BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Theodore Jospe, Chairman in Memoriam
Ted Jospe received his bachelor’s degree from University College of Arts and Science, New York University, and his M.B.A. in healthcare administration from George Washington University. He served as an Army Captain with tours of duty at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and various assignments in Vietnam. Ted retired as President and CEO of Southside Hospital in 2003, a position he held for 31 years. He has been an active faculty member of the Stony Brook University School Health Technology and Management since 1974 and currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in health facility operation and management. During his career, he has had numerous board affiliations and memberships, including the Hospital Association of New York State, the League of Voluntary Hospitals, the North Shore-LIJ Health system, Southside Hospital, the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, the Suffolk County Board of Health, the Long Island Association, the Harbor Country Day School Board of Education, and the Long Island String Quartet. He was a violinist in the North Shore High School Orchestra, the Hofstra Symphony as a high school student, and the NYU Symphony Orchestra. After a forty year hiatus, he resumed playing four years ago, and has been a member of the NSSO for the past four seasons.
William Farber, President Emeritus
Kay Bromberg, President
Kay Bromberg has been a member of the Violin II section of the NSSO since 1982. Although not a music major, she pursued her musical interests as an undergraduate in the chamber orchestra at Oberlin College and as a graduate student in an orchestra at the University of Michigan. In addition to having played in an informal string quartet for over 25 years, she spent many years as a fiddler for traditional Scottish dances. After retiring from her day job as the Administrative Director for the Rockefeller Family Fund, she continued work as a Program Officer for environmental grantmaking at the Tortuga Charitable Foundation. She currently serves on the board of the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor, a local environmental group.
Alex Levine, Treasurer
Alex Levine graduated from Queens College CUNY with a B.A. in Mathematics and Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with an M.S. in Operations Research. He has spent 40 years in the commercial insurance industry and currently works in the National Casualty Practice at Willis Towers Watson. Alex is a cellist in the NSSO having studied privately for about 10 years following graduate school and has been a member of NSSO since 2004.
Vicki Field, Vice President
Vicki Field received her Bachelors of Music from S.U.N.Y. Fredonia and her Master of Music from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Vicki began with the NSSO under the baton of the orchestra’s organizer, Charles Gouse and has moved with the orchestra through its various homes over the years. She has spent most of her professional career as a string teacher in the Port Washington Public schools where she began a” Fiddler’s Ensemble” in both of her elementary schools. She also performs in quartets at her church in Northport. Vicki is pleased to continue to support the many efforts of the NSSO as it expands to meet the needs of its players and the community.
Susan DelGiorno, Vice President
Susan DelGiorno is a classical music executive with over 25 years of experience in various positions in the industry. She currently works by day coordinating student recruitment and guest and student performances for the Adelphi University Department of music, and by night as the Executive Director of Gemini Youth Orchestras. She has produced several hundred recordings, many of which have been nominated for Grammy awards and other prestigious honors. Susan has worked with such luminary artists as Anne Akiko Meyers, Thomas Hampson, Susan Graham, Leonard Slatkin, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonia, and conductor Alan Gilbert, in addition to many of today’s living composers including John Corigliano, George Tsontakis, and Libby Larsen. She is responsible for creating the phenomenally successful Bach Guild Big Box digital download series, which consistently topped the Amazon.com classical record charts due to the inspired concept, attractive price point, and creative marketing. Trained as a clarinetist, Susan received her BS in Music from Hofstra University where she studied with Naomi Drucker. She continues to play both orchestral and chamber music, and is a sought-after player amongst Long Island community orchestras. She lives on Long Island with her husband George, daughter Joy, and their many pets.
Leslie Strait, Secretary
Leslie Strait is the Principle flute of NSSO where she serves on the board and has been a member since 1989. She is also principle flute and a board member of the Senior Pops Orchestra of Long Island, principal flute of the Island Symphony Orchestra, and serves on the board of the Long Island Flute Club where she judges the annual flute competition as well. Ms. Strait is a founding member of the wind quintet Principle Winds and is a member of the acclaimed Flutissimo! flute quartet. She occasionally performs with the Northport Symphony Orchestra and the Concert Festival Orchestra. While earning a degree in music performance at Syracuse University, she studied with John Oberbrunner. Other teachers include Allison Hubbard, Harold Bennett, and Jeff Weissman. She made her Carnegie Hall debut on the flute in 2005 and also performed there with the Long Island Symphonic Choral Association. Residing in East Northport, NY with her husband and two children, she runs a private studio.
