Lucia di Lammermoor

Soprano Amanda Woodbury has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as having a voice that is “bright, beautifully colored, and full of strength and passion.” The 2021/22 season sees Ms. Woodbury’s debut with the Glyndebourne Festival as the Countess in the Michael Grandage production of The Marriage of Figaro. Ms. Woodbury also returns to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the Celestial Voice in a new production of the original French version of Don Carlos, and cover the title role in Rodelinda. She will also make her house debut as Micaëla in Carmen with Palm Beach Opera. Orchestral engagements include Handel’s Messiah with the United States Naval Academy.

Her appearances for the 2022/23 season include Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore at the Metropolitan Opera.

Career highlights include multiple appearances at the Metropolitan Opera including the Countess inThe Marriage of Figaro, a role debut as Juliette in the new Bartlett Sher production of Roméo et Juliette, Leïla in The Pearl Fishers, Woglinde in Robert Lepage’s productions of Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Tebaldo in Don Carlo, appearances on the Rising Stars concert series, and covers of the title role in Manon, Norina in Don Pasquale and Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann. Ms. Woodbury has also been regularly seen on the stage of LA Opera with roles including Micaëla in Carmen, Musetta in La Bohème, and Papagena in The Magic Flute. Additional operatic highlights include the role of Violetta in La Traviata with both the Glimmerglass Festival and San Antonio Opera, Pia in Donizetti’s Pia de’ Tolomei with the Spoleto festival, the title role in Bellini’s La Straniera with Washington Concert Opera, her role debut as Marguerite in Faust with Tulsa Opera, Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio with Des Moines Metro Opera, Madison Opera, Opera Omaha, and Dayton Opera, Pamina in The Magic Flute with Madison Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Merola Opera Program, and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi at the Aspen Music Festival. Ms. Woodbury had been scheduled to make her debut with the Glyndebourne Festival in the role of Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio, and her debut with Opera Hong Kong as Opehlia in Thomas’ Hamlet, both of which were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Concert work includes her LA Philharmonic debut as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, Handel’s Messiah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Mahler’s Symphony Number 8 and Haydn’s Creation with the Cincinnati May Festival conducted by James Conlon, the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana with the Aspen Music Festival, Fauré’s Requiem with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and her international debut singing Ophelia’s mad scene from Hamlet with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Additional appearances include American Symphony Orchestra for a concert of Bach arias, marking her Alice Tully Hall debut, and Mozart's Mass in C with the New Choral Society.

In 2014 Ms. Woodbury was honored as a Grand Final Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and second place and audience choice award in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition. Ms. Woodbury was also awarded both a Sarah Tucker Study Grant and Richard Tucker Career Grant, as well as Second Place and audience choice award in both the Eleanor McCollum Houston Grand Opera competition and the Dallas Opera competitions.

Ms. Woodbury received a master of music degree in vocal performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a bachelor of music degree at Indiana University, and currently resides in New York.

Interview: March 22, 2022

Liv Redpath is quickly becoming a leading soprano leggero on the opera and concert stage today. She’s already performed in some of the biggest theaters worldwide and continues to add major debuts to her growing resume. But before she was a globetrotting performer, she was learning the operatic ropes in our Young Artist Program.  

“I was a Young Artist at LA Opera for three years—three incredible years—where I learned so much and I got to spend time with some of my favorite people,” she said. “I sang things like Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Amour in Orpheus and Eurydice, both of which were just gorgeous productions with amazing fellow singers and mentors.”  

The relationships she made at LA Opera have followed her throughout her career, and especially now as a recipient of the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award.  

“I can't tell you how honored I am to be a recipient of this award and how much it will help me, and how much it means to me. I'm just amazed that Eva and Marc have such generosity and such thought for the care of opera on a macroscope, but also for us individual artists. I think it speaks volumes about them as people and about LA Opera's culture and how much they all care.” 

This award comes at the perfect time, too. Liv has some very exciting performances and debuts lined up, and this award will help her prepare for those new roles. 

