Our Leadership
LONJ Founders
William Corson (Co-Founder, Vice Chair) served as the company’s most frequent stage director. For 20 years he produced and/or directed over 60 mini-shows ranging from Gypsy to The Barber of Seville. Additionally Bill has directed over a dozen full length productions such as The Pirates of Penzance and Thoroughly Modern Millie. A former member of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (NYGASP), Bill is a G&S enthusiast but with a wide range of musical theater background. He is a graduate of Colgate University and once led their well known men’s a cappella group, The Colgate Thirteen. Although still active as LONJ Trustees Bill is now retired living in Woodstock, VT where he serves as a Village Trustee, Vestry member of St. James Church, Trustee of Pentangle Arts and President of the Woodstock VT Pickleball Club.
Lauran Fulton Corson (Co-Founder) is an accomplished coloratura soprano who has performed a wide variety of well-known roles throughout the USA, including Marie (Daughter of the Regiment), Gilda (Rigoletto), Adele (Die Fledermaus), and Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor). Lauran is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a B.M. and M.M. in Voice performance as well as attending The Juilliard School in Opera training. She has worked alongside her husband Bill for over twenty-five years as Artistic Director of Light Opera of New Jersey. She provides vocal instruction to serious amateurs and professionals and has held many master classes and workshops on the mature voice. While remaining active members of the Board of Trustees, Lauran and Bill are happily retired in the beautiful Village of Woodstock, Vermont.
William Corson (Co-Founder, Vice Chair) served as the company’s most frequent stage director. For 20 years he produced and/or directed over 60 mini-shows ranging from Gypsy to The Barber of Seville. Additionally Bill has directed over a dozen full length productions such as The Pirates of Penzance and Thoroughly Modern Millie. A former member of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (NYGASP), Bill is a G&S enthusiast but with a wide range of musical theater background. He is a graduate of Colgate University and once led their well known men’s a cappella group, The Colgate Thirteen. Although still active as LONJ Trustees Bill is now retired living in Woodstock, VT where he serves as a Village Trustee, Vestry member of St. James Church, Trustee of Pentangle Arts and President of the Woodstock VT Pickleball Club.
Lauran Fulton Corson (Co-Founder) is an accomplished coloratura soprano who has performed a wide variety of well-known roles throughout the USA, including Marie (Daughter of the Regiment), Gilda (Rigoletto), Adele (Die Fledermaus), and Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor). Lauran is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a B.M. and M.M. in Voice performance as well as attending The Juilliard School in Opera training. She has worked alongside her husband Bill for over twenty-five years as Artistic Director of Light Opera of New Jersey. She provides vocal instruction to serious amateurs and professionals and has held many master classes and workshops on the mature voice. While remaining active members of the Board of Trustees, Lauran and Bill are happily retired in the beautiful Village of Woodstock, Vermont.
LONJ Executive Director
LONJ Executive Director
Jason C. Tramm is delighted to be named as Executive Director of the Light Opera of New Jersey. He has been hailed as a “conductor to watch” by Symphony Magazine and “filled with Italianate passion” by the Huffington Post. Maestro Tramm’s work in the operatic, symphonic and choral realms have received critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad. He also currently serves as the Director of Choral Activities at Seton Hall University (where he was named the 2017 University Faculty Teacher of the Year), Director of Music Ministries at the Ocean Grove Great Auditorium, Artistic Director of the MidAtlantic Artistic Productions, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Long Island Concert Orchestra.
As a guest conductor, he has led performances in Italy, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. He is the host of Music Matters with Jason Tramm, a podcast that explores artistic innovation under extreme circumstances, as seen through the eyes of distinguished artists. Music Matters can be seen on YouTube and heard on Spotify, Apple and Google Podcasts and is aired on Saturdays from 11:30- Noon on WMCA Radio in NYC!
Jason C. Tramm is delighted to be named as Executive Director of the Light Opera of New Jersey. He has been hailed as a “conductor to watch” by Symphony Magazine and “filled with Italianate passion” by the Huffington Post. Maestro Tramm’s work in the operatic, symphonic and choral realms have received critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad. He also currently serves as the Director of Choral Activities at Seton Hall University (where he was named the 2017 University Faculty Teacher of the Year), Director of Music Ministries at the Ocean Grove Great Auditorium, Artistic Director of the MidAtlantic Artistic Productions, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Long Island Concert Orchestra. As a guest conductor, he has led performances in Italy, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. He is the host of Music Matters with Jason Tramm, a podcast that explores artistic innovation under extreme circumstances, as seen through the eyes of distinguished artists. Music Matters can be seen on YouTube and heard on Spotify, Apple and Google Podcasts and is aired on Saturdays from 11:30- Noon on WMCA Radio in NYC!
LONJ Board of Trustees
LONJ Board of Trustees
Michael Baruffi (Treasurer) has been performing with LONJ for several years and is a member of the Board of Trustees. Michael is retired from the Mars/Wrigley company where he served 29 years in Cash Management, Budget and Planning and Sales Forecasting roles. He holds a BA in Political Science from Penn State University and an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University. Michael is also a member of the Summit Chorale, the Hackettstown Community Band and is very involved in Music Ministry at Resurrection Parish in Randolph, N.J. Michael resides in Randolph with his wife Rebecca.