Susan E. Deaver, Music Director & Conductor Emerita
Amal Abeysekera
Amal Abeysekera currently works at Hofstra University as an Assistant Professor of Finance. Prior to joining Hofstra, he served as finance faculty member at The University of Oklahoma. He received his PhD in Finance from The University of Oklahoma in 2020 and a Bachelor of Science in finance degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka in 2014. Prior to moving to USA, he was a member of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka where he played both the violin and viola. He joined the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lankan in 2003 and was as a member of the Players’ Committee of the orchestra. He was also the librarian of the orchestra for a period of ten years till he moved to the states in 2015.
Zachary Butterfield
Zach is a Strings teacher at Islip High School. Over his tenure he has doubled the size of the orchestra, created a chamber orchestra for advanced players, developed an all-electric string ensemble, advised the Tri-M music Honor Society, conducted school musicals, and received Gold with Distinction at NYSSMA Majors.
Before becoming an educator, Zach was the Publicity Director for Herbert Barrett Management where he worked with Anonymous 4, the Mingus Big Band, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and many other soloists, conductors, vocalists, and orchestras. He began his work in management with an internship at Staller Center, and by serving on the Board of the University of Vermont Lane Series for the Performing Arts.
As a musician Zach has performed with the Vermont Philharmonic, Vermont Big Band, Stowe Theatre Guild, Burlington Concert Band, and for countless school musicals. He greatly enjoys the dedication and camaraderie of the NSSO.
Janice Chen
Janice Chen, the principal oboe of the NSSO, is a science teacher at North Shore High School. She graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in History and Science and later graduated with an M.A.T. in Biology from Brown University. She has studied oboe with Delight Immonen of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Lynn Jacquin of the New England Conservatory, and Jerry Roth of the New York Philharmonic. She was a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, the Bach Society Orchestra, and the C.W. Post Orchestra prior to playing with the NSSO.
Catherine Colquhoun
Catherine Colquhoun enjoys life performing as a violinist in Luminous Sounds, Inc. and as Assistant Concertmistress in the North Shore Symphony Orchestra. She also performs cello on occasion! During the workweek, Ms. Colquhoun teaches orchestra at Westbury Middle School to over 100 students. Ms. Colquhoun is well-rounded and actively involved in the Nassau Music Educators Association, Long Island String Festival Association, and NYSSMA. Besides keeping happily busy with teaching and performing, Ms. Colquhoun is also skilled at string instrument repairs and enjoys the occasional ultimate repair challenge! Ms. Colquhoun is very thankful to her students who inspire her day in and day out, to her performance colleagues for being so amazing to perform with, and to all of the great musicians that she has been privileged to study with.
Sean Heaney
Sean Heaney joined the Board of Friends of NSSO in 2018. He serves as a stage manager and has been a cellist in the orchestra since 2013. He played with Long Island Youth Orchestra under the direction of Martin Dreiwitz from 2002-2005 and traveled with the group for three summers to play concerts in the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and South America. He performed with Stony Brook University Orchestra under the direction of Susan Deaver from 2005-2007. Sean has a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University and is currently working as a consulting engineer.
Karl Huth
Karl Huth has been occasionally playing trombone and bass trombone, but mostly counting rests, with NSSO since 2018. Originally from Alaska, Karl appreciates living in a climate where his lips rarely freeze to his mouthpiece.
Karl and his wife, NSSO violist Leah Master, live in Huntington with their four talented daughters, aged 14, 12, 8 and 1. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University School of Law, Karl is a practicing attorney and founder of the Huntington-based law firm Huth Reynolds LLP. Karl is a member of NSSO's Fundraising Committee.
Tony Somma
Tony plays clarinet with the NSSO. He earned his BS in Music and MA in Music Ed from Queens College.
His Instrument Repair Education: Ithaca College, The Hartt School of Music, Hofstra University and Queens College. He taught Instrumental Music (Winds and Strings) at JHS 158Q Bayside for 22 years. He was also the Assistant Conductor of the Queens Boroughwide Junior Band for 2 years.
Tony has worked for over 50 years repairing musical instruments in many music shops from Manhattan to the Hamptons, including his own shop since 1975.
He has performed with the CW Post Concert Band and Orchestra, the Nassau Pops, South Shore Symphony, Rockaway Five Towns Orchestra and the North Shore Symphony Orchestra since 1996.
Jonathan Weber
Jonathan is a member of the viola section and has been playing with the NSSO since the 2015-2016 season. He has been playing music in some capacity since the age of 8, and hopes to continue until he can no longer hold up his instrument. A native of Merrick NY, he attended Stony Brook University where he had the privilege of playing in the University Orchestra as a non-music major under the baton of Dr. Susan Deaver. His many years with the orchestra have made some of his favorite memories as an adult non-professional musician.