Board of Directors

The Board of EMV is primarily a volunteer governance and fundraising body, providing direction and leadership to management. The Board’s strength and effectiveness derive from its being well-informed about the financial, artistic, and organizational affairs of the Society; motivated in its support of the Society; and representative of EMV’s membership and audiences.

We are actively searching for new members to join our Board. If you would like to join the Board of one of Vancouver’s most respected arts organizations, please click here.

Fran Watters | President

(BA, UBC; LLB, UVic) Fran joined the Board in 2014, and has held a number of positions including Secretary and Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee. She recently retired from UBC where she was Director of Faculty Relations and then the Academic Leadership Coach and Program Director of the University's Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP). She is a retired lawyer who practiced in the area of labour, employment, human rights and administrative law. She now offers her services as a leadership coach and investigator of issues of workplace conflict. She enjoys skiing, hiking and sang for many years in a gospel choir in North Vancouver, Julie Blue’s Singspiration.

Johanna Shapira | Vice-President

(BA (UVic), MA Anthro (Goldsmiths, University of London), PgDip (Roehampton). Raised in Vancouver, Johanna has recently returned after 25 years in New York, London and Singapore where she developed her love for music, dance, and art. She spent 10 years as a Senior Vice President at Ogilvy and Mather New York as a Director of Strategic Planning, and 10 more as Director of Ethnographic Research with Ipsos UK, working in London, Europe and China. Also, in London, Johanna trained as a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist at Roehampton University, working with the NHS and in private practice in London and Singapore. She is currently working as a research consultant and indulging her love of all things Vancouver. She has been a life-long lover of early music and a supporter of both Early Music New York and Handel House in London. She joined the Board in 2018.

Chris Guzy | Past-President

(REFIRE Technology Group, Inc., Chief Technology Officer) Chris’s areas of responsibility include product and technology research and development and corporate technology acquisition strategy. Prior to joining REFIRE, he was Chief Technology Officer of Guangdong Nation-Synergy Hydrogen Technology Co., Inc. and Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Ballard Power Systems, Inc. He holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University and a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico. He has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2006.

Ron Kruschen | Treasurer

(BA, MBA UBC, ICD.D) Ron has over 45 years of experience in business and government of which the last 30 years was spent in investment counselling, servicing institutional investors such as foundations and pension plans. He holds a Master of Business Administration from UBC and is the holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors ICD.D designation. Before he retired, he was President and Managing Director of API Asset Performance. He has served as a Director of the University of Northern British Columbia Management Trust and was the Treasurer of the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre. He is a music lover and supporter of various music and cultural groups in the lower mainland. He joined the Board in February 2019.

Ilia Korkh | Secretary

(BA, UVic; JD, UBC) Ilia was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, but has called BC his home for almost two decades. He is a lawyer practicing in the field of taxation, with primary focus on corporate international tax planning, but his love of art (and classical music in particular) is better reflected in his background in art history and several years working in architecture and graphic design. His previous non-profit experience includes publishing a journal of art and creative work by law students and lawyers and working with a legal aid organisation providing advice to artists. Ilia joined the Board in 2016.

Melody Mason | Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee

(BSc Sociology, Univ London; MSc Development Economics SOAS; MBA Wharton). Melody has worked as a psychiatric social worker in England, consulting economist and senior economist/project manager with the World Bank in Washington DC. Her work as a UN volunteer in El Salvador and the World Bank took her to over 20 countries in LA, Africa, Central Asia and Russia. She also carried out extensive research and evaluation programmes for the Bank. Her board experience includes seven years with a large university in England (Chair of the Finance Committee), a health rights advocacy charity, and BC Civil Liberties Association. She joined the Board in April 2016 and chairs the Nominating & Governance Committee.

Sherrill E. Grace | Board Member

(BA Western, MA and PhD McGill) Sherrill joined the Board in 2016. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (a Past-President of Academy I, Arts and Humanities). She is a UBC University Killam Professor Emerita and a UBC Professor Emerita of English. Her research and teaching specialization is in Canadian Literature and culture, and she has published extensively in these areas, including on Canadian representations of the two world wars and on Canadian operas and the North. Her biography of the iconic Canadian writer Timothy Findley, Tiff: A Life of Timothy Findley, appeared in the fall of 2020. Classical music has been her life-long passion and, now, in retirement Dr. Grace has more time to devote to listening and studying the music of masters like Bach and Handel. She joined the EMV Board in 2016 and is an enthusiastic supporter of this extraordinary organization. Her contacts with donors are always a pleasure.

Vincent Tan | Board Member

(BS Ateneo de Manila University, MBA University of Chicago) Vince joined the Board in November 2015. His working career was largely with Ayala Land, Inc., a listed diversified property developer active in Asia but owned by shareholders worldwide, where his career concluded with service on that company’s Board of Directors until April 2016. His interest in early music dates from the mid-1970s, when he played woodwind instruments including krumhorn and cornamuse with the Old Town Renaissance Consort in Chicago. Aside from music, his other passions include sustainable community development, in which field he received a certificate from Simon Fraser University in 2009, and fine wine (as a member of the International Wine and Food Society and other wine groups in Vancouver).

Delma Hemming | Board Member

Delma is a retired social worker and was the Director of Adoption for the province upon her retirement. She was the chair of the Board of Registration for Social Workers and sat on the Practice Review Committee. She is currently on the board of the building where she lives and is a board member of a local West End community organization, Denman and West Neighbours. She also volunteers with Covenant House and the Immigrant Services Society of BC. Delma started attending Early Music Vancouver concerts about forty years ago and has been going regularly since then. They bring great joy and enrichment into her life. She also started volunteering (taking tickets, ushering, etc.) several years ago and more recently started having visiting musicians as homestay guests which she finds a real treat.

Andrew Szeri | Board Member

Andrew Szeri is currently a Professor at the University of British Columbia and serves as the Provost and Vice-President Academic for UBC Vancouver. In that capacity, he provides leadership for the university’s academic strategy, budgetary and planning processes, oversees UBC’s academic programs and support functions, faculty affairs, the library, enrollment, sustainability and information technology. Prior to this appointment, he served as an academic administrator (dean and vice-provost) at the University of California, Berkeley, where he held a professorial appointment for over 20 years. He completed his Ph.D. in Theoretical & Applied Mechanics at Cornell University (New York) in 1988 and earned the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors in 2019.

Colleen Dixon | Board Member

Colleen Dixon is a seasoned Architect and Design Professional and the Civic Sector lead at Stantec responsible for business development, project delivery and leadership of the Studio in Vancouver, BC. Colleen was educated at both the University of British Columbia in the post degree Bachelor of Architecture program (1995) and at the University of Victoria Bachelor of Fine Arts program (1991). The melding of fine arts and architecture was an ideal pursuit as Colleen believes in the importance of culture and the arts as part of designing complete communities. Her support and appreciation of the arts has her engaged in lifetime learning and participation in activities that add to the richness of our city. She is currently enrolled as an adult student in the RCM Grade 7 Classical Guitar program and plays in an amateur classical guitar ensemble at the VSO School of Music.

José Verstappen | Artistic Director Emeritus

José Verstappen provided inspired leadership to EMV from 1979 to 2013. During those years, José led EMV to become a centre of excellence in the area of historically informed music. Jose continues to be a loyal volunteer for EMV providing much valuable assistance in many areas. What José has given to early music worldwide, to EMV, and to the broader British Columbia community is beyond price. He became Artistic Director Emeritus in August 2013.