsala, India, where she shared local sweetly spiced chai with new friends. She loves interviewing artists and musicians who are excited about what they create. MJ enjoys volunteering operating the camera for a local health and social science television program—The Mary Hanson Show.
Contact MJ about:Purchasing tickets
Accessibility requests and questions
Show information, including times, prices, and other questions
Lost and found questions
All other general questions about The Cedar's venue and offerings
BO YOUNG AN
Marketing and Communications Manager
ban@thecedar.org
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Bo Young An joined the Cedar staff intially as the Marketing and Programming Associate before taking on her new role as the Marketing and Communications Manager in January 2024. Bo moved to Minneapolis from Seoul, Korea in the summer of 2020 to pursue her Master of Fine Arts degree at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has become a master of many trades since moving to the Twin Cities, thriving in a diverse professional landscape and demonstrating expertise in graphic design, sponsorship coordination, marketing and in the arts as both artist and curator. She is an enthusiastic listener of pop, classical, and jazz music and has a biased fondness of the rich tones of brass instruments as she used to play the trumpet.
Alondra R. Aceitón
Marketing and Programming Assistant
araceiton@thecedar.org
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Alondra joined The Cedar in April 2024 as Marketing and Programming Assistant. Alondra grew up in Chile, has called Oregon and Minnesota home, but prefers to identify as a global citizen. She has worked extensively as a photographer and has a diverse background in communications, marketing, and project management and is dedicated to supporting the Latino community through her work and advocacy efforts. She loves constantly expanding her musical repertoire and promoting great independent artists. When she's not on the clock, she enjoys films (that make her uncomfortable), dancing, experimenting with flavors in the kitchen with her daughter and husband and finding hidden gems while traveling. While it may be exhausting, she never gets tired of high-speed walking around big cities.
EVENTs
caleigh souhan
Sr. Events Manager
csouhan@thecedar.org
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Pronouns: She/Her
Caleigh has been sneaking out to see shows in Minneapolis since the early 2000’s and has been a part of many DIY spaces and venues across the Twin Cities. While attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, she found Radio K and was able to join the staff first as Traffic Director, then was promoted to Music Director shortly after. While serving as Music Director, Caleigh was nominated for two awards at CMJ: Music Director of the Year and Outstanding Leadership in College Radio. She also served as Program Director for Radio K before graduating in December 2012 with a Bachelor of Individualized Studies in Art, Theatre Arts, & Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature.
Caleigh was hired as a Booking Assistant at First Avenue in August of 2013 where she learned what it takes to make a show happen. She was promoted to Talent Buyer and was in charge of booking, settling, and advancing shows.
After leaving First Avenue at the end of 2016, Caleigh worked as a stagehand and audio assistant for Slamhammer Productions, booked Punk Bowling at Memory Lanes, managed her father’s podcast network and website, and worked at The Mill NE as a wait assist. She briefly worked for Amsterdam Bar & Hall in 2019 as an Assistant Event Manager before being hired as a neighborhood organizer for St. Anthony East Neighborhood Association. During the 2020 uprising, Caleigh started working in shelters in an effort to more directly assist her community. Caleigh joined The Cedar’s team in September of 2021.
Caleigh has a beautiful 6yo mutt named Shadow who loves love and demands snuggles. When she’s not out at shows, she’s probably hanging with Shadow at the dog park or at home.
Jared Hemming
Event Manager/Volunteer Coordinator
jhemming@thecedar.org
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Volunteer Coordinator/ Events Assistant
volunteer@thecedar.org / jhemming@thecedar.org
Pronouns: He/Him
Background: As a biracial kid growing up in Coon Rapids and Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, Jared has always understood music is vital. Playing percussion and drums in various school bands kept him out of trouble (surprisingly) and helped him realize our differences bond us. Desperate for diversity, he moved to Minneapolis in 2012. He dove into the Twin Cities music community immediately, attending and playing shows with glee. His first show at The Cedar was of Montreal, a perfect entry into the colorful world existing inside this old movie theater. In 2016, he joined the Cedar as a house manager, and he’s thrilled to work closer with The Cedar’s amazing volunteers as Volunteer Coordinator and Events Assistant. He previously worked as a special education teaching assistant at Saint Paul Public Schools, assisting special needs students as they learned how to produce music. He earned his BA in journalism from the University of Minnesota in 2016, and has written for City Pages, MPR News and the Minnesota Daily. When he’s not attending, working or drumming at shows, he likes to write, joke around and get tattoos.
