Classical Movements, Inc.

It is with deepest regret that we announce the death of our co-founder, Jacques Vallerand-Parisi.

Jacques was born in Paris, France on May 14, 1945, moved to the United States of America in the late 60s and served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He got his Masters in Hotel Administration from L'Ecole de Hoteliere de Lausanne. He then worked with major hotel chains and was General Manager and Vice President of several fine hotels all over the USA. In 1992, Neeta Helms and Jacques co-founded Blue Heart Travel and Classical Movements and it soon grew into a premier music touring company working in 6 continents and counting some of the most prestigious musical institutions as clients. At the time of his death, he was retired from daily work and serving as Chairman at Classical Movements, Inc.

Jacques is survived by his two sons, Remy and Maxim.

Neeta Helms, President [email]
Neeta Helms, the owner of Classical Movements/Blue Heart Tours, has traveled to over 58 countries. She is an avid singer, having sung in choirs for years, and started piano lessons at the age of 4 and also plays guitar. She speaks excellent English and Hindi, as well as basic German. Born in India, Neeta holds a BA in Economics and an MBA specializing in both Marketing and Finance. Before Classical Movements, Neeta held senior, international sales and marketing positions with the Taj Group of Hotels. Her greatest passion is to spend time with her two boys Remy and Maxim and apart from travel and friends, she loves reading and music, spending time in her garden, discussing politics, or doing puzzles. Over the last 17 years she has built up Classical Movements into one of the premier music touring companies in the world, certainly the most diverse offering services to world class orchestras, choruses, youth orchestras and bands as well as numerous celebrated institutions.

Tanya Lervik, General Manager [email]
Tanya Lervik has been with Classical Movements since 1997. Having lived as an exchange student for a year in France and for two months in China, she speaks good French and basic Chinese. Tanya has traveled extensively with our orchestra and choir clients within the US as well as to Europe, China and Japan on numerous tours. She is experienced coordinating and facilitating travel arrangements for groups ranging in size from 30 to 170 people. Tanya enjoys antiques and choral singing, and holds a BA in French and an MBA in International Management. She is a collector of Japanese prints and loves antiques.

Page La Fountain, Senior Operations Manager  [email]
Page La Fountain joined the company in 2004. She graduated from New York University with a Masters in International Education; her undergraduate degree was in Marketing from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Page has lived and worked in a variety of foreign countries including Australia, Japan, France and England. Ms. La Fountain speaks French and is learning Spanish. Her professional experience includes working as an educational tour director in Europe, an operations manager planning corporate events in Washington, DC, and a meetings coordinator for a California conference center. Page's goal is to promote international goodwill and understanding through music.

Zhongjie Shi, Operations Manager  [email]
Born in China, Zhongjie has received a BA degree in English Literature and Art from Jilin University, one of the top Universities in China. Her work in the travel industry in China makes Zhongjie's contribution an excellent resource for Classical Movement's current and future business with one of the most dynamic countries in the world. She has been with the company since 2005. Zhongjie's professional history includes working for one of the top three national travel companies, for 15 years while focusing on cultural exchanges and performing groups for 6 years as a Senior Product Manager for the North American market. Zhongjie's experience brings superior knowledge and expertise of both travel and performing in China. She loves cooking and often creates something new with her lovely daughter to enjoy with family and friends on holidays and the weekends.

Alessandra D'Ovidio, Operations Manager  [email]
Alessandra D'Ovidio is an experienced concert producer, costume designer, and marketing consultant and joined us in March 2007. She speaks fluent Spanish, Italian and English. Venezuelan born she has lived in Italy and the United States and has worked as production manager and resident costume designer at GALA Hispanic Theatre. She has served as a curator for ArteAmerica with the Washington Performing Arts Society, as a producer for "Encuentros" in the Smithsonian Institution at the Museum of American History, and has served as a Marketing and Public Relations specialist for the Kennedy Center AmericArtes festival. Alessandra has been designing costumes in the Washington Metropolitan area and was a 2002 Helen Hayes nominee for her design for La verdad sospechosa and received a prior nomination in 2000 for her work in La dama boba. She holds a bachelors degree in Fashion and Costume Design from the Accademia di Costume e Moda, in Rome, Italy. Alessandra has been involved for several years in many arts projects in the Washington area, specifically within the Latin American community, and is known for her ability to bring people together for the benefit of the arts community. She is an expert on Latin American arts and culture.

