Board of Directors

Barbara Bryant

Although Barbara Bryant’s secret fantasy is to be part of the entourage for Aretha Franklin, she long ago realized that her writing and organizational talents are more practical contributions to the arts. Barb discovered Portland Revels in 2002. “In my family, going to theater, concerts, museums has always been a given,” she explains. “I’m thrilled to be a spectator at the Revels show, and also to be a member of the board to help make the Revels happen.”

Barb grew up in the Chicago area but has called the Pacific Northwest home since the 1980s. She lives and works in Vancouver, Washington, where she is the frequent chauffeur for her teenage son. Barb also is the manager of technical communications for Communications Product Development, Inc., a privately held telecommunications software company. She is in charge of publications and training for CPDI.

Before joining Portland Revels, Barb served on the board of directors for the Oregon Columbia chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (OCIABC) and senior delegate to the district. Barb has participated in non-profit organizations for as long as she can remember, and her commitment to worthy causes is balanced with good humor. For example, during her term as OCIABC president, she shared her philosophy with the board: “If we’re going to put our energy into it, it’s gotta be fun!”

Deborah Garman

President

Debby is a transplant to Portland from Illinois, by way of Carleton College in Minnesota.

She does freelance work in marketing and public relations

She is a self-disclosed book lover, whose work as a publisher's representative led her to her husband Michael Fox, who has also made a career bookselling.

They live with their teenage daughter Gabrielle and a menagerie of domestic animals on a rustic mini-farm in Banks, in the foothills of the Coast Range.

Deborah is a long time Revels devotee, who first began listening to Christmas Revels records and tapes about 15 years ago.

Richard Lewis

Past President

Richard Lewis was the founding president of Portland Revels and the show's producer from 1995 through 2001.

He has long been interested in Anglo-American folk music, dance, and culture. He is foreman of the Bridgetown Morris Men, has been a national board member of the Country Dance and Song Society, and was a founding board member of the Portland Country Dance Community.

He has a doctorate in medieval English literature, has taught at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Wisconsin, and is the retired Executive Director of the Oregon Council for the Humanities.

Dick first encountered the Revels through its founder, John Langstaff, at a Christmas Revels summer camp directed by Langstaff in Massachusetts in 1989. In 1994, he joined a fledging Revels group, begun in Portland by Karen Westley, and helped to put on a "sampler" Revels program at the University of Portland in December, 1994. The success of that program led to creation of the present, tax-exempt organization.

Dick also produces occasional music events featuring traditional performers. He has two daughters and is four times a grampa.

Christopher Frost

Treasurer

Christopher Frost, treasurer for Portland Revels, came to Portland Revels through the Bridgetown Morris Men and has danced morris, sword and even a broom dance for Revels productions.

When not cutting a caper, he works as an attorney for Louisiana-Pacific Corporation having graduated from Northwestern School of Law in 1997.

However, his roots remain in music and theatre. Before graduating from Whittier College in 1985, he composed, produced and directed an original music drama based on the Arthurian Legend entitled The Serpent's Tooth.

As a music and theatre major, he was a member of the college choir and chorale as well as appearing in a number of college theatre productions. He is also a member of Rose City Gay Freedom Band and its big band counterpart, Rose City Swing.

He looks forward to many years as a dancer, musician and member of the Revels community.

Antonia Forster

Scribe

Antonia came to Oregon from the Northeast to attend graduate school in clinical psychology, and never left.

After finishing a Ph.D., she began practicing at OHSU, and is now in private practice as a child neuropsychologist.

When not practicing psychology, she often sings. She has sung in madrigal groups, choirs and choruses, and rock and roll bands.

She has seen all of Portland Revels shows with her two children, and has been a member of the chorus for the last two seasons.

George Kunz

George Kunz returns to the Northwest following a twenty-year hiatus in pursuit of an education and career.

He is a consulting psychologist specializing in education and training.

During his early days, music was the focus while playing percussion in rock and roll and symphonic bands and singing in choirs.

He is thrilled to be among the warm and talented folks who make up the Revels. George has three children who also play, sing and dance.

Gary Petersen

Gary is a native Portlander and has spent most of his life there.

After graduating from Roosevelt High School he studied engineering at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.

In 1967, he opened his own engineering office and, 30 years later, founded Peterson Structural Engineers with his older son, Erik.

Gary has been a jazz pianist since childhood and, in 1982, formed Stumptown Jazz, a traditional jazz band. The band continues to perform regularly around the west coast.

He became interested in Portland Revels in 1999 when he joined the chorus for the first time. His interest and dedication to the Revels continues with his appointment to the Board of Directors in 2002.

Quinland D. Porter

Quinland joined Portland Revels board in 1996.

A singer since she attended Lincoln High School in Portland, Quinland sang through four years of college, including European tours with the Smith College Chamber Singers.

She studied voice in New York, where she sang in a large chorus and a small a capella group. In graduate school she still managed to sing in a madrigal group and trained the women's voices for a production of Glinkas A Life for the Czar.

For many years she taught English and Humanities at Lewis and Clark College.

She has sung in the Portland Symphonic Choir and is a member of the a capella group Portland Camerata. She has sung in seven productions of the Christmas Revels.

Gail Richard

Gail's involvement with the Revels began when she attended her first Revels performance in California in 1986. She has not missed a performance since and has served as a member on the San Francisco Revels board of directors.

Gail's strong interest in the history of the Revels traditions led her to contribute to the production of the Revels publication, About Revels.

Gail is a teacher trainer specializing in cultural and linguistic diversity and conducts trainings and teaches classes.

She has a son who recently graduated from Lewis and Clark and a daughter enrolled at the University of Washington.

She joined Portland Revels in 2001 and finds the association nothing less than "joyous!"

Advisory Board

• Joan Buell
• Fletcher Chamberlin
• José Gonzalez
• Susan Hauser
• Kit Abel Hawkins
• Corinne McWilliams
• John Monteverde
• Vana O'Brien
• Mike O'Brien
• Carole Smith
• William C. Wayne
• Ralph Wright