About Us

The Carolina Institute of Leadership and Engagement in Music (CILEM) formed out of a desire to give South Carolina students an added dimension to their musical training. CILEM provides students with the entrepreneurship, community engagement, and music advocacy education they need to forge successful and meaningful careers in their communities. Coursework, guest speakers and performers, workshops, internship opportunities, resources, and community outreach activities provide opportunities for students to broaden their experiences and deepen their understanding of the larger musical world. In short, CILEM seeks to help students become effective communicators of their art and future leaders in their communities.

Want to learn more? Click on our links for answers to FAQs and to learn more about our mission and goals.

CILEM Leaders

Among those making things happen are:

Rebecca Schalk Nagel, Director
Ellen Douglas Schlaefer, Associate Director

Rebecca Schalk Nagel
Rebecca Schalk Nagel enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, and educator. Principal oboist of the South Carolina Philharmonic, Ms. Nagel has performed as a soloist with the Philharmonic in Mozart’s Concerto in C, Krommer's Concerto in F, and J.S. Bach’s Concerto in A for oboe d’amore. Her CD featuring solo and chamber music of Allan Blank, Libby Larsen, Hendrik Andriessen and John Valerio was released in 2008 on the Centaur label. In 2001, Ms. Nagel was the recipient of the South Carolina Arts Commission Artist Fellowship. She has performed as a solo recitalist on the Noonday Concert series at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City and with the Bethlehem Bach Choir, the New York City Opera National Company, and the New Philharmonia of Riverside. She has performed at conferences of the International Double Reed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Austin, Texas, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Tempe, Arizona. Rebecca Nagel was a fellowship participant at the Tanglewood Music Center, the New College Music Festival, the Bach Aria Festival, and the Yale Chamber Music Festival. A native of Chicago, Ms. Nagel received a B.M. degree from Lawrence University and graduate degrees from Yale University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she studied with Ronald Roseman.

Ellen Douglas Schlaefer
Ellen Douglas Schlaefer was appointed Director of Opera Studies at the University of South Carolina in the Fall Semester, 2004. She has staged Faust for The Washington Opera; La Boheme with the National Symphony Orchestra (Wolf Trap Opera); Aida (the Connecticut Opera); the Magic Flute (Opera Memphis, Houston Ebony Opera Guild); La Boheme (Michigan Opera theatre, Opera Carolina, Connecticut Opera, Augusta Opera); Porgy & Bess (Opera Illinois, Connecticut Opera); La Traviata (Cleveland Opera, Opera Memphis, Connecticut Opera); Rigoletto (Opera Carolina, Piedmont Opera); Salome, Norma, Die Fledermaus, Tosca, The Ballad of Baby Dod, Il Tabbaro, Romeo et Juliette (Connecticut Opera); Madama Butterfly (Artpark & Co., Connecticut Opera); Lucia di Lammermoor (Orlando Opera); Fidelio (Cleveland Opera); I Pagliacci (Eugene Opera, Connecticut Opera). Other operas include La Dolorosa, The Face on the Barroom Floor, Luisa Fernanda, and Bastien & Bastienne (Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Tour); Amahl & the Night Visitors, Gianni Schicci (Dayton Opera); The Medium (August Opera); The Telephone (Augusta Opera, Dayton Opera); Le Ville, Edgar, Martha, Linda dil Chamounix, La Pietra del Paragon and The Toy Shop (Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia. Additional directing projects include the dramas Master Class, Grace & Glorie, You Can’t Take It With You and The Sister Rosensweig (Workshop Theatre of SC); musicals She Love Me (Coastal Carolina University); A Chorus Line, South Pacific, Oklahoma, The Merry Widow and The King & I (Artpark, Lewiston, NY). Dedicated to Arts education, Schlaefer is founder and general director of FBN Productions, Inc. Opera for Kids, a touring company based in South Carolina, specializing in bringing opera into the schools of the Southeast. FBN has shared the joys of live opera with over 13,000 young people (www.operaforkids.org). Ellen Schlaefer has also worked with young artist programs for The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Carolina, Baltimore Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Connecticut Opera, Houston Ebony Opera Guild, Dayton Opera and Opera Colorado. In December 2004 Schlaefer directed the Zambello production of The Little Prince for Houston Grand Opera.