Alick Shaw – Chairman
Alick is a long standing supporter of the orchestra and has served for many years both as a member and Chair of the Wellington Orchestra board. He now works as a director and Independent Commissioner under the Resource Management Act. He is currently a member of the boards of the New Zealand Transport Agency, the Wellington Museums Trust and chairs the boards of the Carter National Observatory, and Auckland based gourmet food market company Nosh.
He has served on the boards of a wide range of organisations in the Local Government, Crown and Cultural and voluntary sectors. Recent governance roles include Deputy Mayor of Wellington City, Deputy Chair of the Arts Council of Creative NZ., Chair of the NZ School of Music (NZSM) and board member of the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) and Wellington Water Management Ltd. (Capacity). He is also a member of the boards of the Wellington Health and Hospitals Foundation and Arts Wellington.
Jeremy Fitzsimons
Jeremy Fitzsimons graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honours in 1995. While at Victoria University he formed and led the Big Band, was appointed Principal Percussionist of the Wellington Sinfonia, played with many other ensembles including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and attended the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.
A Fulbright Scholarship took him to the United States where he received his Masters (1997) and Performance Certificate (1998) from Northwestern University in Chicago. Jeremy was a founding member and director of percussion group Strike from 1993 – 2003, and has toured for Chamber Music New Zealand, and has been featured on a number of recordings.
Jeremy runs his own percussion instrument hire business and has worked for the NZ Festival in the technical department. He has been Artist Teacher in marimba at NZSM since 2007 and is currently Principal Percussionist with the Vector Wellington Orchestra, plays regularly with the NZSO, and pursues various chamber, solo and recording projects.
Dominic Groom
Dominic is a management consultant and an experienced orchestral musician who can provide knowledge of management disciplines with a practical understanding of the artistic and operational issues of an orchestra.
As a management consultant he has been involved in business planning for organisations, projects and regulatory initiatives, economic development, policy development and policy implementation for local authorities and central government. He has contributed to governance and strategic reviews of several publicly funded New Zealand organisations.
Dominic has performed as a horn player in ensembles throughout New Zealand and has previously been Principal Horn of the Vector Wellington Orchestra. He was also a Players’ Representative on the Board.
Caroline Heath
After graduating from Victoria University of Wellington with a BMus (1999) and BA (2000) Caroline joined the University faculty, running the orchestra and administering performance courses for a number of years. Caroline was a founding member of the Vector Wellington Orchestra Players’ Committee and previous Player Representative on the Board.
More recently, Caroline has held a variety of roles with the Ministry of Transport. She was selected to counsel two independent government review groups and has provided advice on major transport infrastructure investment and development initiatives. Caroline is currently the sector’s governance adviser, working with boards and governing bodies to improve outcomes.
Dr Stephanie Rolfe
Stephanie is Principal 1st Violin in the Vector Wellington Orchestra. She was a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for 13 years until she moved overseas in 2001, and a member of the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra during that time. Stephanie has also freelanced in orchestras in London and Hawai’i.
In her day job, Stephanie is a Project Manager at Housing New Zealand Corporation. She has previously consulted in policy, communications, and project management roles in Wellington and Honolulu. Stephanie has postgraduate degrees in languages and in International Relations, and has a PhD in Communication and Information Sciences from the University of Hawai'i.
Landa van den Berg
Landa is a management consultant with over 20 years of local and international business experience, having moved to NZ in 2007. She supports leaders in translating their vision into a strategic direction, providing a solid foundation for change initiatives and organisation development.
Before moving into consultancy she had 10 years of experience in various human resources roles. She has worked with a wide range of organisations from large multinationals to small not for profits.
Landa has a Dutch law degree and a post graduate degree in Human Resources Management. She is a member of the Institute of Directors. She is passionate about music, playing the piano since early childhood. Currently she is studying with a local piano teacher.
Chris Whelan
Chris has worked in a variety of general management roles over the last twenty years. He is currently Director of Management Services with NZAID – a part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before this he has held senior management roles in New Zealand Police and at Victoria University of Wellington. His professional background has focussed around financial management, organisational development, business planning and change. His professional qualifications include a MA in History and a Masters of Business Administration.
His involvement with the VWO has been mainly from the other side of the stage. He has decades of experience as a singer and an actor doing opera, operetta and oratorio. Since moving to Wellington in the mid 90s he has performed with the orchestra at least once most years and has a huge respect for its professionalism and capability.
