About The SC Philharmonic

Officers

Chris Winston, President
Director, Marketing and Communications, Combined Insurance, a Chubb Company

Emily Luther, Immediate Past President
Special Counsel, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Josh Price, Treasurer
CPA, Grant Thornton

Alexis Short, Secretary
37 Gears, Director of Strategy

Kenneth R. Cox (Ken) Vice President
Group Vice President, Sales and Operations at First Citizens Bank

Mike Ferguson, Vice President
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Gas Transmission & Storage; Manager, Pipeline Integrity

Dr. Harold Friedman, Vice President
Division of Plastic Surgery Prisma Health/USC School of Medicine

Samuel Waters (Sam), Vice President
Retired - attorney

At Large Board Members

Carol Addy
Chief Revenue Officer, Palmetto Citizens

Hassan Anderson
Assistant Professor of Oboe and Coordinator of Teaching Artistry University of South Carolina

Steven Anastasion (Steve)
Baker and Baker Real Estate Developers, LLC

Kyle Aaron Brannon
Maynard Nexsen, PC; Shareholder

Jarrett Coco
Attorney, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

Bill Danielson
Managing Partner, Datapay SC, Inc; Mayor, Town of Irmo

Lucy Dinkins
Attorney at Wyche, P. A.

Nanette Edwards
Partner, Burr & Forman

Tom Fortson
Retired, Terminix

Terry Goodfellow
EAP Instructor/Curriculum and Community Outreach Coordinator at University of South Carolina

Corky Harper
Fmr. Attorney at Nelson Mullins, Retired

Lynn Hodge
Fmr. Elementary School Principal 

Rhonda Hunsinger, Executive Director, Ex-Officio
South Carolina Philharmonic

Sarah Landholt
Assistant Vice President, Truist

Colleen Marcou, Players’ Committee, Ex-Officio
Educator – Irmo High School

Dr. Gail Morrison
Retired (SC Commission on Higher Education)

Morihiko Nakahara, Music Director, Ex Officio

Stephen Savitz, Parliamentarian
Attorney, Gignilliant Savitz, & Bettis, LLP., Retired

Patricia Smith (Pat)
Retired - Attorney

David Turner
Director of Advancement, Historic Columbia

Elizabeth Wheeler, Symphony League President, Ex Officio

Board members Emeriti

Mary Green Brush

Barbara Darden – in memoriam

Thomas R. Gottshall, Esq.

Rick Palyok

Hyman Rubin, Jr.

Regan Voit

Administrative Staff

• Rhonda Hunsinger, Executive Director
• Robin Hallyburton, Development and Deputy Director
• Chad Henderson, Marketing Director
• Susan Cafferty, Education & Community Outreach Director
• Rebecca Faith Warthen, Development Manager
• Margaret Bauknight, Patron Services Manager

Artistic Staff

• Morihiko Nakahara, Music Director
• Ashley Horvat, Personnel Manager
• John L. Hunsinger II, Production and Stage Manager
• Tzu-Ying Liao, Music Librarian and Operations Manager

Youth Orchestra Staff

• Reed Hanna, Artistic Director and Youth Philharmonic Conductor
• Naiesha Wise, Concert Orchestra Conductor
• Emma Brown, Prelude Orchestra Conductor
• Joanne Mosquera, Symphonic Youth Orchestra Director
• Morgan Smith Owen, Youth Orchestra Manager

Benefactors

• BlueCross BlueShield of SC
• City of Columbia
• Richland County
• S.C. Arts Commission

Platinum

• Symphony League 
• Prisma Health

Gold Level

• Berkshire Hathaway/ Carolina Gas Transmission
• Combined, A Chubb Company
• Dominion Energy
• FACES, Inc.
• Grace Outdoor
• SC ETV | SC Public Radio
• Terminix / Pat and Tom Fortson
• Thermal Technologies

Silver Level

• Aflac
• Baker Commercial Properties
• Blythewood Gloriosa Florist
• Bourbon Columbia
• Cox & Dinkins / Lucy Dinkins & Harrison Floyd
• Clarke and Harold Friedman
• Howard Gilman Foundation
• Dr. Todd A. Kolb
• Dr. Gail M. Morrison
• Elizabeth Wheeler
• Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLC
• SoulHAUS
• South Carolina State Museum
• Dr. Mary Baskin-Waters & Samuel C. Waters

Bronze Level

• AllSouth Federal Credit Union
• Ameris Bank
• Any Lab Test Now
• Joseph Bruce
• First Citizens Bank
• IGS Energy
• M.B. Kahn Construction
• McDaniels Auto Group
• Propel Insurance
• Schmoyer & Company CPAs

Friends Level

• Helmut & Gillian Albrecht
• Centa
• Debbie & Rick Cohn
• DataPay
• GMK
• GMM Insurance
• Val & Dennis Grady
• Holiday Inn Express & Suites - Downtown Columbia & Vista
• Ingram Law Firm
• Pollock Company
• Truist

