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Main Street Chamber Orchestra

Board of Directors​

Jon Goldberg

President

Mr. Goldberg is in his ninth year as an Adjunct Professor of Music at Northern Virginia Community College, Loudoun Campus where he teaches music theory, music history and composition. He holds a Bachelor of Music, cum laude, from North Texas State University and a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music.

From 2018 to 2020 Mr. Goldberg served as Director of Classical Music and Conductor of the Rose Hill Chamber Orchestra at the Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville, Virginia. Mr. Goldberg also curated the Recital Series presenting both established artists and emerging younger talents.

Mr. Goldberg was a founding member and Music Director of the Endymion Ensemble from 1975 to 1979, a New York City-based chamber orchestra that for four years offered concerts in Carnegie Recital Hall sponsored by the Carnegie Hall Corporation and the New York State Council on the Arts, winning critical acclaim from the New York Times.

Mr. Goldberg has conducted the Memphis Symphony, the Oklahoma City Symphony, the El Paso Pro Arte Orchestra, the Doctors Orchestra of New York, and the Goldman Band in summer concerts at Lincoln Center. He also served as Musical Assistant to Leonard Bernstein on his Grammy winning recording of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #4 with the New York Philharmonic.

At the invitation of Mr. Bernstein, Mr. Goldberg spent two summers as a conducting fellow at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood.

Dr. Cindy C. Emmans

Dr. Cindy C. Emmans holds a BA and MA in music education and a doctorate in educational media and technology. She is from Minnesota and has lived in Germany, Italy, Bahrain, and Russia. Since 2007 she has lived in Charles Town, West Virginia. She joined the Main Street Chamber Orchestra as a violist in 2021. Dr. Emmans started playing the violin at age ten and is currently studying violin with Domenic Salerni of the Grammy Award-winning Attacca Quartet. She has extensive experience playing violin and viola in civic orchestras including as the principal violist for the Civic Orchestra of St. Paul, Minnesota for eight years. She was a member of either the viola or violin sections (as needed!) of several groups over the years such as the San Diego State University Orchestra, Central Washington University Orchestra, and the "Wilde Gungl" Orchestra in Munich, Germany. She has also played with professional groups in our area including Charles Washington Symphony Orchestra, the Two Rivers Symphony Orchestra, and in the orchestra for the Mercersburg (PA) Area Community Chorus. She has served as a board member and chair of the education committee for the Friends of Music in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. She also served as a director on the board of the Ziridis Foundation, a PreK-12 educational organization in Athens, Greece. In addition to her very active performing life, Dr. Emmans served as a music (orchestra) teacher in the public schools for ten years, later becoming a professor of technology at the university level. She has worked in university administration as a dean, director, and course developer in traditional on-site and also online degree programs.

From 2018 to 2020 Mr. Goldberg served as Director of Classical Music and Conductor of the Rose Hill Chamber Orchestra at the Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville, Virginia. Mr. Goldberg also curated the Recital Series presenting both established artists and emerging younger talents.

Mr. Goldberg was a founding member and Music Director of the Endymion Ensemble from 1975 to 1979, a New York City-based chamber orchestra that for four years offered concerts in Carnegie Recital Hall sponsored by the Carnegie Hall Corporation and the New York State Council on the Arts, winning critical acclaim from the New York Times. Mr. Goldberg has conducted the Memphis Symphony, the Oklahoma City Symphony, the El Paso Pro Arte Orchestra, the Doctor’s Orchestra of New York, and the Goldman Band in summer concerts at Lincoln Center. He also served as Musical Assistant to Leonard Bernstein on his Grammy winning recording of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #4 with the New York Philharmonic.

At the invitation of Mr. Bernstein, Mr. Goldberg spent two summers as a conducting fellow at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood.

Helena Goldberg

Secretary

Helena is the owner and Director of the Goldberg School of Music in Berryville, Virginia. She is a performing vocalist, pianist, bassist and composer.

Helena studied in summer programs at the Westminster Choir College and the Aspen music festival during high school years and was accepted as a scholarship student at the Manhattan School of Music, where she began her piano studies with department chairman Marc Silverman. In 2005, she was accepted into the classical composition program where she studied with department chair Nils Vigeland and Richard Danielpour. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music.

