Staff & Board
Staff
Sonia Tower
Nuvi Mehta
Interim Executive Director
Artistic Director
Rosa Carbajal
Lacey Utter
Grace Mooney
Caitlynn Hoehn
Director of Strategic Communications & Public Affairs
Production & Operations Manager
Richard Newsham
Firman Brown
Senior Project Specialist
Outreach & Event Support
Director of Administration & Finance
Associate Artistic Director
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Interim Executive Director
Tower has a storied history with the Festival having worked as Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Ventura, and being responsible for the development and launch of the Ventura Music Festival, which was conceived of as the City’s signature cultural event. Tower oversaw the early years of the Festival and then transitioned it to a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
In Tower’s most recent position, she was appointed by President Biden to serve as the Director of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs at the National Endowment for the Arts where she served until January 2025. She was also appointed to a special detail working as Senior Advisor to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, where she was responsible for the relaunch of the Committee, working with Co-Chair Lady Gaga, and honorary Chair, First Lady Jill Biden.
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Artistic Director
Nuvi Mehta has an extraordinary gift for capturing the minds and hearts of his audiences. Likening him to a young Gary Cooper, the L.A. Times says, “His old-fashioned Hollywood charisma extends to an eloquent and theatrical way of speaking that is almost entirely lost today.” Named Artistic Director of the Ventura Music Festival Association in August of 2003, Mehta began to add his “stamp” to the Festival with wonderful on-stage interactions with artists, and by sharing his humor and knowledge with Festival audiences.
Appointed Director of Special Projects for the San Diego Symphony in 2006, Mehta launched the Symphony’s Symphony Exposed Concerts–a multi-media concert series, introducing non-aficionados to classical music. In three years, the series has developed a new audience in Symphony Hall. Mehta’s on stage demonstrations are also featured on all San Diego Symphony Masterworks Series concerts, and his symphony talks draw up to 1000 patrons nightly. Mehta also hosts XLNC 104.9FM’s World of Music, a one-hour classical music radio show. Mehta has been a guest conductor with the San Diego Symphony, assistant conductor of the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, and apprentice conductor and guest conductor with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Guest conducting appearances have also included the Ann Arbor Chamber Orchestra, the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Nova Vista Symphony, the Marquette Symphony, the Fine Arts Chamber Orchestra of Mexico City, and the Bear Valley Music Festival. As a violinist, positions held include Concertmaster of the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, Assistant Principal Second Violin in the San Diego Symphony, and Principal Second Violin in the San Diego Chamber Orchestra. He performs regularly as a soloist and is asked to teach string master classes for various organizations throughout San Diego.
Navroj Mehta was raised in Ann Arbor, MI, received a Bachelors of Music with Distinction from Indiana University and a Masters of Music from The Juilliard School in New York. His violin teachers include Josef Gingold, Nathan Milstein and Szymon Goldberg. Conducting teachers include Otto Werner Mueller, Gustav Meier, Charles Bruck, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kirk Trevor and Leonard Bernstein. He is a member of the distinguished Mehta musical family and lives in San Diego, California with his wife Karen and daughter Kaia.
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Music Director, Latin Series
Rosa has a long relationship with VMF and has provided strategic consultation to some of the largest festivals and organizations in Ventura, Kern and LA Counties. Her formal studies in music composition led to her eventually serving as music supervisor for many projects in culturally diverse genres in the US and abroad. She most recently was tasked with resurrecting the annual Banana Festival for the Port of Hueneme, and has been a three time arts recipient from the City of Oxnard.
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Director of Administration & Finance
Lacey Utter has been with Ventura Music Festival for over 10 years, having started as a temporary part-time Administrative Assistant, she now wears many hats, including Office Manager, Bookkeeper, Box Office Manager, and Director of Operations. Having grown up in a small town in Northern California, she loves the outdoors and animals. Since moving to Ventura County in 2006, she has obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University Channel Islands. In addition to holding all VMF related institutional memory, she holds a Bookkeeping Specialist Certificate and is an active California Notary Public. She currently resides in Ojai with her husband, their two beautiful young children, and cherished rescue pets.
