Peter Faber
New York, NY
CURRENT POSITION: Retired from law practice.
EDUCATION: Swarthmore College, high honors, majoring in history and minoring in music; Harvard Law School cum laude
EXPERIENCE: Current chair of the ARS Governance Committee and also serves on the Fundraising Committee. Has served on many other nonprofit boards.
CANDIDATE STATEMENT:
I have been an enthusiastic recorder player for many years, having studied with, among others, Martha Bixler and Nina Stern. I have been a member and supporter of ARS and am excited about the possibility of continuing to contribute to its fine work in new ways.
I retired several years ago from active law practice, having been a partner in the international law firm of McDermott Will & Emery, LLP. I specialized in tax law and chaired the Tax Sections of the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. I represented many non-profit organizations, advising them on their tax status and securing rulings from the IRS. I advised many individual clients about tax planning, including planned giving to charities.
When living in Rochester, NY, I served as President of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and assisted in the formation of the Rochester Chamber Music Society. After we moved to New York City, I became active in a number of early music organizations and currently serve on the boards of the Boston Early Music Festival, the Amherst Early Music Festival, and the Gotham Early Music Scene. I have had a considerable amount of experience in non-profit organization management and fund raising.
I am interested in enhancing ARS’s educational outreach, particularly with respect to children. Learning how to play the recorder encourages children to appreciate music and the required discipline serves them well in all their future endeavors, non-musical as well as musical. I have assisted Nina Stern in developing her ground-breaking program of recorder instruction in the New York City schools, which she has expanded to Kenya and the Middle East. I provided pro bono legal counsel and serve on the Board of S’Cool Sounds Inc., the organization that operates the program.
I would also like to continue to work on expanding ARS’s fund raising activities, including the use of planned giving techniques that enhance the tax benefits of giving to the ARS.
Eric Haas
Boston, MA
CURRENT POSITION: Manager of the Early Music Shop of New England/von Huene Workshop. Member of the ARS Board serving on the Communications and Fundraising Committees.
EDUCATION: Master of Music degree in Early Music Performance (recorder & early flutes), New England Conservatory of Music; Bachelor of Music degree, Music Theory & Composition summa cum laude, East Carolina University; Master classes with Kees Boeke, Marion Verbruggen, Han Tol, and Lisa Besnoziuk
EXPERIENCE: Manager, von Huene Workshop, Inc. (1990-present); Music Director, Boston Recorder Society (1984-2009); adjunct faculty: New England Conservatory, Tufts University, Wheaton College, Brandeis University
Faculty: Amherst Early Music Festival summer & weekend workshops, Long Island Recorder Festival, Mideast Early Music Workshop, Pinewoods Early Music Week, Whitewater Early Music Festival.
Ensembles: Pentimento (recorder/lute duo), Très Doulx & Travessada (Renaissance flute consorts), La Sonnerie (Baroque ensemble), Much Ado (a Renaissance consort), Emmanuel Music (Bach cantata series)
CANDIDATE STATEMENT:
Music education in the public schools has relegated recorder to second class status. Each year thousands of children are introduced to the recorder, but almost always as a pre-band instrument: Next year you’ll get to play a real instrument! There is rarely an opportunity for young players to participate in ensembles or to have a passion for recorder nurtured.
My goals are and continue to be:
- To find ways to encourage the option of serious study for young recorder players
- To facilitate ensemble opportunities for players of all ages
- To help performers and audiences perceive the recorder as a living instrument through contemporary music (rather than a relic of the 16th-18th centuries).
I have considerable knowledge of music history and repertoire, and an understanding of the mechanics of the recorder and recorder-making from my decades at the von Huene Workshop, Inc. My job has honed my skills at both oral and written communication, as well as page layout and graphic design, and music type-setting.
Gwyn Roberts
Philadephia, PA
CURRENT POSITION: Professional recorder performer, director and educator
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Arts degree, Bryn Mawr College (Major: Music at Haverford); Performer’s Certificate, Utrecht Conservatory (Major: recorder; minor: traverso)
EXPERIENCE:
Performance/Directorships
1996-present: Tempesta di Mare Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra: Founder, Co-Director and principal recorder/traverso
2018-present: New World Recorders: founding member
Performances with many other groups, including Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Washington Bach Consort, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Piffaro, York Symphony Orchestra, etc.
