Music Leadership Forum: Navigating Crisis and Change

Paul Babcock, the Chief Executive Officer of MacPhail Center for Music, has played a pivotal role in its growth and transformation. Over his three-decade tenure, Paul’s strategic leadership has led to significant advancements. Under his guidance, enrollment has more than doubled to an impressive 15,000 students, demonstrating MacPhail’s commitment to fostering musical talent and nurturing individual potential. Paul was the visionary project manager for MacPhail’s landmark 55,000-square-foot building in downtown Minneapolis. This project opened in January 2008, marking a significant milestone in the institution’s journey.

Paul’s dedication to music is not just professional but personal. He is a talented teaching artist and performer on percussion instruments. His journey in music education began with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and business administration from Monmouth College (Illinois), a foundation that he built upon with a master’s in music in percussion performance from the University of Minnesota. This unique blend of musical and business acumen informs his leadership at MacPhail, where he is committed to providing exceptional music education.

Jess Birken is host of the Charity Therapy Podcast and owner of the Birken Law Office, which helps nonprofits solve problems so they can quit worrying and get back to what matters most – Their Mission. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, a JD from Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and an MA in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University.

She writes of her career: “I worked my way through law school and had the beginnings of a promising career in criminal law after graduation. However, I quickly realized that going to court is depressing! In court, the toothpaste is out of the tube and you’re just trying to clean up the mess. My colleagues reassured me I’d become callous and get used to the grim reality. But I thought that sounded like a terrible personal outcome and decided I needed to change course. I went back to grad school and earned a Masters in Nonprofit Management. I rejoined the nonprofit sector through a role with Pheasants Forever where my work was a marriage of real estate law and state / federal grant administration from inside their accounting team. I left in house life and joined a boutique nonprofit law firm as the CEO & Managing Partner and remained outside counsel to PF. In 2016 I decided to open my own tech-forward law firm focused on client experience. Today I have a great team and we love working with folks like you to keep nonprofits thriving!”

William Quillen is Dean of the Conservatory of Music and Professor of Musicology at Oberlin College.  Before his appointment as Dean, he served as Oberlin Conservatory’s Acting Dean and its Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.  Highlights of his tenure as Dean include the creation and launch of multiple academic programs in the Conservatory; the creation, through philanthropy, of numerous student-support funds and initiatives; several capital projects, including the opening of the new Conservatory East Studios this year; the securement of gifts to create new Conservatory positions and endowed scholarships; and the expansion of musical opportunities for non-majors across Oberlin’s campus.  He has also led Conservatory ensembles in performances at venues such as Carnegie Hall, SFJAZZ, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

As a musicologist, Bill’s specialties include Russian music, twentieth- and twenty-first-century music, and the sociology of music.  He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his PhD in musicology, and at the University of Cambridge, as a Research Fellow of Clare College (2010-13).  He also studied at the Moscow Conservatory on a Fulbright grant.  His work has been published in the Journal of the American Musicological Society and Music & Letters, among other forums. Before moving to Oberlin, he worked in the administrations of the San Francisco Conservatory, Berkeley Symphony, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the San Francisco Symphony.  A former tubist, he completed his undergraduate studies in tuba and history at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Martin Sher is a distinguished arts executive with over two decades of leadership in orchestral management, artistic planning, and strategic partnerships. Since 2025, he has served as Chief Artistic and Operating Officer of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, in part overseeing all mission-centered activities of the organization, including artistic planning and the DSO’s extensive community engagement programs. Prior to this role, Sher was Senior VP for Artistic Planning and Programs at the New World Symphony, working closely with Artistic Director Stéphane Denève and Artistic Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas. At NWS, he drove initiatives in diversity and inclusion and achieved major fundraising successes. His tenure included the conception of innovative multimedia projects and the cultivation of global partnerships with leading cultural, educational, and humanitarian organizations. He has also held senior leadership positions with the North Carolina Symphony and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to his executive leadership, Sher has provided strategic consulting to institutions including the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the North Carolina Symphony, and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. A classically trained violist and violinist, he has performed with ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, and at festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, and Sitka. Sher holds a Master of Music in Viola Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the Peabody Institute. A dedicated mentor and educator, he serves on the faculty of the OAcademy Prieto Conducting Fellowship and as a Sphinx LEAD mentor, fostering the next generation of artists and leaders in classical music.

Robert Townsend is Director of Humanities, Arts, and Culture Programs at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and co-director of the Humanities Indicators (http://humanitiesindicators.org). Prior to the Academy, he spent 24 years at the American Historical Association as director of research and publications. He is the author of History’s Babel: Scholarship, Professionalization, and the Historical Enterprise in the United States, 1880-1940 (University of Chicago Press, 2013) and author or co-author of over 200 articles on various aspects of history, higher education, and public humanities. He received his PhD in history from George Mason University.