Board of Directors

2023-24 Board of Directors

Bill Rogers, President
He/Him
Bill spent 24 years as a commissioned officer in the Coast Guard and has extensive experience at sea performing law enforcement, search and rescue, and military operations. When not underway, he had leadership roles in strategic planning, human resources management and organizational process assessment. Since retiring in 2008, he has worked as a defense contractor. He has appeared in every VLOC production since The Yeomen of the Guard in 2014 and has led set construction, load, and strike since 2015. Previously, he spent 7 years volunteering with the Musical Theater Center as a set builder and production run crew and has sung in 10 different church choirs since 1978 (the Coast Guard kept moving him).

Sarah Robinson, Vice President
She/Her
Sarah first performed with VLOC in 2019 as an ensemble member in Princess Ida. Since then she has appeared in four additional productions, including the first all-virtual A Gilbert & Sullivan Drawing Room film, where she proudly made a cameo as Queen Victoria. Always willing to sew a tear or hem a costume backstage, she also recently assisted with costume construction for Iolanthe. A native of Maryland, she spent 10 years out of state collecting engineering degrees, including a B.S. in Applied & Engineering Physics from Cornell University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she sang frequently with the Baroque Artists of Champaign Urbana (BACH) and Cappella Orpheus. She is deeply grateful for the warm community and fulfilling musical experiences that VLOC provides.

Stephen Brown, Treasurer
He/Him
Stephen has been singing in choirs for many decades - both in the UK where he lived until 1994, and the USA (most recently with American University chorus.) However, he has been involved in operetta only since the fall of 2019 when he joined the VLOC chorus as Pirate of Penzance. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and tax practitioner in the UK before moving to the USA to complete a PhD at Northwestern University. He subsequently researched and taught accounting professor at Emory University (in Atlanta) and the University of Maryland - from where he is now retired. He is also happy to (at last) put his undergraduate degree in Engineering Science to some use while assisting with the construction of VLOC sets.

Michael Beder, Secretary
He/Him
Michael Beder grew up in Montgomery County, graduating from Winston Churchill High School (where he got his first significant exposure to the theater). He returned to the D.C. area after college and soon entered Georgetown Law. More importantly, he joined the Georgetown Gilbert & Sullivan Society, where he stage managed four shows, has worked as an ASM and/or on the lights crew for many more, and even performed a few times, in addition to serving a year as the group's Tech Director and two years as an alumni representative on the GG&SS board. With the encouragement of GG&SS members with VLOC experience, he tried out for VLOC's 2015 production of Ruddigore, was fortunate enough to be cast as one of the Sirs Despard, and has been delighted to continue performing with the company - and serving on the Board - since then. He remains a bit miffed that no one told him about VLOC in all the years he grew up in the area and has tried to spread the word, including through some of the videos available on VLOC's YouTube channel offering a peek behind the scenes of some of the company's recent productions. By day, he is a communications lawyer.

Bonnie Barrows
She/Her
Bonnie has played violin since the fifth grade, sung in choirs and served as a cantor in area churches for over 30 years, and played as a member of concert and pit orchestras (including Damascus Theatre Company, Potomac Theatre Company, Rockville Music Theatre, and Har Shalom Players) for almost as long. She has had the pleasure of playing as part of VLOC's orchestra since around 1986. Over the past several years, she has provided support as a musical director (including composing and arranging music) and assistant director for several local community theater productions. She and her husband, Tom Jameson, are avid Halloween fans, build props from scratch, and set up a memorable yard display to entertain the ToTs (trick or treaters) every year.

Gideon D'Addio
They/Them
Gideon is a recent transplant to the Maryland/DC area, having first performed with VLOC in 2022 in The Brigands, and they are immensely grateful for the joyful musical community they have found through VLOC. Gideon holds a Master's degree in Vocal Pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory of Music and is dedicated to the arts as a soloist, choirster, and voice instructor. They work as the Student Services Coordinator and academic advisor for the UMD School of Music's undergraduate population.

