Meet Our Staff

Marci Schramm

Executive Director French Quarter Festivals Inc. named Marci Schramm executive director in January 2008. She served as Executive Director of the New Orleans Opera and also held the position of Marketing and Public Relations Director for opera companies such as Michigan Opera Theatre (Detroit, MI), Opera Pacific (Orange County, CA) and the New Orleans Opera. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Schramm was a key organizer of ‘A Night for New Orleans’ gala benefit concert starring Plàcido Domingo. The concert took place at the New Orleans Arena and gained national attention as the first major cultural event for the city following the storm. Schramm is a veteran at producing large-scale events, including a Three Tenors concert at Detroit’s historic Tiger Stadium and Andrea Bocelli’s North American opera debut in 2000. She also helped organize a $100-million campaign to restore an abandoned theater for new use as the home of Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit.

Heather Twichell

Operations Manager Heather Twichell, a native of New Orleans, has worked for major institutions such as the House of Blues as well as other regional festivals. With a background in music, historic preservation and business she has worked in cultural tourism as well as the entertainment industry. Her experience includes hands-on operations and financial management which focus on music and special event production, large-scale food and beverage operations, hiring and management of contractors, vendors and crews, as well as security enforcement. The Operations Manager is a key position within the organization’s six-person staff, which produces three major festivals that comprise over 350 performances, over 1,000 volunteers, and require logistics planning for over 600,000 attendees.

Bebe Williams

Community Relations Manager and Volunteer Coordinator Bebe Williams has a 20+ year career in the hospitality/tourism business focusing on sales, marketing and business development. She credits her success in reaching her goals to strong relationship building, handling of customer service issues and negotiating skills. Currently, she is utilizing these people skills in networking within the tourism industry and the local community to recruit and coordinate approximately 1,000 volunteers for both the French Quarter Festival and Satchmo SummerFest. In addition, she handles many of the administrative duties of FQFI. Previous positions include work as Regional Sales Director of the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and Group Sales/Event Manager for the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

Dave Melerine

Marketing and Merchandise Manager Dave Melerine began his career by working within a variety of media outlets including radio, television and print. While working in Nashville, within event marketing and tour promotions, he coordinated promotions for Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, Cooper Country Mountain Music Festival, and Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience. These experiences have helped him develop the strong communication skills and diligence needed for promoting the Largest Free Music Festival in the South.

Greg Schatz

Entertainment Manager New York native Greg Schatz majored in music at Ithaca College for one year and later received a B.A. from Cornell University, where he studied anthropology and ethnomusicology. He moved to New Orleans in 1995 to pursue a career in music. As a composer, bass player, accordionist, and keyboard player, he works with several ensembles around New Orleans and has performed at clubs and festivals in Europe and around the U.S., including French Quarter Festival. In fall 2008, he joined the staff of French Quarter Festivals, Inc. as Entertainment Manager.

Lionel Toyer

Operations Manager Lionel Toyer joins the French Quarter Festivals, Inc. team for a second term of service as the new Operations Manager. As Operations Manager, Lionel will be responsible for handling food vendors, permits and festival set up among other things for the three major festivals that comprise over 200 performances, over 1,000 volunteers, and require logistics planning for over 600,000 attendees. Lionel was a part of FQFI from 2004 - 2006 as the Entertainment and Media Coordinator before leaving for a 3 year hiatus in Denver as a corporate trainer, but fortunately, Denver was no match for New Orleans. With several years of event planning, marketing and media relations under his belt, Lionel intends to make the best use of his contacts to help produce some of the best festivals in the world with the FQFI staff!

RueDe Poste

The official mascot of French Quarter Festival. RueDe is truly a man of the French Quarter. Before serving as mascot, RueDe was responsible for lighting the 400 block of Royal Street. Now as mascot, his duties include: welcoming over 200,000 out-of-towners to his home and publishing the official FQFI newsletter, The Poste de la Rue. Outside of work, RueDe is a trumpeter, collector of sunglasses, and also works with young lamps at Bevolo Lighting.