The empowering story of one nation's struggle for freedom
Written by late composer Henry Mollicone and librettist Shishir Kurup, Moses is the empowering story of one nation's struggle for freedom. Based on the Old Testament account, this exciting opera brings together a cast of hundreds to explore universal themes of courage, humility and perseverance.
Cast
- Moses
- Ryan Wolfe
- Bithia
- Madeleine Lyon
- Jocabed
- Sarah Saturnino
- Zipporah
- Ramses
- Anthony León
- Voice of God 1
- Jethro / Voice of God 2
- Alan Williams
Ryan Wolfe
Moses

From: Arlington Heights, Illinois. LA Opera: soloist in Frankenstein with Live Orchestra (2022); Jailor in Tosca (2022, mainstage debut); Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Moses in Moses (2023); Herald in Otello (2023); Fiorello in The Barber of Seville (2023); First Villager in Frida y Diego (2023); Marquis d'Obigny in La Traviata (2024); Ping in Turandot (2024). He joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2022.
Ryan Wolfe is a passionate musician fueled by his love for collaboration and performance, who has been commended for his “commanding presence” and “well-tutored, polished baritone.”
In the summer of 2023, he performed Le Dancaïre in Carmen with Des Moines Metro Opera, followed by his Hollywood Bowl debut in Chris Thile's Attention! with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
His 2022/23 season began with Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with the Richmond Symphony followed by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He made his LA Opera debut as the Jailer in Tosca, with later credits including the Herald in Otello, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia conducted by Lina Gonzalez Granados, and the title character in Henry Mollicone’s Moses conducted by James Conlon. Additionally, he was the cover for the roles of Johnson/Owen in Omar, the Count in The Marriage of Figaro, and Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande. He debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the Steersman in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.
In the summer of 2022, he returned to the Apprentice Artist Program at Des Moines Metro Opera to cover Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The 2021/22 season saw him make several role debuts including the Count in The Marriage of Figaro and Cardinal 3/Priest/Father in Phillip Glass’s Galileo Galilei at the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music (CCM). In March of 2022, Ryan covered the role of Papageno in Barry Kosky’s internationally acclaimed production of The Magic Flute with Des Moines Metro Opera. Most recently, Ryan appeared as the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with the Santa Cruz Symphony, conducted by Daniel Stewart.
He won an Encouragement Award in the Central Region Finals of the Eric and Dominque Laffont Competition in 2021, won first prize in the 2022 University of Cincinnati – CCM Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition and is a two-time semi-finalist (2021, 2022) of the Lotte Lenya Competition. He has also won awards from Classical Singer National Voice Competition and the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition.
In the summer of 2021, he joined the Des Moines Metro Opera Company as an Apprentice Artist where he performed Sen. Potter’s Assistant/Bookseller/Priest/Technician/Party Guest in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers and Narumov in The Queen of Spades and covered Cithéron in Rameau’s Platée. He was also featured as Pandolfe in Cendrillon and the title role in Don Giovanni in the festival’s scenes program. He made his professional debut in February 2020 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as the Armchair and Tree in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges under the baton of Louis Langrée and direction of James Bonas. A strong proponent of new music and a consummate musician, he collaborated with Opera Fusion:New Works - Cincinnati Opera to workshop Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice (co-commissioned by LA Opera and the Metropolitan Opera).
Other operatic highlights include Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Baron Mirko Zeta in The Merry Widow, Giove in La Calisto, Kecal in The Bartered Bride, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, and Seneca in The Coronation of Poppea. He has also been seen performing selections of Bernstein and Mahler with the CCM Philharmonic, and was the bass soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with the DePaul University Symphony Orchestra.
Ryan completed his master’s degree before partially completing an artist diploma at the University of Cincinnati – CCM where he studied with esteemed baritone William McGraw. Upon Professor McGraw’s retirement, Ryan began studying with world-renowned baritone Elliot Madore. He is a proud alumnus of DePaul University where he received his bachelor of music, studying with Jeff Ray.
