RPO Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq., Chair of the Board
Curtis S. Long, President & CEO
Cindy Yancey, Vice Chair of the Board
George Daddis, Vice Chair of the Board
Karen Kessler, Secretary
Richard Stein, Treasurer
TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2023
Diana Clarkson, Esq.
George Daddis
Catherine Frangenberg
Allyson Hiranandani
Dr. Diane Lu
Michael Millard
Elizabeth F. Rice
Dr. Eva P. Sauer
Katherine T. Schumacher
George J. Schwartz, M.D.
Richard Stein
Dr. James Watters
TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2024
James Englert
Emerson Fullwood
Paulette Gissendanner
Zuzanna Kwon
Katherine Lindahl
Jack McGowan
Dr. Victor Poleshuck
Dr. Sidney Sobel
Cindy Yancey
TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2025
Stanley Byrd, Ed.D.
James Fulmer
Laurie A. Haelen
Ralph F. Jozefowicz. M.D.
Karen Kessler
Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.
Deborah Onslow
Ronald E. Salluzzo
Jason Thomas
EX-OFFICIO
Patrick Fulford, Chairperson, Honorary Board
Lars Kirvan, Orchestra Representative
Erik Behr, Orchestra Representative
Curtis S. Long, President & CEO
Jamal J. Rossi, Dean, Eastman School of Music
HONORARY BOARD
Patrick Fulford, Chairperson, Honorary Board
Stephen B. Ashley
Nancy Beilfuss*
James M. Boucher
Paul W. Briggs*
William L. Cahn
Louise Epstein
Joan Feinbloom
Ilene Flaum
Betsy Friedman
Ronald A. Furman*
Mary M. Gooley*
Suzanne Gouvernet
David C. Heiligman
A. Thomas Hildebrandt
Harold A. Kurland, Esq.
Dr. Dawn F. Lipson
Jacques M. Lipson, MD*
Cricket and Frank Luellen*
Elizabeth F. Rice
Nathan J. Robfogel, Esq.
Jon L. Schumacher, Esq.
Katherine T. Schumacher
Betty Strasenburgh*
Josephine S. Trubek
Suzanne D. Welch
Patricia Wilder*
Deborah Wilson
Robert Woodhouse
The RPO expresses its gratitude to all those who have served as Honorary Board members in the past.
PAST RPO CHAIRPERSONS
1930–32: Edward G. Miner*
1932–34: Simon N. Stein*
1934–38: George E. Norton*
1938–41: Leroy E. Snyder*
1941–42: Frank W. Lovejoy*
1942–43: Bernard E. Finucane*
1943–46: L. Dudley Field*
1946–48: Edward S. Farrow, Jr. *
1948–51: Joseph J. Myler*
1951–52: Joseph F. Taylor*
1952–55: Raymond W. Albright*
1955–57: Arthur I. Stern*
1957–59: Thomas H. Hawks*
1959–61: Walter C. Strakosh*
1962–63: Ernest J. Howe*
1963–65: O. Cedric Rowntree*
1965–67: Frank E. Holley *
1967–69: Thomas C. Taylor*
1969–71: Thomas H. Miller*
1971–72: Mrs. Frederick J. Wilkens*
1972–73: Edward C. McIrvine
1973–74: Robert J. Strasenburgh*
1974–75: John A. Santuccio
1975–76: Robert J. Strasenburgh*
1976–78: Dr. Louis Lasagna*
1978–80: Edward C. McIrvine
1980–82: Peter L. Faber
1982–84: Paul F. Pagerey*
1984–85: Peter L. Waasdorp*
1986–89: Robert H. Hurlbut*
1989–91: Paul W. Briggs
1991–93: Karen Noble Hanson*
1993–95: Ronald E. Salluzzo
1995–98: A. Thomas Hildebrandt
1998–00: Harold A. Kurland, Esq.
2000–04: David C. Heiligman
2004–06: Ingrid A. Stanlis
2006–09: James M. Boucher
2009–11: Suzanne D. Welch
2011–13: Elizabeth F. Rice
2013–15: Dr. Dawn F. Lipson
2015-17: Jules L. Smith, Esq.
2017-19: Ingrid A. Stanlis
* Deceased
Administration
Curtis S. Long
Curtis S. Long
President and CEO
Curt Long has served as President and CEO of the Rochester Philharmonic since September 1, 2017. He came to Rochester from the Alabama Symphony Orchestra where he spent nine years as President. His time in Alabama saw the ASO make its Carnegie Hall debut (at the 2012 Spring for Music Festival); release a limited-pressing recording of ASO commissioned works; engage Carlos Izcaray as its new Music Director; expand education programs both in greater Birmingham and in underserved rural communities throughout Alabama; and successfully present an inaugural Sound Edge Festival in February 2017.
Prior to moving to Birmingham, Curt Long held similar positions with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ohio for 14 years and with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra for two years. In Dayton, he collaborated with local arts and business leaders in the development of the visually stunning and acoustically superb Schuster Performing Arts Center. Long’s previous professional experience was in a very different field of entertainment--he spent five years working with a firm that managed Indy Car and Formula One automobile races.
