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October 11, 2020The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston recently met virtually for the annual General Meeting and the election of new Board Members. The Society is pleased to announce the following community members have agreed to two-year terms.
Caryn Fulda is originally from Amite, LA and has lived in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Florida, and Ireland. She graduated from the LSU School of Music (where her parents met) and studied there under Terry Patrick Harris. She joined the Society two years ago with The Topsy Turvy Mikado, which is her favorite G&S show.
Lynn Cooper Hinrichs is originally from New Orleans. She joined the Society with the 1984 production of The Mikado and within a month after the show, she joined the Board. As a board member, she supported publicity, the opening of the Wortham, was head of the
scholarship committee, and named the newsletter "HMS Semaphore: or the Mass That Loves a Mailer", among many other things, before finally leaving Houston for Seattle.
Her favorite G&S show is Princess Ida. Her favorite finale is from Pirates. She married her Gondoliers 1994 partner, Alex Hinrichs. She returned to Houston in 2018.
Karen Jones is a near-native Texan and Houstonian. (Sorry, California.) Her mom is her biggest musical and photography influence. She sang under Dr. Gene Kinney at Texas Tech University - GUNS UP! - the same Dr. Kinney as her mother in high school. While at Tech, she sang with Susan Graham - yes THAT Susan Graham - and look how that's turned out for her!
Though extremely blessed to have performed on nearly every major stage in Houston with Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Bayou City Performing Arts, Bayou City Women's Chorus, Bayou City Chorale, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Show Choir, her biggest performance joys have been Carnegie Hall and Komen Houston Race for the Cure, where she also served as a music coordinator for the post-race Survivors Celebration for many years.
Julia FitzGerald introduced her to HG&S around 2011, so you can blame or praise her for Karen's loitering in the wings. Her favorite HG&S production is any spent with these insanely talented and hilarious people. Oh, and being Queen Victoria in "Pirates". Gotta love everyone bowing to you! Having retired from triathlons, marathons, and softball, "her time" is filled primarily with volunteering, enjoying live theatre and wildlife photography. Thus, photographing HG&S is a natural fit.
Timothy Jones hails from Shreveport and has been in Houston since 2002. He holds a Bachelor's degree in vocal performance and piano pedagogy from Centennary and earned a Master of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. He is currently an associate professor of voice at Moores School of Music at U of H. A Bass-Baritone, he also has an active performing career in US, Europe, and South America.
Meredith Rice is from Houston and has been active with the Society since 2018. She graduated from UT undergrad and U of H law school. She is currently the in-house corporate counsel for HighRadius. Pirates is her favorite show.
Rob Seible was born in Sioux City, Iowa and moved to Houston at age 17. He studied at TCU, OU, Sam Houston State, and then spent 34 years teaching high school choir in OK, Ft Worth and Houston, including at HSPVA. He was Assistant Musical Director for Galveston Outdoor musicals for three seasons, not to mention the Chorus Master for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston from 2013-2017. His favorite show is Gondoliers (due to the choral singing).
Among current members, Lisa Marut-Shriver has chosen not to stand for re-election. The Board would like to thank Ms. Marut-Shriver for her service, especially her leadership on the audition process.