“I have a lot of new roles coming up, and I want to be very prepared for these and give them their due. I’ll be using this amazing award to fund my lessons and my coachings with my favorite people, who I got from my time at LA Opera and who continue to be my touchstones today. So, there are a lot of good things coming up, and this award is unbelievably helpful for that.” 

One of those “good things” includes an appearance in our 2022/23 season in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor, which she’s currently performing at Deutsche Oper Berlin.  

“I can tell you, after my second performance [in Berlin], I'm unbelievably excited to continue tackling this role. It just kind of fits like a glove. I can’t wait to see you all in the fall.”  

Arturo Chacón-Cruz has established himself in recent years as a leading tenor with exciting appearances in renowned theaters and concert halls across the globe. He has sung over 60 roles in more than 30 countries.

Performances in the 2021/2022 season include Don José in Carmen (Parma, Italy), Gabriel Adorno in Simon Boccanegra in Palermo, Jacopo Foscari in The Two Foscari in Paris, Alfredo in La Traviata in Moscow and Seville, the title role of Don Carlo with Maryland Lyric Opera, Hoffmann in The Tales of Hoffmann in Las Palmas, and Manrico in Il Trovatore in Spain, as well as concerts in Mexico City and Monterrey, Corpus Christi, San Francisco, Palermo, Muscat, Paris, and Vienna.

Since winning Operalia in 2005, Arturo’s career has seen a successful and steady development. His repertoire spans from Bellini and Donizetti to Puccini and Verdi. Some of his more sought after roles are: Rodolfo, the Duke of Mantua, Alfredo, Jacopo Foscari, Gabriele Adorno, Pinkerton, Hoffmann, Werther and Romeo to name a few.

He has sung private recitals for King Felipe of Spain, Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos of Spain, as well as another one for all the leaders of Iberoamerica.

Recent highlights include role debut at the Vienna State Opera, his role debut as Manrico in Il Trovatore, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Oronte in Verdi’s I Lombardi in Montecarlo, Cavaradossi in Tosca in Oviedo, Spain, Ismael in Nabucco in Valencia, Spain, and Rodolfo in Luisa Miller in Barcelona, as well as a reprisal of one of his signature roles, the eponymous role in Massenet’s Werther in Stuttgart’s State Opera.

Other performances include: the Duke in Rigoletto (Houston, Verona, Naples, Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles and Florence), Rodolfo in La Boheme (San Francisco and Hamburg), Alfredo in La Traviata (Munich, Valencia, Moscow, Rome, Barcelona, Verona and Oman), Ruggero in La Rondine in Genova, Faust in La Damnation de Faust in Mexico City’s Bellas Artes, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Werther in Barcelona and Budapest, Des Grieux in Manon in Monte Carlo, Don Jose in Carmen (Tel Aviv, Lyon, Tampere, Palermo and Zurich), as well as a critically acclaimed role debut as Macduff in Macbeth in Los Angeles and later in Vienna.

He has worked with star directors Sofia Coppola (La Traviata, with Valentino costumes) and Woody Allen (Gianni Schicchi, available on DVD and BluRay by Sony); these shows were internationally acclaimed with sold out performances in Los Angeles, Valencia and Rome.

In addition to an extensive existing operatic discography, the artist’s first solo CD is available. Arturo Chacón le canta a México features some of the most beautiful Mexican music ever written, and is accompanied by the Orquesta Filarmónica de Sonora. Arturo’s mariachi recordings De México para el Mundo and De mi Casa a tu Casa were recently released, including a duet with his wife Venetia-Maria Stelliou, as well as his first ever English language recording A Christmas Wonderland available on all digital platforms as well as physically on Amazon.

Chacón-Cruz has received many honors and awards throughout the years. The most recent one being the “Moncayo Medal” in Jalisco, Mexico, he was also “GQ Man of the Year 2018” in Mexico. He was the “Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Emerging Star” of 2017 for the San Francisco Opera.

He made his La Scala di Milano debut as Hoffmann in The Tales of Hoffmann, and received a very warm reception from the audience and press: “He excellently portrayed the lovelorn poet, with a youthfulness that only made him more attractive, exhibiting great mastery over his instrument and an indeed pleasant high register, all in all, a brilliant participation” (GB Opera).

