Ronald L. Hicks, Jr., Esq., President

Ronald L. Hicks, Jr., grew up in a suburb outside of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, with a passion to practice law as a trial attorney.  In pursuit of this passion, he became the first in his family to attend college, graduating with distinction in 1984 from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pre-Law.  Three years later, he graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law, where he participated with honors in several Moot Court competitions and was elected to the Order of Barristers.  Upon graduation from law school, Ron came to Pittsburgh to begin his legal career as a trial attorney.

Since his start with the firm in 1987, Ron has acquired a broad range of civil litigation experience and has provided counsel and representation in several different practice areas.  He actively appears in state and federal courts throughout the Atlantic coast and the Midwest, and he has argued frequently before various state and federal appellate courts.  He has pursued and defended claims brought before the American Arbitration Association in locales both in and outside of Pittsburgh.

Ron is now the Partner in charge of Paralegals, the Partner in charge of Associate Training and Development and a member of the firm’s Management Committee.  He serves as co-chair of the firm’s Business Litigation Group and as chair of the firm’s Technology Committee.  In addition, he is also co-chair of the Litigation Section of Meritas, an association of select independent law firms in principal cities worldwide.

In addition to his passion for the law, Ron has a great appreciation and fondness for the arts and music and their importance to society.  In high school and college, he was a member of various choirs and other musical organizations, and he participated in several musicals and theatrical productions.  Ron believes that everyone should develop an appreciation for the arts which is one of the reasons why he became involved in PNME.

Ron currently serves as President of the South Shore Place Homeowners Association, a new town home community in the South Side of Pittsburgh where he resides.  In 2006, he was elected to the Business Development Committee of the South Side Local Development Company, a local non-profit community development organization committed to the historic preservation and economic development of Pittsburgh’s South Side.  Ron also serves as the Solicitor of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County.

Kenneth J. Witzel, Esq. , Vice President for Board Development

Kenneth J. Witzel is an attorney with the Pittsburgh law firm, Watkins Dulac & Roe P.C.  He is primarily a commercial litigator, but frequently counsels new and established businesses on a broad range of legal matters, including entity formation, employment matters, commercial lease agreements, contract negotiations and disputes, warranties, trade secrets and unfair competition, and oil and gas law.

A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Mr. Witzel received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Utah.  It was primarily during this time that he developed a great passion for music, which continues to expand through the help of PNME. 

He earned his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, where he served as an Articles Editor for the Dickinson Law Review.  After law school, Mr. Witzel was a law clerk for the Honorable Zoran Popovich, a Judge on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, before moving to Pittsburgh and entering private practice in 1999. 

Having lived in Pittsburgh since that time, Mr. Witzel and his wife, Diane, consider themselves to be “transplanted Pittsburgh natives.”  They have two daughters, two sons, and one very energetic golden retriever.

Active in the community, Mr. Witzel is a founding member of the Executive Committee of the Pittsburgh LDS Professionals Association, a barrister in the W. Edward Sell American Inn of Court, and a member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.  He is honored to serve on PNME’s Board of Directors.

Jeffrey Nytch, DMA, Vice President for Artistic Development

Hailed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as "both impressive and satisfying," the music of Jeffrey Nytch comprises a wide range of works which have been performed at venues throughout the United States and Europe, including Lincoln Center, the Soho Arts Festival, The Festival at Sandpoint, the Luzerne Chamber Music Festival, the Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition, and the Breckenridge Music Festival. His compositions have been performed by such artists as Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Ann Labounsky (organ), the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Ahn Trio, the National Repertory Orchestra, the New York Chamber Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Binghamton Philharmonic, and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.

A native of Vestal, New York, Nytch completed a bachelors degree at Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), and earned Masters and Doctoral degrees in composition from the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University (Houston), under the guidance of Composer-in-Residence Paul Cooper. Other teachers include John Carbon and Donald Erb. He has also studied at Gunther Schuller's Schweitzer Institute of Music, Sandpoint, Idaho.

Nytch has received numerous grants, awards and commissions, including First Prize in the 1997 American Festival for the Arts American Composers' Competition, a Creative Artist Grant from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, and awards from ASCAP, the Ithaca College Choral Composition Competition, The Morton Gould Composers' Competition, "Meet the Composer," the American Music Center and the Mellon Foundation. Nytch’s music has been recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Black, the Seattle Symphony with Richard Stoltzman and conductor Gerard Schwarz, and by George Manahan and the New York Chamber Symphony.

In addition to composing, Nytch is Artist Lecturer at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music and is frequently sought as a guest panelist and lecturer throughout the region. He also pursues an active career as a countertenor and voice-over artist. He lives in Pittsburgh with his partner, Jeffrey, and enjoys bowling, gardening, fitness and film.

Thomas Joseph, Treasurer

Thomas Joseph is a patent attorney with Price & Adams, P.C., a law firm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that practices intellectual property law.

He has over six years of experience in the practice of patent, trademark, and copyright law. He received a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida, and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University.

