Board Of Directors
Beni Shinohara
A native of Nagoya, Japan, violinist Beni Shinohara studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where she earned a Master of Music degree. She also studied extensively in Europe with Sandor Vegh before coming to the United States. Beni has been the Assistant Principal Second violin for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 1988 and Assistant Concertmaster in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra since 1990. She has appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, the Houston Ballet Orchestra, and the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra. Over the years, she has premiered numerous twentieth-century Japanese composers’ works, participating in the “Music Today” Concert Series under the direction of Toru Takemitsu. She also performs with many with Bay Area chamber ensembles such as the Marin Chamber Players, Gold Coast Chamber Players, and the Edgewood Trio. She currently lives in Mill Valley with her husband Katsuto and their Flat-Coated Retriever, Myla.
Lisette Sell
Lisette Sell is an attorney who focuses in the areas of qualified and non qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, equity compensation and executive compensation. Since 1990, she has advised employers on the design and operation of all types of retirement, equity compensation and deferred compensation plans, including, 401(k), incentive, employee stock purchase, defined benefit, 403(b) and 457(f) plans. Lisette lives with her family in the Mill Valley area and is a great supporter of the arts.
Mary Dilts
Mary Dilts spent her childhood on stage in children’s theater, and received degrees in Theatre Arts and Business from San Jose State University. She has worked for 35 years in the Bay Area and globally as a spokesperson, trainer, producer and professional actor. She has represented Fortune 500 companies as well as high tech startups in all forms of media, including advertisement, sales, training and public speaking. Other credits include numerous film roles; television appearances in dramatic series, commercials, QVC and travel and cooking series; and voiceover work for radio, tutorials, video games, toys, BART, text-to-speech and voicemail systems. Mary is currently working with Penguin Random House directing audiobook recordings for Silicon Valley authors.
Bruce Tremayne
Bruce Tremayne, born and raised in Southern California, moved to the heyday of 1960’s San Francisco where he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Psychology. With a desire to travel, he moved to London in the ‘70’s. After returning to the Bay Area in the early 80’s he became Vice-President and partner in Therien & Co., international antiques dealers specializing in Continental and North European period antique furniture and decorations. After a 32 year career in fine arts, he is now retired and continues his passion for travel. With a lifetime love of music and performance arts, he brings enthusiasm and commitment to the Throckmorton Theatre board.
Lucy Mercer
Throckmorton Theatre was founded by Lucy Mercer based on her belief that the arts are an indispensable part of human inspiration and understanding. Her vision was to use the transformative power of the arts to engage, challenge and foster community through provocative cultural and educational exchange. Today her programs represent a broad spectrum of the cultural arts and are offered to every member of our diverse community. Lucy’s deep understanding and support of the artistic process has developed an environment of understanding and respect amongst audiences and artists that lives far beyond the individual performance.
