Board of Directors

    Nermin Ahmad & Minjae Kim, Co-Chairs
    John Yohalem, Secretary
    Karen Rich, Treasurer
    Chris Fecteau, Ex Officio
    Kenny Harmon, Monica Niemi, Vanessa Cariddi

     

    Nermin Ahmad

    Nermin K. Ahmad (Co-Chair) led core practices in sustainable development, emergency management, resilience building and stakeholder engagement. She is currently developing a structure to invest in business start-ups for refugee women-owned small businesses and is informing training courses on professionalizing recent Afghan immigrants seeking to set up business ventures in the US. She believes the arts are a critical element in bridging cultural differences, and host watercolor and figure drawing salons, supports a range of community creating endeavors and is proud to be co-chair of the very diverse dell’Arte Opera Ensemble.

     

    Mnjae Kim


    Minjae
    Kim (Co-Chair) is a litigation attorney currently clerking for a federal judge.  She is passionate about increasing access to classical music education for low-income families and young professionals.

     

     

     

    John Yohalem

    John Yohalem (Secretary) has written on opera, books, theater, film, dance-theater and travel for The New York Times, American Theater, The Christian Science Monitor, The Seattle Weekly, Opera News, Parterre Box, the programs of the Metropolitan Opera, LOC, SFO and a dozen other publications and web sites, and he worked for some years in the Archives of the Metropolitan Opera. Naturally, this aroused his curiosity about what was going on behind the curtains, and therefore he offered his skills and perceptions to dell’Arte Opera Ensemble.

     

    Karen Rich

    Karen Rich (Treasurer) is a founding member of the company, and has served on its Board since 2006. She sang opera and musical theatre for over 15 years, appearing in 30 cities in the U.S., as well as Barbados, and Germany, with companies ranging from One World Symphony to the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players.  She now works for the law firm of Jones, Day as legal secretary and devotes her personal time to the work of dell’Arte Opera Ensemble. Karen co-founded dell’Arte with husband Chris Fecteau to help the next generation of singing artists navigate the challenges and pitfalls of starting an operatic career.

     

    Chris Fecteau

    Chris Fecteau (Artistic Director of DELL’ARTE OPERA ENSEMBLE) has held music directing and conducting engagements with Opera Illinois, Opera Theatre of Philadelphia, Harrisburg Opera, Florentine Opera, South Florida Opera Company, Opera in the Heights, and a tour of the Czech Republic with Opera Corleone. He founded dell’Arte to provide quality experiences for young singers. His special interest is the re-examination of operatic works for their possibilities in chamber settings, making these works accessible to companies with modest resources. Maestro Fecteau earned a BFA in Piano Performance from Carnegie Mellon in University, and an MM in Orchestral Conducting from Florida State University.

     

    Kenneth Harmon

    Kenny Harmon is a dell’ Arte Opera Ensemble alumnus having performed lead, supporting and ensemble roles in various productions over the years.  He is also a lyricist and book writer with BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop and the Theater Now New York (TNNY) Musical Writers’ Lab. In addition to his creative pursuits, Kenny has worked in the financial services industry for a number of years in risk and compliance roles.  He serves as dell’Arte’s Alumni Liaison.

     

     

    Monica Niemi

    Vanessa Cariddi