Rio Hondo Symphony

Charles Claver

Charles Claver is a Whittier native and community volunteer. Currently Claver is Union Bank's Priority Banking Manager in Manhattan Beach. He is part of the bank's Community Banking Investment Services Group. After joining Union Bank of California in 2001, Claver worked with the Marketing President for L.A., Orange and Ventura counties and later joined the Management Training Program.

The young banker's extensive community involvement includes the Whittier Conservancy , Advisory Board Chair of the Hispanic Outreach Taskforce and Whittier Art Association. He is also a mentor with the Los Angeles-based Fulfillment Fund which matches professionals with LAUSD high school students.

The energetic and enthusiastic board member received his bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations from USC. While living in Washington D.C. during college, Claver worked with the Mexican Embassy. He also studied at the Universidad Cumpletense in Madrid. Immediately after graduation , Claver was employed by the Annenberg Foundation's local component for a national school reform program.

During the orchestra's past two seasons, Claver served as chairman of the Symphony's Fund Development Committee. His wife, Maria, a Professor at Cal State Long Beach, often volunteers with him in the lobby on concert afternoons.

Linda Brown

Organ music loving Linda Brown is happy to be a member of the Rio Hondo Symphony board because classical music has been her passion for a very long time. A Whittier native, Brown's parents both sang in church choirs and other choral groups. When they took their baby girl to hear a church organ for the first time, she was so moved by the experience that she cried baby tears.

Brown's first experience in the music field was taking piano lessons when she was 10. She later earned her B.A. in Music Education at Whittier College. When Brown heard organ music in the college chapel for the first time, she knew that organ music was her first love.

After Whittier College, Linda Brown received her M.M. in Organ Performance from USC. Currently she is completing her doctorate there. Brown also has an M.A. in Educational Administration from U.S.F.

The organ enthusiast has taught full-time in California since 1976. Currently she is an Associate Professor of Music at Rio Hondo College where she teaches choral music, musical theatre and music fundamentals.

Wayne Campfield

Wayne Campfield is a community volunteer who has had an impressive career in marketing. Marketing and food have played an important role in his life. A native of Pennsylvania, he is a graduate of Michigan State University with a B.S. in Food Engineering.

Campfield began his career with General Foods Corp. in the Research and Development laboratories in Battle Creek, Michigan. Among the new products at that time were Alpha Bits cereal and Tang beverage. Subsequent assignments included a year in Caracas, Venezuela, four years in Kankakee, Ill. and 10 years in Toronto, Canada. It was there that his responsibilities transitioned from technical research to marketing. He also spent several years at the General Foods headquarters in White Plains, N.Y.

In l980 Campfield began working for the Mars Corp. in L.A. where he directed the specialty pet food marketing program. It was there that the widower met his present wife, Janet. Although retired, the Campfields continue to operate the Brea Car Wash.

A major hobby for both of them is fairly serious home vegetable gardening, fruit growing and the making of jams, jellies and fruit toppings.

One of Campfield's major civic activities is the Whittier Sunrise Rotary Club. He was instrumental in creating the "Battle of the Bands," the club's major fundraiser. Now, somehow he finds time to serve as Marketing Chairman of the Symphony Association, a position with endless challenges.

Rick Censullo