By Casey Bemis
Contributing Writer
Shannon Casey, board president of the Santa Ynez Valley Master Chorale, brings a wealth of experience — and passion — to her volunteer position.
“Because passion is what you need if you are willing to volunteer to be president of a nonprofit organization — especially a nonprofit performing arts organization,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, and you have to be prepared for that. A lot of that work involves fundraising, and publicizing your events. It is a pleasure to talk about our activities to local musicians and other concert patrons, and my background in project management helps me to plan and manage the concert production.”
She applies her thorough background in project management to her work with the chorale.
“You start with an idea and develop it, develop a budget and execute the idea. You need an immediate goal and a long-term goal, plus a budget on how to get there,” she said.
Casey won an Emmy for her work on “Babylon 5,” and was also a producer of computer animation for television commercials and in movies. She worked on “Mousehunt” with Nathan Lane, using a computer-generated mouse that was a character in the 1997 movie.
She and her husband, John Copeland, worked together on “Walking with Dinosaurs.” He was the producer and she was the visual effects supervisor. They continued their dinosaur journey with the Discovery Channel for “When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth” and other long-format projects.
While living in the Los Angeles area, Casey and Copeland spent a lot of time visiting wineries in the Napa and Santa Ynez valleys while on vacation.
After multiple visits to the Santa Ynez Valley, they decided to settle in the area.
“There were lots of unique properties here, so it took time to find just what we thought would work,” she said.
They eventually bought some land and decided to raise horses and grow olive trees for olive oil.
“One of the most amazing things I experienced was having horse babies and watching them grow,” she said.
After five foals, they got out of the breeding business and now focus on producing olive oil and products for their brand, Rancho Olivos Olive Oil.
Meanwhile, Casey puts her production skills to use by leading the chorale in its mission to enhance the cultural life of the community. She has been a member of the chorale for 14 years and has been on and off the board during that time.
“I like singing with a group because of the harmonies and counterpoint melodies,” she said.
“But without passion and affection for our merry band of singers,” she said, “it would not be much fun at all, so I am glad to be a part of this terrific organization.”