Laura Farmer is delighted to join the Board of LONJ. Ms. Farmer has sung a wide range of soprano roles including Norina (Don Pasquale), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Josephine (HMS Pinafore), Monica (The Medium), Gretel (Hansel & Gretel), Yum Yum (Mikado), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Magnolia (Showboat), Marzelline (Fidelio), Frasquita (Carmen) and Marie (Breaking Bad – premiere) with companies including Des Moines Metro Opera, Natchez Music Festival, Tulsa Opera, Opera Iowa, One World Symphony, Montclair Operetta, and Liederkranz Opera. With the NJ Oratorio Society, Ms. Farmer sang the lead soprano roles from the Creation and the Messiah. Internationally, Ms. Farmer performed Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) in a tour of the Czech Republic and Giulia (La Scala di Seta) in Teatro di Pacini (Tuscany). Ms. Farmer was a finalist in the National Opera Association competition. Following graduation from Yale University, she appeared in jazz a cappella concerts with Whim’n Rhythm in a nine-country tour of the Far East and was featured on Korean national television and radio. On the business front, Ms. Farmer is the President of Opus Strategy, LLC, a boutique firm focused on strategic and competitive intelligence consulting to the life sciences industry (www.opusstrategy.com).
Heath Weisberg (Chair) is General Counsel of CAM Capital, a single family office and investment firm, and the Kovner Foundation, where he is responsible for legal, regulatory, and compliance matters. His legal and business experience extends to investment management, private funds, and mergers and acquisitions. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Private Investor Coalition. Heath earned his JD, cum laude, from New York University School of Law and his BA, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, with distinctions in Music and Philosophy. He began performing with LONJ in 2016, joined the Board of Trustees the same year, and has been serving as Interim Chair since 2019. Heath lives in Short Hills with his wife and three children (four, counting the dog).
LONJ Production Board
LONJ Production Board
Tom Donelan is a long-standing member of LONJ, having appeared in The Gondoliers (Antonio), Trial by Jury (Counsel), The True Story of Cinderella (Third Hermit), Footloose (Rev. Shaw Moore), The Mikado (Pish Tush), The Pirates of Penzance (Samuel), Amahl and the Night Visitors (King Melchoir, King Kaspar), and Lovin’ Cole. He recently appeared in a New Play Reading Festival with The Growing Stage originating the roles of Caruso (a singing dolphin) and Monsieur Cocteau in Letters from Lisette by Claudia Haas. Tom has also been a member of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players professional repertory company since 1996, performing nearly the entire G&S canon. Tom served as scenic designer for Thoroughly Modern Millie and also assisted with scenic design for other recent productions (The Barber of Seville, Sweeney Todd, Die Fledermaus). Tom is a proud co-founder of the LONJ outreach ensemble, Savoy Faire, which performs at various venues throughout northern New Jersey. By day, Tom works in IT for New Jersey City University, and resides in Whippany with his wife Donna Lee and daughter Sophia who are also active in LONJ.
Tom Donelan is a long-standing member of LONJ, having appeared in The Gondoliers (Antonio), Trial by Jury (Counsel), The True Story of Cinderella (Third Hermit), Footloose (Rev. Shaw Moore), The Mikado (Pish Tush), The Pirates of Penzance (Samuel), Amahl and the Night Visitors (King Melchoir, King Kaspar), and Lovin’ Cole. He recently appeared in a New Play Reading Festival with The Growing Stage originating the roles of Caruso (a singing dolphin) and Monsieur Cocteau in Letters from Lisette by Claudia Haas. Tom has also been a member of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players professional repertory company since 1996, performing nearly the entire G&S canon. Tom served as scenic designer for Thoroughly Modern Millie and also assisted with scenic design for other recent productions (The Barber of Seville, Sweeney Todd, Die Fledermaus). Tom is a proud co-founder of the LONJ outreach ensemble, Savoy Faire, which performs at various venues throughout northern New Jersey. By day, Tom works in IT for New Jersey City University, and resides in Whippany with his wife Donna Lee and daughter Sophia who are also active in LONJ.
Joanna Hoty Russell, proudly served as Chair of the Production Board from 2016 – 2019. She has performed a wide range of roles with LONJ, including Thoroughly Modern Millie (Muzzy), The Magic Flute (2nd Lady), Footloose (Vi Moore), Hansel & Gretel (Hansel), as well as Savoy Faire, LONJ’s travelling troupe. More recently, Joanna co-produced DieFledermaus, directed Amahl and the Night Visitors; co-directed Lovin’ Cole, an Original Cole Porter Revue; and was assistant director for The Gondoliers. Joanna also serves on the Show Choice Committee helping to steer LONJ future season selections. Outside of LONJ, Joanna is the music director of The Larks, a volunteer singing group (sponsored by the Junior League of Summit) and is co-director of Shir Libeinu at Temple Sinai, in Summit, NJ. She also produces and directs for the Musical Theatre program at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace School in New Providence. Joanna is the alto soloist/section leader at St. Peter’s Church in Roseland and for over twenty years has sung with The Early Music Players of NJ, a chamber ensemble devoted to the music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras.
Joanna Hoty Russell, proudly served as Chair of the Production Board from 2016 – 2019. She has performed a wide range of roles with LONJ, including Thoroughly Modern Millie (Muzzy), The Magic Flute (2nd Lady), Footloose (Vi Moore), Hansel & Gretel (Hansel), as well as Savoy Faire, LONJ’s travelling troupe. More recently, Joanna co-produced DieFledermaus, directed Amahl and the Night Visitors; co-directed Lovin’ Cole, an Original Cole Porter Revue; and was assistant director for The Gondoliers. Joanna also serves on the Show Choice Committee helping to steer LONJ future season selections. Outside of LONJ, Joanna is the music director of The Larks, a volunteer singing group (sponsored by the Junior League of Summit) and is co-director of Shir Libeinu at Temple Sinai, in Summit, NJ. She also produces and directs for the Musical Theatre program at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace School in New Providence. Joanna is the alto soloist/section leader at St. Peter’s Church in Roseland and for over twenty years has sung with The Early Music Players of NJ, a chamber ensemble devoted to the music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras.