Our Board of Directors
Nelson Cover
Nelson Cover graduated from Johns Hopkins with a BA in English and San Francisco State University with a Masters in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. He formerly worked as the Associate, and then Director of Annual Giving at The Johns Hopkins Institutions, Director of Development and Executive Director of the Cancer Research Foundation at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine, Director of Development at the Washington National Cathedral, and Director of Development at The American Enterprise Institute. He then founded The Sheridan Group, where he served as president for thirty years, a full-service, fundraising consulting firm. He retired in 2013 and is now a full-time author. Outside of his successful career, Nelson is an avid cyclist, car enthusiast, and dog lover. He has written four novels: Danced by the Light of the Moon, From the Midst of Wickedness, A Matter of Circumstance, and a collection of short stories, Truth, Lies and Deceit. All Mortal Greatness is the third in his Sessions University series. He currently resides in Florida with his wife Gretchen, who is a Vero Beach Opera member.
Russell Franks
Russell has enjoyed an international career both as a singer and director. He has sung over forty major operatic roles and performed in over a thousand concerts. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestral, concert, and choral organizations such as the Bach Society of Greater Miami, Verbier Music Festival, Handel Choral Society of Orlando and the Miami Symphony Orchestra. He has served as set designer and stage director for Vero Beach Opera since 2011. He became Vero Beach Opera Artistic Director in 2022. Russell holds a bachelor’s degree in voice performance and church music from Stetson University and a master’s degree in voice performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He previously served as Director of Opera Theatre at Stetson University for many years.
Al Ferruolo
Al does so much for Vero Beach Opera! His bio is coming soon.
Paul Gauthier
Paul grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island. He received a B.A. in Sociology from Providence College. He had the opportunity to hear Luciano Pavarotti in concert in 1994. He and his wife Sue began volunteering for Vero Beach Opera in 2013, and Paul became a board member in 2013. He is chair of Playbill Advertising, a member of the Executive Committee and a member of the Development Committee. Cavalleria Rusticana is his favorite opera of all time because "it’s a masterpiece of melodic beauty and spontaneity."
Sue Gauthier
Sue grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island. She received a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers University and A.S. In Accounting from Bryant College. Her favorite operatic experience was hearing Luciano Pavarotti in concert at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in 1994. After attending several Vero Beach Opera performances, she and her husband Paul were asked by friends Bob and Joanne Webster to host soprano Ginevra Schiassi who starred in Pagliacci with Marcelo Giordani in 2013. They also hosted a contestant in Marcello’s competition the same year. This led to Sue taking the role of Chair of Homestay in 2014, along with her husband Paul, who was on the Board. Her favorite operas are La bohème for the music, Cavalleria Rusticana for the Overture, Madama Butterfly for the costumes and spectacle of the production, and L’Elisir d’Amour for the story line. Sue assists Paul in Playbill Advertising administration and is a member of the Development Committee.
Kendra Haines
Kendra does so much for Vero Beach Opera! Her bio is coming soon.
Ed Halsey
Thank you, Ed!
Carolyn Lange
Carolyn has always been an opera lover and would see fabulous opera all over the world when she flew for Pan American as a Stewardess after college. "I am, and always have been awed by the talent of opera singers and the stories they tell and the stunning sets," she says. "We are so fortunate to have Joan and Román Ortega Cowan who have spent the last two decades building the Vero Beach Opera into what it is today! Spectacular!" Carolyn has been a director of the Vero Beach Opera since 2018, a full-time resident of Vero beach since 1991, and a part of the Vero Beach community since 1970 when her family moved to Vero from Manhasset Long Island, New York. Her education is in interior design and space planning. She enjoyed running her own firm for 12 years before becoming a Realtor with Alex MacWilliam Real estate in 2003. Carolyn works to build our membership, and she sells advertising in our Playbills.
Toni Lemoine
Toni does so much for Vero Beach Opera! Her bio is coming soon.
Marcia Loewinger
Marcia was born and raised in Passaic, New Jersey. She earned her degree from SUNY at Buffalo in Early Childhood Education and became a 4th grade teacher. She completed the AS program at IRCC for Interior Design. and worked in her husband's medical office as office manager for 16 years. "I loved opera as a young girl watching the opera programs on tv," she says. "My father bought me recordings and the life story of Caruso which I still have." Marcia studied piano and voice during her teens and sang with the SUNY at Buffalo choir for 3 years. "We sang many times with the Buffalo Philharmonic under conductor Lucas Foss," she adds. "We even sang Handel’s Messiah at Lincoln Center when it first opened!" The Schenkel family got us involved with Treasure Coast Opera where she became a board member. She and her husband Bob traveled to Palm Beach Opera for opening night for about 10 years. They became Vero Beach Opera directors in 19--. Her two favorite operas are Aida and Carmen. "I played some of the arias on the piano while in junior high school," she says. "There are so many fabulous memorable arias." Marcia is well-known as the PARTY LADY for Vero Beach Opera as chair of Social Events. "I love planning all the parties!"
