LA OPERA BOARD DIRECTORY

Catalina Island-born Eric L. Small earned a BA from UCLA and an MFA from Otis Institute. As the trustee of Stress Control Systems Trust, he is the principal instructor in Iyengar Yoga holding a Senior Level 2 Certificate awarded by B.K.S. Iyengar himself in Pune, India. He is a trustee of the Flora L. Thornton Foundation and of Saint John’s Health Center and sits on the board of the USC/Doheny Eye Institute, Southern California Chapter of the MS Society, Hope for MS Foundation, Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles, Iyengar Yoga Association of the United States and is chairman of the Iyengar Yoga Therapeutic Association, Opera Santa Barabara, emeritus at Los Angeles Opera, and retired from the board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 22, he is today one of the foremost leaders in treating clients with MS and other neurological conditions. He is the recipient of the MS Society’s Hope for MS and Spirit of Life Awards and was inducted into the National MS Volunteer Hall of Fame. He frequently conducts yoga workshops and seminars with his Eric Small Adaptive Iyengar Yoga Program. Along with his late wife, Flora Thornton, he has been passionate about promoting wellness. Through the Flora L. Thornton Foundation, they together established the Eric L. Small Optimal.

Vina Spiehler is passionate about classical music. She travels around the world to experience opera performances and serves on the boards of the Long Beach Opera and the Baroque Music Festival Corona Del Mar. Dr. Spiehler is a forensic scientist specializing in pharmacology and forensic toxicology. She was an elected member of the International Committee on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety and she represented the United States to the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. Although retired from the laboratory, she continues to consult and testify in Superior and Federal Court cases. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the UK Home Office Forensic Science Service and an early protégé of the pioneering chemist and inventor Dr. Arnold O. Beckman. As Technical Director for Drug Testing Products at Diagnostic Products Corporation, she had the privilege of working with Sigi Ziering and Marilyn Ziering (a longtime LA Opera board member). 

Terry Stanfill was born Therese Olivieri in West Haven, Connecticut. She received a degree in English literature from the University of Connecticut. For her efforts in fundraising for the restoration of San Pietro di Castello, the ancient cathedral of Venice, Terry was decorated by the president of Italy with the Ordine al Merito, Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana and later given the honor of Commendatore. She served as an international representative for Christie’s from 1986 until 2009. She has also served as a board member of the Los Angeles Music Center Theater Group, and is a member of The Blue Ribbon which she joined in 1966. She is an overseer emeritus of the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. She is a founding member of the Los Angeles Opera board of directors and became a life trustee in 2002. Her first novel, The Blood Remembers, published in 2001, has been translated into Italian for publication in 2010, and her recent novel, Realms of Gold, has been translated and published in France. She is working on her third novel. Terry is also a passionate gardener. 

Janet Stanford is involved with many arts organizations across Los Angeles. She is an active volunteer at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, serving on their Board of Governors, as a member of the Women’s Committee, and a docent of both the Japanese Garden and the Library. She has chaired their Library Committee and was past docent of the Art Gallery. Janet serves as a board member of ArtCenter 100 and is a member of The Blue Ribbon and the San Marino League, a non-profit organization of women committed to philanthropic work in the community and furthering their knowledge of fine arts.  Janet is a member of the Junior League of Pasadena and is a member of the Pasadena Guild of Children’s Hospital. She is past President of the Parents Council, Westridge School.  Janet has served as a member of ARCS, in San Francisco, a non-profit dedicated to securing America’s leadership in science by granting awards to top scholars. She is a former board member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, a former board member of the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, former Board member of the Mark Twain Project, Bancroft Library, and former Board member of the Lincoln Theater, Napa Valley.  

Deanie Collier Stein is a trustee of the Jay and Deanie Stein Foundation Trust along with her husband, Jay Stein. Mr. Stein is the former CEO and current chairman of the board of Stein Mart, an American discount men and women’s department store chain with over 266 stores across the United States. He is a trustee of New York University, serves on the board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is an honorary director of the Jacksonville Symphony. The couple have recently relocated from Jacksonville, Florida, to Beverly Hills. 