Jayci Thomas, Operations Manager  [email]
Jayci Thomas joined us in 2007. Jayci comes to us with a Bachelors Degree in Performing Arts, specializing in dance and vocal performance. She has performed in many locations around the United States as well as internationally, traveling to over 20 countries. Jayci has many years experience planning and managing operations for group trips in the United States and abroad. While working at a nonprofit organization, Jayci set up trips for groups traveling to over 15 countries. In addition to this experience, Jayci has managed on-site logistics and was a tour guide for groups as large as 120 people, leading groups on historical trips to Washington DC, New York City, Philadelphia, and several other locations around the US. Jayci enjoys travel, photography, spending time with family and friends, and being crafty with yarn and fabric.

Yarina Siry, Operations Manager  [email]
Yarina Siry joined Classical Movements in May of 2010. Born in Moscow, Russia, Yarina received a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Yarina comes to us from The Cleveland Orchestra, having worked with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth and Children's Choruses. She has traveled to the Netherlands and spent three weeks at an international music festival in France. Yarina speaks fluent Russian and has planned tours for groups as large as 120 people. She enjoys teaching private piano lessons, listening to all types of music and spending time with family and friends.

Sara Casar, Business Manager  [email]
Sara Casar joined us in June 2006. Her past marketing and sales experience includes organizing over 150 national trade show exhibits for an arts & crafts and sporting goods company in the education, recreation and healthcare markets. Sara organizes the office, provides support to our team and serves as the first point of contact. She loves to create our custom tour proposals. Her interest in travel and music was sparked early on while studying music education at the Hartt School, which provided a natural transition to a career in the travel industry. Sara plays the Alto Saxophone and many other woodwind instruments. In her free time, Sara enjoys time with her family and friends as well as collecting postcards from all over the world.

Johan van Zyl, based in South Africa
Based in Pretoria, South Africa, Johan has great experience planning and implementing tours and safaris in Southern Africa. He has a background that includes planning ophthalmic tours for the SA National Council for the blind into the remote regions of Southern Africa to help cure and prevent blindness and he has significant experience in security matters as result of his years in the South African Security Police. He is a specialist in planning tours for choirs and music groups and has arranged collaborations with diverse local groups and planned cultural exchanges of all kinds through out South Africa. He has taken many groups on tour and is an experienced tour director and tour planner. His company Tokologo Safaris is based in Pretoria and Johan manages the safari and group tourism company and marketing for both the safaris and tour transport company. He has traveled to South America, Asia, the US and Europe. He speaks English, Dutch, Afrikaans, Sotho and understands German.

Luigi Migliore, Italy Operations Manager, based in Italy  [email]
Luigi Migliore has a long experience as a professional Italian Tour Guide, and is extremely knowledgeable in the culture, traditions, food and wine of Italy. Luigi earned a degree in Political Science from the University of Trieste which gives him a better understanding of the geography, culture, and the politics of the countries that he works in. Having achieved the first level of Sommelier Qualification from the Italian Association of Sommelier, Luigi is well acquainted with the gourmet foods and wines and delights in introducing the lesser known specialties of Italy and Sicily to his clients. Luigi has worked with Classical Movements since 2001.

Frank Stubbs, Special Consultant, Performing Arts Tour Development  [email]
Frank Stubbs brings over thirty years of experience as a performing arts administrator, conductor and educator to the team of Classical Movements. He served as general manager of VocalEssence (founded as Plymouth Music Series) for over 10 years. Frank was on the faculty of Purdue University for 13 years, where he conducted the Purdue Symphony Orchestra and was Director of Bands and Orchestras. While at Purdue, he was elected president of the Big Ten Band Directors Association. He is a member of the board of Chorus America, has served as Vice-President of ChoralNet, Treasurer of the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music, and was a founding officer of the Indiana Orchestra Consortium. From 2004-2007 Frank was executive director of Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival. His association with Classical Movements goes back to 1995 originally as a client and then as a Consultant since 2003.

Gail Melick, Consultant
Gail Melick joined Classical Movements/Blue Heart Tours soon after retiring from his position as Chief Operating Officer of a bank. He has also served in the Vatican Arts Council and the Nixon Economic commission. He serves as an advisor and consultant to the company and also does sales and site visits for the company. Based out of the Chicago area, he holds a Masters in Economics and Banking. He is an expert on fine wines and mushrooms, is a great humanitarian and has traveled to at least 80 countries.

Dr. Marilyn Brown, International Travel Consultant
Dr. Marilyn Brown joined Classical Movements/Blue Heart Tours in our sales department, after retiring from her position as Deputy Superintendent of the entire DC Public School System. A world traveler, Marilyn holds numerous degrees, honors and awards. She serves on the board of many of Washington's most famous institutions.