Our Board

Janet Gover worked as an Account Executive and Manager in the Advertising Department at the Kalamazoo Gazette and subsequently MLive Media Group for over 30 years. She helped produce successful advertising strategies with local businesses of all sizes and budgets in the Kalamazoo area, as well as working with major regional and national accounts. While at the Gazette, she volunteered with the Kalamazoo New Car Dealer Association on their annual New Car Show, served on the Community Relations Committee for the Greater Kalamazoo Association of Realtors, and was part of the planning committee for the Kalamazoo Promise 10 Year Anniversary Celebration. Janet held a brief tenure as Marketing & Communications Director for the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo before joining the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre full time as their Marketing Director in 2015. She returned to working as an advertising and marketing specialist with Encore Publications in 2020. Now retired – she is enjoying volunteering her time with the Stulberg and is also currently serving on the SPCA of Southwest Michigan Board.

A local actress, Janet has appeared in many productions in the area and performed on nearly every stage in Kalamazoo. She is passionate about all the arts and enjoys living in a city where the arts play such an important part of the cultural fabric.

Janet received her B.A. in Marketing and Fashion Merchandising from Central Michigan University. She loves living in a college town with all that WMU offers – but remains true to the CMU Maroon & Gold – especially during football season!

Sherie Veramay is currently the senior director of gift planning for Alma College in Alma, Mich., where she works with alumni, parents, and friends of the institution to establish bequests and other deferred gifts to support students and the academic experience. She has over 24 years of experience in higher education fund development. She attended Hope College in Holland, Mich. where she majored in art history; she also holds a master’s degree in counselor education from the University of Alabama and is a licensed professional counselor. She previously served on the Stulberg International String Competition board in several roles, including secretary and vice president for public relations and marketing, from 2004 to 2010; she also served as a board member from August 2015 to January 2017. Sherie lives in Lansing, Mich.

Kurt Voissem is a CFO/COO Consultant with over 35 years’ experience as the top financial officer for manufacturing and non-profit organizations. Kurt’s non-profit experience includes being the CFO of the Goodwill Industries in Battle Creek and as a consultant to the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes. Kurt holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Grand Valley State University, loves live music and has lived in Kalamazoo for nearly his entire life.

Pam Walker is formerly the President and Owner of Arcadia Benefits Group, with more than 32 years of experience in the benefits administration field. After selling Arcadia in 2018, she remained an employee for two years before retiring. Pam is passionate about classical music and the arts in the Kalamazoo community. She is a member of the Chancel Choir of First Congregational Church.

Pam enjoys singing, playing guitar, cooking and visiting her 6 grandchildren is a special joy. She lives in Kalamazoo with her husband, Randy, who is an artist.

Alisa Carrel is Director of Development with the Gilmore Keyboard Festival. She previously served as Executive Director of the Stulberg. Alisa lived in the Washington, DC area for 20 years and worked for Ovation, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Library of Congress, and the City of Alexandria, Virginia, where she was director of the Arts Council. She served on the boards of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, Alexandria Commission for the Arts, Alexandria Arts Forum, Alexandria Performing Arts, and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic. She is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and earned a B.A. (piano) from the University of Texas and Master of Arts Administration from Florida State University. She previously served on the boards of Fontana and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra League. In addition to the Stulberg, Alisa is on the board of the Kalamazoo Foundation for Excellence and is a member of the Kalamazoo Rotary and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Sorina Dodu is a finance leader at Stryker where she serves as the liaison between the Costa Rica Finance Center and the MedSurg and Neurotechnology commercial divisions. Since 2016, Sorina has held various roles at Stryker in which she made a significant impact on the finance global training and development programs. In 2022, Sorina completed an expat assignment in Warsaw, Poland, supporting the setup of the Business Center there. She holds an Advanced Business Diploma in Global Business Services from the Hackett Institute, along with a certificate from the Advancing in Management Program at Stryker. Sorina completed two successful finance internships at Stryker before starting her career with Deloitte, where she spent five years leading teams to perform risk-assessed audits for public and private companies from various industries.