Dr. Ellen G. Strauss (nee Glowacki) first came to California to be a graduate student in Biology at Caltech in 1960.  There she met her husband to be, a fellow graduate student named James Strauss, and received her doctorate in 1966.  In 1969 Jim and Ellen married in Madison Wisconsin and the couple returned to Caltech on the Biology faculty and jointly directed a research group for 40 years studying the molecular biology of insect-borne viruses until their retirements in 2007.  They specialized in Alphaviruses such as Sindbis virus and Ross River virus, as well as Flaviviruses such as Yellow fever virus and Dengue fever virus.  Together they wrote a textbook in 2001 entitled “Viruses and Human Disease” and a second edition in 2007. ​

Throughout their careers and into retirement they traveled widely for international scientific meetings, bird watching expeditions on all seven continents, journeys to observe numerous total solar eclipses, and in later years to attend operas primarily in Europe. ​

Writer Mimi Won Techentin has written and produced a dozen dramas on Netflix, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Her credits include Echoes, A Million Little Things and Queen Sugar. She is currently developing multiple projects, on which she will be writer and showrunner. In the nonprofit space, she served as a director and president of the board of a homeless center for youth, My Friend’s Place, in Hollywood. She also served as a director and president of the board overseeing the Abbot Academy Fund at Phillips Academy Andover. Currently, she is involved with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Married to architect Warren Techentin, FAIA, principal of his architecture firm and professor at USC – they have two children, whom they regularly bring to the Music Center.

Barbara Augusta Teichert has underwritten LA Opera productions or special concerts since 2007. Earlier underwriting credits include Thaïs, as well as The Two Foscari (2012), Simon Boccanegra (2012), Il Postino (2010), Tamerlano (2009), Die Walküre (2008), the Verdi Requiem (2007), Luisa Fernanda (2007) and the 2008 gala celebrating Plácido Domingo’s 40th anniversary in Los Angeles. She supported the September 2006 refurbishment of La Traviata for its filming and worldwide release on DVD. A member of LA Opera’s 20th Anniversary Angels leadership giving program, she has served on the board of directors since 2009. A resident of Pennsylvania, she supports several U.S. opera companies. For the Metropolitan Opera, she provided support for the world premiere of The First Emperor (2006), for Iphigénie en Tauride (2007 and 2011) and Simon Boccanegra (2010). She served on the board of Washington National Opera for nine years and provided full or partial underwriting support for a dozen productions there over a decade. For Opera Philadelphia, she supported recent productions of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar.

Richard Troop is a senior advisor to the law firm of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, and to its entertainment and media practice group. Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin, Dick was a founding partner of Hill Wynne Troop & Meisinger, which over a period of 20 years grew from four lawyers to over 175 lawyers. For most of his career, Dick has been engaged in counseling and representing a wide range of public and private corporate clients, as well as investment banks and institutional investors, in most types of corporate and securities transactions. 

Brigitta B. Troy was in the commercial real estate business for over 20 years, during which time she bought and sold millions of square feet of Southern California office buildings, first for Pacific Financial Group, and then, for 13 years, for Arden Realty, Inc., a real estate investment trust. Prior to that, after practicing law for several years, she served as general counsel, assistant executive director and acting executive director of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She was a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for many years and completed a two-year term as president of the Alliance Board of the Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County. A graduate of Radcliffe College, with a JD from the University of Southern California and an MBA from UCLA, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alden Lawrence, and has two children and four grandchildren. She has served on the LA Opera Board since 2007. 

Ann Gillian (Gill) Wagner was born in England and moved to Los Angeles in her early twenties. Ms. Wagner serves on the board of Weingart Center, a non-profit fighting the cycle of homelessness, and the board of Thrive in Joy, a non-profit concentrating on character building in high school students. Ms. Wagner is a former board member and President of Hope-Net, a network of 13 food pantries in the mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles. Ms. Wagner is a member of the Blue Ribbon and The Garden Club of America, through her membership at Hancock Park Garden Club. With her husband, John Breese Wagner, they are owners of Peake Ranch Winery in Santa Barbara County. They have two adult sons, Tom and Joe.

Christopher Walker was a founding partner of Leonard Green and Partners, a Los Angeles-based private merchant bank, and he previously was a partner of Gibbons, Green & van Amerongen. He began his career with Security Pacific Bank, where he held positions in corporate banking and with its international group, including seven years in Hong Kong and the Philippines. He received a bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College and a master’s degree from Georgetown University in international finance. He served ten years as a member of the board of trustees at LACMA including positions as vice chair of the board and chair of the budget and finance committee. In addition to having served on the boards of LA Opera, United States Artists and KCET, Mr. Walker has also been a trustee of Claremont McKenna College for over two decades, during which time he has chaired a variety of committees and led a $129 million capital campaign. He currently serves on the Trustee Council of the National Gallery of Art and participates on its investment committee; he is also on the board of MOCA. Mr. Walker has two sons and lives in Los Angeles and London. 

