Linda Weise is the founder of the Colorado Springs Conservatory (CSC). She established the Conservatory in 1994 to bring world-class performing arts education to the region. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory in piano and vocal performance, she continued her post-graduate work at the Juilliard School for Opera Studies. Both Linda and CSC have been recognized throughout the state and across the country with numerous awards to include the National Guild of Community Music Schools Milestone Achievement award, the coveted William Funk Award from the Colorado Nonprofit Association, and the Edward Zigler Innovation Award for Conservatory’s arts and music partnership with Community Partnership for Child Development and their work with Head Start and Early Head Start – accolades for providing and making accessible to all who are interested in outstanding arts immersion studies. The Conservatory has been changing lives for over 27 years now.
Her artistic endeavors include stage direction for the following; Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors, Martin’s Lie, The Medium, The Boy Who Grew Too Fast, Chip and His Dog by Gian Carlo Menotti, Childhood Miracle by Ned Rorem, A Jazz Nativity, by Anne Phillips and Brundibar by Krasa. Musical Theater: You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown and Secret Garden. Produced, written, and directed Chocolate Mountaineers Club, JACK, a moral musical tale, Henry and Greta, along with numerous subject and site-specific pieces.
Ms. Weise is an active community advocate who serves or has served on these boards of directors: Governor’s appointee for the State Board of Colorado Humanities, Vice-Chair Colorado Springs Leadership Institute (CSLI), Citizens Soldier Connection, the committee for the annual Range Riders Street Breakfast, Regional Advisory Council for Central City Opera, Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the Fountain Fund, and PILLAR Institute for Lifelong Learning. The civic and artistic partnerships she has created have lasted decades and have forged new ways to bring the arts to many who would otherwise go without. From UCCS and Colorado College to El Paso County and the City of Colorado Springs, from regional YMCAs to Santa Fe Opera, friends of the Conservatory are diverse and enthusiastic. Linda was recently featured on the cover of the international magazine, Corporate Vision for her exemplary ability to ‘build community’ in extraordinary ways.
In July 2021, Linda became President and CEO of Colorado Springs Community Cultural Collective. In this new role she will lead a newly formed 501(c)(3) dedicated to the revitalization and re-developing of the 100-year-old City Auditorium into a quality, mid-size affordable performance and presentation venue for the Colorado Springs community. While the project will provide a community cultural center for arts education and creation of new works, it takes a greater role with its impact on historical preservation and urban renewal in the heart of downtown Colorado Springs. Linda remains an active member of the Conservatory’s Advisory Council.
Additionally, she has recently launched a new business, Vortici, LLC, an organization with a mission and vision to forge and develop inspired work in arts, culture and arts education. The production of ‘JACK, a moral musical tale’ was the first of many new works that the company has launched. More recently, Vortici filmed several seasons of “Simple Gift Series,” a humanities-based, early childhood visual program featuring Linda as “Miss Linda,” that combines literacy, music, movement and language. Simple Gift Series launched on Rocky Mountain PBS in 2020 and features the artwork, voiceovers, visual/audio production and writing of many of Colorado Springs Conservatory’s accomplished alumni. Simple Gift Series episodes have been selected for national public broadcasting syndication starting in August 2021.
Linda is a graduate of both Colorado Leadership Institute and Leadership Pikes Peak. She has resided in Colorado Springs since 1992, where she currently lives with her husband Keith Wells and near her daughters, Christina and Kelsy, who also reside in the Pikes Peak region.
