Governance
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Board of Directors
Executive Board
Bruce Rosenblum
Board Chairman
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Bruce Rosenblum is a Managing Director and a member of Carlyle’s Management Committee. He is based in Washington, DC. and serves as the firm’s Chief Risk Officer. From 2000 through 2008, Mr. Rosenblum was an investment professional in the U.S. Buyout group, focusing on the telecommunications and media sectors. In 2008, he joined Carlyle’s Executive Group, where he has been involved in various aspects of the firm’s operations, including corporate finance, strategic transactions and risk management. Prior to joining Carlyle in 2000, Mr. Rosenblum was a Partner and Executive Committee member at the law firm of Latham & Watkins, where he practiced for 18 years, specializing in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Before joining Latham, Mr. Rosenblum served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger on the U.S. Supreme Court. Bruce currently serves as a trustee of American Jewish World Service; Vice Chair of the Board of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty; and Chair of the Advisory Board for the National Capital Region of Year Up. Prior nonprofit Board memberships include Washington Performing Arts (1992-2004, 2006-2008; Board Chair 2002-2004) and the Baltimore Symphony (2005-2014), serving on the executive committees and chairing the education committees of both organizations. Bruce is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, and is married to Lori Laitman, a composer of vocal music and opera. They live in Potomac, MD, and have three children and one grandchild. Bruce is a “serious amateur” musician, performing on double bass, and has made several appearances on the Heifetz stage.
Joe Orlick
Vice-Chair
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Dr. Joseph Orlick, MD is a retired Internal Medicine Specialist in Charlottesville, VA with over 34 years of experience in the medical field. He graduated from Medical College of Virginia medical school in 1986. He started Core Care, a program that is targeted at patients who want medical care but can’t afford or have no access to medical insurance. He resides nearby in Swoope, VA.
Mark D. Biegel
Treasurer
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Mark is a member of the Maryland Bar and a Certified Public Accountant. Prior to establishing the firm, he honed his knowledge of derivatives at Prudential. Additionally, Mark worked at Deloitte & Touche and KPMG Peat Marwick. A cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park, he holds a J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law. Mark is the father of two medically fragile children. Consequently, Mark supports philanthropic organizations that address the needs of medically challenged children. In addition to the Heifetz Institute, Mark serves on several nonprofit boards.
Geoffrey Menin, Esq.
Secretary
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Geoffrey D. Menin graduated from Yale College (B.A. summa cum laude, 1974) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1977). A founding partner of Levine Plotkin & Menin, LLP, Mr. Menin has, for over thirty years, represented individual artists and entrepreneurs in film, television, music, fashion and new media, as well as high profile executives in their employment matters across a broad range of industries. An accomplished composer and performer in the rock, jazz and classical genres, Mr. Menin brings to his law practice the ability to understand the creative artist and to guide the development of the artist’s professional activities. Mr. Menin has performed with the likes of Buddy Miles, Stanley Jordan, Odetta, Charlie Daniels and Keith Richards. His original compositions range from a classical song cycle based upon the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke for tenor (voice) and piano to the celebrated “Hymn for Her,” composed for Jennifer Muller’s Mullerworks Dance Company and recorded by Mr. Menin with Paul Winter and Eugene Friesen.
Peter Kreeger
Chairman Emeritus
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Mr. Kreeger serves on the Board of Directors of the The Kreeger Museum, Kreeger Foundation, the Washington Performing Arts Society, and the Great Waters Music Festival.
Gary M. Abramson
Chairman Emeritus
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Gary Abramson is a partner in The Tower Companies, a three-generation, family-owned real estate development company and the largest builder of LEED® certified properties in the DC metro area. Gary began his career in the family business in 1969. Since then, his major accomplishments include designing new office buildings, shopping centers, and mixed-use developments. He is responsible for leasing, management, development, architecture, design, construction, and aesthetics. His passion for architectural and design elements are evidenced throughout Tower’s portfolio. He is Chairman Emeritus and Trustee on the Board of American University and Chairman of the Heifetz International School of Music. Gary is a member of the SunTrust Bank Washington Advisory Board and for the past 34 years served on the American Committee and the International Boards of Governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Gary received his BA in Government and Public Administration from American University. He and his wife Pennie are proud grandparents and enjoy spending time with their family.
Full Board
Pennie Abramson
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Ms. Abramson, in addition to her position on the Heifetz board, is currently on the Board of Trustees for Friends of Cancer Research, Operations Embrace, Project Medishare and the MCPS Educational Foundation. She is President Emeritus of the American Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Laurence Cafritz
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Laurence M. Cafritz, CR, President and Owner of Laurence Cafritz Builders and Legend Construction, Inc., was raised in Bethesda, MD and is a third generation Washingtonian. A graduate of Sidwell Friends School and Lafayette College (BS Civil Engineering, Cum Laude and Honors), Larry has over 30 years experience building and remodeling hundreds of homes throughout our region. Larry served as President of the Custom Builders Council of the Maryland Building Industry Association (MBIA) from 2008-2021, and is a member of the MBIA Board of Directors.
