Chair
Stephanie has many years of experience as a leader of a vast national non-profit organization and the social grace to be a leader in our various outreach efforts. Additionally, she is a true opera lover. Originally from the United Kingdom, Stephanie Schwetz is a resident of Marco Island and has spent winters in Florida since 2001. She was the Chair of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, the United Kingdom’s most significant research charity supporting 200 scientists with a fundraising budget of around 18 million pounds, where she worked in a pro bono capacity for 14 years. She stepped down after the opportunity to join the charity with another complementary research organization was completed in 2015. Stephanie has since given her time and experience to support her love for opera. When living in the United Kingdom, she visited Covent Garden frequently and has seen opera in venues from Glyndebourne to Verona, from La Scala to the Ring in Bavaria, and worked with a small opera company on a hilltop town in Italy, where she lives in the summer. In 2000, she was made a Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E) for her services to the industry, working to help the young unemployed and as a Commissioner of the Low Pay Commission.
Vice Chair
Pete and his wife Lee have been opera-goers for over 50 years, having attended operas in Washington, D.C. (the Bernstein’s Mass premiere at the Kennedy Center), Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, and Aix-en-Provence. They moved to Naples in 2012 and have continued to enjoy opera with Gulfshore Opera. Pete has degrees from Princeton University and Stanford Law School. He practiced law as a corporate counsel with Johnson & Johnson and the Clorox Company. After his retirement, he became a board member of two public companies, serving as corporate governance chair on both boards. He has been active with the Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious group. He led the Order’s Naples Area for six years and spent three years on the board of the most prominent American branch of the Order, where he was Secretary. He was vice-chair of the board and treasurer of Children Now, a children’s advocacy organization in California. He serves on the Grey Oaks Design Review Committee and chairs the Miramonte neighborhood Design Review Committee.
Treasure
Elaine Christian, MBA and CPA, oversees financial operations as board treasurer. Her expertise in not-for-profit organization financial management blends her technical background with a passion for the arts. Her career experience working with and for Boards of Directors gives her unique insight.
She has several years of experience as the Jackson Symphony Orchestra’s treasurer. Locally, she has served on the Pelican Bay Women’s Association and Quail Creek Country Club boards. Opera is a passion for Elaine, and she will forever be a patron and lover of it.
Founder
With over 40 years of experience in opera, Steffanie Pearce is a producer, director, performer, and teacher of the great art form. She moved to Naples in 2000 and founded Southwest Florida’s first opera company, Opera Naples, in March 2005. She served as General/Artistic Director, budgeting and casting productions, creating outreach programs, teaching, stage directing, and fundraising until her separation from Opera Naples in May 2014. In June 2014, she reorganized and expanded into Lee and Charlotte County by creating Gulfshore Opera. In November 2023, Steffanie was selected as one of Gulfshore Life’s Women of the Year. They honored her as an arts visionary known for bringing opera to Southwest Florida, ensuring equitable access to the arts, and shaping our community with her outstanding contributions over the last 20 years.
Board Member
Carole Fabiano has a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and has performed in community musical theater in New Jersey. An experienced host and event planner, she planned and ran chapter dinner events for the Young President’s Organizations, such as a Night at the Opera, Travel to Napa wine-tasting dinner, and a backstage tour at the Metropolitan Opera House and Luncheon. As the mother of internationally renowned tenor Michael Fabiano, she stays in tune with the world opera scene. She has volunteered at many organizations, including Gulfshore Opera, Salvation Army – Minnesota, and the Hennepin United Methodist Church.
Board Member
Beverly has over 30 years of diversified experience in the pharmaceutical industry in research, sales, marketing, and advertising, retiring as President of Philadelphia’s largest pharmaceutical advertising agency. Her clients included many of the primary healthcare companies in the United States, and her role was to implement communications campaigns that are strategically focused and to lead the way in developing comprehensive marketing plans, especially for new product launches. She was always a female pioneer in her career and an advocate for women. She improved her business expertise by completing the Marketing Management Program of Columbia University and the Advanced Seminar for Pharmaceutical Marketing Executives at the Tuck Business School of Dartmouth.
After moving from Pennsylvania, Beverly and her husband, John, live full-time in Naples. They have supported the arts, particularly opera, for most of their married life. Beverly’s main volunteer activity in Naples was serving on the Board of the Pelican Bay Women’s League for eight years, when she retired as President.