Education & Outreach Sponsors

• Anonymous (2)
• Anonymous “In Memory of Ann Cassidy”
• BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina
• City of Columbia
• Dominion Energy
• Howard Gilman Foundation
• Lipscomb Foundation
• Looking Out Foundation
• Nord Foundation
• Richland County
• South Carolina Arts Commission
• Symphony League
• USC School of Music
• Woman’s Club Endowment

SCP Musician Sponsors

Winifred Goodwin, piano Sponsored by Jane LaRoche

Cynthia Hopkins, flute Sponsored by Jane LaRoche

Mary Lee Taylor Kinosian, violin Sponsored by Jane LaRoche

Carol Stumpf, timpani Sponsored by Val & Dennis Grady

Dusan Vukajlovic, cello Sponsored by Jane LaRoche

The South Carolina Philharmonic is deeply committed to building and maintaining a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) through partnerships with our musicians, staff, audience members, and volunteer leadership. We denounce racism and racial injustice. 

In February 2020, we completed a strategic plan for the organization to systematically improve the socio-economic, gender, ethnic, special needs, and age diversity of our Board, musicians, and staff to reflect the diversity of the community we serve. As part of this plan, Executive Director Rhonda Hunsinger joined the Diversity Leaders Initiative of the Riley Institute at Furman - a program that helps community leaders better understand the diversity and inclusion shortfalls within their organizations. Upon completion of the program, Rhonda will be equipped with focused decision-making skills and a deeper knowledge of how to effectively manage and lead increasingly diverse workers, clients, and constituents.

The SC Philharmonic's strategic plan includes staff and Board educational sessions with other organizations who are doing meaningful EDI work in our community; creating an EDI committee comprised of Board and Advisory Council members; establishing annual goals for engaging a more diverse cross-section of our community for Board service, with a priority of having an inclusive Board that embraces all ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, ages and genders; and building an audience that reflects our community. While our commitment to EDI is ongoing, we acknowledge that we have struggled to move as quickly as we should to align practices with our beliefs. The strategic plan is propelling this shortfall into action.

The SC Philharmonic is a member of the League of American Orchestras (LAO) - an organization that is committed to elevating the principals of EDI as the highest priority in the orchestra field. Members of the SCP staff, orchestra, and Board are actively engaged in opportunities through the LAO to participate in forums for training, discussion, and reflection and use its resources and tools to facilitate change and continuous learning. 

Community Outreach and Inclusion

While the SC Philharmonic is perhaps best known for its performances of live symphonic music on stage, members of our orchestra and staff work closely with local partners to develop inclusive educational outreach programs to fill the needs of our community.   

With the unrest of social injustice and the pandemic, the SC Philharmonic saw an opportunity to support the wellbeing of our community’s mental health through "InTune," a mindfulness exercise collaborating our music with a guided meditation by psychiatrist Dr. Frank Clark. We also partnered with senior care centers to present video concerts by our musicians to individuals who are unable to leave their care facilities. Another virtual program, "From Our Homes to Yours," was launched to provide a broader audience with a series of on-line concerts available for free, along with releases of archival audio releases of the full orchestra. While virtual concert events will continue to be created throughout the pandemic, free musical offerings will become a permanent part of the SC Philharmonic's commitment to making symphonic music accessible to everyone.

Under the leadership of Music Director Morihiko Nakahara, the SC Philharmonic has developed programs to reach underserved communities and will continue to do so when musical gatherings and education programs are safe again. "Conduct the Phil" concerts, where the audience members conduct the orchestra, have been presented extensively throughout the Midlands, not only in public spaces like festivals, farmers markets, and the SC State Fair but for members of our community that otherwise might never have the chance to experience live symphonic music. These include interactive concert events at Transitions Homeless Center, Epworth Children's Home, the SC Department of Juvenile Justice, and Babcock Center.

The SC Philharmonic also presents "Healing Harmonies" concerts throughout the hospitals and campuses of the Prisma Health System, at underserved eldercare facilities and at the Dorn VA Medical Center - providing soothing and uplifting music to patients, families and staff alike.

Our orchestra actively seeks partnerships that enable children and adults of all ages to experience live symphonic music. These include educational programming for public school children throughout the Midlands, and actively working with Title 1 schools to ensure that every student has a chance to hear live music. 

We are currently developing a sensory-sensitive concert series for neurodiverse members of our community. The concerts will allow children and adults who are unable to normally attend concert events with their families to enter a safe and welcoming environment where clapping, movement, and vocalization are accepted and embraced.

For more than a year, the SC Philharmonic has actively worked on the current strategic plan, with the goals of equity, diversity, and inclusion being at the top of our prioritized goals.  The creation of our EDI program is the first step to changing our organizational culture so that every aspect of our work embraces inclusion and the values of EDI.