More about our Board of Directors
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Richard Van Enk, Board President
Retired Healthcare Director ​
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Richard A. Van Enk, Ph.D. (he, him), recently retired from a long career as a microbiologist and hospital epidemiologist, the Director of Infection Prevention and Epidemiology for Bronson Healthcare. He maintains his teaching career locally at Western Michigan University and WMed. Rick grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and his career has taken him to Bowling Green, KY; Kansas City, KS; back to Grand Rapids, Chicago, IL; Dayton, OH; and Kalamazoo. Rick is a life-long choral ensemble bass-baritone. He has performed with over 12 auditioned choral ensembles in a 45-year career and has been a member of Kalamazoo Choral Arts (formerly Kalamazoo Bach Society) for over 25 years. He is interested in the organizational and leadership areas of community arts ensembles and has served several terms as board member and board chair of our Kalamazoo ensemble. He enjoys performing in many musical styles, and also plays percussion instruments. His musical interests range from classical choral masterworks to jazz, worship music, world music, and music from marginalized communities; almost any music when voices join to form community and communicate important things.
Victoria Mackie, Treasurer
Accounting and Finance Professional ​
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Home is where the heart is and for Victoria Mackie that's this little corner of Southwest MI. Not a Michigan native, she moved to the Kalamazoo area over a decade ago and began putting down roots with her family that have since grown deep. Starting with community outreach, Victoria first made connections in Kalamazoo through volunteer and charity events like Fun Runs and festivals hosted by local orgs. Having sung all her life, finding a music community was integral for her as a new resident, thus she was very fortunate to stumble across KCA, Bach Festival Chorus at that time, and have the opportunity to join as a chorus member. Life is a whirlwind with five sons but her loving husband has always supported her interests, making sure she at least has time for a chorus or two. Haha! She finds a lot of joy in now being able to expand her involvement with and support of this group she's come to love so much by serving on the board. Being able to utilize her background as an accounting and finance professional along with choral membership to help shape the future of this organization is an incredible opportunity. When she isn't off singing or serving, Victoria enjoys hanging out with her crew of gamers and trying to keep up with their skills. An avid reader, you can often find her with her nose in a book simply enjoying a novel or trying to learn something new, most recently how to garden and better her other love: cooking for her family. She hopes to continue reenergizing and spreading the love for music as well as the arts in general in her community and beyond.
Christina Martinez, Secretary
Retired Public School Teacher​
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Christina Martinez is a retired Portage Public Schools teacher and longtime resident of both Kalamazoo and Portage. A graduate of Loy Norrix High School, she went on to study at Michigan State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Returning to Kalamazoo, she completed a Masters Degree in Counseling and Guidance at Western Michigan University. Christina has long pursued volunteer opportunities with both the Bach Festival and the Gilmore Keyboard Festival. She has participated in a variety of KSO choral productions under Maestros Takeda and Harvey, and has been a member of the Bach Festival Chorus since 2006, joining the board in 2020. Christina lives in Portage where, in addition to her roles as singer and volunteer, she continues to enjoy a wide range of activities and interests.
Theresa Coty O'Niel ​
Managing Editor, Second Wave Media
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Theresa Coty O'Neil is a graduate of Kalamazoo College (B.A., English) and Western Michigan University (MFA in Creative Writing/Fiction). She is the current managing editor of Second Wave Media, a solutions-oriented local news magazine, and enjoys publishing stories about the people, projects, and places that make Kalamazoo special, particularly around its vibrant arts and culture scene. She has served on several local music-related boards, including Kalamazoo Junior Symphony, Stulberg International String Competition, and Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo. A certified journal therapy facilitator, she conducts writing groups for all backgrounds and ages and also mentors young writers for Second Wave's Voices of Youth program. When not reading, editing, or writing, you can find her hiking, gardening, improvisational cooking (with whatever is on hand), or spending time with her friends and family.
Mike Curts
Attorney
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Mike Curts, born in Indiana, moved to the Kalamazoo area in 2017. Mike began clerking at the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Kalamazoo County and has been in private legal practice since, specializing in intellectual property. Mike joined the KCA Board in 2025 to revitalize his connection to the arts and further his connection to this community. While not a member of the choir, Mike has a history of participating in choral groups throughout his life and is glad to be back with a group of similar minds. In addition to his board seat at the KCA, Mike is also a board member of the Kaleidoscope Kids Preschool - a preschool that focuses on providing child care services for families of diverse backgrounds and mindsets. While not working, Mike enjoys his time with his two cats and his fiancé.
Kenlana Ferguson
Psychologist, Director of Equity, Learning, and Culture at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation
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Dr. Kenlana Ferguson is a licensed psychologist and the Director of Equity, Learning, and Culture at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation (KZCF). She holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Western Michigan University. Before joining KZCF, she was the Director of Counseling at Kalamazoo College and served her last two years there in the dual role as Director of Counseling and Interim Managing Director at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Kenlana’s 20-year career as a psychologist has taken her across mental health, criminal justice, and higher education sectors in Kalamazoo. In 2020, she co-founded the Kalamazoo Black & Brown Therapy Collective, an initiative that help individuals heal from racial trauma and eliminate mental health barriers by connecting BIPOC individuals with BIPOC mental health clinicians and providing funding for therapy. Over the last 5 years, Kenlana has built her own racial equity consulting practice and this work takes her into various government, private, and non-profit agencies and businesses across and outside of the state. Kenlana also serves on several other boards in the community and enjoys volunteering, sewing, machine embroidery, thrift shopping, and spending time with family.