Born and raised in Moldova, Sorina came to the United States as a one-year foreign exchange student Soros scholar at Gull Lake High School. She returned two years later and earned her B.S. degree in Accounting and B.A. in Economics from Western Michigan University. She resides in Kalamazoo with her husband, Andrew, and their son, Theo.  In her spare time, Sorina enjoys attending cultural community events, traveling and reading. 

Ann Fergemann holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in counseling and personnel from Western Michigan University. Ann began her career as a teacher and counselor before joining the counseling staff at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Her 32-year career at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation began in 1989 when she was hired as its first scholarship administrator. It was in that capacity that she had the privilege of assisting four women’s organizations in the creation of the Women’s Education Coalition Fund, which provides renewable grant assistance to women who are in need of education to become financially self-sufficient. Prior to her retirement in 2019, Ann served as a donor relations officer, Sr. donor relations officer, Vice President of donor relations and Philanthropic Advisor.

Mira Stulberg Halpert is the youngest daughter of Julius and Esther Stulberg , and was present when the Stulberg Competition was first created.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, with BA in  Developmental Psychology and Masters Degree in Education. Mira is the Founder and Developer of the 3DLearner Program®. This program helps students who learn differently or who have ADHD, become outrageously successful. She and her husband have co-authored 2 books about helping students succeed (The 3D Learner, and Success by 3^rd Grade) and Mira has written a more light-hearted, encouraging book about children who are “out of the box” thinkers (Life is a Ball). They have helped thousands of students succeed from around the world and now offer their program virtually.

Mira was a member of the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony and years later when her family moved to Florida, she helped organize a small youth orchestra in Coral Springs, Fl. She received Broward County’s STAR award for outstanding Arts Volunteer. She then served on the Executive Committee of The Board of The Symphonia of Boca Raton, as Vice President of Education. In that role she developed a community outreach program for families to experience the workings of a professional orchestra. Children (and adults) also got to experience playing musical instruments in the “instrument petting zoo”.

Mira and Mark recently moved to Durham, NC, to be closer to family.

Mira brings the perspective of her parents, her extended family and her own passion to make this Competition a life changing educational experience for the finalists and to see the winners and other semi-finalists get the opportunity to perform throughout the United States and beyond.

Originally from the historic Mississippi River town of Alton Illinois, just north of St. Louis, Kory Heitzig moved to Kalamazoo in late 2008. Kory has a strong passion for live performance that was nurtured through piano and organ study in high school, the University of Illinois, and Western Michigan University.

For nearly 15 years, Kory served the financial sector as Vice President and Relationship Manager at several large financial institutions. In 2023, Kory refocused his career to the non-profit sector, accepting the position of  Operations and Volunteer Manager with the renowned Gilmore International Piano Festival. 

Kory has been active as a church musician for over two decades, and has held positions as pianist, organist, and Director of Music at churches in both Illinois and Michigan. Kory currently serves as Organist and Pianist at Kalamazoo First Congregational Church UCC, having joined their team in 2014.

Kory maintains a robust performance career as pianist, organist, keyboardist, and collaborative pianist and has participated in productions at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Farmers Alley Theatre, and Portage Central High School. Kory has served as collaborative pianist for Kalamazoo Choral Arts (formerly the Kalamazoo Bach Festival), the Kalamazoo College Singers, the Kalamazoo Male Chorus, and the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA) Education for the Arts (EFA) Advanced Musical Theatre class. He has also served as a substitute keyboardist with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO). Currently he serves as Collaborative Pianist for the Southwest Michigan Vocal Festival (SWMVF).

Thomas G. King is an attorney and Of Counsel to Kreis, Enderle, Hudgins and Borsos in Kalamazoo. Tom’s practice area is business, banking, and municipal law, and he was formerly Deputy City Attorney for Kalamazoo. He has served on a number of governmental and non-profit boards including the Michigan Municipal Bond Authority Board of Trustees, Western Michigan University Foundation, Advocacy Services for Kids (ASK), and the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. He is currently a member of the Western Michigan University Mike Gary Athletic Fund. Tom graduated with a B.A. from Western Michigan University and earned his J.D. at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. He also studied abroad at Instituto de Filologia Hispanica.