Arturo is the spokesperson for Beyond Celiac, an organization he proudly supports that works towards a cure for Celiac Disease.

He currently lives in Miami with his wife and his son. Learn more at ArturoChaconCruz.com.

Baritone Alexander Birch Elliott continues to garner praise for his “heated intensity and beguiling timbre of mahogany” (New York Times). His 2021/22 season begins with his return to the Metropolitan Opera as Schaunard in La Bohème, followed by performances as the title role in Euguene Onegin at Opera Omaha. In the 2020/21 season he was seen as Marcello in La Bohème for his debut at San Diego Opera; Escamillo in Carmen with Opera Santa Barbara; and his return to Des Moines Metro Opera as Prince Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades as well as the role of Momus in Platée. The same season he was scheduled to perform the role of Jan in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves with both LA Opera and Houston Grand Opera. 

Recent seasons have seen major debuts for Alexander, including at both the Metropolitan Opera and Houston Grand Opera singing the role of Zurga in The Pearl Fishers. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra for Elgar’s The Kingdom, as well as with New York’s PROTOTYPE Festival as Lucifer in Rev 23, directed by James Darrah and conducted by Daniela Candillari. He recently returned to Tulsa Opera for performances of Carmen, as well as to the Pittsburgh Symphony for Fidelio. 

Alexander made two significant festival debuts in the summer of 2018, both in celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centennial. He appeared with the Ravinia Festival in June under the baton of Marin Alsop as a Street Singer in Bernstein’s Mass, followed by performances of Maximilian, the Sea Captain, and the Grand Inquisitor in Candide at the Tanglewood Festival. Recent operatic appearances include as Sonora in The Girl of the Golden West in his debut with New York City Opera; Figaro in The Barber of Seville with Opera Santa Barbara; Anthony in Sweeney Todd and the title role of Eugene Onegin with Portland Opera; and as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte with Opera Omaha. A proponent of contemporary works, he appeared as John Brooke in Little Women with Madison Opera and Annapolis Opera; Edward Kynaston in Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players with the Florida State Opera; Opera Omaha for his role debut as Silvio in Pagliacci; and in the role of Doug Hansen in Joby Talbot’s Everest at The Dallas Opera. A frequent performer on concert stages around the United States, Alexander makes his debut with the Cleveland Youth Orchestra for Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, in addition to returns to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in performances as Brander in Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for Bruckner’s Te Deum.

On the concert stage Alexander has appeared with The Knights for Master Peter’s Puppet Show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Marcello in La Bohème and Escamillo in Carmen with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; Marcello with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony; Papageno in The Magic Flute with the Orlando Philharmonic; Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; and in a concert of operatic and holiday duets with acclaimed soprano Leona Mitchell under the auspices of the Tulsa Opera. 

As a young artist with Portland Opera he performed the roles of Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Frank in Die Fledermaus, and Sam in Pirates of Penzance. Other young artist performances include The Barber of Seville as Figaro and Rorem’s Our Town as Frank at Central City Opera, as well as the Captain in Eugene Onegin and Périchaud in La Rondine at Des Moines Metro Opera. In the 2013-14 season Alexander made his principal artist debut as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro with Tulsa Opera, having previously sung the roles of the Corporal in The Daughter of the Regiment and the Postman in Loesser’s Most Happy Fella as a 2012/13 studio artist. 

Alexander is a graduate of the prestigious Merola program at the San Francisco Opera, and is the recipient of the 2013 John Moriarty Award for his outstanding contribution to Central City Opera.  

Alexander attended Florida State University where he studied with David Okerlund.

Bass-baritone Eric Owens has a unique reputation as an esteemed interpreter of classic works and a champion of new music. Equally at home in orchestral, recital, and operatic repertoire, Mr. Owens brings his powerful poise, expansive voice, and instinctive acting faculties to stages around the world.

His engagements for the 2022/23 season include Emile Griffith in Terence Blanchard's Champion at the Metropolitan Opera.

His 2021/22 season includes a reprise of Porgy in Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as appearances there in the Verdi Requiem and as Philippe II in the original French-language version of Don Carlos.