Madeleine Lyon
Bithia

From: San Marcos, Texas. LA Opera: Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor (2022, debut); soloist in Frankenstein with Live Orchestra (2022); Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Bithia in Moses (2023); Second Frida Image in Frida y Diego (2023); Second Playmate in The Dwarf (2024). She joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2022.
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.
Sarah Saturnino
Jocabed

From: Grass Valley, California. LA Opera: soloist in Frankenstein with Live Orchestra (2022); Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Jocabed in Moses (2023); Emilia in Otello (2023, mainstage debut); Third Frida Image in Frida y Diego (2023); Third Maid in The Dwarf (2024); Flora in La Traviata (2024). She joined the Domingo-Colburn-Young Artist Program in 2022.
Mexican-American mezzo-soprano Sarah Saturnino is quickly becoming known for her versatility and “range of vocal colors” (Miami Herald). She is a 2023 national winner of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
Her appearances for the summer of 2023 include Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with the Tel Aviv Summer Opera Festival, and Alice Ford in SIr John in Love by Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Bard Music Festival. In October 2023, she will sing the title role in Carmen with Santa Barbara Opera.
Her appearances for the 2022/23 season included Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, appearances with LA Opera as Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia and Emilia in Otello, and a Callas centenary concert with Dayton Opera.
Recent roles include: Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro and Carmen in The Tragedy of Carmen with Shreveport Opera, Vera Boronel in The Consul with Baltimore Concert Opera, Maddalena in Rigoletto with Opera San Antonio and Painted Sky Opera, and the Mother in Hansel and Gretel and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with Yale Opera.
She recently completed her second season with the Shreveport Opera Company's Resident Artist program. In 2020 she performed in Art After Dark where she sang Maria in Feel the Tango, Angie in Pepito, and Julia Child in Bon Appétit. She also sang in their 2021 recorded production of Rigoletto as Maddalena and Giovanna.
In 2022, she returned to Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, covering Meg Page in Falstaff. During the 2021 summer season with Santa Fe Opera, she covered the roles of Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is an alumna of the Chautauqua Opera Company’s Young Artist program. She has performed with the Miami Summer Music Festival as Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon and was a soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival, as well as multiple concerts in Tuscany, Italy, with Bel Canto in Tuscany.
She received the Campbell/Wachter Scholarship Award from the Santa Fe Opera for the 2021 season. She received the Faculty Award from the Vann Vocal Institute in 2020. She was a first place winner of the Pacific NorthWest Competition in Eugene, Oregon in 2019. She has placed in the top ten in the Brava! Competition two years (2018, 2019) in a row and was a Grand Finalist in the Talents of the World Competition in 2018.
She has performed in many concert works including Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Handel’s Let God Arise, O Sing unto the Lord, and Messiah. She has also sung in recitals for the Trinity on Wall Street, Pipes at One and the Chautauqua Opera Company’s Emerging Artists Recital. She has also performed the Old Lady in Candide with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra.
She graduated cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a bachelor of arts in vocal performance and a minor in music industry in 2016. Roles at UCLA include: Jenny in Down in the Valley, the Shepherd in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, the Old Lady in Candide, and Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon. She graduated with honors from the Yale University School of Music with a master's of music in 2018. Roles at Yale included: Second Lady in The Magic Flute, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, Bertarido in Rodelinda, and Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking. She continued to work and study at the Potomac Vocal Institute where she studied under the world-renowned Elizabeth Bishop and Arianna Zuckerman in the inaugural class of the Professional Development Program. Roles in that program included Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Quickly in Falstaff and Charlotte in A Weekend in the Country.
Miss Saturnino is a choreographer, fight director and intimacy director. Her work includes Feel the Tango, Speed Dating, and The Marriage of Figaro for Shreveport Opera. She works with Sordelet, Inc., as a fight and intimacy director. She is also trained in fencing.
