Announcing Four New Board Members
ON SITE OPERA ANNOUNCES FOUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS TO EXPAND LEADERSHIP, INNOVATION AND LONGEVITY
NEW YORK, April 13, 2020 – On Site Opera, New York’s pioneer opera company rooted in site-specific storytelling and the immersive experience, announced today the appointment of 4 new members to the company’s Board of Directors; John Baumgardner, Frank Martinez, Sam Roberts II and Daisy Wademan Dowling.
“Each of our existing and new board members bring their unique personal and professional perspectives to On Site Opera, as well as a true enthusiasm about what we do,” explains Jane A. Gross, the organization’s board President. “This new class of trustees is quite an exciting opportunity to inject a board that is already proactive and engaged with a new level of optimism and momentum. I’m especially pleased to build upon our tradition of generational balance within our board. From board members with young children to mid-career professionals to retirees who have years of board service, as well as a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds, this blend of insights on our board will serve On Site well.”
New member John Baumgardner, former partner and Of Counsel to Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, uses his knowledge and experience in a wide variety of corporate and securities matters and the coordination of all investment management in the firm. He is an ardent believer in the value of the arts as a core benefit to society and is a frequent patron of several arts organizations. His membership on the board is effective immediately.
Also joining is Frank Martinez, a trained opera singer before turning to a career in law. Martinez specializes in employment law and serves as the Vice President of Legal Affairs at Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc. In addition to examining company culture and advising on employment policies, Frank holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and continues to perform in local recitals and concerts, keeping connected to his artistic inclinations. His membership on the board is effective immediately.
Sam Roberts II joins the board as an esteemed architect specializing in commercial design conceived through the lens of the customer experience. Starting his role as General Manager of the Delta Sky Design & Environment this summer, he is attuned to the design and rollout of physical environments and is most intrigued by On Site Opera’s distinctive use of unique spaces to create memorable experiences. As a father of two young children, he is also enthusiastic about helping to create more extensive educational programming to truly bring opera to all. His membership on the board is effective immediately.
Lastly, projected to join in the Fall of 2020, Daisy Wademan Dowling is a seasoned human capital expert, executive, and the founder and CEO of Workparent, a consulting, coaching, and research firm exclusively focused on working parents and the organizations that employ them. An unmistakable advocate for working parents and a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Dowling is also mother of two who is committed to bringing the arts into the lives of her children, celebrating the impact it has on their growth and enrichment.
“With a fairly small board, our meetings are thoughtful and productive not only due in part to individual participation, but because of the wonderful group of people sitting around that table,” considers Piper Gunnarson, the organization’s Executive Director. “They have been unwavering in their endorsement of our proposal about how to maintain our organization’s strong artistic footprint and financial health during a global pandemic and economic crisis, and it is a testament to this board’s steady guidance and positive spirit that we have been able to navigate so calmly through the past few weeks of abrupt changes to our opera community and to our entire world. In looking towards the future, the conversations we have had with each new board member as patrons have been invigorating to say the least, and I am overjoyed to welcome them more formally into our board conversations about moving On Site Opera forward.”
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ABOUT ON SITE OPERA
Founded in 2012, On Site Opera is the leading presenter of site-specific operas in non- traditional venues throughout New York City. Rooted in collaboration and storytelling, On Site Opera celebrates the connection between artist and audience through highly curated experiences led by seasoned opera artists and bold and innovative creative teams. To date, OSO has produced 18 operas in as many unique locations to critical acclaim, including Shostakovich’s The Tale of The Silly Baby Mouse using large-scale puppets in performances for families at the Bronx Zoo; Gershwin’s Blue Monday in the historic Cotton Club of Harlem; and Rameau’s Pygmalion in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, which explored new technology in opera through the use of Google Glass supertitles. Each production invites New Yorkers to explore their city in new and unique ways, while cultivating a new generation of opera audiences.
