Board of Directors

David grew up in Ohio and has summered in Stonington and Deer Isle his entire life. He watched movies at the Opera House in his youth, walking over from the family camp near Sand Beach. He has since lived in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Fort Worth, and Dallas. After his critically noted performance as Bill Lewis, desk clerk, in Fort Worth’s Stage West 1984 presentation of The Hot l Baltimore, David pursued an extended career in municipal finance. He works for a global financial institution in New York City.

Acclaimed for his “fresh-toned and touching portrayal” by Opera News and lauded by the New Orleans Times-Picayune for his “rich lyrical tenor, fabulous top notes, and striking good looks,” John garners attention for his countless world-class performances at the most revered houses throughout the United States and worldwide, including productions of Turandot and The Merry Widow with The Metropolitan Opera. Both a professional opera singer and jewelry artist, John founded J. McVeigh Jewelry in 2017. Situated on Main Street in Stonington, the gallery showcases 30 of today’s leading jewelry and metals artists from around the world. A Stonington summer resident and frequent Opera House performer, he returns to the island when he is not performing elsewhere.

Sarah is a Deer Isle native who began volunteering at Opera House Arts as a child. Throughout her teenage years she worked as a house manager, box office associate, and intern coordinator. She participated in performing arts through school plays, Cabin Fever Theater, and Sue’s School of Dance. Sarah took theater and dance classes at Bowdoin College, where she was a Neuroscience major and education minor. Her passion for early childhood development led her to pursue a career working with infants and their families. Sarah lives in Portland and plays rugby for the Portland Women’s Rugby Team. 

Melody Bates is a native Oregonian actor and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a queer femme creatrix whose award-winning work includes the plays Avalon and R & J & Z (called “boisterous and splendid” by the New York Times and available from Original Works Publishing), and the Enchanted Islands project, all developed on Deer Isle. Her first professional acting job was on the Opera House Arts stage, where she has played fairy queens, cowboys, valley girls, prisoners and pirates, time-traveling nerds and undead heroines, in hundreds of live performances including Midsummer Night’s Dream, Antony & Cleopatra, Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, and many more. She believes in the power of art to make our lives better, and is honored to be a part of the OHA family.

For over 35 years, Kate has helped a broad range of nonprofit organizations in the Washington, D.C. and Maryland area achieve their fundraising goals. In 1989 she founded and served as lead Consultant with Caldwell & Associates, focused on capital campaigns and planned giving programs for nonprofits. Her fundraising articles have been published in Planned Giving Today and Fundraising Management. Kate holds in B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and is certified as a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) through the American College. She holds a M.M. from Catholic University in vocal performance, and has recorded 4 Albums, her latest Blue Jean Day featuring 6 of her original songs. Kate began coming to Deer Isle in the 1960s to visit her grandparents. She now spends summers on the island and winters in Maryland.

An audio producer, sound artist, and writer based in Portland, Maine, Galen grew up in Stonington and spent her teenage years on and off the stage at the Stonington Opera House. After graduating from Skidmore College and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, she began working as a freelance journalist. Galen has produced stories for various nationally and internationally syndicated podcasts and publications but her primary work is focused on producing audio exhibits and stories for coastal Maine. Galen is the Coastal Community Engagement Lead + Researcher at College of the Atlantic, producer of Island Institute’s podcast, and the founder of The First Coast and Maine Sound + Story.

Stephen is an academic pediatric emergency medicine physician who splits his time between a mountainside home in Vermont and a harborside home in Stonington. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Medical School, he spent nearly 30 years at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, before recently relocating to the University of Vermont in Burlington, where he teaches, does research, and still practices medicine. He has a lifelong passion for the visual and performing arts, boating of all kinds, and fresh lobster.

Susan is from New York and developed a love for theater as a child. She earned a BA from Mount Holyoke College and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. After a few years at the Federal Reserve, she became a professor at Georgetown University where she taught Economics for over 40 years. As an academic, she was able to live in a number of interesting places. She’s been a Visiting Professor in Vancouver, Amsterdam, Stockholm, London, Osaka, and Melbourne. She first came to Deer Isle for the summer in 1991 and has returned ever since. During the pandemic, she lived here year-round and she became a resident in 2022. She has enjoyed performances at the Opera House for the last 25 years and is delighted to be a member of its board.