Frank Eliot
He/Him
Frank started playing G&S with Peter Kline well before VLOC was founded, and has performed in pit orchestras almost continuously ever since, masquerading as a second trombone. During much of this time, Frank was playing with the Montgomery Savoyards, which became the Washington Savoyards, and subbing in the VLOC orchestra when needed. He left the Savoyards and its Board of Directors in 2006 and has played in almost every VLOC show since then. Frank has lived all his life in the DC area, has a doctorate in Electrical Engineering, and retired as a senior scientist after long service in the federal government. He has watched VLOC develop into a first-class G&S company and hopes to help maintain this trajectory.

Catherine Huntress-Reeve
She/Her
Kate came to VLOC in 1997, directing a double bill of Trial by Jury and The Sorcerer. Since then, she has served as stage director or music director for numerous VLOC productions, including HMS Pinafore, Haddon Hall, Orpheus in the Underworld, Magic Flute, Die Fledermaus, The Gondoliers, and Ruddigore. She has conducted VLOC "run-outs" including holiday and civic performances. She serves as Assistant Minister of Music at All Saints Church in Chevy Chase. Kate holds a Bachelor's of Music in Vocal Performance, and a Master's in Vocal Performance and Conducting, both from the University of Michigan. By day, Kate is often found in a middle-school classroom, where she subs long-term in math, science, and (of course) music. She is married to David Reeve, a crackerjack stage manager when his day job permits. They have two daughters, who were raised in the way of G&S.

Amanda Jones
She/Her
Amanda has been involved with VLOC since 2013 when she joined the ensemble of Iolanthe. Since then she has been in 10 stage productions and has served on the board of directors for 5 years. She lives with her husband and daughter in North Bethesda, MD. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from The College of William and Mary. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University. When not on stage, she works full time as a Nurse Practitioner at The National Institutes of Health, studying rare lung diseases.

Shannen Knapp
Shannen Knapp is an avid performer and music educator. A lyric mezzo soprano, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Utah Valley University. Since graduating, Shannen has performed in several states from Florida to Texas and lots in between as she has followed her military husband around the U.S. with her 2 kids. Now a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, Shannen is thrilled to be a part of the VLOC community! In 2022, she made her VLOC debut as the Marchioness in The Brigands and was most recently seen in VLOC's performance of H.M.S Pinafore as Little Buttercup. Shannen is also the owner and founder of Mindful Musicians Academy, where she teaches both piano and voice lessons. Shannen looks forward to many more performances with VLOC and is eager to serve the board in any capacity she can!

Karen Moore
She/Her
Karen Moore has a lifelong love of light opera, starting an an early age where many of her happiest memories are attending Light Opera of Manhattan (LOOM) productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas at the Jan Hus playhouse in New York with her father. She has taken every opportunity over the years to attend performances around the world, from high school efforts to sophisticated stagings. When moving to the DC area in 2013, she was particularly delighted to discover VLOC and has attended nearly every Gilbert and Sullivan production at the F. Scott Fitzgerald theatre ever since, many with her father, while he was still able to travel, and most with both her child and husband. Her child has subsequently gone on to complete a theatre major in university and is now apprenticing in sound at a theatre in Michigan, while her husband, a British citizen, is continuously impressed by the productions and the accents!

Currently an advisor to corporate boards and officers, adjunct professor at Fordham Law School and frequent speaker on data privacy, compliance and ethics, Mrs. Moore holds a BA from Middlebury College, a JD from Emory University, and a certificate of European legal studies from Leiden University. Currently based in the Washington DC metro area, Mrs. Moore has also lived and worked in Moscow, Russia, and Lausanne, Switzerland.

Long Nguyen
He/Him
Long Nguyen loves videography and singing equally, spending most of his time splitting between the two passions. He joined VLOC in 2022 in Les Brigands and made a further appearance in New Moon. An avid Savoyard ever since he was introduced to the work of Gilbert & Sullivan through a friend in 2019, Long was initially drawn to VLOC because it is the only opera company in the DMV area with a dedicated G&S repertoire. Since then, however, he has grown to love both the music VLOC performs and the community aspect the company represents. Outside of VLOC, he is also a frequent performer of German lieder and a conductor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, where he conducts the annual Handel’s Messiah concert. He is a videographer by trade, working for the George Washington University as his day job, and helping VLOC record videos of productions in the evening. A native of Silver Spring, MD who currently resides in DC, Long has an MA in Photojournalism from the George Washington University and a BA in Political Science from the University of Richmond with a Minor in Music.

