BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CVNC Board of Directors
CVNC is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a board that is representative of our community’s experienced and knowledgeable arts and journalism leaders.
Colin Campbell, Chair
Colin Campbell has been a journalist with The News & Observer and its affiliated publications for the past decade. He’s currently serving as editor of the paper’s NCInsider State Government News Service, which covers state government and political topics for an audience of government affairs professionals and business leaders. He also writes a weekly column on state politics that appears in newspapers across North Carolina. Colin is a 2009 graduate of the journalism school at UNC-Chapel Hill and a native of Charlottesville, Va. He’s a longtime supporter of the arts scene dating back to his time as the host of a classical radio show on WTJU-FM in Charlottesville.
Jim Waddelow, DMA, Vice Chair
Jim Waddelow is one of the most versatile conductors in the South. A native of Oklahoma, he is Music Director and Conductor of the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Oklahoma Haydn Festival. Jim also serves Meredith College as Director of Instrumental Activities, conducting the Meredith Sinfonietta, Meredith Opera, and musical theater productions for Meredith Ensemble Theater. In 2010 he founded White Iris Light Opera in Raleigh, and the following year he led Meredith musicians on a concert tour of Tuscany, Italy. Guest appearances have included Summerstock Productions at the University of Central Oklahoma, Lubbock Moonlight Broadway, Capitol Opera Raleigh, Durham Savoyards, the Triangle Youth Symphony, and numerous all-state and all-region orchestras. Equally at ease with music for the stage, Jim has conducted over 300 performances of more than 70 musicals and operas at the professional and college level. Previous conducting affiliations include the Oklahoma Youth Symphony, Lubbock Youth Symphony, Texas Tech University, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony in Eureka Springs Arkansas, and the University of Central Oklahoma. A strong advocate of music education, he has conducted orchestras, choirs, and musicals for youth music camps in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and North Carolina. He is currently the Director of Strings of the Next Generation Summer Music Camp in Joplin, Missouri. He is a passionate proponent of the new music of younger composers and is known for innovative programming. Press reviews have referred to performances as “bright, articulate, and beautifully balanced”, and “astonishing precision and polish; a joy from start to finish.” He holds a doctorate in orchestral conducting from Texas Tech University.
Irene Burke, Treasurer
Irene Burke has a Bachelor of Music from the Crane School of Music in New York and performs professionally with several arts groups in the Raleigh area. She has also performed with other orchestras in the Northeast as well as being a member of the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra since relocating to this area in 1986. She is a member of the Durham Symphony and the Carolina International Orchestra, and performs regularly with Carolina Philharmonic in Southern Pines. Ms. Burke was a student of Samuel Baron and Donald MacDonald. Currently, Ms. Burke is the Financial Manager and Bookeeper of the Raleigh Symphony and is also certified by the State of North Carolina as a CPA with her own private CPA firm.
Lawrence Bivins
Lawrence Bivins is Founder and Principal of Evensong Communications, Ltd., a provider of communications and market intelligence services to businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. From 2017 to 2022, he was Managing Director for Policy and Public Affairs at the North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA), a Raleigh-based non-profit with more than 800 active members. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bivins served as Interim Deputy Secretary for Public Affairs at the N.C. Department of Commerce and was Deputy Communications Director there from 2015 to 2017. Through the years, Bivins has contributed features on business and the economy to the Rocky Mount Telegram, Business North Carolina, The Wall Street Journal, Area Development and Site Selection. He is the author of North Carolina: A State of Minds, published in 2004 by Cherbo Publishing Group. Bivins holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Louisiana State University, American University and the London School of Economics. He resides in downtown Raleigh with his wife, Lori.
Elizabeth Thompson
Elizabeth Thompson is a journalism researcher and classically trained opera singer. While she was a voice major at UNC Chapel Hill, she played roles such as “Scipio” in “Il Sogno di Scipione” and “Boy” in “One Who Says Yes.” Elizabeth has worked as a reporter for various news outlets across the state and country, such as The Dallas Morning News, The Raleigh News & Observer, and North Carolina Health News. Now, she works to address local journalism’s most pressing needs as a researcher at The Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media. In her spare time, Elizabeth is a violist in the Really Terrible Orchestra of the Triangle.
Kelsey Carlisle
Kelsey Carlisle received his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2022, but his music career began with blues guitar at age 7, taking him around the country and allowing him to perform with award-winning artists like Bob Margolin, Christone Ingram, and Victor Wainwright. He began his time with CVNC as an intern in Fall of 2021. After graduating, he became a staff writer with the journal and continues to review arts events around North Carolina, as well as writing on his personal blog about whatever he is obsessed with at any given time. In his free time, he enjoys watching Formula 1, researching sports and American history, the writings of Hunter S. Thompson, and the music of George Gershwin.
Under the leadership and guidance of our founding directors, we prepared our bylaws, obtained our incorporation papers and our tax ID number, secured the blessings of the NC Department of Revenue, and sought IRS approval of our 501(c)3 application, which we received on December 17, 2002.