Susan Duprey
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Ms. Duprey is an attorney for the Northern New England law firm of Bernstein Shur. Previously she was a shareholder at Devine Millimet Attorneys at Law. During her time at the firm, she has specialized in zoning and planning issues, municipal law, and commercial real estate. In 1998, Mrs. Duprey served as President of the firm and has been instrumental in the firm’s continued growth throughout the region. Mrs. Duprey’s leadership activities extend well into the local and national community. She currently serves on the Board of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc. and the Advisory Board of Ocean Bank. Her numerous awards include inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America ® 2011 and being named as an “Ideal Lawyer” in the Town Lawyer category in New Hampshire Magazine in 2003. Duprey earned her JD from Northeastern University School of Law School and her BA from the Maxwell School of Political Science at Syracuse University. She is admitted to practice in the State of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She resides in Concord, New Hampshire with her husband, Steve. They have three grown sons, Sam, Thad and Luke.
Diana Epstein
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Diana Ely Epstein is a native Washingtonian with a BA from Tufts University and Masters work in speech and drama at the University of Maryland. For the past 30 years she has been a radio and television personality in the Washington/Baltimore region. She does commercial voice-overs and narrations for local, regional and national clients. For six years, she was co-host of the award winning cable TV talk show, “Diana, Mike and the Rabbi.” She is active in local and national organizations such as Aish Hatorah, the National Gaucher Foundation, United Jewish Communities, Israel Bonds (twice co-chair of the annual prestigious Ambassadors Ball), Beth Sholom Congregation, Chabad Lubavitch, and the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, where she is a past president of the board of directors and current development chair.
Robin Miller
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With over 30 years of experience in the real estate business, Robin Miller specializes in identifying creative approaches to the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings. He has transformed the urban landscape of Richmond, Petersburg, and Staunton with a variety of development projects including numerous apartment and condominium projects, “green” urban in-fill projects, and large scale, new urbanist projects involving several buildings and numerous city blocks.
Neal Naito
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A proud parent of two Heifetz alumni, Dr. Naito is the Chief Medical Officer, Director of Business Development, and Co-Founder of MVK Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Naito received both his medical and master in public health degrees from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland. He retired as a Captain and Director of Public Health from the United States Navy Medical Corps in 2011 after almost 30 years of service. He is an experienced biotech and healthcare entrepreneur who has worked with Dr. Kubek over the past several years to commercialize intranasal delivered nanoparticles containing thyrotropin releasing hormone to treat neuropsychological disorders associated with military combat. Previously he sold a cord blood stem cell harvesting company he started to a major pharmaceutical company. His background in public health, occupational medicine, military medicine and internal medicine allows him to push innovation in all areas of medicine, from drug R&D to healthcare delivery. He has senior-level experience in executive decision-making, policy development, strategic business planning, Congressional relations, financial and personnel management, research and development, and military healthcare.
Roberta (Birdie) Pieczenik, Ph.D.
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Dr. Pieczenik is the Founder of S & R Literary, a company that publishes Surfless Guides, topic-specific guides to the best sites on the Internet. She is a sociologist with extensive background in evaluating criminal justice programs nationwide.
Amy Tang Seto
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Amy Tang Seto is an Endowments & Foundations senior advisor and partner at the Baltimore-based firm of Brown Advisory, where she serves as a resource to leading a best-in-class service model for endowments and foundation clients. She joined the firm in January 2017 as the Strategic Operations Director, leading a team of 75 colleagues with an eye toward globalization, scalability, and bolstering the Brown Advisory. Amy was formerly the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Baltimore Community Foundation where she held various executive, operations and financial management roles during her 13 years of service.
Dr. Jie Shen
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Jie Shen is Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. She received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Virginia in 1995 studying the mechanisms of alternative splicing in Drosophila. As a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, she began the investigation of the molecular basis of Alzheimer’s disease using mouse genetic approaches. Since 1998, she has directed a molecular neurobiology laboratory whose major research interests focus on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Her genetic studies have led to the proposal of the Presenilin Hypothesis, which posits that loss of presenilin function underlies neurodegeneration and dementia in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Her genetic analysis of gene products involved in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases unexpectedly revealed that presynaptic defects in neurotransmitter release might underlie age-related neurodegeneration in these neurological disorders. Jie was the Director of the Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson’s Disease at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which focused on the role of LRRK2 and alpha-synuclein on the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease.