Recorded 30+ CDs for Chandos, Deutsche Grammaphon, Sony, Newport, PolyGram, etc.
Faculty positions:
1997-present: Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University: Studio Faculty, teaching recorder and traverso majors and minors, ensembles and performance classes.
1994-present: University of Pennsylvania: Director of Early Music Ensembles
Previously at: Curtis Institute of Music, Swarthmore College, Haverford College, University of Delaware
Workshops:
Amherst Early Music Festival, Mountain Collegium, more
CANDIDATE STATEMENT:
I have played the recorder for as long as I can remember and have been fortunate to live a life centered on this wonderful instrument, as a performer, director and teacher at every level from beginner to professional. The richness of the recorder community, which the ARS does so much to foster and facilitate, is priceless and inspiring. My goal as a Board member, should I be elected, will be to bring the next generation of recorder players into the ARS fold, both as teachers and players, so that this community of ours can thrive for decades to come.
When the pandemic shut down Peabody Conservatory, my recorder majors and I came up with the idea of creating an online meeting place for young recorder players. The Fanfare Youth Recorder Club, hosted online by the Amherst Early Music Festival and led by my Peabody students, met monthly for two years and brought together teenage recorder players from the U.S., Canada, Dubai, Czech Republic, Iran and the UK. They played for each other, interviewed young recorder professionals (Sarah Jeffery, Vincent Lauzer, Martin Bernstein, etc.), and talked all things recorder. The club members got to know other serious players their own age, and my Peabody students got experience being leaders and role models. Since graduating, those Peabody students are now leading ARS Chapter meetings, teaching lessons and serving as junior faculty members at workshops. The teenagers are now playing their recorders in ensembles at college, or even applying to conservatories. As an ARS Board member, I will work to strengthen and increase such ladders of engagement for young players and teachers.
I have a history of starting and following through on challenging projects, including founding, growing and sustaining a Baroque orchestra for decades. I am a former board member of Early Music America and a current board member for Mountain Collegium and (ex officio) Tempesta di Mare. I enjoy working with colleagues and thinking creatively about thorny issues. I hope to serve the ARS and the recorder world well in this new capacity.
Virginia Felton
Seattle, WA
CURRENT POSITION: Part-time Communications Consultant, Website Producer, current member of the ARS board as chair of the Fundraising Committee and also serving on the Communications committee.
EDUCATION: Master’s degree in Business Administration, University of Washington, 1987; Master of Arts degree in Teaching, State University of New York at New Paltz, 1972; Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Syracuse University, 1970
EXPERIENCE: For most of my career, my work has focused on nonprofit management, with an emphasis on communications. After a five-year period of teaching high school English in upstate New York, I relocated to Seattle in 1970, where I have held leadership positions in three large nonprofits. I worked initially at the Pike Place Market, serving by the end of my 10 years there as Director of Property Management and Marketing. I spent the next 12 years as Executive Director of The Mountaineers, a 15,000-member conservation and outdoor activities organization, and guidebook publisher. Following that, I served as Director of Communications and Strategic Planning for the Seattle Housing Authority, an organization providing housing for more than 28,000 people.
During this time I served in leadership positions on several nonprofit boards including the following: Seattle Recorder Society (including as president); Founding member, Consort Spiritus recorder consort sponsored by University Congregational UCC (nine years); Seattle CityClub (board member for 10 years); The Whidbey Institute (board president for three years); UW Business School Alumni Association (board member and president); The Committee to End Homelessness (communications team); and Northwest Bookfest (president for three years).