In 2021, Mr. Owens performed Sarastro in The Magic Flute at the Glimmerglass Festival, where he also performed Wagner selections for a series of Gods and Mortals concerts. He also sang in a pop-up concert in New York City alongside other soloists and members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Engagements for the 2021/22 season include a debut with Seattle Opera as Wotan in a concert performance of Die Walküre, and returns to the Metropolitan Opera in the Verdi Requiem, as Porgy in Porgy and Bess, and as Philippe II in a new production of Don Carlos (in Verdi's original five-act French version).

In the 2019/20 season, Mr. Owens starred as Porgy in James Robinson’s production of Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera, the recording of which won the 2021 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. He had also been scheduled to return to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Wotan in Sir David Pountney’s production of the complete Ring cycle, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, and to sing King Marke in Tristan und Isolde at Santa Fe Opera, conducted by James Gaffigan. In concert, he performed Schubert’s Winterreise with pianist Jeremy Denk at the Los Alamos Concert Association, and had been scheduled to sing Jochanaan in Salome with the Malmö Symfoniorkester.

In the 2018/19 season, Mr. Owens returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago to make his role debut as the Wanderer in David Pountney’s new production of Siegfried. He also sang Porgy in James Robinson’s new production of Porgy and Bess at Dutch National Opera and made his role debut as Hagen in Götterdämmerung at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Philippe Jordan. Concert appearances included the world premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, the King in Aïda with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Minnesota Orchestra, and Mozart’s Requiem with Music of the Baroque. Mr. Owens also embarked on multi-city recital tour alongside tenor Lawrence Brownlee.

Mr. Owens has created an uncommon niche for himself in the ever-growing body of contemporary opera works through his determined tackling of new and challenging roles. He received great critical acclaim for portraying the title role in the world premiere of Elliot Goldenthal’s Grendel at LA Opera, and again at the Lincoln Center Festival, in a production directed and designed by Julie Taymor. Mr. Owens also enjoys a close association with John Adams, for whom he performed the role of General Leslie Groves in the world premiere of Doctor Atomic at San Francisco Opera, and of the Storyteller in the world premiere of A Flowering Tree at Peter Sellars’s New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna and later with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Doctor Atomic was later recorded and received the 2012 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. Mr. Owens made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut under the baton of David Robertson in Adams’ El Niño.

Mr. Owens’s career operatic highlights include performances at the Metropolitan Opera as Alberich in the Ring cycle, directed by Robert Lepage, Orest in Patrice Chereau’s production of Elektra, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vodnik in Rusalka, conducted by Sir Mark Elder, Voice of Neptune in Idomeneo, conducted by James Levine, and Jaufré Rudel in Robert Lepage’s production of L’Amour de loin, conducted by Susanna Malkki; at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Wotan in David Pountney’s new production of Die Walküre, as well as Vodnik and Porgy; at Washington National Opera as the title role of The Flying Dutchman, Filippo II in Don Carlo, and Stephen Kumalo in Weill’s Lost in the Stars; at Houston Grand Opera as Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville as well as Ramfis; at Santa Fe Opera as La Roche in Capriccio; at the Glimmerglass Festival as the title role in Macbeth and Collatinus in a highly-acclaimed Christopher Alden production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia; at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Oroveso in Norma; at Canadian Opera Company as the title role in Handel’s Hercules; and at Opéra National de Paris as Sarastro in The Magic Flute. A former member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Mr. Owens has sung Sarastro, Méphistophélès in Faust, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, and Aristotle Onassis in the world premiere of Michael Daugherty’s Jackie O (available on the Argo label) with that company. Additionally, he is featured on the Nonesuch Records release of A Flowering Tree. Mr. Owens is an avid concert singer, and collaborates closely with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, and Franz Welser-Möst.

He has been recognized with multiple honors, including the Musical America’s 2017 “Vocalist of the Year” award, 2003 Marian Anderson Award, a 1999 ARIA award, and second prize at Operalia, as well as at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition. In 2017, the Glimmerglass Festival appointed him as its Artistic Advisor.

