For its golden anniversary season, Palm Beach Symphony adds new board members

–Palm Beach Symphony has announced the Board of Directors that will guide the acclaimed orchestra into its Golden Anniversary Season which will include upcoming performances of four world premieres as well as internationally acclaimed guest artists including Yefim Bronfman, Vladimir Feltsman and Emanuel Ax.

Laurie Bay, Cathie Black, Rich Brekus, Nannette M. Cassidy, Amy L. Collins, Marietta Muiña McNulty and Karen L. Rogers have joined the board of directors of Palm Beach Symphony, the organization announced Wednesday.

Other board members are Todd Dahlstrom of Wellington, Paul Goldner of Jupiter, Carol S. Hays of Delray Beach, Gary Lachman of West Palm Beach and Don Thompson of Delray Beach. Officers include Chairman James R. Borynack of Palm Beach, Vice Chair Brekus of North Palm Beach, Treasurer John Herrick of West Palm Beach and Secretary Manley Thaler of Palm Beach Gardens.

This will be the symphony's golden anniversary 50th season, which will include upcoming performances by prominent guest artists including pianists Yefim Bronfman, Vladimir Feltsman and Emanuel Ax.

Laurie Bay of Palm Beach and her late husband, James N. Bay, owner of Bays English Muffins, served on the boards of numerous hospital and arts organizations. She also supports Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, The Antiquarian Society, The Lyric Opera and The Art Institute of Chicago.

A media executive and best-selling author, Black now serves as an adviser, board member and investor in digital start-ups and entrepreneurial companies. An island resident, she served for 15 years as president, and later chairman, of Hearst Magazines. Her achievements include being named to Fortune magazine’s list of the Most Powerful Women in Business for 11 consecutive years and inclusion on Forbes’ Power List for many years. She also served on the boards of IBM and the Coca-Cola Co. for 20 years.

She is also an advisor to RRE and StarVest venture capital firms and advises several young companies including The Daily Muse, Snowe and Vivid + Co. Her New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller, Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life), has been translated into 12 languages. A graduate of Trinity College in Washington, D.C., she holds 10 honorary degrees.

Brekus, of North Palm Beach, spent his career in the automotive industry, principally formulating future product and technology strategies. He was part of the Ford Motor Co.’s product planning team that created Ford’s first Taurus, as well leading BMW of North America’s product planning and strategy departments. From 2015 until his retirement in 2018, he served as global director of product strategy for General Motors, where he and his team defined the future strategy for Cadillac.

Cassidy, a Palm Beach Gardens resident, serves as chief financial officer of Multi Parts Supply USA of Jupiter. Her experience in finance and accounting includes serving as vice president of finance and accounting at John C. Cassidy Air Conditioning, senior treasury analyst for W.R. Grace & Co., and as controller for First Capital and Club Sports International.

Collins, who lives in Palm Beach, served both institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals during her 20-year career in the financial services industry as a senior equity trader at Kidder, Peabody and Co., Paine Webber and Co. and UBS. She is a member of The Society of the Four Arts, The Everglades Club and Palm Beach County Women’s Tennis Association.

McNulty, a West Palm Beach resident, serves as chair of the Palm Beach Symphony Ladies Guild and is the founder of the annual Holly Jolly Symphony Fête. Together with her late husband and board president Dale Archer McNulty, she has been integral in guiding the symphony’s development. She is the immediate past president of the Catholic Charities of The Diocese of Palm Beach.

Rogers, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, enjoyed a career in which she performed principal roles in major opera houses throughout North America including The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera and the San Francisco Opera, as well as several appearances in Europe. She is an accomplished oratorio and recital singer and has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Other board members are Todd Dahlstrom of Wellington, Paul Goldner of Jupiter, Carol S. Hays of Delray Beach, Gary Lachman of West Palm Beach and Don Thompson of Delray Beach. Officers include Chairman James R. Borynack of Palm Beach, Vice Chair Brekus, Treasurer John Herrick of West Palm Beach and Secretary Manley Thaler of Palm Beach Gardens.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Symphony adds new board members for golden anniversary