Board of Directors

Serving as the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Cascadia Chamber Opera, Bereniece Jones-Centeno is an arts administrator, educator, and musician, and is happy to call Astoria Oregon home after moving from Eugene in 2016. She moved to Oregon from Chicago in 2008 to sing for Eugene Opera and later become the President of the Board. She also studied at the University of Oregon where she completed her Master of Music degree and the Arts and Administration program. She was introduced to Astoria through the Astoria Music Festival in 2009 working as a director for the apprentice program and eventually becoming the Managing Director for the 2016 festival year. To briefly assist with programming, she was the Artistic Director at the Liberty Theatre in 2017. Later that year, Governor Kate Brown appointed Bereniece to the board of the Oregon Cultural Trust where she is currently completing the first of two terms. Bereniece has recently become the Executive Director of the Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts and she is the Career Preparation Program Supervisor at Tongue Point Job Corps Center, a vocational trades program of the Department of Labor.

Vincent D. Jones-Centeno is the conductor of the Cascadia Chamber Opera (CCO), a post he has held since the company’s inauguration in 2009. Under his baton, CCO has produced many operatic works including Mozart's Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte, Beethoven's Fidelio, Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief, and the premiere of Gans-Morse's Tango of the White Gardenia. At the University of Oregon, Vincent has conducted various orchestral works and Bernstein's opera, Trouble in Tahiti. Vincent currently serves as the piano and clarinet instructor at the Astoria Conservatory of Music, the pianist for the North Coast Chorale, and the music director and organist at the historic Grace Episcopal Church. In addition to his professional music endeavours, Vincent is a licensed music and multiple-subjects teacher in the state of Oregon and teaches a classroom of 4th grade students at the Lewis and Clark Elementary School in the city of Astoria where he resides with his wife, Bereniece Jones-Centeno. Vincent holds the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from DePaul University, the Master of Arts in Teaching from Pacific University, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Music Theory from the University of Oregon.

Bernard Robe has been singing his whole life. He has a BME (1981) from Truman State University in Missouri, and a DVM (1995) from Kansas State University. Though he used his music degree professionally for only one year, it has served him well as an amateur ever since. He has performed in choirs, musicals, and operas in the Midwest, South Carolina, and Eugene. He is a founding member of The Clefs of Insanity, an a cappella group; and founded and runs the Eugene Recital Club, for lovers of the solo repertoire. He joined CCO as a chorus member in 2012 and has performed as a principal or chorister in almost every season since. He joined the board in 2016 and was voted president in 2017, in time for the preparations for our first commissioned opera, The Tango of the White Gardenia. When he’s not singing, Dr. Robe is well known as a relief spay & neuter surgeon, primarily in the Eugene/Springfield area.

Catherine Green is the treasurer for Cascadia Chamber Opera. She grew up with a love of singing and was in her school choir most of her childhood. Her parents were opera lovers, and since she showed an interest in opera they started taking her with them to their local community opera productions in the Bay Area of California. In her travels as an adult, Catherine has enjoyed world renowned opera productions in many countries but she is also happy to see local productions. It is because of this love that she got involved with Cascadia Chamber Opera and was invited to become the treasurer. Her focus at this time is to share her love of opera by encouraging people in her community to attend a local performance. Other loves include quilting, hiking, bicycle riding, traveling and reading.

Lauri Krämer Serafin has been an opera fan since seeing the movie, Amadeus, in 1984. Even though much of the movie is largely fictional, it sparked a love of grand opera and the joy of Mozart. She was soon attending Seattle Opera on a regular basis and became a season ticket holder. Her tour of the great opera houses of the world was interrupted by a family addition and a career. Lauri and her husband have resumed their tour in Astoria! She is committed to facilitating chamber opera in the North Coast region since first seeing CCO in 2018. Other interests include German operetta, historic preservation, genealogy, music of the 20’s and 30’s, and antique collecting. She is currently restoring Astoria’s Forsstrom House to 1914 Edwardian splendor and hopes to host small events and fundraisers in the Music Room. Lauri currently serves as Secretary of CCO.

