Events Office Staff

Andrew Giza (Events Director), originally from Massachusetts, is an alumnus of Emerson College where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting. Before joining the Events Office at Krannert Center, Andrew worked with the Artist Partner Programs team at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center while earning a Master of Science degree in management. Andrew’s professional career began at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the program’s Music Production Manager, a position he held for over 14 years. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA and enjoys golfing, riding motorcycles, and working with the Boulangier Initiative to promote inclusivity in classical music.

Andrew AlmeterAndrew Almeter (Senior Production Coordinator) Before coming to the Krannert Center, Andrew worked at the Buffalo Philharmonic working as the operations coordinator, which included planning the logistics of guest artists’ travel, hotel, catering, and being a go-to person for the “different” tasks associated with the orchestra. His most memorable project was making around 1,000 individual jingle bells for audience members to ring during one of the Christmas concerts. As a note to all, Andrew recalls cutting ribbon and threading it through the bells gets pretty boring at around the 700th time. Besides being a martyr, Andrew is an avid Ultimate Frisbee player, coffee drinker, doesn’t know anything about movies, and has the worst sense of humor in the office, all of which he is very proud of. His love for his job is seeing the creative problem solving that this building is capable of and the sheer ability of getting so many shows up and running.

Breana Brock (Production Coordinator) Bree is an alumna of Stephens College, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Management. Bree started her career here at Krannert Center in 2019. She hasn’t been here for very long but already knows she doesn’t want to leave. Besides being a proud dog mom of three, Bree is an artist, an avid reader, and a plant enthusiast. She loves a good game night and watching a Chiefs football game, with her husband. When she’s not working at Krannert you can probably find her anywhere where there’s food. One of Bree’s favorite parts about her job is the level of collaboration that includes many different departments within Krannert Center and across campus. The ideas, creativity, and perspectives that thrive from this collaboration are monumental to the work accomplished here at Krannert Center.

Seth Wheeler (Technical Coordinator for Events) Seth came to Krannert Center from Springfield, IL where he worked at the Hoogland Center for the arts for 5 years in the Building Operations office. With over 20 different arts organizations that call the Hoogland their home, Seth had the opportunity to assist not only with the physical needs of their events, rehearsals, and meetings, but he also served as a technical liaison, helping those organizations achieve their desired production value for their patrons as they brought the Hoogland’s various theatres and other performance spaces to life. No stranger to all facets of the performing arts, Seth has performed in, stage managed, and even assistant directed many community theatre musicals in Springfield.  Now living in Champaign, he is excited to expand his theatre management repertoire by working at Krannert Center’s world class facility with the world class artists that they bring to Central Illinois. After the curtains have dropped, Seth enjoys listening to music and podcasts, playing board games, getting some form of daily exercise, and lounging at home with his wife, Amy, and their cat, Boo.