Dr. Robert J. Loewinger
Robert Loewinger - "Dr. Bob" - is our Vice President and the one who presents the flowers on stage to all our beautiful female singers! He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He is a Dermatologic Surgeon, but also trained as a Urologist. He served in the Air Force for two years. He was a teenager and developed a love for opera from Tony the barber. The Schenkel’s, Mary’s parents, got us involved with Treasure Coast Opera where he became a board member. He traveled to Palm Beach Opera for opening night for about 10 years! Bob became involved with Vero Beach Opera when Joan and Roman asked him to become a director in 19--. His favorite opera is Il Trovatore. "I love the arias," he says. "They are very emotional."
Dr. Joan Ortega-Cowan
Joan was born in New Jersey, and moved with her family to Cocoa, Florida when she was a young teenager when her father took an engineering position at Cape Canaveral Space Center (now Kennedy Space Center). She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Rollins College, with focus on history, political science and foreign languages. She earned her Doctoral Degree from Florida Atlantic University in Higher Education Management. She first discovered opera in Paris at a performance of Tales of Hoffmann at the Opera Comique. "My husband, Román, actually introduced me to the world of opera since he is an operatic baritone and knows practically every opera written," she says. "We have attended opera performances all over the world." In 1988, Rosemary Gagliardi asked them to become involved in the Vero Beach Opera Guild which they did. Joan has served as a Board Member, President and Executive Director during the past 21 years. She has sung in the choruses of Carmen, Madama Butterfly and La Traviata. "La bohème is my favorite because of the music but also because it takes place in one of my favorite cities – Paris. I speak several foreign languages so attending operas gives me an opportunity to enjoy operas even more."
Román Ortega-Cowan
Román Ortega-Cowan is an operatic baritone who was born in Havana, Cuba. He trained in the operatic tradition both in Cuba and in Europe under such maestros as Stracciari, Bastida, Iglesias and Hubert de-Blanc. In 1960, Román immigrated to the United States and joined the financial institutions industry. Throughout his career, Román always found time to participate in his real passions: music, opera, and vintage car collecting. Román has performed leading roles from La Traviata, Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, La Serva Padrona, among others, both in the United States and abroad. In Florida, he performed with Richard Tucker and Raina Kabaivanska in Manon Lescaut and with William Lewis in Romeo and Juliet with the Orlando Opera Company. Roman has served as officer and director of various boards of service and civic clubs and was president of the original Vero Beach Rotary Club. He retired briefly in the mid-1980s as a successful senior executive, then spent substantial time working as a consultant to major financial-related private sector enterprises in the Pacific Rim, Mainland China, the Caribbean and South America. In 1988, he collaborated in the formation of Vero Beach Opera Guild, and along with the help of many passionate opera-lovers, has transformed the Guild into what is now Vero Beach Opera, Inc., for which his personal motto is “the best is yet to come.” Starting in 2004, through his efforts as Vero Beach Opera’s Artistic Director, Román and Vero Beach Opera have worked with contemporary opera stars including Metropolitan Opera Stars Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani, and Paul Plishka. He served on Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation Board of Trustees and The Marcello Giordani Foundation Board of Advisors.
Joseph Palowich
Joe does so much for Vero Beach Opera! His bio is coming soon.
Bob Webster
Bob Webster grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Sparta, New Jersey. He earned his BS in Mathematics from Virginia Tech. He and his wife Joanne joined Vero Beach Opera in 2009 through the Silvertones choral group under direction of our marketing director Tania Ortega-Cowan. "We were comped seats and the rest is history," he says. "Our Silvertones experience inspired us to join Vero Beach Opera, and we soon learned about the efforts Vero Beach Opera members put into the season's opera, concerts, and competitions, and so we volunteered to help." His favorite operas are (comedy) Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and (tragedy) Puccini's La bohème. Bob is responsible for overseeing our Rising Stars Competition scoring system and auditing of competition scoring. "And whatever else I can do to help," he says.