Zipporah
Anthony León
Ramses

From: Riverside, California. LA Opera: Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor (2022, debut); Spoletta in Tosca (2022); Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro (2023); Ramses in Moses (2023); Roderigo in Otello (2023); Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (2023); Young Man / Second Villager in Frida y Diego (2023). He joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2022.
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.
Voice of God 1
Alan Williams
Jethro / Voice of God 2

From: San Bernardino, California. LA Opera: Abe in Omar (2022, debut); soloist in Frankenstein with Live Orchestra (2022); Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro (2023); Jethro / Voice of God 2 in Moses (2023); Montano in Otello (2023); Masetto in Don Giovanni (2023); Third Villager in Frida y Diego (2023); Sheriff in Highway 1, USA (2024); Doctor Grenvil in La Traviata (2024); Mandarin in Turandot (2024). He joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2022.
Alan Williams recently received his specialist and master's degrees in voice performance from the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Daniel Washington. He received his undergraduate degree in 2018 from Northern Arizona University, where he studied with Dr. Judith Cloud.
In the summer of 2023, he appears with Aspen Music Festival as the Voice of the Oracle (Neptune) in Idomeneo, also covering the role of General Benjamin in Jimmy Lopez's Bel Canto.
He has performed a number of major roles with various festivals and universities including John P. Parker in Adolphus Hailstork’s Rise for Freedom: The John P. Parker Story, Rev. Olin Blitch in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah and the title role in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. He has also performed in various concerts with Detroit Opera, recently in Detroit Players Club Opera Event. In the fall of 2021, Alan was invited to sing for Jean Snyder's presentation on the works of Harry T. Burleigh at the Oxford Lieder Festival in Oxford, England. He has also had the honor of singing with Dr. Eugene Rogers' professional chamber choir Exigence since 2020.
He has received notable awards, recently earning an encouragement award at the Arizona District Laffont Competition. In 2021, he was named the winner of the Graduate Concerto Competition at the University of Michigan. Also during his M.M. studies at Michigan, he was selected as a national finalist in the 2019 National Association of Negro Musicians convention. In his undergraduate studies at Northern Arizona University, he was selected as a finalist for two consecutive years in the Rocky Mountain District for MONC auditions.
In the summer of 2022, he joined the Frank R. Brownell III Apprentice Program at Des Moines Metro Opera, where he sung the role of Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and covered the role of the Lawyer in Porgy and Bess.
Creative Team
- Conductor
- James Conlon
- Librettist
- Shishir Kurup
- Composer
- Henry Mollicone
- Director
- Eli Villanueva
- Choreographer
- Natalie Iscovich
- Assistant Conductor
- Charlie Kim
- Scenic Designer
- Alan E. Muraoka
- Costume Designer
- Alexa Behm
- Lighting Designer
- Azra King-Abadi
- Sound Designer
- Jon Gottlieb
James Conlon
Conductor

James Conlon has been LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director since 2006.
Since his debut that year with La Traviata, he has conducted 67 different operas and more than 450 performances to date with the company.
(Click here to visit James Conlon's Corner, where you can find essays, videos and conversations he has created especially for LA Opera.)
Internationally recognized as one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. Since his 1974 debut with the New York Philharmonic, he has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra, and at many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and filmography, numerous writings, television appearances, and guest speaking engagements, Conlon is one of classical music’s most recognized and prolific figures.
Conlon has been Principal Conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Torino, Italy (2016–20); Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera (1995–2004); General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989–2003), simultaneously leading the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Cologne Opera; and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (1983–91). Conlon was Music Director of the Ravinia Festival (2005–15), summer home of the Chicago Symphony, and is now Music Director Laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival―the oldest choral festival in the United States―where he was Music Director for 37 years (1979–2016), marking one of the longest tenures of any director of an American classical music institution. He also served as Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2021–2023). He has conducted over 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera since his 1976 debut. He has also conducted at leading opera houses and festivals such as the Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival, La Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Mariinsky Theatre, Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
As Music Director of LA Opera, Conlon has led more operas than any other conductor in company history. Highlights of his LA Opera tenure include the company’s first Ring cycle; initiating the groundbreaking Recovered Voices series, an ongoing commitment to staging masterpieces of 20th-century European opera suppressed by the Third Reich; spearheading Britten 100/LA, a city-wide celebration honoring the composer’s centennial; and conducting the West Coast premiere of The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a prominent Black composer in 18th-century France.