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Director of Strategic Communications & Public Affairs
Grace joined the music festival in 2022 as the in-house graphic designer, and since then her position has grown to additionally encompass the festival’s outreach efforts. She is the co-owner of the graphic design studio Mooney Creative, which has earned the title of Best Graphic Designer from the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce for many years running. She holds a degree in graphic design and a degree in visual arts, with an area of emphasis in nonprofit program development & management. Her commitment to community outreach is evident in her previous role as Program Director for Girl Scouts of Western Washington, where she developed and ran an ACA-accredited equestrian program, focusing on youth outreach & accessibility. Her skills in event coordination can be seen in her work managing talent for the Mrs-Events Agency in Las Vegas, Nevada. She currently works remotely from rainy Bellingham, Washington and resides with her husband Henry (an Ojai native), their dog Clover, and cat Neville.
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Production & Operations Manager
With over a decade of experience in marketing, account management, and event coordination, Caitlynn brings a wealth of knowledge and passion for creating memorable experiences. Deeply committed to enhancing community engagement through the magic of music, she believes in the power of events to bring people together. Always eager to learn, Caitlynn is set to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication at California State University Channel Islands in 2026. When she's not working or studying, you can find her exploring the outdoors, belly laughing with friends, or discovering new music.
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Senior Project Specialist
Richard Newsham, after 33 years as writer and marketing specialist for the City of Ventura, currently works as Project Specialist for the Ventura Music Festival, for the Road Scholar Channel Islands National Park program and as editorial writer for City Shopper. He also serves as green room manager for the Ojai Music Festival. For decades, as a published poet, he also taught creative writing to school children pre K-12 as part of the Artist in the Classroom and California Poets in the Schools programs. An undergraduate at University of Warwick (UK) and New College (Oxford University), he received a BA in English and Classics at Duke University, followed by graduate studies at the University of Toronto (Canada), Sorbonne (Paris), and Yale University in comparative literature and Renaissance Studies, in preparation for years as guest lecturer in art history for the Getty Museum collections for Elderhostel (aka Road Scholar).
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Outreach & Event Support
Firman Brown is a lifelong advocate for the arts, a community connector, and a key contributor to the Ventura Music Festival. He grew up singing harmony with his family where music was an intense, joyful communication of ideas and emotions. Firman has volunteered with the Ventura Music Festival for over a decade, helping with community engagement, and donor outreach. His vision is centered on sharing the value & access to the arts, further enriching our regions cultural landscape. Firman believes that music and the arts are essential tools of connection, healing, and enhancing the personal connections in our communities. Whether through performance, education, or public programming, his work centers on building bridges—between artists, audiences, with global cultures benefiting for generations, both old and new.
Board of Directors
Bradley Tabach-Bank
David Wellik
Board Chair
Personnel Committee,
Artistic Committees
Board Treasurer
Finance Committee Chair
Patricia Lathrop-McPherson
Michael Boyko
Board Secretary
Personnel Committee,
Artistic Committee Chair
Board Member
Betsy Chess
Douglas Halter
Board Member
Development Committee Chair,
Personnel Committee
Board Member
Anne Paul King
Richard Reisman
Keith Richmond
Timothy Smith
Board Member
Board Member
Jaime Velez
Blake Wade
Board Member
Board Member
Roz Warner
Board Member
Board Member
Personnel Committee Chair
Board Member
Finance Committee
Board Emeritus
Freddie Contarino
Ivor Davis
Board Emeritus Member
Board Emeritus, In Memoriam
Jordan Laby
Barbara Meister
Board Emeritus Member
Board Emeritus Member
Eric Oltmann
Steven Perren
Board Emeritus Member
Board Emeritus Member
Tony Strauss
Board Emeritus Member
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Board Emeritus Member
Freddie’s professional nursing career brought her from the Midwest to San Francisco in 1964, then to Ventura in 1994 as the music/art culture was emerging. She became the co-chair of the fundraising committee of the Ventura Chamber Orchestra, C-Note Productions, where artists were involved in creating masterful pieces of art for fundraising events.
She continues to volunteer for the Ventura Music Festival and Rubicon Theatre Company, and support all Ventura art organizations.
