Nina Wainwright was born in Philadelphia and attended Germantown Academy, Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and earned her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Nina rose to become a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, an extraordinary accomplishment for a woman at that time. Following her retirement from Lehman Brothers, she was a consultant for the Rockefeller Foundation

After moving to Princeton, Judy Scheide recruited Nina to join the board of Princeton Symphony Orchestra. It was through Nina’s lifelong love of music and her passion for singing and performing the American Songbook that she transformed the music scene in Princeton. In 2004, Nina conceived, secured the funding for and launched PSO’s first Broadway Pops concert, starring Stephen Bogardus and Rebecca Luker. An immediate success, these concerts were the forerunners of today’s Princeton Festival’s Broadway series.  Throughout her service on PSO’s board, Nina remained PSO’s ardent Broadway impresario. In 2009, she brought the legendary lyric soprano Barbara Cook to celebrate the fifth anniversary of PSO Pops. In 2014, for the tenth anniversary, she tapped the dazzling “keeper of the American Songbook,” pianist Michael Feinstein, to perform.  

A devoted and creative supporter of music education, Nina personally funded and guided a singing program in Princeton to identify, coach and train talented underprivileged middle school girls. She joined the Westminster Choir College Dean’s Advisory Council where she created the Philip A. Campanella Memorial Scholarship as an endowment to support Westminster Choir College undergraduate voice majors with a minor in musical theater.

Thank you to Melanie Clarke for compiling Nina’s bio.