Monya Winzer Gilbert
Adjunct Professor of Music Management
Monya Winzer Gilbert was born in London but moved to Florida in 1971 after an international career as a solo cabaret artist. Here she performed as an orchestral violinist with the Jacksonville, Gulf Coast and Florida Symphony Orchestras plus chamber music and freelance work in the Central Florida area. Due to an a severe case of tendinitis she gave up playing and became the General Manager of Central Florida Cultural Endeavors in Daytona Beach. She managed the rebirth of the Florida International Festival with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1982.After six years with CFCE and three International Festivals, Monya returned to London in 1987 to work with the LSO and then went on to the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields working with conductor, Sir Neville Marriner.After seven years as the Chief Executive of the Academy in London she returned to DeLand where she became Managing Director of the Daytona Beach Symphony Society in 1996. Over the last few years she worked as Special Events Manager and Associate Director of Development for Stetson University and joined Seaside Music Theater as its Director of Development in 1999. Wishing to spend more time on studying ceramics at Stetson with Dan Gunderson, she retired from full time work in 2001. She became Dan's assistant and worked in the ceramic studio for four years. Monya enjoys a special relationship with a local PBS television station (Channel 15) and appears often as on camera "talent".Monya may be seen regularly on Saturday nights in her cameo TV spots about Great Britain. Her "Music Hotline" show" which she hosts and produces, is now in its fourth series and it will begin again on Channel 15 in September 2007. As an adjunct member of the Stetson faculty she is also teaching a course on "Arts Management" once a year, for the Business School. She has been playing in the Stetson Flute Orchestra for some years. There may come a time when Monya will have to retire from retirement and head for the hills if she keeps on like this!