Her passion for nursing also continues; she volunteers at VCMC (Ventura County Medical Center) and has become a hospice volunteer for Livingston Memorial.
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Board Emeritus Member
Author-lecturer Ivor Davis was a former president of the Ventura Music Festival. He and his late wife Sally were long-time board members. London born, Davis lived in Ventura for over four decades and was the author of "The Beatles and Me On Tour, 60th Anniversary Edition" (February 2024). His last book, a true crime account titled "The Devil in My Friend, The Inside Story of a Malibu Murder," was published in 2024.
As a foreign correspondent for the London Daily Express and the Times of London, Davis covered some of the biggest stories in North America. He was the only foreign correspondent to cover the Beatles' historic first tour of North America in 1964. He was the only newspaper reporter present when the Beatles met Elvis Presley in 1965, and he ghostwrote a regular newspaper column for George Harrison. In 1968 he was in the kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel when Robert Kennedy was assassinated.
He also wrote a weekly entertainment column for the New York Times Syndicate, interviewing some of the biggest names in show business, from Cary Grant to Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton to Tom Cruise, and Muhammad Ali to Jane Fonda. He was one of the "Boys on the Bus" chronicling the life of actor turned politician Ronald Reagan, first during his campaign for governor of California, then for president.
He covered some of the biggest trials in American history: Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of killing Bobby Kennedy in 1969; black power militant Angela Davis, acquitted of murder in 1972; and, a year later, Daniel Ellsberg's trial for leaking the Pentagon Papers. He wrote three books about his personal coverage of the Charles Manson and Sharon Tate murders.
To a life well lived, and a legacy of warmth left behind...
Ivor Davis
July 27, 1938 – March 29, 2026It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of our dear friend, Ivor Davis. A longtime supporter, advocate, and guiding voice of Ventura Music Festival, Ivor was a member of our Board Emeritus and a fountain of wit, humor, and energy. His charming, infectious laugh filled VMF concert halls, events, and parties for many years, and his supply of enthralling stories was second to none. He was a man of great passion and joy, and his presence will be missed at every season to come. Our thoughts are with his treasured family and many friends as we reflect on the wonderful times we shared. As his beloved Beatles once sang, "In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
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Board Emeritus Member
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Board Emeritus Member
Barbara Meister has lived in Ventura for 56 years. She is a retired educator who holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Elementary Education and is the author of “The Pear-Pair Tree,” a children’s book about homonyms. Barbara taught the gifted program in Ventura for many years. She was a travel writer and travel consultant. Barbara is the mother of three, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of four. A “community activist,” Barbara serves on the boards of Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation and the Ventura Jewish Federation Women's Division. She sits on the advisory/honorary boards of Rubicon Theatre Company, Casa Pacifica, Ventura Education Partnership, Ventura Music Festival and the Ventura Botanical Gardens. Barbara has established scholarships at Community Memorial Hospital, Ventura College, CSUCI , Temple Beth Torah and Ventura Education Partnership. Barbara was a producer of “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” on Broadway and a producer of “Pippin” in London.
Barbara and her late husband, Larry, are listed in the U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Record for their many years of community service. Because of their charitable contributions, the Park Garden Fountain at Community Memorial Hospital, the Social Hall at Temple Beth Torah, the Boardroom and Executive Offices at Casa Pacifica, the Lobby at Rubicon Theatre, the Children’s Chumash Garden at the Museum of Ventura County and the "Vantage Point" at the Ventura Botanical Gardens have been named in honor of Barbara and Larry Meister.
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Board Emeritus Member
Anthony (“Tony”) Strauss is a semi-retired attorney and has been a resident of Ventura County since 1977. Tony claims that he joined the VMF Board in 2000 to be able to get good seats at a Christopher Parkening concert. He stayed on the Board and served as President from 2003 to 2005. He and his wife Michelle have remained active in Festival activities ever since. Tony has also served on the Ventura City Cultural Affairs Commission, as well as on numerous arts, community and legal boards and organizations and is a Past President of the Ventura County Bar Association. Tony now lives in Ojai and spends his “leisure” time enjoying family, travel, all things Italian and trying to play the guitar.