In 2023, Helena was elected to serve on the executive board of Berryville Main Street, a local chapter of the national Main Street organization that serves to foster and encourage small town communities in economic and cultural development. She chairs events and serves as assistant director of social media, also working with the organization’s economic vitality board.

Lawrence Goldstein

Mr. Goldstein brings extensive business experience to the MSCO. He is recently retired after serving nearly 15 years as Senior Program Officer at the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Prior to joining the Academies, he was Principal and co-founder of The SGM Group, Inc., an Economic Analysis/Market and Financial Feasibility consulting firm.

He has nearly 50 years of experience, specializing in transportation system economic and financial analysis and preparation of economic impact studies.

As evidence of his love for and commitment to classical music, Mr. Goldstein has played the piano his entire life. He holds a collection of over 8,000 classical LPs dating from the 1950s.

The Very Reverend Justin Ivatts

Treasurer

The Very Reverend Justin Ivatts is an Episcopal priest serving as rector of Clarke Parish in Berryville, Virginia. Fr. Justin was born and grew up in London, England and moved to the United States in 2003. He worked for twelve years in business-to-business advertising, academic publishing and healthcare.

Fr. Justin was ordained deacon in June 2015 and priest in December of the same year. He served as Assistant Rector at St. John's Episcopal Church in McLean, Virginia, and in 2018 came to Clarke Parish as Priest in Charge. He was elected rector in January of 2021.

Fr. Justin is a classical musician and plays the pipe organ. He has achieved Grade 6 of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in the organ and holds a Diploma of Music from The Open University in the UK. He has been a member of the Royal College of Organists.

Fr. Justin holds a Bachelor of Theology (BTh) degree from the University of Oxford and a Masters in Divinity (MDiv) from Virginia Theological Seminary. He is currently studying for a PhD in Practical Theology at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He will be looking at pilgrimage as a lens through which to study Anglican Identity.

Diana Kincannon

Director of Development

A resident of Virginia since 1993, Diana holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in vocal performance. Her 15-year singing career included opera, music theater and art song concerts in North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, DC, and Italy. She later held positions in financial services and international executive recruiting in Washington, DC, New York City, and Virginia. Diana served initially in an advisory capacity to the MSCO and joined the board in 2021.

Diana has lived in Clarke County since 2001. In 2005 she undertook to lead a community project to restore two decrepit barns in Berryville, Virginia’s historic district, raising more than $2 million in public and private funding over a six-year campaign. The Barns of Rose Hill opened in 2011 as a regional center for the arts, and Diana served as chair from 2014 through 2019.

During her tenure, the Barns grew significantly, establishing two $1 million endowment funds. The Barns of Rose Hill welcomes nearly 10,000 guests annually.

Dr. Donovan Stokes

Dr. Stokes has presented solo performances throughout the U.S. and in Mexico, Norway, Italy, England, France and the Czech Republic. His solo recording Gadaha garnered two JPF Music Award rankings for Best Album and Best Instrumental Song. Described as a musician who “paints primary colours and subtle shades to considerable effect” (The Double Bassist), Dr. Stokes is also noted for his “eye-popping display of technical wizardry and showmanship” (Madison Jazz).

As a chamber musician he has collaborated with musicians such as Julian Schwarz, Alaria Ensemble, Frisson Ensemble, Clyde Thomas Shaw, Fry Street Quartet, members of the Audubon Quartet, Stuart Malina, Blanka Bednarz, John O’Connor, David Oei and Seymour Lipkin.

A Full Professor at Shenandoah University-Conservatory, he teaches jazz and classical bass. As a composer, he has enjoyed commissions from Discover DoubleBass.com, Berry College Orchestra, Barry Green, Blanka Bednarz, The International Society of Bassists Young Bass Division, the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and Jerry Fuller.

Dr. Stokes earned degrees from Vanderbilt University (B.M.) and Indiana University (M.M. and D.M.), where his major instructors were Lawrence Hurst and Edgar Meyer. He studied fiddle styles with Crystal Ploughman and Mark O’Connor, string pedagogy with Lawrence Hurst, Helga Winold, Inez Wyrick and Mimi Zweig, and composition with Michael Alec Rose, Michael Kurek and Mary Jeanne Van Appledorn.

Dr. Stokes is a former President of the Virginia String Teachers Association and a former Board Member for the International Society of Bassists.