A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Owens began his musical training as a pianist at the age of six, followed by formal oboe study at age eleven under Lloyd Shorter of the Delaware Symphony and Louis Rosenblatt of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He studied voice while an undergraduate at Temple University, and then as a graduate student at the Curtis Institute of Music. He currently studies with Armen Boyajian. He serves on the Board of Trustees of both the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and Astral Artistic Services. Starting in 2019, Mr. Owens became the co-chair of the Curtis Institute’s opera department.

The American-born Cuban and Colombian tenor Anthony León is a young up-and-comer who is quickly developing an international performing career. On April 23, 2023, he was a 2023 grand finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. On October 30, 2022, he was the first place winner of Operalia, where he also won the zarzuela prize.

His appearances in the 2023/24 season include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at LA Opera and Nadir in The Pearl Fishers with the Cologne Opera. Engagements for the summer of 2023 include Ravel's L’Enfant et les sortilèges with the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project and performances at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

For the 2022/23 season, his appearances included several roles with LA Opera,  Pelléas in Impressions de Pelléas with James Conlon at the Ebell of Los Angeles, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

His most recent engagements elsewhere include singing Remendado in Carmen at Santa Fe Opera, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at New England Conservatory and being on tour performing the roles of Giove and Amphinome in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with the ensemble I Gemelli. On tour, Anthony performed at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, France; Arsenal Theater in Metz, France; and Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland. A recorded album is in the works and is set to be released in 2023. In the fall of 2021, Anthony also presented the role of Count Almaviva in the Opera Theatre of St. Louis production of The Barber of Seville. During the summer of 2021, Anthony was an Apprentice Artist at Santa Fe Opera covering the role of Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In addition to these contracts, Anthony has performed in other leading roles recently such as Le Chevalier in Dialogue des Carmélites, Agenore in Mozart's Il re pastore, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Tamino in The Magic Flute, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance.

Recent honors include receiving a Career Development Grant from the Sullivan Foundation. Other accolades include being named “Best up-and-comer” in the Inland Empire Magazine’s “Best of the Best 2019” list and being awarded the Wendy Shattuck ‘75 Presidential Scholarship for Vocal Studies among other prestigious awards.

Anthony holds a bachelor of music from La Sierra University and a master of music degree concentrating in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying under the tutelage of Bradley Williams.

Learn more at AnthonyLeonTenor.com.

In 2022, Madeleine Lyon finished her graduate studies at Rice University, Shepherd School of Music, where she previously obtained her Bachelor of music degree in 2019. In the 2021/22 season, she was seen as Zerlina in Don Giovanni for the grand opening of the Brockman Hall for Opera at Rice University. In 2020, she performed the title role in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges in a filmed production, part of the Shepherd School’s initiative to provide opera to the public during the pandemic, spearheaded by Miah Im. In her Rice University debut, she made her foray into new music as Taller Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up. She is also passionate about oratorio and concert work, and has been the mezzo-soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and selections from the Verdi Requiem. During her free time, she is also a skilled pianist and painter.

The winner of the CulturArte Prize at Operalia 2022 and a Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions 2019 National Semifinalist, the tenor is drawing attention for his Italianate sound and compelling stage presence.

In December 2022, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Messenger in Aida. Other appearances for the 2022/23 season include the Verdi Requiem with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park and returns to LA Opera as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor and as Cassio in Otello.

In addition to several appearances with LA Opera, his engagements for the 2021/22 season included creating the role of Giorgio in New York City Opera's world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis.

In the summer of 2021, he performed Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Aspen Music Festival, under the baton of Patrick Summers.

He spent the summers of 2018 and 2019 as an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera, where he covered the role of Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri and performed the role of Toke in the world premiere of The Thirteenth Child.

Mr. Ciaramitaro is a former Cornelia T. Bailey Apprentice Artist at Palm Beach Opera, and a former Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artist with Arizona Opera, where he appeared as Theseus in Patrick Morganelli’s Hercules vs. Vampires, Spoletta in Tosca, the Governor and Vanderdendur in Candide, and Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. Mr. Ciaramitaro performed the role of Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola as a member of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in 2017, and spent previous seasons as a studio artist with Chautauqua Opera and Wolf Trap Opera, where he performed the roles of Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro and the Messenger in Aïda.