Gail Griffin
Author, Poet, Retired Kalamazoo College Professor
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Gail Griffin is an essayist, memoirist, and poet. Her nonfiction book "'The Events of October': Murder-Suicide on a Small Campus" studies the deaths of two Kalamazoo College students in 1999. She explores the experience of traumatic loss in "Grief's Country: A Memoir in Pieces." Her first collection of poetry, "Omena Bay Testament," winner of the Wilder Prize from Two Sylvias Press, appears in 2023. Gail has offered community workshops on anti-racist whiteness and on writing memoir. She spent 36 years teaching literature, writing, and women's studies at Kalamazoo College, where she won awards for teaching, creative work, and long-term contribution to the college community. In 1995 she was Michigan Professor of the Year. .Gail is a Detroit native who has lived in Kalamazoo since 1977, after earning a B.A. from Northwestern and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. She sang for twenty years with the Kalamazoo Bach Festival Chorus.
Anthony Hamilton
Impresario, Artistic Director, Actor
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Prior to his appointment as Artistic Director, Hamilton served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Kalamazoo College where he directed Dutchman and Next to Normal. He occasionally teaches and/or directs theatre at Western Michigan University where he most recently directed and choreographed Dreamgirls. He has performed in Primary Trust (‘25) and Detroit ‘67 (‘24) at Hope Repertory Theatre in Holland, MI.
Previous directing and choreography credits at the Civic include: Ain’t Misbehavin’, Once on this Island, 1940s Radio Hour, The Piano Lesson, Disney’s Newsies, A Raisin in the Sun, Barbecue, The Lion in Winter, Disney’s The Lion King Jr.,Catch Me if You Can, Six-The Musical:Teen Edition and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Hamilton received a B.A. from Western Michigan University and an M.F.A. from Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training.
Mickey Huang
Copywriter, Marketing Specialist
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Mickey Huang joined the Kalamazoo Choral Arts Board in 2023, just a year after moving to Kalamazoo from Chicago. Semi-retired from a decades-long career in sales and marketing, he is now a freelance copywriter working with several clients including a luxury international travel company and a Chicago-based real estate firm. He is also on the board of the Friends of the Portage Senior Center and serves on the Events Planning Committee for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at WMU. Mickey is honored and excited to be joining KCA as the group begins a new chapter—with its new name and new mission statement. He and his husband Keith are both K-College graduates, and they are delighted to have come full circle back to the place where they met in 1982. Mickey is an avid pickleball player and both still love to travel as they are able: Jordan, Patagonia, Vietnam and New Zealand remain high on their bucket list.
Susan Mayer
Massage Therapist and Integrative Healing Practitioner ​
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Susan Mayer is a licensed massage therapist and integrative healing practitioner, using a unique blend of massage therapy, sound therapy, aromatherapy, and yoga in her work with women navigating pain, stress, and life transitions. A graduate of the Chicago School of Massage Therapy, Loyola University Chicago (B.S. in Anthropology), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (M.S in Library and Information Science). Susan has dedicated her career to supporting clients through physical and emotional transitions using a blend of science, intuition, and creativity. Her work with musicians led to her service on the National Flute Association’s Performance Healthcare Committee and the publication of The Anatomy Book for Musicians. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to see her family, playing with her cats, and walking on the beach.
West Nelson​
Senior Partner, Rosetta Consultants
West Nelson is originally from Hollis, Queens. He attended Kalamazoo College and, in his heart, he never left town. After graduating with a degree in theatre and a minor in sociology/anthropology, West had a varied career; gaining skills in food service and publishing (retail, sales, and production). He is currently the senior partner of Rosetta Consultants. Their focus is on computer consulting, corporate training, and book doctoring. His work has taken him to places like Detroit, Stamford, CT, Boulder, CO, San Francisco, Vancouver, BC, Sao Paolo, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. He was even an adjunct professor at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York for a couple of semesters. The irony of that was not lost on him. Interspersed throughout his studies and his work, West has also been a radio DJ, voice actor, fight choreographer and theater lighting designer. For nearly a quarter century, he served in various capacities (including all the offices) on the Alumni Association Engagement Board of Kalamazoo College as well as serving a couple of terms on the college's Board of Trustees. He is also a long serving member on the board of directors for Cori Teri/Wellspring and Dancers. His musical interests are eclectic and he's always interested in anything new and thrilling.
Susan Wiersma Uchimura
Pianist, Teach​er
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Susan Wiersma Uchimura graduated as class valedictorian with degrees in Theory and Piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with esteemed pedagogues Jack Radunsky and Eunice Podis. After receiving her Master of Music Degree in Pedagogy from the University of South Carolina, she moved to Kalamazoo to begin a career at Western Michigan University as Artist in Residence with the Merling Trio. In that capacity, she performed in over 40 states, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom, and China. The trio appeared on prestigious series at venues such as Merkin Hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Columbus Museum of Art, to broad critical acclaim. Susan’s private students maintain a high profile in competitions such as the Grand Rapids Bach Festival, the Michigan Music Teachers Association, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Young Artist Competition. An avid reader, she founded Kalamazoo’s Knowledge is Power book club.