Mr. Joseph is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Federal Court for the Western
District of Pennsylvania. He is also registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

He is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He has also participated in the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts program.

Mr. Joseph has served as the chair of the Pittsburgh chapter of ASM International, the materials information society. In 2004, he was named as the
chapter's Outstanding Young Member. He has also been a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers.

He has also participated in the Carnegie Mellon Alumni Pittsburgh Clan.

Sharon Speerhas, Secretary

Roger Dannenberg, PhD

Dr. Roger B. Dannenberg is an Associate Research Professor of Computer Science and Art on the faculty of the School of Computer Science and School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, where he is also a fellow of the Studio for Creative Inquiry. His compositions have been performed by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, members of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and at festivals such as the Foro de Musica Nueva, Callejon del Ruido, Spring in Havana, and the Conference on World Affairs.

Dannenberg is well known for his computer music research, and he has given keynote addresses at major computer and music conferences including the International Computer Music Conference, the International Conference on Music Information Retrieval, and the Brazilian Symposium on Computer Music, and the Connecticut College Symposium on Art and Technology. His current work includes research on computer accompaniment of live musicians, content-based music retrieval, interactive media, and high-level languages for sound synthesis. His pioneering work in computer accompaniment led to three patents and the SmartMusic system now used by tens of thousands of music students. He also played a central role in the development of the Piano Tutor, an intelligent, interactive, automated multimedia tutor that enables a student to obtain first-year piano proficiency in less than 20 hours.

Dannenberg held a patent for large-scale interactive games controlled by crowd noise, and these “stadium games” have entertained many NFL fans. Other innovations include the application of machine learning to music style classification and the automation of music structure analysis. As a trumpet player, he has performed in concert halls ranging from the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem to the Espace de Projection at IRCAM, and he is active in performing jazz, classical, and new works.

James Cunningham, III

WQED-FM's Senior Executive Producer, Jim Cunningham hosts the WQED-FM Morning Show weekday mornings from 6-11am, and the nationally syndicated Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra broadcasts which air Sundays at 4pm.

Jim grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania. During the 9th grade he became involved with a radio club at school through which he began to work as an announcer for "The Hightime Show," a Saturday Morning broadcast on WNAE. Throughout high school, Jim was a regular on WNAE and WRRN-FM.

He continued to work in radio while at Thiel college, serving as the general manager of the college radio station, WTGP-FM. During college and after graduation with degrees in English and Business Administration, Jim worked full-time for WGRP-FM & AM as an announcer, producer and account executive. Having worked as an intern for WQED-FM Pittsburgh while a student, Jim returned to the station to work part-time and a few months later was hired as a full time announcer. Following graduation from Thiel Jim earned a Management Certificate from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Business with sponsorship from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Jim served as Station Manager of WQED-FM for fifteen years. As manager Jim lead the team that established WQEJ Johnstown, began 24 hour classical broadcasts, expanded live broadcasts in annual series from Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne University, Chautauqua New York, Heinz Hall and Heinz Chapel, initiated new programs including Symphony Weekend with Mariss Jansons, national distribution of concerts from the River City Brass Band and numerous holiday specials distributed nationally.

Jim Cunningham is the Classical Music Critic for Pittsburgh Magazine where he contributes a monthly column. He has produced and hosted over thirty features for WQED-TV's nightly OnQ Magazine. He's a regular pledge host for Channel 13 and has twice produced feature programs with Andre Rieu in Rieu's hometown of Maastricht, the Netherlands. His most recent half hour On Q special followed the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony on their tour of Europe.

In 2002 Jim became the host of the Robert Morris Speakers Series at Heinz Hall where he interviews and introduces ninety minute lectures. His guests have included Henry Kissinger, Walter Cronkite, Beverly Sills, Robert Redford, Colin Powell, Rudolf Giuliani, Dave Barry, Elie Wiesel, John Major, Bill Moyers, Mark Russell, Ken Burns, Amy tan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Benazir Bhutto, Cokie Roberts, Ken Burns, Amy Tan, James Carville, David McCullough, Mary Higgins Clark and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Jim has traveled as a correspondent with the PSO on twelve world tours to Europe, Japan, South America, Australia and the Orient. Some of his most memorable radio broadcasts were sent live from Rome at the Vatican, the great Wall in Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Sydney, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, London's Proms, the Berlin Festival, Tanglewood in Lenox Massachusetts, Carnegie Hall in New York City and in Carnegie Pa, Chautauqua, Pittsburgh's Point State Park, and the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria where Jim produced the first international live digital broadcast.

An enthusiastic teacher, Jim taught Music and Art for the Carnegie Institute adult education program and currently teaches Unlocking the Classics for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Pittsburgh and for the Academy of Life Long Learning at Carnegie Mellon University.

