Opera Santa Barbara Has New Board for 2010-11

The Board of Directors of Opera Santa Barbara has elected the following slate of officers for 2010-11: Duncan Mellichamp, President; Nancy Golden, 1st Vice President; Simon Williams, 2nd Vice President; Dan Reicker, Treasurer; Ida Rickborn, Secretary. Each will serve a one-year term. New Directors elected to the Board for a two-year term include: Paksy Plackis-Cheng, A.C. Moore and John Pitcairn.

Board President Duncan Mellichamp has been active on the OSB Board of Directors for the past seven years, most recently serving as Acting President. Professor Emeritus in the Chemical Engineering Department at UCSB, Mellichamp earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University. He was a founding faculty member of his department at UCSB where he has enjoyed a 40-plus year career. He and his wife Suzanne, were awarded the Santa Barbara Medal in 2007, UCSB’s highest award, in recognition for their philanthropy and service to the university.

First Vice President Nancy Golden is the principal of Golden Direct, a direct mail consulting service provider to environmental, performing arts, human services organizations and museums. Previously, she held a variety of marketing positions at Time, Inc. for 21 years. Golden is a graduate of Russell Sage College with a degree in English Literature. She previously served as a board member from 1999-2002 and as Marketing Committee member since 1999. She currently chairs the Marketing Committee and serves on the Executive and Development Committees.

Second Vice President, Simon Williams, is Professor and Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance at UCSB where he has taught for more than 25 years. Educated in his native England, Dr. Williams holds a doctorate in European Literature. He has served on the OSB Board for the past four years, and currently chairs the Artistic Planning Committee. He is familiar to opera patrons as a frequent lecturer for OSB’s “Opera on the Go” series and for the pre-opera talks prior to all OSB productions.

Board Secretary Ida Rickborn has served as Secretary and Education Committee (Chair), Finance Committee and Executive Committee during her four-year tenure on the OSB Board. Prior to her retirement from a distinguished teaching career, she served a four-year term as Superintendent of the Goleta Union School District. Her undergraduate and graduate degrees are from the University of California (UCLA and UCSB respectively).

Board Treasurer Dan Reicker is a principal in Reicker, Clough, Pfau, McRoy and Herman LLP. He has practiced business law in Santa Barbara since 1972 with an emphasis in real estate, tax, corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions. He earned his Bachelors Degree from the University of San Francisco, and a J.D. at Hastings College of Law, University of California. He was admitted to the Bar in California and Washington, D.C. Dan has previously served on the opera’s Finance Committee and been a member of the board for the past ten years.

New Board Members:

Pasky Plackis-Cheng is an International Marketing Strategist with Delta Advisory Group, providing sales and marketing consulting to web, mobile and information technology companies, including IBM, Microsoft and Oracle. A Dutch native, Plackis-Cheng earned her BA from Erasmus University in the Netherlands and completed professional programs in both Rotterdam and San Francisco. She currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Board of the Santa Barbara Symphony.

A.C. Moore is Chief Investment Strategist for Dunvegan Associates, Inc and has over 30 years of Wall Street experience as a securities analyst, research director and portfolio manager. He was a consultant to the Council of Economic Advisors during two presidential administrations and is among the top most-quoted market strategists in the country and a frequent guest on CNBC, CNN and other media outlets. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from Wake Forest University and a JD from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Law. He has served on the boards of the Santa Barbara Symphony, the Symphony Endowment Trust and the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA).

John Pitcairn is currently CFO of XiO Inc., a high-tech startup. He enjoyed a long career as a CPA, heading up his own firm for 37 years, focusing primarily as an expert in economic damage litigation. Professional memberships include the Manitoba and Canadian Institutes of Chartered Accountants, The American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs. He was elected to the Board of San Francisco Opera in 2009 and serves on the audit and facilities committees. He also served on the Board of Marin Symphony Association, and for the past two years was President and Chairman of the Board. He managed the endowment for the symphony raising 75% of the initial funds and with his wife, personally endowing the Principal Trumpet Chair.

Established in 1994, Opera Santa Barbara contributes to the cultural enrichment of its audiences by presenting exciting, high-quality productions and community programs that celebrate the breadth and beauty of opera. Opera Santa Barbara aspires to be a destination opera company, producing a diverse repertoire of traditional and contemporary operas that engage and excite a broad audience.