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.
Timothy Vogl | Treasurer
Timothy has always held a great vision of musical groups, from acting in musicals, dancing, instrument playing, and singing both in groups and solo work. From a small child, the music field was his interest and affected
and moved Timothy deeply.
Timothy has a secondary education degree in Music Vocal & Instrumental, and minor in German and Social Studies. He holds a Master's in Education Administration & Business. Timothy loves learning and being part of a community. Timothy joined LVMC in June of 2018. He sang with every season possible, as the choir shares love of music and brings great joy to all. Timothy will always be a person to use service to build his life. Giving and sharing as a member on the board is a privilege and honor.
Service is love and LVMC is equal to service!
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.
Michael Amesquita | Member-At-Large
Michael’s love for singing started in fourth grade when he was selected to sing in a city-wide children’s choir in Sterling, IL. In Washington, D.C. he landed the role of the Landlord in Michael McLean’s “The Garden”.
While in D.C., Michael sang for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. for four years.
Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education Social Sciences from the University of Las Vegas and a Master's in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University.
Michael has been working in higher education for 12 years and his career has taken him to Washington, D.C., California, Utah, and Nevada.
Currently he is Administrative Faculty in Housing and Residential Life at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He enjoys playing volleyball, tennis, pickleball, and being anywhere there is a pool.
Mikey Bond | Director
Mikey joined the Las Vegas Men's Chorus for their Spring 2022 concert.
He immediately fell in love with the organization: their acceptance of members of all types, everyone's passion for music, and the joy of singing.
Mikey loves to perform and will be the first to tell you he loves a stage. He's been a performer from a young age, playing in piano recitals and appearing small school productions. He played percussion with the Green Valley High School concert band and continued performing throughout college. To continue to develop as a singer, he's taking voice lessons through the College of Southern Nevada's music program.
He received his BFA in Game Development from SCAD and has been working in the Video Game Industry since 2015.
Joey Doherty | Director
Joey was born and raised in a small town nine miles north of Boston and relocated to Las Vegas in January of 2020. He has never, nor has anyone, parked a car in Harvard Yard. Joey began performing at the age of three and as a small child saw his sister off to enroll in dance lessons; 20 years later, he went on to own that very dance studio. Through dance, Joey discovered his love for performing. From elementary throughout high school, Joey performed in a plethora of productions with his local theater company, church choir, and school’s theater and chorus programs. Joey competed locally, regionally, and nationally in dance, singing, and acting competitions, earning numerous titles before he could legally vote.
Joey earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Salem State University in 2010 and began his nursing career in emergency medicine and trauma services. Joey earned his M.S. in Nursing from Southern New Hampshire University in 2022. Joey is currently a full-time professor of nursing and per diem in an emergency department. He is also enrolled in a Post-Master’s Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program at United States University .
Joey discovered the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus through his fiancé, who is an active member of LVMC. Joey began volunteering with the chorus, selling tickets and assisting wherever he was needed at the shows. Joey attended his first ever Pride event, walking with LVMC in the Las Vegas Pride Parade. After accepting a full-time nursing faculty position in December 2022, Joey finally had weekend availability to audition for LVMC. Joey joined LVMC as a Tenor II in January of 2023 and is ecstatic to sing and dance alongside friends who have become family here in Las Vegas. Joey was elected to the LVMC Board of Directors in early 2023 and looks forward to helping the organization flourish and reach its true potential.
Tom McPherson | Director
Tom grew up on the coast of the Carolinas with a passion for food, service, and hospitality. This passion for service led him to earn his B.S. Hotel & Restaurant Management from USC Columbia. From there, his culinary prowess took him across the east coast leading high-profile hospitality & food services including the U.S. House of Representatives and the Pentagon.
Tom is now a 12-year partner (employee) of Starbucks Coffee Company and serves as Customer Success Manager, leading strategic technology implementation across 8,800 U.S. licensed stores.
Marty Posner | Director
Marty has had a variety of careers. He was a high school biology teacher for 15 years in New York. Subsequently he has been a financial planner for Morgan Stanley and an environmental attorney until he retired
and moved to Nevada.
Theatrically, Marty has been in over 50 productions and numerous cabarets in New York, Connecticut, and Nevada. He is very excited to be part of the Las Vegas Mens Chorus and serve on the Board of Directors.
His LVMC passion is to grow the chorus both in number-of-members and financially.
Justin Reed | Director
Justin has been passionate about the arts since his earliest years growing up in Reno, NV, where he started playing piano at five, completely by ear, as well as writing and composing his own songs. In high school he was a member of the state honor choirs and a performer in Intermezzo, a highly prestigious and talented group known for its many award-winning performances and appearances on stage and television.
Justin received his B.S. in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Las Vegas where he served as president of the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Artist). Justin has guided design firms from start-up to established companies as a creative director, helping marketing and design teams produce high-end, professional work here in Las Vegas, and working with clients from all over the world. Always curious and always learning, he puts everything of himself into his work and into his personal and professional growth.
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.