Sandy Naishtat joined the Board of Directors following his performance in CCO’s first production, Gianni Schicchi, in 2009, and served as President and/or Treasurer, and Finance and Donations Manager, through the 2019 Season. With CCO he has performed in The tales of Hoffman, Cosi fan tutte, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, La serva Padrona, Fidelio, and HMS Pinafore; and has sung with Opera Bend and in over 20 productions with Eugene Opera. He retired as Finance Manager for Eugene Ballet in 2014, after holding Financial and Human Resources positions with The Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center in New York, Center Theater Group of Los Angeles, and was Interim General Manager for Eugene Opera, and Finance and/or Payroll Managers for the Shedd Institute for the Arts, the Oregon Mozart Players, the Eugene Concert Choir, and Chamber Music Amici. He earned an MA in Music Theory from the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance in 1995, has also sung with the Oregon Bach Festival, the Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble, and the Eugene Chamber Singers, and has composed the music for two musicals, one of which, Valentine’s Day, was produced at the Manhattan Theater Club in NYC.

Lisa Nelson founded the Astoria Conservatory of Music in the Fall of 2002. She moved with her family to Astoria in 2001 from the Lake Tahoe area where she had earned her Bachelor of Music degree and post-graduate teaching credentials at Sierra Nevada University. While teaching choir and music for the Astoria School District, Lisa was profoundly affected by the events of September 11, 2001, and decided to start a music school. Under Lisa Nelson's direction, the Astoria Conservatory of Music, which began by offering lessons in voice, piano, and guitar, expanded its curriculum to include all musical instruments. In 2022 dance and performing arts programs were added to the curriculum creating the Astoria Conservatory ~ Music, Dance, Performing Arts.

Deac Guidi is an instructor of Speech Communication and Humanities at Clatsop Community College. His areas of focus were Gender and Communication, Argumentation, and Rhetorical Theory and his thesis was considered for Conference Paper at the Northwest Communication Association in 2000. Deac also maintains a performance schedule in opera and oratorio throughout the northwest. He has performed with Portland Opera, Tacoma Opera, Cascadia Chamber Opera, Northwest Sinfonietta, The Oregon Symphony and others in over 60 roles and featured solos. Deac joined the board in 2023.

Jaime began singing with the Cascadia Chamber Opera Chorus in 2022 and joined the board 2 years later.

Susan Wentworth is a long-time supporter of the Arts in Clatsop County. You may recognize her from the stage at the Coaster Theater in Cannon Beach or the Liberty Theater Players in Astoria or maybe depicting an historical figure in a graveyard or as the lady who always welcomed you to the Liberty Theater lobby or the box office at the Larsen Center. Perhaps you recognize her as a museum docent or as hostess at Flavel House Tea events having so much fun!

Susan is happiest when she is hostessing or helping to obtain funds for those non-profit organizations she cares so much about, even tabulating statistics (which, by the way, was her favorite college subject). She lives in Astoria with her husband Michael, their dog Henry, and Hazel the cat who runs the house.

Greg Hopper-Moore has worked with Cascadia Chamber Opera on a variety of projects since 2018. Although he has a teacher’s license in French, and taught high school French to start his career, he has found his joy working backstage as a Stage Manager on productions from operas to musicals, and from plays to ballets. His first production with CCO was Tango with the White Gardenia. He remembers fondly the challenges of creating this world premiere production from scratch, and then taking it on the road to five different theaters. He made his directing debut with CCO in 2021 when he directed The Old Maid and the Thief. In addition to his work with CCO, Greg has worked for West Bay Opera in the California Bay area, with Opera in the Ozarks in Arkansas, and with several companies in the Eugene area. When not traveling for work, he enjoys life with his family in Eugene. Greg Joined the CCO Board in 2025.