ABOUT OUR BOARD
Matt Lehnert
President/Board Member
Matt Lehnert, our Board President comes to the Nebraska Performing Arts Hall of Fame board with numerous community gold stars under his belt, and a deep knowledge of local arts and music. Not only is he a musician himself, but he has sat on numerous boards across the City of Lincoln, including the KZUM 89.3FM Board of Directors, and was a longtime Board member of Lincoln Children’s Zoo, assisting with countless events and developments with both organizations.
His connection with community members is loyal and deep, and this has led him to be one of the top Real Estate Advisors with Concorde Management. You could not ask for a more genuine person to represent the Hall of Fame.
He is also a Father of two wonderful Daughters, and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his amazing wife, Amy.
Michael Semrad Jr.
General Manager – Executive Director
Mike Semrad Jr., a nearly 40+ year entertainer, started performing alongside his father and Uncles at State and County fairs at the age of 4. He has continued to grow as a singer/songwriter, producer, talent agent, philanthropist, and advocate for fair publishing rights. He and his wife Kerry lead The Bottle Tops, one of the Midwest’s premiere honky tonk groups. Semrad also owns Sower Records, in which they just released their 32nd album which hit the top 10 Americana charts.
In 2017, he helped organize a famed concert, ‘Harvest the Hope, to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, bringing Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson, Neil Young, and tribal leaders together in Nebraska. Michael Semrad continues to organize groups of creative minds to make positive change all across the nation.
Martha Florence
Secretary-Treasurer
Marthaellen Florence, now retired, was the director of community engagement at NET-Television. In the community, she sits on the boards of the Malone Community Center, Lincoln Community Foundation, a longtime organizer of Jazz in June (Lincoln, NE), Lincoln Library Board, KZUM Radio, and Flatwater Shakespeare Company. She is the associate CD-1 county chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party. She also serves on the UNL Chancellor’s Commission for the Status of People of Color and is part of the Inclusive Leadership curriculum team. She joins the Nebraska Performing Arts Hall of Fame board with a wide knowledge of music history and general Nebraska history.
Joel Egger
Board Member
Joel Egger is an actor, director, and teaching artist in performance at Doane University in Crete, Nebraska. Joel received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nebraska’s Johnny Carson School of Fine and Performing Arts in 2004. Egger also has conceived several original theatre works in Los Angeles and in his native state of Nebraska. Joel went on to receive his Masters of Fine Arts in Acting from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2009 and worked professionally in southern California for 4 years.
Joel has been teaching all levels of acting, script analysis, movement, writing for performance, and devised theatre at Doane since 2015. Egger started his full-time work at Doane in the Fall of 2017. Joel has directed several main stage shows at Doane including: HAMLET, THE SEAGULL, APPROPRIATE, THE FLICK, THE CHRISTIANS, and GOOD FOR OTTO. His knowledge in stage and Nebraska history is invaluable to the Hall of Fame, and we are lucky to have him involved.
Marq Manner
Board Member
MarQ Manner is a genuine encyclopedia and music impresario of Nebraska bands and national acts. MarQ also has over fifteen years of experience working at various record stores, and a swell of history in writing reviews and articles about area bands and events. He has also worked closely with numerous local festivals and events while managing stages and artist’s hospitality through the years.
MarQ has also recently taken over The Reader’s Backbeat column and returned to writing music features on a regular basis with Omaha Buzz. There you’ll find his music reporting, reviews (live and recordings), interviews, and other cool stuff.
He brings his wealth of knowledge and know-how to the table for the Hall of Fame. Not to mention his genuine kindness and excitement of music.
Questions for our board?
Let’s begin the conversation of how we can make something magical happen.