Our team
Spirit of Rasputin’s is run by a dedicated group of volunteers who serve in a variety of roles. Yes, we’re always interested in additional help. As the old proverb says, many hands make light work. If you’d like to get involved and help out, please contact us at comms@rasputins.org.
Rasputin’s Board
Spirit of Rasputin’s board members guide the organizations overall direction by planning and making policy and financial decisions. Each member takes an active role in hands-on support to help ensure the on-going success of the organization.
Click on a board members picture to read a short bio.
Susan Sweeney Hermon
President
Susan Sweeney Hermon
President
Susan is one half of the duo Acacia Lyra with fellow Celtic harpist Janine Dudding. They perform in 5 languages and have launched 3 of their 4 CDs at the NAC Fourth Stage. Susan was a founding member of the Ottawa Harp Choir, an ensemble of 10 Celtic harps that performed in the region for over ten years. She has produced musical fundraisers and has performed for two Prime Ministers, the Speaker of the Senate, the Chief Justice and the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
Anne Hurley
Vice President
Anne Hurley
Vice President
Anne is a classically-trained pianist with a music degree from the University of Ottawa. She’s been a piano teacher and has directed choirs and high-school musicals. She has released three CD’s. Anne is also a songwriter and performs in the duo “Walk on the Wire” with Jim Videto. They have performed with VIA Rail’s Artists on Board program.
Bob Martens
Treasurer
Bob Martens
Treasurer
By day, Bob works in high tech and by night, he enjoys listening to musicians and supporting them. Bob is an avid photographer, is active in many sports, and enjoys hiking, adventures and exploring new places. Don’t get him started on the topic of cross-country skiing. Or Norway. If you can’t find him on top of some spectacular cliff or boulder, he’ll be out walking with Jenny the family dog.
Mark Evenchick
Director, Operations
Mark Evenchick
Director, Operations
Mark has been singing and writing songs since his teens. He has released four albums of original music, including the most recent, a collection of duets with Melissa Hucul.
Mark has been assisting at Rasputin’s Open Stage since 2010, has been on the Spirit of Rasputin’s Board since 2011, and is also on the organizing committee of Gil’s Hootenanny. In 2023, along with his wife Heather, he received the Spirit of Tony Turner Award.
Sjef Frenken
Director, Planning & Development
Sjef Frenken
Director, Planning & Development
Sjef is a contented retired civil servant who writes stories and poems in his spare time between siestas. He also writes songs and sometimes performs them at our Open Stage. He has ten CDs to his credit, and plans for another dozen. You can check out his work at www.byte-town.ca.
Alan Sandeman
Director, Open Stage
Alan Sandeman
Director, Open Stage
Alan hosts both Rasputin’s weekly Open Stage and monthly Zoom Open Stage. He’s a singer-songwriter and guitarist who’s played with a number of bands in a variety of styles. Alan is a popular entertainer for seniors in our community.
Heather Evenchick
Ticket Manager
Heather Evenchick
Ticket Manager
Heather acts as Ticket Manager for both Spirit of Rasputin’s and Gil’s Hootenanny. She is a member of Gil’s planning committee. She is past president of Temple Israel and is the chair of their Human Resources Committee. Heather operates the sound board at Rasputin’s weekly Open Stage. With her husband Mark, she received the Spirit of Tony Turner Award in 2023.
Andy Bounsall
Webmaster
Andy Bounsall
Webmaster
Andy is a retired software developer with strong visual sense and a keen eye for details. When he’s not maintaining our website, creating our graphics, editing and preparing our content for publication, or operating our Open Stage sound board, he spends time in his workshop creating handcrafted guitars under the Bounsall Guitarworks name. He’s a member of the Ottawa MG Club and the Guild of American Luthiers.
Communications
Our Communications crew handles marketing, communications and promotion on our website, newsletter, social media outlets, ticketing platform and the press for all Spirit of Rasputin’s events and activities. They are a busy lot.
Bob Gernon
Andy Bounsall
Santosh Christudas
John Bond
Event volunteers
Putting on a Spirit of Rasputin’s event requires a small army of volunteers to do everything from preparing stage plots to stage and room set-up / take-down, food service, merchandise selling, ticket sales, audience greeting, concert production oversight, and a host of other tasks. We are very fortunate to have a group of talented and enthusiastic volunteers who give of their time and energy to make our events happen. We thank them all.
Jim Videto
Paul Kent
Monique Brault
John Glennie
Liz Glennie
Peter Rutherford
Kate Whitley
Margot Montgomery
Deb de Bruijn
Dave Miller
Don Bray