Board of directors
James Koperski | President
James is a 2003 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree and has been teaching with the Clark County School District for 20 years. He also received a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Grand Canyon University in 2016. He has been a proud member of the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus since 2015.
Christian Garcia | Vice President
Christian Garcia holds Bachelor and Master of Music in Performance degrees from Texas Tech University and the University of New Mexico (UNM), respectively. Christian has been a member of the Lubbock Symphony, El Paso Symphony, and has served as the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Midland-Odessa Symphony. Christian’s love of performing has provided him opportunities to perform musicals and operas as well as performing with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Michael W. Smith and Jennifer Hudson, Marco Antonio Solis, and
Country Swing Band “Asleep at the Wheel”.
Aside from being a performing cellist, he has taught with the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras, taught at Hummingbird Music Camp in Jemez Springs, NM, maintained a private studio, taught with the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association’s Elementary Strings Program, and held the position of Education Director for El Paso Opera.
Christian is currently on the cello faculty at the Nevada School of the Arts (NSA) in the Suzuki Talent Education Program, Director of Marketing and Logistics for NSA, and performing cellist in the Las Vegas area.
Aaron Valentine | Treasurer
Aaron is currently a manager for Bank of America. He's been in that role since 2018. He has a history working in the private financial sector for a combined time of seven years. He completed his biology undergraduate degree program at the University of Central Florida in 2009. While he loves all things science, his passion is helping make people's financial lives better.
Since joining the chorus in the summer of 2021, he has served on the sponsorship committee and he is excited to serve the chorus
and see it grow.
During his free time, Aaron likes to read, workout and spend time outdoors.
Stephen Sumner | Secretary
Stephen, a native of the rural North Carolina foothills, received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from NC State in 1996 as a Caldwell Fellow and joined Intel Corporation where he worked for four years before joining Entegris, Inc. where he worked for 19 more years before coming to Las Vegas. Fluent in Japanese, Stephen worked most of his career in Tokyo, Japan while also doing stints in Minneapolis, MN and San Francisco, CA. Stephen held various professional positions including 10 years as chairperson of SEMI Standards PIC Committee, director of two different $60M businesses in semiconductor shipping and filtration products, director of Engineering, and director of marketing and intellectual property management while completing his M.S. in Engineering degree at the University of Arkansas.
In 2019 Stephen made the decision to leave corporate life and use his remaining career in the service of students as an academic advisor in UNLV’s Lee Business School, an extension of the volunteer work Stephen has been engaged in since 2010 with students at NC State University and Boy’s Hope Girl’s Hope of San Francisco.
In his free time, Stephen enjoys singing with the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus and is pursuing a hobby degree in Economics at UNLV.
David Korn | Member-At-Large
David recently made Las Vegas his home and is honored to have sung with the LVMC during their 30th anniversary season. A graduate from The Manhattan School of Music, David holds a master's degree in opera performance and professionally has had the privilege of singing with various musical institutions such as The New York Philharmonic, New York City Opera and Seattle Opera, among others.
David now works in the industry of design and construction as a project manager where he wears many hats and recently served on the board for the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Freedom Band.
Ryan Miller | Board Advisor
Ryan is a 17-year partner (employee) of Starbucks Coffee Company and serves as Division Development Manager leading a team of market development managers through strategy, business development, design, & construction of Starbucks’ licensed stores across the Western U.S..
Ryan began playing piano at age six after being inspired by Marvin Hamlisch at a tour stop in Ryan’s hometown. He then studied classical organ which lead to him to a diocesan music director position by age 16. Ryan pursued a double major at Seton Hill University in HR Management and Piano Performance with a secondary focus in Vocal Performance.
Ryan also serves on the board of Starbucks Pride Network and held previous board roles with MassOpera, Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, Springfield Civic Theatre, & Starbucks Women’s Impact Network.