Mike was the Director of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band from 1969-2019 and is continuing his passion and support for the “Arts” as COPA’s Lead Community Ambassador.  Mike, along with his family and Friends of COPA have created the “Leckrone Arts Fund” which will provide financial support for the many users and organizations of the planned COPA Arts Education Campus.  Mike is passionate about the COPA being an all-inclusive space for the arts, and led an all-star jazz ensemble of UW-Madison band alumni at the COPA fundraising kickoff event.

Joseph believes the COPA project will be a fantastic addition to the city of Fitchburg and the Dane County community. “There is a tremendous need for a facility like this in our area as COPA will provide opportunities for underserved children and adults to pursue their interests in performance arts. I am honored to be involved with this great cause and excited for its potential to improve the lives of so many deserving people.”

Jim is the American Cancer Society’s Co-Chair for the Coaches vs. Cancer Fundraising Project. He is passionate about his work, and in his 13 years as co-chair, he has doubled the number of new donors and attendance at major fundraising events. He also betters his community as the vice president of the COPA board.

As Senior Vice President for First Business Bank, Chris has nearly 20 years of commercial banking experience serving primarily family businesses of all sizes with an emphasis on construction, manufacturing, and nonprofits. In addition to being the past treasurer for COPA, Chris has been active with the Wisconsin Council of the Blind, American Heart Association and United Way.

Live music, art and artists have always played an important role in Lisa’s life. She brings her knowledge of fine arts and her experience in operations, account management and marketing to COPA. A helper and a caretaker by nature, Lisa also serves as the secretary of COPA.

From business owner to non-profit roles in operations and executive management, Susan’s career path has the connecting threads of strategic planning, development and fundraising. She has been involved in various boards locally and has raised funds for the Henry Vilas Zoo,  South Central WI Housing Foundation and Fairway Cares. Susan is excited to be a part of COPA and to be witness to the impact it will have on artists and our community members’ lives.

Steve Sveum retired in the spring of 2020 after teaching for 35 years in the Sun Prairie Area School District. In that time his jazz ensembles have performed at numerous state and national conventions, including the Midwest Clinic with Wynton Marsalis. In 2014, Steve was a recipient of the Downbeat Magazine “Jazz Education Achievement Award.” He also is a contributing author for the “Teaching Music through Performance in Jazz” series published by GIA.

Humbled with the opportunity to lead clients through the development of their aspirational and catalytic community projects, as an architect Ivo fuses his love for the arts with his belief architecture should be designed around the human experience. The Sylvee, American Players Theatre, and the Wisconsin History Center all reflect points of pride from his portfolio locally. As the chair of the Building Committee within COPA, Ivo supports the active programming, planning, and development of another critical destination within our community.

Dale has always had a vision of creating something special like COPA and is now bringing that vision to life. His professional career includes 31 years as Sir Elton John’s touring piano technician and owning SOSONIC, an audio, visual, and multimedia company based in Madison, WI.  The COPA Vision, emphasizes the importance of access to the arts when it comes to the creative, social & personal development of communities and their residents both young and old. The COPA Vision, focuses on helping meet the arts and educational needs of Fitchburg and surrounding communities. Dale, is passionate about using and sharing his personal and professional career experiences gained through his travels to over 100 countries and seeing & experiencing the many different cultures and communities “world wide” to give back to a community that he has always called his “home”.

Jay is an attorney with the Koritzinsky & Karls, LLC law firm in Madison, with more than 40 years of experience and an emphasis on real estate law. His passion for music drew him to the COPA project, with hopes of assisting with the development of the Leckrone Arts Fund. Jay is active with other non-profit organizations and currently serves as the president of the Friends of COPA board.

Kim is a cause-driven community advocate. In addition to being a member of Friends of COPA, she is a committee member for the Fond Blanc Foundation, which helps financially support an orphanage in Fond Blanc, Haiti. Kim works with Strang Inc., as a Business Development Specialist. She is able to help Friends of COPA with her relationship-building abilities and is dedicated to helping her community thrive.

Sarah is a seasoned business development and marketing professional who has been with CG Schmidt for 12 years. Sarah is the secretary for the Friends of COPA board, and CG Schmidt is helping COPA raise funds to create their new space. Sarah is also helping fundraise for Green County’s YMCA and has fundraised for St. Ambrose Academy and MYARTS (Madison Youth Arts Center) in the past. “I’m honored to help them create strong roots with their new facility. COPA is going to enrich a lot of young lives with new talents, and help raise the next generation musicians, arts technicians, and artists.”

Mindi is an attorney with Husch Blackwell. Mindi is passionate about the arts and providing access to the arts to all individuals, especially young people. Mindi has served on many community and business boards in Madison and is committed to making Madison a thriving, diverse and vibrant community.

Laurie is a musician, artist-in-residence and community builder. She is passionate about creating wider access to arts education. Laurie can be found teaching music in schools, on the stage playing jazz and behind the scenes sitting on arts administration boards including Friends of COPA.

Rick is a self-employed songwriter and music producer at FLOROQ Productions. He studied audio and visual engineering along with sound design at the University of Sound Arts. Rick is involved in the Madison music scene as a drummer, keyboardist and vocalist.

Mika Mitmoen was an elementary school teacher in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District for most of her 35 years of teaching. Throughout her teaching career, she observed the importance of the arts in a child’s learning, confidence and self expression. Both her father and grandfather were musicians, and they passed on an appreciation of all creative arts. As a result, Mika inherited an appreciation of the diverse opportunities the arts provide. She supports the COPA vision of helping the community have an accessible venue for the arts and education. Mika also looks forward to COPA having the opportunity to provide financial support to community organizations through the Leckrone Arts Fund.

Dale has always had a vision of creating something special like COPA and is now bringing that vision to life. His professional career includes 31 years as Sir Elton John’s touring piano technician and owning SOSONIC, an audio, visual, and multimedia company based in Madison, WI.  The COPA Vision, emphasizes the importance of access to the arts when it comes to the creative, social & personal development of communities and their residents both young and old. The COPA Vision, focuses on helping meet the arts and educational needs of Fitchburg and surrounding communities. Dale, is passionate about using and sharing his personal and professional career experiences gained through his travels to over 100 countries and seeing & experiencing the many different cultures and communities “world wide” to give back to a community that he has always called his “home”.