Deborah Patel

Deborah Patel has more than a decade of experience in chorus and orchestra management. She was the first executive director of the Milwaukee Children's Choir, served for a year as the interim executive director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, is currently a member of the board of directors of the MSO, and is a past Chorus America board member. She is also a member of the MSO Chorus, where she spent many years in its professional core. From 2015-2017 she served as chair of the MSO chorus director search committee. She retires from the Chorus in June 2018.

A native of suburban Minneapolis, Debbie graduated from Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) and received a law degree from George Washington Law School (D.C.). Before becoming an arts administrator, Debbie practiced corporate law at Foley & Lardner, a national firm with headquarters in Milwaukee.

Debbie is now happily retired, and when she is not active in the arts, she is a political organizer, a family history blog writer, a genealogist, a student of American history, and is slated to be the next board president of the Woman’s Club of Wisconsin, the oldest woman’s club in the United States.