Keith Kothman is a composer, sound artist, electronic musician, and educator. He grew up playing clarinet and saxophone until he made a turn towards the mesmerizing world of electronic sounds as a college student at the University of Texas. He was awarded an Honorable Mention for Interludes at the 31st annual Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competition, and recordings of his music are available on the Capstone, Cambria, and New Albany labels. He has served as Director of the School of Music at Montana State University, and as a faculty member at Ball State University and the University of Miami. Recent work has focused on live-performance electronic music involving laptop, iPad, various MIDI controllers, and LittleBits synthesis modules. Scholarly interests include the aesthetics of modernism and postmodernism, the sociology of music, technology and culture, and the later works of Morton Feldman.

Kothman’s Ph.D. in Music came from the University of California, San Diego. He received his B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Principal composition teachers have included Roger Reynolds, Russell Pinkston, Joji Yuasa, and Lars-Gunnar Bodin. While at UCSD, Kothman studied aesthetics and the sociology of music with Jann Pasler and George Lewis.

Sarah is a marketing communications leader with more than 18 years of public relations, marketing and journalism. Her passion is fostering meaningful connections amongst community members through storytelling and immersive experiences to serve the greater good in our community.

Currently, Sarah is the marketing manager at The Chronicle of Philanthropy where she develops and implements the publication’s online and offline marketing efforts to drive revenue and audience growth. Previously, she served as the Marketing Communications lead at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greenleaf Hospitality Group, Wings Event Center and Kalamazoo Wings.

Sarah transferred to Western Michigan University (WMU) from her homeland of Malaysia in 2003. At WMU, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Journalism with a minor in Music and a master’s degree in Organizational Communications.

When she was in Malaysia, she enjoyed performing with the Petaling Jaya Youth Orchestra as a second violinist, and piano accompaniment during church services at Holy Light Lutheran Church. She continued her passion for music in college by playing piano accompaniment in an international jazz band performing shows on WMU’s campus.

Today in Kalamazoo, she plays both her violin and piano for leisure at home for herself and her husband, Chauncey

Mariana (Mari) Levin is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Western Michigan University.  She joined the faculty at WMU in 2015 after a postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University and completing her doctoral studies at UC Berkeley. One of the most fulfilling parts of her job at WMU is working with future teachers and cultivating an image of mathematics as a creative and joyful activity.

Together with her family, Mari co-facilitates a local math club for elementary students in grades K-6.  She and her husband Aaron have two young children who love studying both violin and piano, playing board games as a family, going to as many classical music concerts as possible, and hiking in Kalamazoo’s many wonderful nature preserves. Her son just started in the KJSO Prep Strings program this past year and her daughter will join this coming year.

Mari herself is a lifelong violinist. Her principal violin teachers were pioneering Suzuki pedagogue Theodore Brunson and later Michael and Irina Tseitlin of the California Institute of Music.  Chamber music festivals and performances took her to Mexico, Korea, Portugal, and Germany.  While in graduate school, she was the concertmaster of the Prometheus Symphony as well as a violinist with the Kensington Symphony and the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra. Currently, she plays in the music ensemble at Temple B’nai Israel and in the Kalamazoo Philharmonia.

In addition to the Stulberg Board, Mari serves on the Board of Directors of The Montessori School and the Michigan Association for Mathematics Teacher Educators and she serves as the co-chair of the WMU College of Arts and Science Women’s Caucus Steering Committee and on the WMU Department of Mathematics Executive Committee.

Audrey Lipsey has been teaching violin for over 45 years and has been the Executive Director of Crescendo Academy of Music since 2000. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Western Michigan University with post-graduate study at the University of Michigan. Ms. Lipsey is the former Associate Concertmaster of the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra and retired Assistant Concertmaster of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. She performs with the Opus IV String Quartet and Renaissance Strings.

