Calgary Opera Board of Directors

Evan J. Hazell, Chair

Evan Hazell is a Managing Director within Citi’s global investment bank. He has been involved in Calgary’s oil and gas industry since 1980. For the first decade of his career Mr. Hazell practiced as a petroleum engineer. Since 1992 he has worked as an energy investment banker serving a wide range of Canadian and international clients. In addition to Calgary Opera, Mr. Hazell has been actively involved with a number of other non-profit organizations, including the Calgary Homeless Foundation and CAWST.

Beverley Foy, Past Chair

Past Chair Beverley Foy is a Chartered Accountant, a partner of Collins Barrow Calgary LLP. As Treasurer of Calgary Opera from 1999 to 2003, she championed the establishment of an endowment fund for the organization. During her past three years as Chair, her focus has been to expand Calgary Opera’s connection with the community. She has held board and committee positions with the S.A. Opera Development Foundation, YWCA of Calgary, YMCA of Calgary and Soroptimist International. Within her profession, Bev has held positions on the communications and strategic planning committees of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta.

Leo le Nobel, Secretary

Born in Vancouver, Leo le Nobel entered the civil service of the general insurance business “right out of high school” on July 2, 1949. Now an account executive with the International Risk Management and Insurance Broking firm of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada Inc., he hopes that retirement is a long, long time away. His first opera, in 1945, was Rigoletto, performed at Vancouver’s Strand Theatre by the touring San Carlo Opera Company. It was the only source of live opera in the hinterlands long before the emergence of the regional companies. The Canadian Opera Company’s production of the Ring was the fourteenth time that Mr. le Nobel attended the tetralogy performed under festival conditions. His desert island opera would probably be Tristan und Isolde but he admits that he really would miss Tosca.

Mike Crape, Treasurer

Originally from the BC interior, Mike Crape made Calgary his home in 1985 to pursue his career in land surveying and mapping. In 1993, he started his own Company. Recognizing people as “the most important asset,” Mr. Crape has built Crape Geomatics Corporation on a group of essential individuals. Together, they have created a culture that provides integral services to the industry and follow a philosophy of social responsibility to the communities in which they work. A dedicated businessman, father and athlete, Mr. Crape supports numerous local organizations, including Calgary Opera.

Dick Cooper, Director

Dick Cooper is a Partner with Deloitte and is the National Leader for their Canadian Energy & Resources Practice. He is the Managing Partner for the Calgary consulting practice and a previous member of the Canadian firm’s Board of Directors. Mr. Cooper consults in the areas of value based management and in information management. Mr. Cooper has a Bachelor degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo. A Chartered Accountant and Certified Management Consultant, Mr. Cooper has presented on a variety of performance improvement and information management topics.

Donald C. Edie, QC, Director

Born in Edmonton and raised in Calgary, Don Edie attended the University of Calgary, followed by law school at the University of Alberta. He has been a solicitor practicing in the Canadian and international energy industries, with a large focus on regulatory tribunals and commercial transactions, for more than 29 years. Mr. Edie has been a partner in the law firm Carscallen Lockwood LLP for the past 15 years, where he continues a full-time legal practice, while finding time to perform in most of Calgary Opera’s mainstage productions as a chorister. Mr. Edie also sings with Scarboro United Church Choir and the EnChor ensemble.

David H. Field, QC, Director

David Field has resided in Calgary since 1971. He is the Senior Partner of the Calgary office of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP where he also carries on a banking and corporate finance law practice. Mr. Field has been active in Calgary’s performing arts community for many years, having been a director and secretary of the Calgary Philharmonic Society, a trustee of the Calgary Philharmonic Foundation, a director of Theatre Calgary, and a founder and board member of the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts. As a long time subscriber and supporter of Calgary Opera David is committed to its future.

Christel Johansson, Director

Christel Johansson has 36 years of experience in the banking industry, seven years in the international division of Union Bank of Finland and 29 years of commercial banking with The Bank of Nova Scotia in Calgary. She grew up in an environment with a strong focus on the arts and music which became a passion at an early stage. Ms. Johansson’s intent is to take an active part in the effort to widen the interest in opera in Calgary and especially to reach young audiences and people who have not been exposed to opera.

Verne Johnson, Director

Graduating in Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1966,Verne Johnson has 40 years of involvement in the oil and gas industry.Initially he worked with Imperial Oil in Canada and EXXON in New York until 1981 when he left to join the independent sector where he ran a number of junior and intermediate energy companies ending with the sale of ELAN Energy in 1997.Since then he has undertaken a number of advisory roles and Board directorships associated with private investments.He is presently an advisor to Statoil ASA and is a director of Fort Chicago Energy Partners,Harvest Energy Trust,Builders Energy Services Trust,Gran Tierra Energy and Suroco Energy as well as some private energy companies.

Evelyn Main, Director

Born and raised in Three Hills, Alberta, Evelyn Main has over 20 years volunteer experience. She is Past Chair of the Western Art Auction Committee at the Calgary Stampede, leading a team of over 32 volunteers. This prestigious event is one of the best western themed auctions in North America. Currently with the Calgary Health Region, Ms. Main is keenly interested in building a strong partnership between the arts and the secondary and post-secondary education systems. Past Board appointments include the Mount Royal College Foundation Board, and the Hope Foundation Board in Edmonton. Ms. Main holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Calgary.