While working toward a Masters in Music at Florida State University under the direction of Douglas Fisher and voice teacher David Okerlund, Mr. Ciaramitaro performed the roles of Alfredo in La Traviata, Charles II in Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players, and Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola. Mr. Ciaramitaro earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College and studied with tenor Richard Owens.

In concert, Mr. Ciaramitaro has performed Orff’s Carmina Burana and Haydn’s The Creation with the Tallahassee Community Chorus, and was the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah at the Crystal Cathedral and with the Messiah Choral Society of Winter Park and the Villages Philharmonic.

Praised for her "attention to orchestral colors" (OperaWire) and ability to create "lightning changes in tempo, meter, and effect" (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Colombian-American Lina González-Granados has distinguished herself nationally and internationally as a talented young conductor of symphonic and operatic repertoire. Her spirited interpretations of the orchestral repertoire, as well as her dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin-American composers, have earned her international recognition, most recently as the recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the third prize and ECHO Special Award (European Concert Hall Organization) of La Maestra Competition, and the 2020 and 2021 Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.

She was the winner of the Fourth Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, and became the new Solti Conducting Apprentice under the guidance of Riccardo Muti, beginning in February 2020. She has held positions as Conducting Fellow of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Seattle Symphony.

Her 2021/22 season highlights include returns to the New York Philharmonic and Rochester Philharmonic, as well as debuts with the National Symphony (USA), Ann Arbor Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Kristiansand Symphony, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Polish National Radio Symphony, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and Tenerife Symphony.

She will also conduct The Barber of Seville at the Dallas Opera.

Recent appearances include performances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, and Filarmónica de Medellín. She has had the opportunity to work with world- renowned artists such as Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Giancarlo Guerrero, Zubin Mehta, Marin Alsop and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

She is an active and fervent proponent for the inclusion and development of new works for chamber and large orchestra, especially music from Latin-American composers. She is the Artistic Director of Unitas Ensemble, a chamber orchestra she founded that performs the works of Latinx composers, and provides access to free community performances for underserved communities. Her work with Unitas has earned her numerous community awards, most recently a Spark Boston award from the City of Boston. She has also commissioned multiple World, North-American, and American premieres, as well as the creation and release of the Unitas Ensemble album Estaciones, recorded alongside the Latin Grammy-winning Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Born and raised in Cali, Colombia, Lina González-Granados made her conducting debut in 2008 with the Youth Orchestra of Bellas Artes in Cali. She holds a Master’s Degree in Conducting with Charles Peltz, a Graduate Diploma in Choral Conducting from New England Conservatory with Erica Washburn, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University. Her principal mentors include Marin Alsop, Bernard Haitink, Bramwell Tovey and Yannick Nézet- Séguin.

Learn more at LinaGonzalezGranados.com.

Read a feature article about her here.

Read the LA Times review of her 2022 LA Philharmonic debut here.

Simon Stone was born in Basel in 1984. His family moved, first to Cambridge, and then in 1996 to Melbourne. Stone studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, working in Australia in subsequent years as director, author and actor.

In 2007 he founded the theatre group The Hayloft Project, for which he adapted classical dramas such as Chekhov's Platonov, Seneca’s Thyestes, Wedekind’s Spring Awakening and Ibsen’s Little Eyolf. In 2011 he became resident director at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney. His adaptation of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck was invited to the Ibsen Festival in Oslo, the Vienna Festival and to the Holland Festival in Amsterdam. Based on Aeschylos, Die Orestie at Theater Oberhausen in 2014 was his first piece in the German-speaking world. In the same year, Stone’s Thyestes was presented at the Theater der Welt (a festival of the International Theatre Institute in Mannheim), the Holland Festival and the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre.