Ms. Lipsey is a well-known educator in the Kalamazoo area having taught in early childhood settings for 18 years after teaching strings in the South Haven Public Schools for eight years. In addition to her private studio, she serves as the conductor of the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Preparatory and Training Orchestras. For her significant contributions to music education, Ms. Lipsey was awarded the Community Medal of Arts from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo in 2002, the Mary McLeod Bethune Communication, Arts, & Letters Award from the Kalamazoo Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 2003, and the Prism Award for Excellence in Music Education from the Kalamazoo Alumni Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota Professional Women’s Music Fraternity, Inc. in 2006. In 2012, she was presented with a Woman of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Kalamazoo for her years of dedication to music education. In 2018, she was awarded the Gayle Hoogstraten Arts Leadership Award from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo for her years of leadership at Crescendo Academy of Music.

Derl Oberlin is the Donor Services Manager for the KSO.  He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from The Ohio State University and has over 30 years of supervisory/managerial experience and retired as Manager, Financial Analysis for Pfizer, Inc.  He was a recipient of the prestigious W.E. Upjohn Award as well as other community and industry recognitions.  Derl has volunteered for numerous Kalamazoo organizations in his 35+ years in the Kalamazoo community.  He is currently serving on the Stulberg International String Competition Board and Friendship Village Board of Directors.   Derl has previously served on the boards of directors for Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Western Michigan’s Richmond Center for the Visual Arts, Western Michigan’s Theater Guild, Food Bank of South Central Michigan, Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan, Specialized Language Development Center, Kalamazoo Valley Museum Community Advisory Council, Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan and the Kalamazoo Historic Conservancy for the Preservation of Arts.  He has participated in numerous community chorus opportunities and has been a loyal attendee and supporter the Kalamazoo Symphony since 1983 and The I.S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival since its debut.

As Vice President of Development, Lisa Rodriguez oversees the department responsible for raising funds to sustain operations and programming for YWCA Kalamazoo, so that the organization remains a champion of positive social change in responding to community needs affecting women, girls and their families.

She is passionate about serving the Kalamazoo community, seeking to create opportunities where none exist, and ensuring representation of the underserved. Her passion for developing leadership skills of African American youth has led her to serve in many leadership roles – past and present – within the Kalamazoo (MI) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Kalamazoo Area Medicine Alliance, and Associates Chapter of Jack and Jill of America of America, Incorporated. To support racial diversity and inclusion in classrooms, Lisa created a special African-American History program for the fourth grade students in Alamo Elementary School in the Otsego School District. Along with her husband, Gonzalo, she presents “My History is Your History” to encourage research and education about the contributions of African-Americans to this country.

Lisa has also served as a trustee of Gilmore Keyboard Festival and was a former board member of YWCA Kalamazoo, having been recognized as a Woman of Achievement in 2019. Her commitments to that agency have been long-standing. She lends her diverse talents to volunteer with schools within Kalamazoo County, the Foster Care Review Board, Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation, and Michigan Women Forward. Recognizing financial need, Lisa and her family provide an annual book scholarship for a deserving, first year college student.

She uses her leisure time to create “culinary masterpieces”, her choice words for experimenting in the kitchen – and loves to entertain, something she has sorely missed as we endured the pandemic. Most importantly, Lisa and Gonzalo are proud parents of an amazing son, Braeden.

Jane Rooks Ross is the founding Director of Education for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and developed its Marvelous Music program.  A lifelong educator, she has taught in are grade schools and the WMU’s Honors College, KVCC, Kalamazoo College, and WMU’s Osher Lifelong Learning program.  She is the author of Listener’s Guide to the Orchestra and writes grants and educational materials.  Rooks Ross with Zaide Pixley co-authored the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra: 100 Years of Great Music in honor of its centennial. Rooks Ross holds a M.M. in music education cum laude from WMU.    Rooks Ross was honored as a YWCA Woman of Achievement, Community Medal of Arts Awardee by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, and PRISM award from the International Professional Fraternity for Women in Music, Sigma Alpha Iota.  She was featured in the book Amazing Women of West Michigan by Bowman and Priest and in the Women & Lifestyles magazine.  She and her husband Barry Ross were given the Communities In School of Kalamazoo’s Diether Haenicke Promise of Excellence Award.

