Mission
Our mission is to foster an appreciation of the performing and literary arts through locally accessible, highest-quality professional performances, educational opportunities, and artist support.
Board of Directors
Penny Orloff, Chair/Executive Director
Juilliard-trained Penny Orloff was featured in Broadway plays for directors Harold Prince and Joseph Papp, after seven seasons and more than twenty Principal Soprano roles at New York City Opera. She served as Artistic Director of Radost Folk Ensemble, the Northwest’s premiere ethnic music and dance ensemble, from 1999-2001 and produced the group’s 25th Anniversary CD, HEIRLOOM. During a 50-year career she has written, directed, produced and/or performed in over one hundred professional projects. She was a founding member and Managing Director of the award-winning Rogue Machine Theatre of Los Angeles, and served for 10 years as Development Associate of Los Angeles Ballet.
Charles Long, Vice-President
Former Chaspen Artistic Director and current Vice-President Charles Long began his musical career as an oboist, pianist, and conductor. But it was his extraordinary voice that catapulted him into the international music scene where for twenty years he reigned as one of America’s greatest operatic baritones, singing opposite such luminaries as Placido Domingo, Beverly Sills, Carlo Bergonzi, Teresa Zylis-Gara, and Shirley Verrett. Upon his retirement from the stage, he took up the baton once more—conducting more than two dozen orchestral performances and 10 fully staged operas including five world premieres with the Chaspen Symphony Orchestra of Seattle.
Jesse Finkbeiner, Secretary
Board Secretary and Community Engagement Advisor Jesse Finkbeiner, MA/MFT, is Executive Director of Mental Health Services at Aspire of Simi Valley, CA. A lifelong amateur musician, Jesse graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Las Vegas in 2000. He holds two Master’s degrees, one in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica in 2007, and the other in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2010. Jesse has been licensed with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 2014.
Treasurer
TBA
Advisors
Chaspen’s Arts Education Advisor is Toby Heathcotte. A high school and junior college instructor of speech, drama, and English, her academic books include Program Building: A Practical Guide for High School Speech and Drama Teachers; and Seeds for Fertile Minds: Eight Curriculum Integration Tools. Toby has written plays, screenplays, nonfiction self-help, and a multi-novel historical fiction series. President of Arizona Authors Association from 2006 to 2015, she returned to the role in 2021. Toby lives in Glendale, Arizona.