Contact Jared about:
How to become a volunteer
House Managers
Patrick Larkin
House Manager
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Pronouns: He/Him
Patrick joined the Cedar as an office assistant working 3 hours a day five days a week in 2011, before transitioning into a House Manager position the following year. In addition to working as a House Manger, he is currently working as an Associate Librarian in Hennepin County Libraries at a very loud and lively library. In the past he's worked as a gas station attendant, flower waterer, personal care assistant, and a newspaper editor at the East Side Review in St. Paul. When he's not working, he endures to do home improvement, and enjoys curating music events and playing in longtime band the Miami Dolphins, or solo under the moniker P. Larkin, which is pretty much just the first initial of his first name and then his last name. He also likes to fish.
Sam Ray
House Manager
Mollierae miller
House Manager
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Pronouns: They/She
MollieRae moved to Minneapolis in 2012 to study art and quickly found their unique passions for the live music to be found in the Twin Cities. While growing up they were lucky enough to be exposed to all kinds of folk music and trade craft scenes while tagging along with their folk artist parents. Having gone to school for art and returning again to study library science has accelerated MollieRae’s quest for all sorts of knowledge and creative expression. The Cedar is a space where they could find the kinds of music and dance they love as well as revisit favorite musicians they fell for years ago. Having been working in Minneapolis nonprofits for years, they carry a constant excitement to help the community become engaged with the gift of the Cedar as well as with the beauty of the Twin Cities’ arts and culture. Currently an acrylic painter and a student, MollieRae can also be found biking through the city, reading, dancing, cooking and laughing while telling long stories.
Matt “doc” jones
House Manager
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Pronouns: He/Him
Matt "Doc" is an eager but profoundly mediocre guitarist who moved to the Twin Cities in 1989 to continue his medical training just in time for the birth of The Cedar as a live music venue. He discovered it fortuitously en route to the Cabooze one night and since has logged 100+ nights of communal aural bliss in the venue that, in his opinion, has a sacred, loving vibe that is unmatched on this planet. Now semi-retired, he finally has time to devote to the staff side of The Cedar experience, enjoying it tremendously. In the world beyond The Cedar, Doc basks in the warm glow of tube amps while spinning all-genre vinyl for anyone who visits his audio lair. He loves his wife and children, critters Althea, Cirrus, and Sahil, hiking, biking, skiing, and travel, volunteers for local and international medical projects, and teaches high performance driving.
Jacob strauss
House Manager
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Pronouns: He/Him
Jacob started volunteering at the Cedar in 2018 shortly after moving to the area for graduate school. He joined the Cedar staff in the fall of 2020 as a house manager. When he's not working, Jacob enjoys attending shows, playing with his cat, and hanging out at Palmers.
drey darst kereakos
House Manager
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Pronouns: They/Them
Drey is a long-time music player, writer, and enjoyer, as well as soon-to-be Augsburg University grad through the Music Business program (Spring 2022). After graduating from the music department at Perpich Center for Arts Education in 2017, and into their start at Augsburg the following Fall, Drey began performing and releasing music independently under the name "drey dk", where they write, record, produce, mix/master their work as well. Their first globally distributed single "Pity Party" was released in early September of 2019. As a Seward resident of many years, they recently joined the House Manager team at the Cedar in December 2021, and hope to build on and expand their knowledge within multiple facets of the Music Industry outside of performing. You may also spot them working over at Jack's Hardware and Farm Supply, and occasionally as a Camp counselor/music instructor for local non-profit She Rock She Rock over the summer. As much as Drey loves going to shows for fun, when not working, they likely are just eating copious amounts of pizza, shopping for vinyl, or snuggling with their cats.
PAUL MCCOYER
House Manager
EMILY LAZEAR
House Manager
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Pronouns: She/Her
Emily grew up in the Twin Cities and credits The Cedar for inspiring her to be a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and artist. She shadowed a Cedar employee for her 9th grade career day and is thrilled to be now working toward the Cedar’s mission of supporting local and international musicians and encouraging intercultural understanding through music. Emily is also a preschool teacher, a volunteer with Women’s Prison Book Project, a Minneapolis Election Judge, and a member of several past and present local bands. She lives in south Minneapolis and enjoys reading, camping, and rockhounding.
KAMA JOHNSON
House Manager
KENDALL PRUITT
House Manager
SOUND ENGINEERS
Aren Frymire
Chris Frymire
Eric Hohn
Tony Molinaro
Raymond Yates
contractors
Mitch Bercier, Digital Data Associate
Sarah Johnson, Accountant
Sydney Larson, Accounting Associate
Rachel Fulkerson, Development Consultant
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chairperson
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer/Finance