In 2015 he made the film The Daughter, again based on Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, which was shown at film festivals in Venice, Toronto, London and Stockholm. In the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons, Simon Stone was resident director at Theater Basel. His adaptation of Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman won the Nestroy Theatre Prize in the category of best direction, was voted 2016 production of the year in a survey of critics by the periodical Theater heute, and was invited to the 2016 Berliner Theatertreffen. His production of Angels in America received the 2016 Nestroy Theatre Prize for the Best German-language performance. He made his UK debut as director in 2016 at the Young Vic in London with his adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s Yerma. He directed his first opera with Korngold’s Die tote Stadt in the 2016/17 season at Theater Basel. He also adapted Chekhov’s Three Sisters there in that season, was invited with this to the 2017 Berliner Theatertreffen, and received the Theater heute magazine’s theater piece of the year award. He directed Reimann’s opera Lear at the Salzburg Festival in 2017 and Cherubini’s Médée in 2019.

In the 2017/18 season he moved his Basel production of The Three Sisters to the Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe in Paris. He also created Hotel Strindberg based on August Strindberg – a coproduction of Vienna’s Burgtheater and Theater Basel, which won two Nestroy Theatre Prizes. In the 2018/19 season he created Eine griechische Trilogie at the Berliner Ensemble, and staged the German-language première of his adaptation of Medea at Vienna’s Burgtheater. In 2019/20 the Bavarian State Opera staged his production of Die tote Stadt.

Blanca Añón is a freelance designer of spaces for performance. She arrived at set design from a background of fine arts, installation and video art.  Before becoming a designer, she studied fine arts at Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) and at Hochshule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg (Germany) graduating in 2007.

Comfortable working in different kinds of performance, from opera to plays, to film and works that eschews these categories. Her work and process are defined by an intense curiosity matched with a shrewd visual sensibility. She views the theatre less as entertainment or a job, and more as a forum in which to learn about the world, to ask big questions and challenge assumptions.

She holds an MFA in Design for stage and film from New York University, TISCH School of the Arts.

Learn more at BlancaAnyon.com.

British lighting designer James Farncombe designs lighting for opera, theater and ballet. He collaborates regularly with Katie Mitchell, including on Anatomy of a Suicide (Royal Court), When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other (National Theatre), The Maids (Toneelgroep Amsterdam), Ariadne auf Naxos, Pelléas et Mélisande, Trauernacht, The House Taken Over and Alcina (Aix-en-Provence Festival), Jenufa (Dutch National Opera), The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic), The Way Back Home (English National Opera), The Rest Will be Familiar to You from Cinema (Hamburg Schauspielhaus) and Le Vin herbé (Berlin State Opera). He has designed lighting for many productions for the National Theatre (including Twelfth Night for Simon Godwin, Macbeth for Rufus Norris and Three Winters for Howard Davies), Donmar Warehouse (including Henry IV for Phyllida Lloyd and Fathers and Sons for Lyndsey Turner), Young Vic (including Yerma for Simon Stone and Measure for Measure for Joe Hill-Gibbins), Royal Shakespeare Company (including As You Like It and The White Devil for Maria Aberg), the Odéon, Paris (La Trilogie de la Vengeance, for Simon Stone), and the Royal Court, Lyric Hammersmith, Hampstead Theatre, Old Vic and in the West End.

His work in opera for 2022 includes Lucia di Lammermoor (Metropolitan Opera), L'Orfeo and Wozzeck (Vienna State Opera) and Theodora (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden). He made his Royal Opera debut in 2013 on How the Whale Became, and returned for Lessons in Love and Violence, Zauberland and Jenufa. His other opera and ballet credits include La Traviata (Paris Opéra), The Barber of Seville (Glyndebourne Festival), Benjamin, dernière nuit (Opéra de Lyon), Ariodante and The Flying Dutchman (Scottish Opera), Street Scene (Teatro Real, Madrid), The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North), Pelléas et Mélisande (Norwegian National Opera), Liam Scarlett’s Carmen and The Firebird and Kaloyan Boyadjiev’s The Nutcracker (Norwegian National Ballet) and Life for BalletBoyz.

Learn more at JamesFarncombeLighting.com.

British video designer Luke Halls has produced video designs and animations for a wide variety of music, theater and dance performances. Opera work includes Don Giovanni (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Otello (Metropolitan Opera) and Carmen (Bregenz Festival Lake Stage).