More than 30 years’ experience managing administrative, financial, customer service and facilities departments in non- and for-profit environments. Highly skilled at developing vision and strategy using collaborative and hands on approach. Will create an environment that is productive and responsive for all stakeholders using extensive skills in planning and managing all facets of the organization.

Sophie Tang

Education: 

• DMA, Violin Performance, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
• MM, Violin Performance, University of Southern California
• BM, Violin Performance, Renmin University of China

Bio: 

Junqi Tang is the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Violin at Western Michigan University beginning August 2022. She previously served on the violin faculty of the University of Toledo School of Music, and was invited to serve on a distinguished panel of judges for the 2022 New York Laureate International Music Competition and 2021 Hong Kong International Violin Competition & Chamber Music Competition. She is the founder and artistic director of the Hantong International Summer Music Festival as well as the music director of the Cincinnati Music and Arts Society. She has been a First Prize winner in the 2021 Golden State International Music Competition, 2019 Hong Kong International Music Festival, and an excellence in performance award at the 2016 Schoenfeld International String Competition. As an accomplished orchestral musician, Tang has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa Canada, and extensively with the Toledo Symphony.

Tang received her doctoral degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, studying with Kurt Sassmannshaus, and her Master of Music at the University of Southern California under Suli Xue. She is a Bachelor of Music recipient from Renmin University of China under Hsiaowei Chen, and an Artist Diploma from the McDuffie Center for Strings. Her former teachers and mentors include Robert McDuffie, David Halen, Amy Moretti, Gregory Lee, Yuxi Liu, and Lingwei Xu.

During her school career, Tang has participated in many distinguished music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, Texas Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Asian Youth Orchestra, National Arts Center in Canada, Sarasota Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Great Wall International Music Festival. She soloed on the Glazounov Concerto with the Starling Chamber Orchestra, recorded Romance for Violin by Antonin Dvorak, and is featured on the violinmasterclass.com website. She was a premier member of the International YouTube Symphony in 2011 under maestro Michael Tilson Thomas, and performed in the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa under the baton of maestro Pinchas Zukerman.

As an avid chamber musician, Tang was the founding violinist of Cincinnatus String Quartet and continues to lead a chamber music festival in Cincinnati with her directing the Cincinnati Music and Arts Society. Her organization provides profound social impact in the arts for the greater Cincinnati area and has included presenting artists like Mattias Pintscher, Alisa Weilerstein, and Alexander Kazovsky.

A devout teacher, Tang has over 10 years of teaching experience in universities. In addition to WMU, she has taught as faculty member of the Starling Preparatory Program at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and at the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing. Her students have been top prize winners at the China-Korea International Violin Competition, Hong Kong International Violin Competition, Schoenfeld International String Competition Aficionado Division, and University of Toledo concerto competition. Her students have received full scholarships to attend the Texas Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Hantong International Music Festival, and Sounding Point Academy, as well as receiving offers from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Arizona State University for doctoral degrees, and the Tianjin Juilliard School and Royal Northern College of Music for master’s degrees.

Sophié van der Westhuizen is an International Steinway Artist and performs as both soloist and collaborative pianist, with a specialization in piano duo with her husband, Pierre. Their performance on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, with live NPR broadcast, remains a highlight. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and is the recipient of several performance awards. Prior to joining the faculty at Kalamazoo College, she served on faculty at Cleveland State University, Heidelberg University, Youngstown State University, among other institutions. She is the former director of ArtsConnect, a community outreach program for the Cleveland International Piano Competition. In addition to her position at K-College, Sophié teaches piano at interlochen Arts Camp in the summers and maintains a private teaching studio with 30 students of all ages. Sophié is also an accomplished violinist and is a member of Kalamazoo Philharmonia in the viola section.