Judith Margaret Brophy

Obituary
JUDITH MARGARET BROPHY
TAKOMA PARK, MD - Judith Margaret Brophy, 56, an arts administrator who was instrumental during the 1990s in transforming the Choral Arts Society of Washington from a regional to an international performing arts organization, died of complications from pituitary cancer on November 9th, 2006 at her home in Takoma Park, MD.The Washington, DC-based choral organization grew five-fold during Ms. Brophy's term as executive director from 1991 to 2004. It also completed international tours to Russia, Italy, France and England, as well as important engagements at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic. During her tenure, the chorus received the Washington Management Excellence Award from the Washington Post and Washington Council of Agencies. She will long be remembered for her management of a popular fundraising gala that raised more than $500,000 revenue each year for the chorus.She also inaugurated several innovative education and community involvement programs, including choral radio programs disseminated on five continents by National Public Radio, Voice of America and the Armed Forces Network. She launched the chorus's annual Martin Luther King benefit event, which involved Washington area schools and churches in choral performances in conjunction with the Martin Luther King annual holiday.Since 2004, Ms. Brophy has been the senior vice-president of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Her previous positions in arts administration include serving as the manager of corporate and foundation gifts for The Washington Ballet from 1988-1991 and as a publicist and coordinator for the Rebecca Kelly Dance Co. in New York.Norman Scribner, the founder and artistic director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, said "Judith Brophy was a magnificent woman of many gifts. Her legacy to Choral Arts is enormous and will continue to bear rich fruits for years to come."In addition to her work with musical organizations, Ms. Brophy had a lifelong love of dance, starting ballet classes at age four and studying as a teenager with the New York City Ballet and with Robert Joffrey. She received several scholarships for professional ballet camps and classes. As an adult she taught ballet as an adjunct professor on the dance faculty at Wells College, Elmira College and Ithaca College in New York and, after arriving in the Washington area, at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She also taught ballet at Washington's Joy of Motion studio and at the Maryland Youth Ballet.Born March 29, 1950, in Jersey City, NJ, Ms. Brophy was an American Field School exchange student in Denmark during her senior year of high school. She was the class valedictorian at Pascack Valley High School and was voted the most likely to succeed in her class. She was fluent in Danish and also spoke Russian. She received a B.A. in Psychology (with Honors) from The University of Chicago prior to doctoral work in social psychology at Cornell University in New York. While living in Ithaca, NY, Ms. Brophy worked at Ithaca College as an adjunct professor in the Department of Health Care Administration and as an administrator and program analyst for the Department of Health Care Administration. She also founded Women for Better Health Care, an advocacy group promoting improved health services for women.The most important turning point in Judy's life came in 1997, when she met Dr. Lance Miller, a Chief Scientist for government contracting companies and, like her, a lover of the arts. The couple married the following year and lived in Takoma Park, MD, where Ms. Brophy had resided since 1991.Ms. Brophy was a member of Chorus America, the American Symphony Orchestra League, Dance USA, the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, the Washington Council of Agencies and the National Society of Fundraising Executives, several of which she also served as an advisor and volunteer.During her last two years of life, Ms. Brophy applied her skills to combating her rare form of pituitary cancer. With Lance by her side, she consulted specialists and researchers across the U.S. and in Europe, fought fearlessly to beat the odds, and lived life as fully as possible during the last months and days.In addition to her husband, Judy is survived by her mother, Helen Brophy of Williamsville, NY; her brother, Paul Brophy, his wife, Melonie of Cupertino, CA, and their three children, Amanda, Sasha, and Jessica. Her father, James Brophy, is deceased.Memorial celebrations are being planned for mid-December in Washington, DC, and later in Ithaca, NY.