Sterling Washington
He/Him
Sterling holds a B.A. in Political Science from The George Washington University and a B.Mus. in Music History and with a Voice minor from Howard University, where his teachers were Charlotte Holloman and Dr. James Moore. Currently, he studies voice with soprano Margaret Stricklett. Sterling is the Tenor Section Leader/Soloist at National City Christian Church and is a member of K4, a local bluegrass band. Recently, he performed in two productions for Try It Out Theatre: Faye McCray’s “Just Pretend” and “Silence Night” by Christopher Kess. Sterling made his VLOC debut in January 2021 as Samuel in “A Gilbert and Sullivan Drawing Room.” Outside of music and acting, Sterling is Head of Client Success for IOREX Global Company, a startup company.

Denise Young
She/Her
Denise Young is a Washington, DC native; attended the University of Maryland studying voice before stumbling into banking as a career. At present she is a branch office administrator for a branch of a national investment company. She has always spent her spare time performing and designing costumes for a variety of groups around the DC area but her theater home is VLOC. Denise’s introduction to VLOC was as a costumer and replacement Grisette in the 1996 production of The Merry Widow and has been involved in every show but two since – as costumer, producer, performer, even stage manager once.

Tom Zebovitz
He/Him
In addition to being an orchestra member in many VLOC productions, as well as with many other musical theatre groups, Tom brings considerable experience on the governance side. He was the orchestra representative on the Walla Walla Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors for 4 years in Washington State, which, among other things, stewarded an endowment fund of about $3 million at the time. The Board’s focus on fundraising resulted in successful events such as dinners, dances, and auctions. Tom also founded several businesses. Tom's day job is at the FDA, on the food side. He is working on his next career as a film, TV, and documentary music composer.

Past & Present Board Members

Helen Aberger
Erika White Abrams
Bob Ashby
Rishabh Bajekal
Bonnie Barrows
Kathy Barry
Michael Beder
Ed Blau
Gail Bock
Tim Briceland-Betts
Jenny Craley Bland
Keely Bosworth Borland
Gordon Brigham
Stephanie Brigham
Bill Brown
Felicity Ann Brown
Ross Capon
Audrey Chang
Lynne Clafin
Laura Cline
Jacy D'Aiutolo
David Dubov
Helen DuPont
Tony Dwyer
David Ehrhart
Blair Eig
Les Elkins
Erica Ferguson
Frances Fleming

Lisa Fisher
Diana Fortuna
Susan Frampton
Gaye Freese
Lisa Freese
Sheryl Friedlander
Shirley Friedman
Thomas Fuchs
Michael Galizia
Larry Garvin
Tom Goode
Greg Grenier
Barry Grinnell
Ira Haber
Rebecca Henry
Leta M. Hall
Jim Hummel
Donna Jaffe
Lyle Jaffe
Ralph Johnson
Amanda Jones
Courtney Kalbacker
Linda Kirk
Peter Kline
Michael Kostrzewa
Alexa Kuhn

Helene Kram
Kate Kawniczak
Carol Leahy
Syril Lessans
Harvey Levine
Robert Levey
Edith Livingstone
Malinda Lloyd
Ron Lloyd
Todd Allen Long
Jane Maryott
Mary Sue Merritt
Stevie Miller
Josh Milton
Constance A. Morella
Gina Nowacki
Barabara J. Omohundro
Deborah Peetz
Gary Pricer
Amy Rauch
Catherine Huntress-Reeve
Jon Riley
Bill Rogers
Maureen Roult
Carla Rountree
Sandy Rovner

Rosalie Santilhano
Shirley Santilhano
Marion Scodari
Andrew Sheets
Roberta Smit
Madeleine Smith
Melanie Smith
Dawn Snyder
Joseph Sorge
Wendy A.F.G. Stengel
Julie Stevens
Gary Sullivan
Rusty Suter
Mollie Toms
Guillaume Tourniare
C. Ed Vilade
Edward Walker
Sterling Washington
Stephen D. Welsh
Kiersten Whitehead
Meghan Williams
Ed Wiot
Kent Woods
Denise Young