At the ACSO Annual Meeting held at the 2019 Annual Conference in Monterey on August 8, ACSO welcomed four new board members, re-elected a board member, elected officers for 2019/20, and said farewell to several outgoing board members. New board members include:
Loribeth Gregory-Beck currently serves as the Director of Education & Community Engagement at the Santa Barbara Symphony, where she oversees programs and cultivates community partnerships. With experience as a teacher, arts administrator, and in business management, Loribeth brings a breadth of knowledge and practice to her work in education. At the Los Angeles Philharmonic, she led the Young Composer Programs (Composer Fellowship Program, National Composers Intensive) and projects for the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), through which she worked with prominent artists in the classical music industry, such as Andrew Norman, Gabriela Ortiz, Tania León, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, and prepared students for performances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, and Ojai Music Festival. In addition to her work in music education, Loribeth has presented original research papers at conferences for the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Association for Asian American Studies. Loribeth earned an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from University of California, Riverside, where she was a lecturer, and a B.A. in Music, magna cum laude, and a minor in Anthropology from Webster University.
Jamei Haswell is immediate past chairman of the Santa Rosa Symphony and a retired corporate executive and professional engineer. Throughout her career she specialized in business development, strategic planning and energy efficiency. Before retiring she was Vice President of an international energy efficiency consulting firm located in Northern Virginia. During her career she worked for Combustion Engineering, Pacific Gas and Electric, the Edison Electric Institute, and several major energy consulting companies. Clients included American Red Cross, NASA, the World Bank and electric utilities. She lived in the Washington DC area for more than 25 years and enjoyed many National Symphony Seasons. She especially enjoyed the years when Mstislav Rostropovitch conducted and often played his cello. Since moving to Santa Rosa in 1999, Jamei has been active on numerous boards and community organizations. About 15 years ago she began painting for pleasure and maintains a studio in Santa Rosa. Her work can be seen in various venues and homes throughout the US.
Anthony Parnther has led orchestras throughout the United States, Korea, China, Australia, and across Europe and South America. He is in demand as a conductor for Hollywood scoring sessions for motion pictures, television shows, albums, trailers, commercials, and video game music consumed worldwide. His versatility as a conductor has landed him in collaboration with legendary artists in all genres. He has had the privilege of working closely with a growing List of iconic talent including Joshua Bell, Frederica von Stade, RZA, Wu Tang Clan, the Canadian Brass, Doc Severensen, Maynard Ferguson, Kanye West, Arturo Sandoval, Beyonce, Edgar Meyer, Jon Faddis, Wes Borland, Imagine Dragons, and Rihanna. In 2019 he was selected as the new music director for the San Bernardino Symphony and in 2010 he was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Southeast Symphony in Los Angeles. In addition, he is Music Director of Wind Orchestra of the West and Principal Guest Conductor of the Salem Symphony in Salem, Oregon. At the invitation of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Maestro Parnther has been engaged as Guest Cover Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Assistant Conductor to Maestro Thomas Wilkins for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He is a regular guest conductor with the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra. In 2013, Anthony conducted his first World Championship concert for Riot Games, developer of the massively popular online game, League of Legends. Anthony studied orchestral conducting with Victor Yampolsky (Northwestern University) and Leighton Lawrence Smith (Yale University). He also received guidance, training, and mentorship frorn Cliff Colnot. Frank Battisti, Roxanne Haskill. Thomas Jenrette, and W. Francis MacBeth.
Executive Director, Alice Sauro, began her tenure with the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera in early 2015. Her career spans 31 years as a violinist and subsequently as a manager with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and now the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera. A Juilliard-trained violinist, her career was cut short by injury, which opened up the opportunity for her to enter management opportunities, beginning with the position of Musical Director for the Nederlander-operated Fisher Theatre in Detroit. In 2007, Sauro was recruited by the DSO to be Executive Assistant to DSO Music Director, Leonard Slatkin. And prior to her move to the Bay Area in the fall of 2014, she held the role of Orchestra Manager at the DSO. Her successful transition to the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera comes at a time of tremendous growth for the Sacramento region and is met with a resurgence in arts awareness and a true dedication to establishing sustainable arts entities in the community.
New 2019/20 officers include:
• President: Sean Sutton, executive vice president & COO, Pacific Symphony
• Vice President: Aubrey Bergauer, independent consultant
• Vice President: Dean McVay, board president, San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra
• Vice President: Julia Ward, Director, Humanities, Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Vice President: Amy Williams, Managing Director, Camerata Pacifica
• Treasurer: Steve Friedlander, executive director, Carmel Bach Festival
• Secretary: Lacey Huszcza, executive director, Las Vegas Philharmonic
Re-elected 2019/20 board members include:
• Donna Williams, board member, Oakland Symphony
Outgoing Board Members include:
• Genevieve Macias, fundraising executive
• Alan Mason, managing director, BlackRock
• Nicola Reilly, executive director, Monterey Symphony
• Janneke Straub, director of leadership gifts, Los Angeles Opera
• Bettina Swigger, CEO, Downtown SLO
• Paul Jan Zdunek, vice president, Boys & Girls Club of America