During his career at WQED-FM, Jim has enjoyed meeting and working with many of the most talented people in the current classical music world. He has interviewed great 20th century violinists Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Sarah Chang, Midori, Yehudi Menuhin, and Nathan Milstein as well as conductors Leonard Bernstein, Andre Previn, Daniel Barenboim, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, Gerard Schwarz, Valery Gergiev, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin and Mariss Jansons. Among the composers Jim has interviewed are Steve Reich, Virgil Thomson, Franz Strauss Jr. (the son of composer Richard Strauss), Milton Babbit, Morton Feldman, John Cage, Aaron Copland, George Crumb, Krystof Penderecki , John Adams and Witold Lutoslawsky.

When asked to choose a few favorites from his list of hundreds of interviews Jim names Ravi Shankar, Benny Goodman, Tiny Tim, Wynton Marsalis, Mercer Ellington, Gordon Parks, Graham Chapman of Monty Python, and Fred Rogers.

Jim has served as a narrator and host for numerous classical music events. He appeared twice for the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, interpreted all the roles in Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale at Music for Rodef Shalom, Copland's Lincoln Portrait for the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra and Prokofieff's Peter and the Wolf for the North Pittsburgh Philharmonic.

Jim is the host and producer of the nationally distributed Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra broadcasts heard on over 150 Public radio Stations. Jim has hosted over 100 pre concert talks for Pittsburgh Symphony concerts in Pittsburgh at Heinz Hall in Midland Pa and at the Royal Albert Hall in London before a Promenade Concert. As the presenter for the Orchestra's Unlocking the Classics series he has spoken to music lovers at area libraries.

Jim's work has been recognized with awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania with numerous Golden Quills, the Air Award from March of Dimes, the Gabriel Award from US Catholic Broadcasters, the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh's Millie Award and the Board of Directors of Chatham Baroque.

A life long music lover, Jim took piano lessons from harpsichord builder and organist Jerry Elmgren. He studied guitar with Stephen Wendell. Jim sang in his church choir at First Lutheran Church in Warren and in the Choir in junior and senior high school including performances in the rotunda of the Pa State Capitol in Harrisburg. He hosted and sang in the Choir concerts at Thiel College at the Passavant Center and studied music with Dr. Edward Kasouf and Ivan Romenenko.

As an active member of the community, Jim regularly appears as a guest speaker, narrator or host at various cultural events, including Pittsburgh Chamber Music pre-concert lectures. Jim is a frequent host at classical music events introducing concerts at the Mellon Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins for Andre Rieu, Hartwood Acres, South Park and the Bach Beethoven and Brunch series for Pittsburgh, Citiparks at Mellon Park He also served on the boards of the City of Pittsburgh Arts Commission, Chatham Baroque, Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania and Eastern Public Radio. Currently he is a board member of the Friends of the Carnegie Library, the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society Executive Committee and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Steinway Society and the Pittsburgh Concert Society.

Kim Faulk

Gordon D. Fisher, Esq.

Tony Joseph

As co-founder of Motionplan, Inc. Tony brings a breadth of global business and technology experience by working with domestic and international clients to provide technology, training, and business solutions in the retail, public education, healthcare, hi-tech, and communication sectors.

Serving as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Motionplan, Inc., Tony’s primary responsibility is to expand Motionplan’s Learning Solutions presence, brand, and client base across North America. In this role Tony manages client relationships to ensure Motionplan’s training solutions support both the business need and learning objectives, while in turn striving to create long standing relationships.

Tony is also responsible for the growth of the Motionplan brand. In this role Tony works with clients, vendors, and business partners to increase Motionplan’s profile in the marketplace along with being an active member in the community through several non-profit and professional organizations in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Tony is active in the community and, in addition to serving on the PNME Board, Tony holds a Board seat with The Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater. Tony's passion is soccer and he is a player/coach for the United States Adult Soccer Association PA-West Adult Men’s League, while also holding a position on the PA-West Adult League Board.

Kevin Noe

Kevin Noe is currently the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. A passionate supporter and promoter of composers, creators, and the arts of our time, Mr. Noe has commissioned and premiered over thirty new works written for new music ensembles and orchestras in the last five years alone. He has a particular interest in works which employ a variety of art forms including music, dance, theater, film, and visual arts, and he serves regularly as conductor, stage director, actor, and filmmaker for a variety of mixed-media, operatic, and theatrical productions. Mr. Noe is a co-founder of the newly formed company Now Here This which creates and performs new works in a wide variety of forms, and is currently in creation of its first multi-disciplinary work entitled Glass Witness.

Mr. Noe has held conducting posts at the University of Texas at Austin, Duquesne University, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Opera Center and he works regularly as a guest conductor with a wide variety of ensembles. Noe completed his graduate studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas where he received the prestigious Sally Shepherd Perkins Prize in Music and was awarded the Maurice Abravanel Fellowship as a conductor at the Tanglewood Festival. Mr. Noe’s principal conducting teacher was Larry Rachleff, and he also studied conducting with Robert Spano, Gunther Schuller, and Seiji Ozawa.

P.O. Box 99476, Pittsburgh, PA 15233

contactpnme@gmail.com