VICTORIAN LYRIC OPERA COMPANY
  • About VLOC
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • Board of Directors
    • Diversity, Equity, and Expansion
    • Education and Outreach
    • VLOC Hall of Fame >
      • Hall of Ancestors
      • Flowers of Progress
    • Reviews, Press & Awards
    • Financials & Strategic Plan
  • Shows & Events
    • 2026 - 2027 Season >
      • Haddon Hall
    • Archive >
      • Patience
      • Elixir of Love
      • Strauss Concert
      • The Zoo and Trial by Jury
      • The Bravado
      • The Anonymous Lover
      • The Many Moods of Christmas
      • The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
      • Ruddigore
      • Die Fledermaus
      • Gentleman's Guide
      • The Sorcerer
      • More... >
        • Colored American Opera Company 150th Anniversary Celebration
        • H.M.S. Pinafore
        • The Zoo & Sweethearts
        • The New Moon
        • The Brigands
        • El Capitan
        • Iolanthe
        • From Paris to Vienna (2021)
  • Get Involved
    • Auditions
    • Membership
    • Opportunities >
      • Marketing Manager
      • Direct for Us
    • Company Policies
    • Cast Portal >
      • Haddon Hall Cast
  • Support
    • Restock The Shops
    • Donate Now
    • Shop
  • Contact Us

2025-26 Board of Directors

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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).

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Rebecca Bengali, Vice President
She/Her
Rebecca Bengali studied theater at Florida State University before moving to the DC area. A lover of all things Gilbert and Sullivan, her favorite roles include Lady Jane in Patience, Dick Deadeye in HMS Pinafore, and the Duchess in Gondoliers. Rebecca recently moved to Rockville and has since been seen on the VLOC stage as a chorus member in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein. When she is not on stage, Rebecca works as a direct mail consultant for nonprofit fundraising. Experienced managing membership programs for many nonprofits, including theaters in the DC area, Rebecca is dedicated to getting important stories to the people who matter most. Her work has connected donors to causes near and dear to their hearts nationwide.

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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.

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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. By day, he is a communications lawyer. 

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Kathleen Allen
​She/Her

Kathleen first discovered Gilbert and Sullivan at 16, singing alto in Princess Ida with the Madison Savoyards in Madison, Wisconsin. Since then, she has enjoyed a 40-year career performing and teaching opera, operetta, musical theater, and concert music across the United States. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Wisconsin in 2004 and taught at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, Auburn University, and Central State University in Ohio, where she served as Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. Her Gilbert and Sullivan highlights include singing Josephine in the 1989 Maryland Arts Festival production of HMS Pinafore and making her VLOC debut in 1991 as the title role in Princess Ida. Favorite operatic roles include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, and Mme Lidoine in Dialogues of the Carmelites.Dr. Allen began conducting in 2015 with The Pirates of Penzance, followed by Company and Dreamgirls at Central State. She returned to VLOC in 2024 as co-music director of Ruddigore and music director/conductor of Patience in spring 2026.

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Cassie Conley
She/Her
Cassie has played violin since age three, sung in choirs since grade school, and started viola after moving to DC in 2006, playing G&S since grad school (although not yet Yeomen of the Guard), and with VLOC since around 2010 on an unusual Dali-esque 5-string viola. Chamber and orchestral music were a major focus as a kid and while obtaining degrees in biology at MIT and Cornell, as well as more recently when living in in DC. After a career working for NASA, future plans include a lot more music and planting trees on a 40-acre 'retirement' farm further north. 

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Lisa Fahlstrom
She/Her
Born raised in the DC area, Lisa holds a B.S. in Music Education with a minor in Studio Art. She currently works full time as a police officer with the Montgomery County Police, assigned to police academy subject firearms. She volunteers at Wilson Parrot Rescue in Damascus, MD, and plays with Rockville Concert Band, Montgomery Village Community Band, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and VLOC. Lisa plays flute, piccolo, alto and bass flute, oboe and the theremin. She is also the recording secretary for the Celtic Society Southern MD and runs the exhibit hall for the Mid Atlantic Flute Convention. She is Chair of the Amateur Resources Committee at the National Flute Association. She is currently a music librarian for both Rockville Concert Band and the Montgomery Village Community Band, and a Member of the Washington Recorder Society. She also performs restoration and touch up of the animals on the Glen Echo Carousel and has been an operator of the carousel. 

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Amanda Laudwein
She/Her
Amanda Laudwein was a student in Montgomery College’s orchestra in the 70’s where she met fellow VLOC orchestra member Bonnie Barrows and got interested in opera and musical theatre. She continued to play with MC (and all productions) until 2005 when she helped form Montgomery Philharmonic (Gaithersburg). She was on their board and was their orchestra manager until 2022. Amanda’s first college degree was in Early Childhood Education which she put to good use until her youngest daughter started school, switching careers to agriculture. She retired after 16 years working for University of Maryland Extension but continues to work privately with smaller farms, nurseries and greenhouses helping them keep in compliance with state regulations. Bonnie introduced Amanda to VLOC (they think) in 1985. The conductor then was Barry Morley. His favorite rant to the orchestra was “don’t follow me…play it right!” which they steadfastly tried to do! She has played almost every show since then…twice while 39 weeks pregnant…making for a very nervous conductor! Fortunately, they had a brain surgeon in the pit both times!

