Managing Director

Steven Herring is a founding member of Bridge Arts Ensemble. He was the company’s Director of School and Community Engagement from 2014-2018. In August of 2018, he was appointed Managing Director of Bridge Arts Ensemble. In this role, he works closely with superintendents, teachers and school administrators to support and augment their current programs and culture. He also works with the Artistic Director and Operations/Media Manager to develop interactive concerts and workshops for public school students in Upstate N.Y. (over 60,000 students annually). 

Steven has developed interactive programs for The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Moments, Lincoln Center Education, The Metropolitan Opera Guild and The Learning Arts. 

In addition to Bridge Arts Ensemble, Steven maintains a busy performing schedule as an operatic baritone. Among the roles he has performed are Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio, Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida, Sacristan in Puccini’s Tosca, Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata, the title role in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Belcore in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore. Cross-over performances include Agwe in Once on This Island, Wandering Son in Bubblin’ Brown Sugar, Obatala in God’s Trombones, as well as the baritone love interest in Alicia Hall-Moran’s the motown project. He had the distinct pleasure of performing in Jason and Alicia Hall-Moran’s WORK SONGS, for the 56th Biennale di Venezia in Venice, Italy.

Steven received a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School. He is also a graduate of The Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC.

Business Manager

Jamie has been managing businesses since the 1980s including restaurants, retail stores, dental offices and physical therapy clinics. She majored in communications and English at Syracuse University in the seventies and later continued her education at Skidmore College where she earned a BS in Biology adding a focus in nutrition in 2003.

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A lifetime resident of Fulton County, New York, Jamie currently resides in Johnstown which is also the location of the BAE home office

Operations & Media Manager

Shaleah Adkisson initially began working with Bridge Arts Ensemble as an artist on the roster and was brought on as Operations & Media Manager in 2016. In this position she oversees many behind-the-scenes logistics of the company as well as the company’s website and social media platforms. In addition to this role, she maintains a position on BAE’s roster of artists and also performs around the country in regional theatres and concert venues.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Central Arkansas.

​Artistic Director

Sam Nester became Artistic Director of Bridge Arts Ensemble in 2016. In this role, Nester is responsible for designing and implementing all artistic and educational programming and overseeing artistic personnel.

In addition to Bridge Arts Ensemble, Nester is the Artistic Administrator of Community Engagement at The Juilliard School, overseeing interactive education concerts, working with Morse Teaching Artist fellows and curating multi-disciplinary arts education performances. He is Director of Brass Bands at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s school and serves on faculty at Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program and the Manhattan School of Music’s summer program. In addition to Bridge Arts Ensemble, Nester has worked as a Teaching Artist with the American Composer’s Orchestra and Midori & Friends.

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The recipient of numerous awards, Nester has been a Fulbright Scholar, an Australian Music Foundation Award recipient, Brian Boak Outstanding Performer, and an American Australian Association’s Dame Joan Sutherland Fund grantee. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music Studies from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University (Australia), followed by a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University. After receiving a Master of Music degree, Nester earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music, graduating with the Helen Cohn award for outstanding performance in the doctoral program.