Theatre work includes West Side Story (Broadway), Ugly Lies The Bone, The Lehman Trilogy (National Theatre) and The Nether (Royal Court). Halls has worked prolifically for music artists, creating video designs and animation for tours by Adele, Beyoncé, Pet Shop Boys, U2 and Rihanna, among others.

Learn more at LukeHalls.com.

Since joining LA Opera in 2007, he has served as associate chorus director (since 2011) and assistant conductor, and he has worked closely with the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. Before becoming Chorus Director, he previously directed the LA Opera Chorus for the Plácido Domingo 50th Anniversary Concert (2017) and for The Clemency of Titus (2019). One of his generation’s most respected pianists and vocal coaches, he has collaborated with major opera houses throughout the United States. He has assisted in the preparation of operas and vocal chamber music at the LA Philharmonic. As a pianist, he has partnered with Sondra Radvanovsky, J'Nai Bridges, Eric Owens, Brandon Jovanovich, Rodell Rosel, Dolora Zajick, Kate Lindsey and Susan Graham. He accompanied Joyce DiDonato at the 54th Grammy Awards, the first time the ceremony featured a performance by a classical singer.

In partnership with the Getty Villa and LACMA in Los Angeles and the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., he has curated multimedia recitals which draw connections between the classical vocal repertoire and special exhibits in the museums. He is a frequent collaborator at Wolf Trap Opera as an assistant conductor, chorus master and recitalist. He has been a guest coach at the Opernfestspiele St. Margarethen, in Esterhazy, Austria, and he helped prepare Seattle Opera’s Ring cycle in 2013. He has been a guest faculty member for young artist programs at Utah Opera and Seattle Opera, and he is a part-time lecturer in vocal arts and opera at the University of Southern California. (JeremyMFrank.com)

Her early years in LA were spent honing her craft as Artistic Director of Hysterica Dance Co., a consistently prolific and creative collective that redefined dance in Los Angeles. Her unique approach to direction and choreography was declared by Dance Magazine to possess “an outsize talent for that most elusive gift, originality.”

Kitty has collaborated extensively with the LA Philharmonic, developing new productions of Rite of Spring, Firebird, Bolero, Esa Pekka Salonen’s Wing on Wing, A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and more. Ballets include RIFT, commissioned by Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and the Kennedy Center, the creation of the new ballets Traces and Transit for National Choreographer’s Initiative and colony for LA Ballet’s NEXT Wave Series.

Kitty moves effortlessly between her work in opera, including Roméo et Juliette, La Traviata, Don Carlo, La Rondine, Lucia di Lammermoor and The Tales of Hoffmann for the country’s largest opera houses, to commercials for Target, Adobe MAX, Novartis, Mercedes Benz, Grey Ant and Uniqlo. She finds shifting from high art settings to the demands of pop culture to be incredibly invigorating. Kitty loves working with actors and is known for her ability to draw out organically nuanced performances. She has coached and choreographed for Paz Vega, Julianne Hough, Margaret Cho, Vanessa Williams, Vittorio Grigolo, Lily Tomlin, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. 

Theater credits include Secret Cinema’s groundbreaking live performances with Laura Marling in London, the world premiere of Colony Collapse (commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Sense and Sensibility (South Coast Rep), The Fantasticks (Pasadena Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (LA Phil/Disney Hall), Man of LaMancha (Reprise!) and Sondheim’s 75th (Hollywood Bowl).

Learn more at KittyMcNamee.com.

His work has been seen on stages around the world, with productions including Armida at the Metropolitan Opera, SAFE at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival, West Side Story at the Kilden Teater (Norway), A Little Night Music at the Huntington Theatre Company, Cold Mountain at Music Academy of the West, and productions of Carmen, Don Giovanni, I Puritani and Greek at the Boston Lyric Opera. 

New York credits include Forever Dusty for New World Stages, Pinocchio's Ashes for Theater for a New City and The Saint of Bleecker Street at Dicapo Opera Theatre, among others, and he has worked at numerous regional opera and theater companies around the country. 

As resident fight director for Central City Opera, he staged numerous productions there between 2008 and 2014, including Dead Man Walking, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, West Side Story, Oklahoma! and Rinaldo, while also serving as the stage combat instructor for the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program.