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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. 

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Stevie Miller
She/Her

Stevie was born and raised in Maryland, and has been acting and singing since her elementary school days. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Bryn Mawr College as well as acting certificates from The William Esper Studio and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She joined VLOC in 2012 as a member of the ensemble in the Trial by Jury/The Sorcerer double bill. Her subsequent performances with VLOC include Iolanthe, The Gondoliers, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and Ruddigore. She served as Music Director for VLOC’s production of Little Red’s Most Unusual Day at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, and as Assistant Music Director for El Capitan and H.M.S. Pinafore at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre. She performs throughout the area as an actor and singer while maintaining a private studio teaching piano and voice lessons.

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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.

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Sarah Robinson
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.

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Andrew Shifler
He/Him

Andrew has been a lifelong Marylander where he spent part of his childhood time working on the family farm in Western Maryland. He first appeared in VLOC’s Die Fledermaus in 2024 and has appeared in several subsequent productions including recently as Bunthorne in Patience. In addition to acting, he directed a show in the midst of the pandemic where it became a “trial by fire” - importantly following state and CDC guidelines resulting in no cases of COVID during the production. He previously served on the Board of Potomac Playmakers in Hagerstown, one of the oldest community theaters still running in America. In his capacity on their board, he helped the organization open their current permanent location and promote livestreams as potential revenue. He also assisted Playmakers with their online presence and updating its image for the 21st century as well as updating its equipment. He has his own online bookstore, a vocation he has been in since he went to Emory and Henry for a B.A. in English and is currently working on starting a non-profit publishing house with the mission of translating foreign authors and their works into English. 

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Cheryl Stafford
She/Her

Cheryl Stafford started dance at age three, piano age six, and singing age nine. She studied ballet, modern dance, voice, piano, music theory, and acting at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, preparatory department and college for ten years. She began the study of historical dance and music in 1978 and went on to become a noted dancer/dance historian. Ms. Stafford founded/directed her own historical dance company for 30 years translating, reconstructing, choreographing, performing, teaching, lecturing, leading balls and workshops on European/American dance and music from the 1420-1920 time periods. She danced with the Court Dance Company of New York on several occasions, as the directors would fly her from Cincinnati to do so. She has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and danced for the BBC/WNET series Dancing. After moving to Maryland, she directed/choreographed many modern musicals, taught voice and dance at the Musical Theater Center for 13 years, and Black Rock Center for the Arts for three years. She used her MS in Management and Business skills to open and successfully run her own performing arts studio in the Kentlands for 10 years. Ms. Stafford has served on the Boards of national dance organizations and continues to serve the National Dance Society in various positions. She began her journey with VLOC at the Sing Out in 2018 and hasn’t looked back. She has appeared in almost every production since then; designed props, and costumes, and worked on conducting. 

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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. 


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
​Dann Chamberlin
​Audrey Chang
Lynne Clafin
Laura Cline
Gideon D'Addio
Jacy D'Aiutolo
David Dubov
Helen DuPont
Tony Dwyer
David Ehrhart
Blair Eig
Frank Eliot
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

Shannen Knapp
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
Long Nguyen
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
Tom Zebovitz

Victorian Lyric Opera Company is supported by funding from Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County,
​Maryland State Arts Council, and City of Rockville.
Victorian Lyric Opera Company
 PO Box 10391
Rockville, MD 20849-0391
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Unless otherwise noted, all photographs
on this site are copyright Harvey Levine. 
© 2022 The Victorian Lyric Opera Company
  • About VLOC
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • Board of Directors
    • Diversity, Equity, and Expansion
    • Education and Outreach
    • VLOC Hall of Fame >
      • Hall of Ancestors
      • Flowers of Progress
    • Reviews, Press & Awards
    • Financials & Strategic Plan
  • Shows & Events
    • 2026 - 2027 Season >
      • Haddon Hall
    • Archive >
      • Patience
      • Elixir of Love
      • Strauss Concert
      • The Zoo and Trial by Jury
      • The Bravado
      • The Anonymous Lover
      • The Many Moods of Christmas
      • The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
      • Ruddigore
      • Die Fledermaus
      • Gentleman's Guide
      • The Sorcerer
      • More... >
        • Colored American Opera Company 150th Anniversary Celebration
        • H.M.S. Pinafore
        • The Zoo & Sweethearts
        • The New Moon
        • The Brigands
        • El Capitan
        • Iolanthe
        • From Paris to Vienna (2021)
  • Get Involved
    • Auditions
    • Membership
    • Opportunities >
      • Marketing Manager
      • Direct for Us
    • Company Policies
    • Cast Portal >
      • Haddon Hall Cast
  • Support
    • Restock The Shops
    • Donate Now
    • Shop
  • Contact Us