John Martland, QC, Director

John Martland is a lawyer and a partner in the Litigation Department of Bennett Jones in Calgary. For the Canadian Bar Association, he sat on the Judicial Appointments Committee, was vice chair for the National Convention, and a member of the Civil Justice National Task Force. He sits as a Director on the Health Law Institute of Alberta, a member of Council for the International Commission of Jurists and is President of the Calgary Medical Legal Society. A past Chair and Director of the Calgary Folk Festival, Mr. Martland also moonlights as a bass player with the “Wild Colonial Boys.”

Mark McMurray, Director

Mr. McMurray is Managing Director, Corporate Development for Rundle Energy Partners, a divestment advisory firm that specializes in corporate and asset divestitures for oil and gas and service companies. His career began in Calgary with Imperial Oil in 1985 after graduating with Geoscience degrees from the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Waterloo. He has had the opportunity to travel extensively through his professional activities and is proud to make Calgary his home. He became a member of the board of Calgary Opera in 2004 and is active in his commitment to see the arts as an important and dynamic element to the fibre of a great City.

John B. McWilliams, Director

John McWilliams is a Calgary lawyer and sits on several boards and committees in Canada. With over 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry, Mr. McWilliams is a frequent speaker at major forums including the International Bar Association, World Petroleum Congress, and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Law Society of Alberta, Canadian Bar Association, International Bar Association, a Director of Transparency International Canada, and Director of Canadian Institute of International Affairs. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Global Ethics (Canada) and Founding Director of Bank West.

Peter Menzies, Director

Peter Menzies, President of Menzies Strategies, has been involved in all aspects of Calgary’s community development for more than 25 years. Now involved in the strategic marketing, communications, management and public policy fields, Mr. Menzies spent 10 Calgary Opera Fall 23 years serving Calgarians in the newspaper industry through the Calgary Sun and then 16 years at the Calgary Herald where he served as Editor in Chief and Publisher. A winner of national and international awards for journalism, he works and volunteers his time with a number of arts-related organizations and is a member of the board of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

Marilyn Milavsky, Director

Marilyn Milavsky is a designer of women’s fashions and currently owns her own company known as Designs by Marilyn. Ms. Milavsky is involved with a number of community endeavors involving the arts, health, and sports. She has helped create events for non-profit organizations such as Hospice Calgary, Stars Air Ambulance, the Glenbow Museum, Esther Honens Competition, Alberta Ballet, and Calgary Opera. Along with being on the board of the Calgary Opera, Ms. Milavsky is currently involved with The Banff Centre Campaign Cabinet, the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, the Banff Music and Film Festival, the TELUS Community Board, and will also be an ambassador in Calgary for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Kathy Sendall, Director

Senior Vice-President, North American Natural Gas for Petro-Canada, Kathy Sendall has been named one of the “Top 100 - Canada’s Most Powerful Women” for the past three years and one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People by Alberta Venture. In March 2006 Ms. Sendall became the first woman to become Chair of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. She is immediate Past President and Director of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, a Director of the Canadian Centre for Energy Information, and a Director of the Canadian Council of Academies. She sits on the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary and is Past President of the Calgary Chapter of the International Women’s Forum.

Monica Sloan, Director

Monica Sloan is the Managing Director and CEO of Intervera Data Solutions, a firm that specializes in strategic information management and data quality products and services across the energy sector. Much of Ms. Sloan’s career has been in helping to build and sustain innovation within existing and new business and community ventures. Ms. Sloan is a member of a number of public, private and not-for profit boards, including past Chair of Calgary Opera. Ms. Sloan has a BSc in Applied Earth Sciences, a BA in Economics, an MSc Engineering all from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard University. In her next life Ms. Sloan welcomes the opportunity to come back as an Italian mezzo soprano.

Arlene Strom, Director

Arlene Strom is Director Legal Affairs, Corporate at Suncor Energy where she has worked since 2003. Prior to 2003, she practiced securities law at Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer. From 2002 through 2004 Ms. Strom was a sessional instructor in securities law at the University of Calgary. She is currently the chair of an oil and gas prospecting team for the United Way and serves on the boards of a provincial constituency association and federal electoral district association. Ms. Strom has a B.A. in business administration from Trinity Western University and a M.A. in political science and LLB from the University of British Columbia.

David Weyant, QC, Director

David Weyant, the Calgary Health Region’s General Counsel, practiced in Toronto prior to returning home to Calgary in 1994. He has negotiated and drafted major business transactions and has appeared before various courts in Canada. An active member of the legal community, he is on the executive of both Canadian Bar Association sections and the Alberta General Counsel Association. One of the youngest Queen’s Counsel appointees, he has been a member of, or provided legal advice to, various boards and associations. Mr. Weyant’s introduction to opera was through Bugs Bunny, and he still enjoys “Kill the Wabbit” and “Rabbit of Seville” with his wife and children.

Deborah Yedlin, Director