NORFOLK, Va. – After serving for 18 years on the Board of Directors of Virginia Opera, the Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the title of Director Emeritus has been conferred unanimously on Mrs. Joan Barbara Miller. Mrs. Miller joined the Virginia Opera Board of Directors in 1995. She is the Immediate Past President of the Statewide Board of Directors of the Virginia Opera and currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee. Mrs. Miller served as Board President from 2009 through 2011 and helped steer Virginia Opera through the first transition in artistic leadership in the company’s 38 year history.
Of the appointment, current Board President, Alan P. Albert said: “Joan has served on the Board of Directors with remarkable distinction, complete involvement, dedication and devotion since 1995, providing unparalleled leadership. Her generosity, tireless passion, and notable support of the programs and activities of the organization are further illustrated by her extensive travel in and outside of Virginia and her ambassadorship on behalf of Virginia Opera. I am honored and privileged to serve with her and we are pleased to offer her this significant acknowledgement.”
Virginia Opera board and staff members alike are delighted by the appointment. Current President and CEO Russell Allen also worked with Mrs. Miller during his tenure as General Manager of Virginia Opera from 1994-2000. Of their relationship, Allen says: “Joan Miller has been a long-standing friend of Virginia Opera. The Opera has benefitted significantly from her involvement in the organization and passion for the art form. It is wonderful to be working with her again and I’m grateful for her continuing dedication to our company.” Chair of the Statewide Board of Director’s Governance and Nominating Committee, William R. Poynter Esq. has served with Mrs. Miller since 2006 and reflected that “Joan’s tireless dedication to the company coupled with her exuberant advocacy for the opera have inspired the next generation of leadership for Virginia Opera.”
Mrs. Miller is a retired fashion coordinator and buyer for I. Magnin and resides in Norfolk with her husband, Richard. She holds a BA from Mary Washington College of The University of Virginia. Mrs. Miller is a former member of the Virginia Symphony League Board and the Board of the Todi Music Fest. She is immediate past-president of the board of the Auxiliary to Sentara Hospitals Norfolk, which encompasses Norfolk General and Leigh, having served in this capacity from 1999-2001 and again from 2007-2009. She is a member of the Chrysler Museum Masterpiece Society, Chrysler Museum Glass Guild, Hermitage Society, Norfolk Society of the Arts, and the Cultural Alliance of Norfolk. She is also a member of the newly formed Patient and Family Advisory Committee and Council of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Contact Director of Marketing & Communications, Anna Russell at 757-627-9545 ext. 3316, or via e-mail at anna.russell@vaopera.org for more information.
About Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera Association, Inc., entering its 38th year of operation, is known and respected nationwide for the identification and presentation of the finest young artists, for the musical and dramatic integrity of its productions, and for the ingenuity and variety of its education and outreach programs. The Company has a working budget of $6.4 million with 43 mainstage performances in three markets reaching nearly 60,000 attendees. In March of 1994, by unanimous vote of the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia Opera was named The Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia in recognition of the organization’s contribution to the state as well as to the world of opera.