Jim Schaeffer, New York, N.Y. :: retired as artistic and general director for Contemporary Opera, which he had worked at for 10 years. He previously worked a director of Long Leaf Opera in Raleigh, N.C., and has produced and/or developed more than 90 operas. He was a principal bassoonist for orchestras in Virginia Beach, Va; Montgomery, Ala. and Cambridge, England. Before his music career, Jim served as an Air Force senior officer and worked as a NATO liaison officer during the siege of Sarajevo. He also worked in the electronics industry and served as an adjunct professor in the business and phiosophy departments at North Carolina Wesleyan College.