Our Mission

(Executive Director) Ruth is very active as both a performer and teacher throughout South Florida.
She has performed with The Florida Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra,

The Charlotte Symphony, Opera Naples and the Southwest Florida Symphony. She has also performed with Johnny Mathis,

Bebe Newirth, Bernadette Peters, Indina Menzel, James Taylor, Olivia Newton John, Clay Aiken and Michael Bolton.

As a teacher, she maintains a private studio of students and is an adjunct faculty member of Florida Southwestern State College.

She is also very active with The Music Foundation of Southwest Florida, of which she is the Executive Director. In 2010 she

was awarded the Angel of the Arts - Arts Organization Leader of the Year.

Ruth earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Concordia University and her Master’s degree in Oboe Performance

from Northwestern University. She also has a Professional Studies degree in Oboe Performance from The Harid Conservatory in

Boca Raton, Florida,  new currently Lynn University.  Prior to moving to Florida, Ruth was also active as a teacher and performer in

the Chicago area -  where she was born and raised. She has performed all throughout the United States as well as in Germany,
Austria, Taiwan, and Japan.

(Secretary/Treasurer) Katherine Light has a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from 

Iowa State University and a Master of Music in Trombone Performance from the University of Michigan.  She taught general and instrumental music in several school districts in central Iowa and was an adjunct professor of low brass
instruments at Drake University in Des Moines. 

She played trombone professionally in a variety of venues, including playing 2nd trombone in the Des Moines Symphony for 25 years.  

Since moving to the Fort Myers area in 2002,

Katherine taught general music in the Lee County Schools for 6 years.  She has continued to play the trombone professionally in Southwest Florida.

(Past President) Patrick Neuman earned a Bachelors Degree in music from the University of Wisconsin, a Masters Degree in music from Northwestern University, and a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University.

 His accomplishments include:
*Middle and High School instrumental music teacher / director of bands for 14 years in Elgin, Illinois and Delavan, Wisconsin.

*Principal trumpet, Milwaukee Civic Orchestra and Elgin, IL and Beloit, WI Symphony Orchestras and free-lance performer
in Wisconsin, Illinois,  Michigan and Florida.

*Led / administered music and fine arts programs in the Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo Michigan schools for 22 years.

*Principal of the Benton Harbor, MI Creative Arts Academy Magnet School, a US Dept. of Education Exemplary School.

*Music Education Consultant for Kalamazoo and South Haven Michigan Schools and for the Kalamazoo County Education

*Regional chairperson for education programs sponsored by the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. 

Currently Patrick is a member of the Southwest Florida Symphony Education Committee, on the Board of Directors of the Southwest Florida Music Foundation, and President of the Island Towers Association Board of Directors. In addition he works for Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, a summer fine arts camp in Michigan.

 Stacey Gossmann lives in Fort Myers, and plays the bassoon in three orchestras (Florida Southwestern State College, Gulf Coast Symphony and Naples Symphony), Florida Southwestern State College band and numerous ensembles.  

She received her Masters of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music before embarking in the world of business.  She worked for Xerox for 15 years, during which time she got an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology before coming to Florida.  

She never played the bassoon while working for Xerox, and in 2002 she started playing again, and has not stopped.  She also makes bassoon reeds for sale, teaches the bassoon, walks dogs and plays tennis.

 Jason Thomashefsky is currently in his 7th year of teaching band, choir, and general music at Rayma C. Page Elementary School.  He received his Bachelors of Arts in Jazz Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Education:

Subject Matter K-12 from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey in 2011.  He majored in saxophone in his tenure at Rowan and also received credits in studying classical guitar.  

Mr. Thomashefsky earned his
Masters of Science in Applied Psychology and Neuroscience from Nova Southeastern University and he is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Nova Southeastern University.