A seasoned and respected orchestra manager, Curt Long has served as a grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as state and local arts grantmakers in Alabama, Ohio, and Michigan. Long has served as a consultant and mediator for orchestras across North America, and has been an invited speaker at the Annual Conference of the Regional Orchestra Players Association.
Curt Long graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in English from the University of Chicago, holds an MBA in not-for-profit management from the University of California, Berkeley, and is an alumnus of the League of American Orchestras’ Orchestra Management Fellowship program. A native of Los Angeles, Long played Horn as an amateur but chose a career in music management rather than performance.
Curt Long and his wife Elizabeth live in Brighton, New York with the youngest of their three children, Mary.
President and CEO
Samantha Marchant
Executive Assistant/Office Manager
Marketing & Communications
Herb Griffith
Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Sally Cohen for Sally Cohen PR, Public Relations
Public Relations and Communications Manager
Cody Brackett
Content & Digital Marketing Manager
Lauren MacDonough
Marketing Manager
Artistic Operations & Education
James Barry
Vice President of Artistic Planning and Operations
Barbara Brown
Barbara Brown
Barbara Brown, Vice President of Education
The Lisk Morris Foundation Chair for Education
Barbara Brown joined the RPO in 2008 and was named Director of Education in 2012. As Director of Education, she is responsible for the management and implementation of all of the RPO’s educational concerts and activities. Additionally, she oversees and coordinates all aspects of the RPO’s community engagement programs. Barbara earned a BA/BM in Saxophone Performance, as well as a BA in Anthropology from the University of Washington. She came to Rochester to complete an MM in Saxophone Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, where she was also awarded a Performer’s Certificate. Barbara still performs in the area with the Vertex Saxophone Quartet. She and her husband (RPO Clarinetist Andrew Brown) reside in Irondequoit along with their adorable dog, Birdie.
Lisk Morris Foundation Vice President of Education Chair
Chisato Eda Marling
Manager of Education and Community Partnerships
Alexis Luque
Concert Production Manager
Sara Beth Shelton
Artistic & Education Coordinator
David Zaccaria
Stage Manager
Cedrick Martinez
Assistant Stage Manager
Fred Dole
Orchestra Personnel Manager
Kim Hartquist
Principal Librarian
Karl Vilcins
Auditions Coordinator
Patron Services Center
Charlene Beckwith
Director of Ticketing
Meghan Dunn
Patron Services Manager
Daniel Long
Patron Services Assistant Manager
Rilyn Gancia
Patron Services Representative
Sammy DeAngelis
Patron Services Representative
Alexandra Hotz
Patron Services Representative
Abby Chapman Duprey
Patron Services Representative
Emma Duprey
Patron Services Representative
Peter Ecklund
Patron Services Representative
Jack Finlay
Patron Services Representative
Emma Gierszal
Patron Services Representative
Stephen House
Patron Services Representative
Ashley Vogler
Patron Services Representative
Development
Robert Dermody
Robert Dermody
Vice President of Development, rdermody@rpo.org
Rob Dermody is the Vice President of Development and works closely with the RPO Board and Leadership, to raise the necessary support for identified priorities. He manages a portfolio of approximately 150 relationships, creates fundraising strategies for all prospects, develops relationships with donors, solicits major gifts up to and exceeding one million dollars and coordinates effective donor stewardship. Rob cultivates relationships with VIP donors and external strategic alliances to maximize synergistic opportunities.
Vice President of Development
Elisabeth Bischoff-Ormsbee
Senior Director of Principal Gifts
Amy Gallaher
Amy Gallaher
Amy Gallaher, Director of Development, Annual Giving & Special Events
agallaher@rpo.org
Amy Gallaher comes to the RPO with over 15 years of special event and donor engagement experience. A graduate of the State University of New York College of Technology at Delhi with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Hospitality Management, Amy came to the Rochester area in 1998. Her past experience includes event support and program management at the Wilmot Cancer Institute at URMC, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and immediately prior to joining the Development team at the RPO, she was the manager of special events and donor engagement at the Hillside Children’s Foundation where she also oversaw the Hillside Special Santa Program. Amy lives in the town of Walworth (Wayne County), with her husband and three children.
Director of Development, Annual Giving & Special Events
Bryce Davis
Bryce Davis
bdavis@rpo.org
Bryce Davis joins the RPO as a recent graduate of the University of Rochester, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Music, cum laude. As Assistant Director of Institutional Giving and Stewardship, Bryce manages the RPO's Foundation and Government relationships. He is excited to have this opportunity to bridge business and art to help the RPO thrive in an ever-changing environment. Previous roles include Co-Host and Producer of the Careers Unfiltered podcast at the Gwen M. Greene Center and Event Producer for the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America.
Originally from a small town about an hour and a half south of Rochester called Wellsville, Bryce now lives in the City's 19th Ward. Outside of work, he can often be found cycling, hiking, and singing with his friends.
Director of Institutional Partnerships
Finance
Terry Hartmann
Chief Financial Officer
Brandi Sheppard
Senior Accountant
Andrew Brown
Staff Accountant
Rochester Philharmonic League
Matt Kopalek
Volunteer Administrator