Annie Totah
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Mrs. Totah has been a leader in human rights advocacy, a lobbyist and fundraiser in local and national politics, and a staunch advocate for cultural, charitable, religious and educational programs in the Washington DC area. She was awarded the United Nations Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Contributions to Human Rights. A graduate of the American University of Beirut, holding a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Mrs. Totah has served on the Boards of the Washington Performing Arts Society, The Washington Ballet, Rabin Medical Center, Israel Bonds, Save a Child’s Heart Foundation, and the American Red Cross Advisory Committee. Ms. Totah is also the first woman Board Chair of the Armenian Assembly of America.
Beverly White-Seals
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Beverly has served as President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Howard County since May 2012, bringing broad experience in the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. She positioned the organization as a hub for connecting philanthropic residents with local nonprofits to improve the lives of those living in Howard County, while also building a new leadership team and investing in better processes and systems. Born and raised in Washington, DC, Beverly earned a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. Beverly also donated her time and talent to serve on over 30 nonprofit boards while pursuing a career as a practicing attorney. Beverly enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandson as well as with her large and exceedingly close extended family.
David Wolowitz, Esq.
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Director & Co-Chair of Education Law Group at McLane Middleton, David advises independent schools and colleges on all aspects of risk avoidance and crisis management. David is able to offer clients advice based on his years of substantial and varied experience in key legal areas that impact schools, including employment, mental health, contract, criminal, fiduciary and tort law. He is a pioneer in applying behavioral risk management concepts to promote healthy school cultures. David acts as general counsel to many schools, overseeing all aspects of their legal needs. He serves as a consultant to schools experiencing critical incidents relating to student health and safety. He conducts reviews of the policies and procedures of schools to assist schools in meeting the evolving standard of care relating to student health and safety. He trains his clients on how to promote healthy relationships with students, how to recognize and address early signs of inappropriate behavior, and how to respond to allegations of misconduct. David has a consulting practice with a national and international reach. He is a popular speaker and trainer at schools throughout the country and abroad. He presents to national organizations, including the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) and international organizations, including the European Council of Independent Schools (ECIS) and the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS). He has significant trial experience in federal and state trial and appellate courts in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has been qualified as an expert witness and testified on the adequacy of independent school policies and procedures relating to the protection of students from harassment, hazing, bullying , sexual assault and related misconduct. David received his J.D. from the University of Michigan (1975), M.A. from Harvard University (1971) and his A.B. from Washington University (1968).
Community Advisory Council
Founded in 2015, the Heifetz International Music Institute’s Community Advisory Council was created to ensure that the Heifetz Institute’s programming, administration, and policies are meeting the civic, educational, and cultural needs of the local community, e.g., the City of Staunton, Augusta County, and the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. The Advisory Council, made up of civic, business, political, and philanthropic leaders in the community, also assists in seeking the necessary support and providing counsel to ensure that the Heifetz International Music Institute continues to be a high quality, vital asset to the community as it carries out its mission.
Cheri Johnson Moran
Chair
Retired Senior VP, Union First Bank
Chair, Augusta Health Foundation
Staunton, VA
Carolyn Dull
Vice Chair
City Council Member; Former Mayor of City of Staunton
Staunton, VA
Kristina Arbogast
Director of Sales and Marketing · Hotel 24 South
Staunton, VA
Scott Ballin
Scholar, collector, curator, philanthropist
Staunton – Deerfield, VA
Col. James Butt
USAF (Ret) Mt
Sidney, VA
Greg Beam
Executive Director, Staunton Downtown Development Association
Staunton, VA
Lee Beam
President, Staunton Steam Laundry
Staunton, VA
Matt Bingay
WMRA Executive Director
Harrisonburg, VA
Maricia “Rish” Capps
President Emeritus, American Frontier Culture
Foundation; Board of Directors, Historic Staunton Foundation
Staunton, VA
Lionel Tony Davenport
Chief Probation and Parole Officer for Virginia
Staunton, VA
Angela Higgs
Barren Ridge Vineyards
Fishersville, VA
Jonathan Kern
Business Consultant
Middlebrook, VA
Lisa Moore
Former Vice-Regent, Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association
Staunton, VA
Davidson Perry-Miller
Owner and Founder at Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
Staunton, VA
H. Roller Shipplett, Jr.
Financial Advisor
Staunton, VA
Rev. Won Un
Pastor, Central United Methodist Church
Staunton, VA
Mame Warren
Editor, Writer
Lexington, VA
Ex Officio
Pamela Fox
President, Mary Baldwin University
Staunton, VA
Lora Hamp
Community Foundation of the
Central Blue Ridge
Alice Woods
Staunton City Council