Geoffrey P. Wharton is currently the acting director of the mayor’s operations innovation team. He was chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was formerly a senior managing director of the international real estate firm, Tishman Speyer Properties. He served as the managing director for the venture that controlled the World Trade Center. Following the events of September 11, 2001, he led the venture’s master planning efforts for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. He was the president of Douglas Elliman, one of New York City’s largest residential real estate brokerage firms. He collaborated with and consulted to major real estate owners on the master planning and development of large-scale urban projects in New York, Washington, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Los Angeles. He graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and from the New York University School of Law with a JD. He served as chairman of the ethics committee of the Real Estate Board of New York and a trustee of the LIJ- North Shore Healthcare System, the Parson’s School of Design, Muhlenberg College and The Educational Alliance. He is on the board of governors of Cedars Sinai and is a sustaining member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Susan. He has a son, James, and a daughter-in-law, Sara, and two grandchildren, Andrew and Samantha. 

Alyce de Roulet Williamson is a true native of California, with her family living here for more than four generations. After graduating from Scripps College with a BA, she met and married Warren Brooks Williamson (deceased). They had four children: Sandra, Ruth, Alyce Marie (deceased) and Henry, and now have seven grandchildren. Very active in her community, she has been a member of the Junior League of Pasadena, a past board member of the Costume Counsel, Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena, Las Madrinas and Pasadena Guild of Children’s Hospital and she served as chairman of Heritage of the Music Center.  She has served as president for the Hollywood Bowl Patroness Committee and the Pasadena Garden Club (Garden Club of America). Currently, Alyce is a board member of The Music Center, The Blue Ribbon, Center Dance Association, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. She is also Life Trustee of LA Opera, Board of Governors Emeritus of Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, Trustee Emeritus of Art Center College of Design, and is founder and past chairman of Art Center One-Hundred.  She is a past Trustee of Scripps College and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. 

Andrew Xu is a managing director and Director of Quantitative Research, Investment Risk Management and Derivatives Risk Management at TCW Group, a leading global asset management firm.  Prior to TCW, Mr. Xu held senior leadership roles at the Capital Group, Fidelity Investments, Millennium Partners, and Goldman Sachs.  Mr. Xu holds a BA in Computer Science from Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, as well as a MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

During a career in public life spanning nearly four decades, Zev Yaroslavsky has been at the forefront of Los Angeles County’s biggest issues, including transportation, the environment, health care, and cultural arts. He was first elected to office in 1975, winning the Los Angeles City Council’s coveted 5th District seat at the age of 26. In 1994, he was elected to the five-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, representing the Third District, the western part of the county and a constituency of two million people. Because of term limits, he retired from office in 2014. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, he quickly emerged as a leader on fiscal, health care, transportation, cultural and environmental matters. The county’s leader in the cultural arts, he championed efforts to rebuild and modernize the Hollywood Bowl and was instrumental in the development of Walt Disney Concert Hall. He has also funded major investments in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History and the San Fernando Valley Performing Arts Center. He has long been associated with the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Since 2015 he has taught History and Public Policy at UCLA.  at the Luskin School of Public Policy. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he earned BA and MA degrees from UCLA. 

Jay attended his first opera performance in 1992,  The Magic Flute in Stockholm, and it was love at first sight for the art form. In 2004 Jay moved from his native Sweden to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He started in communications, but quickly delved into the creative side with product development of consumer products such as comic books, toys, video games, and specialty items such as collectible figurines and replica movie props. He currently serves as Executive Vice President at Heroic Signatures, a company which owns and develops intellectual properties in all media. In addition to overseeing the merchandising and licensing business he also serves as Editor-in-Chief for the company's book and comics publishing division. This includes a 15-year stint overseeing the best-selling and award-winning Conan the Barbarian international publishing program. Jay recently celebrated attending his 100th performance at LA Opera, has visited the Bayreuth Festival four times, is a world traveler who enjoys to walk off good food and wine with a hike to the nearest mountaintop. 

Tamsen Ann Ziff is Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera.  She was a vice chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and has been on that board since 1995.  She is a vice chairman of the Artist Tribe Foundation.  She served on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and is an honorary member.  She served on the board of New York Restoration Project and is a member Emeritus.  She is board member emeritus of the American Museum of natural History.  She currently serves on the boards of Sing for Hope, and World Science Festival.  Ms. Ziff was co-founder and founding Chairman of Smile Train.  She is the founder and producer of the Caribbean Community Theater in St. Croix.  She has a Masters of Social Work from NYU and a Masters in Music Therapy from Temple University.  Ms. Ziff is a Visiting Professor at Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple and has been a guest lecturer at Worcester College and the Said Business School at Oxford University.  She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the Juilliard School and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Wittenberg University.  Ms. Ziff owns a jewelry company and designs and makes jewelry under the eponymous Tamsen Z.