CANDIDATE STATEMENT:
Music has been a consistent source of joy and pleasure in my life since my first French horn lesson as a seventh grader. My fondest memories of high school were the hours I spent in band practice and chorus. French horns were too expensive for students to buy, so the school provided them. In college, the school provided a euphonium for participation in the marching band (we practiced more than the football team). After college and the inevitable foray into guitar playing, I sought a way to fill the music-making void in my life and bought my first alto recorder, a Moeck maple student model with a straight windway. I taught myself to play, acquiring many bad habits along the way, and was soon seeking out duet partners for those marvelous Telemann duets. And of course, I’ve expanded my collection of recorders over the years so that it now functions as a small lending library of instruments from sopranino to bass.
Since I stopped working full time, I have finally been able to devote more time to practicing and ensemble playing. Joining the Seattle Recorder Society led to participation in various workshops, and I invested in lessons, working to eliminate those bad habits. Attending a workshop class directed by Soren Sieg remains a highlight.
I joined ARS several years ago, and have become a Life Member. I was glad to be appointed to an ARS Board position because I want to open the possibilities and joys of music to more people, and the recorder is an ideal gateway to this world. I believe that my deep experience as both a board member and leader within nonprofit organizations is of value to this organization. And as with all membership organizations, communication is a key element. As an organization we must articulate a clear vision of our future, and then communicate it effectively so that others are inspired to invest their efforts in bringing it to fruition. I have a deep commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, and would continue to work toward expanding music opportunities for populations who have not traditionally taken up the recorder.
I have appreciated the nimble response of the ARS to the recent pandemic—a clear indication of the health and vitality of this organization. We must continue to support the vitality of our local chapters and to be responsive as conditions change. As an amateur musician, I am aware of how valuable our ARS on-line resources are to our members. I look forward to supporting this function. You can rely on me to bring my amateur’s enthusiasm and perspective to our Board work and to contribute my knowledge of best practices for boards and nonprofits.
Barbara Stark
Austin, TX
CURRENT POSITION: Retired telecommunications professional, member of ARS Board serving on the Finance Committee as well as the Scholarships & Grants Committee.
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree (major in German language), University of Texas; Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree, Stanford University
EXPERIENCE:
Mountain Collegium: Treasurer: (2016-current); manage all finances, set budget (with Director), website
Lauda Musicam of Austin: (newly formed); Treasurer and website
Atlanta Early Music Alliance: board member, then president (2012-2018); director of the Atlanta Midwinter Workshop for several years
Industry Network Technology Council (as individual): Financial Officer (2020-current)
Homegrid Forum (as AT&T representative): Board Chair (2011–2021); approved all payments, chaired meetings, and normal Board duties (budget, strategy, etc.)
Broadband Forum (as AT&T representative): elected board member (2021); served on finance committee
CANDIDATE STATEMENT:
My early music journey started at a very early age; my parents had a standing Friday night playing session with friends in Mobile, AL, from the 1960s through the early 2000s. They played recorders, viola da gambas, and harpsichord. While I was a very good trumpet player during grade school, I didn’t start playing early music until 2006 when my husband, David, discovered the Dolmetsch one-handed Gold Series recorders (due to an absence of fingers on the left hand). I quickly learned to play both the soprano and alto. Having moved my mother, Trudi, to live across the street from us in 2007, both David and I played music with her for an hour every night until Trudi’s passing in 2011. During this time, we also both started attending music workshops local to the Atlanta area and joined the Atlanta chapter of ARS. We then joined Lauda Musicam of Atlanta in 2012 for additional playing and performing opportunities.
My primary expertise lies in financial oversight and maintaining financial records. I also do a lot of website design. I’m very familiar with IRS forms used by nonprofits (1023, 990, 1099, etc.). I’m good with procedural activities (Bylaws, Roberts Rules, etc.)–which is to say I can use them effectively to ensure compliance with rules and laws, while not letting them get in the way.
I would see myself using these skills to help ARS maintain financial stability and to support the other Board members in their activities. I would also like to help chapters who wish to become 501(c)(3) organizations. In my retirement, I’ve chosen to dedicate a significant amount of my time to early music endeavors; I’d like to offer some of this time to ARS to help it achieve its goals of supporting and growing chapters and bringing the joy of recorder playing to more people.