Conlon opens his 18th season at LA Opera conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni directed by Kasper Holten. His groundbreaking Recovered Voices initiative, dedicated to rescuing works from historical neglect or censorship, returns to the company with a double-bill featuring the company premiere of William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA in a new production directed by Kaneza Schaal, and a revival of Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf (Der Zwerg)—an opera that launched the Recovered Voices initiative in 2008—directed by Darko Tresnjak. He also conducts Verdi’s La Traviata—the first opera he led as Music Director of LA Opera—continuing his multi-season focus on the works of the great Italian composer. To date, Conlon has conducted more than 500 international performances of Verdi’s repertoire. Conlon closes his LA Opera season honoring the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s death, conducting Turandot, Puccini’s final opera composed in 1924.
Additional highlights of his season include returning to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to lead Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and conducting Wagner’s Lohengrin at Deutsche Oper Berlin. He also returns to Switzerland’s Bern Symphony, where he is Principal Guest Conductor, to lead three programs including Schubert and Beethoven symphonies, a celebratory New Years Day concert, and a season finale with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.
Conlon is dedicated to bringing composers silenced by the Nazi regime to more widespread attention, often programming this lesser-known repertoire throughout Europe and North America. In 1999 he received the Vienna-based Zemlinsky Prize for his work bringing the composer’s music to a broader audience; in 2013 he was awarded the Roger E. Joseph Prize at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for his efforts to eradicate racial and religious prejudice and discrimination; and in 2007 he received the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League. His work on behalf of silenced composers led to the creation of The OREL Foundation, an invaluable resource on the topic for music lovers, students, musicians, and scholars; the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School; and a recent virtual TEDx Talk titled “Resurrecting Forbidden Music.”
Conlon is deeply invested in the role of music in civic life and the human experience. At LA Opera, his popular pre-performance talks blend musicology, literary studies, history, and social sciences to discuss the enduring power and relevance of opera and classical music. He also frequently collaborates with universities, museums, and other cultural institutions and works with scholars, practitioners, and community members across disciplines. He frequently appears throughout the country as a speaker on a variety of cultural and educational topics.
Conlon’s extensive discography and filmography spans the Bridge, Capriccio, Decca, EMI, Erato, and Sony Classical labels. His recordings of LA Opera productions have received four Grammy Awards, two respectively for John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and for Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Additional highlights include an ECHO Klassik Award-winning recording cycle of operas and orchestral works by Alexander Zemlinsky; a CD/DVD release of works by Viktor Ullmann, which won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; and the world-premiere recording of Liszt’s oratorio St. Stanislaus.
Conlon holds four honorary doctorates, was one of the first five recipients of the Opera News Awards, and was distinguished by the New York Public Library as a Library Lion. He received a 2023 Cross of Honor for Science and Art (Österreichische Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst) from the Republic of Austria, and was named Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic. He was also named Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture and, in 2002, personally accepted France’s highest honor, the Legion d’Honneur, from then-President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac.
Learn more at JamesConlon.com.
Mr. Conlon’s first season as Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra includes three weeks of concerts, starting with an October 2021 program of music by historically marginalized composers. The featured works are Alexander Zemlinsky’s Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid), which is the piece that sparked Mr. Conlon’s interest in suppressed music from the early 20th century, and William Levi Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, which reflects a theme that will recur throughout Mr. Conlon’s advisorship—the bringing of attention to works by American composers neglected due to their race. He returns in February 2022 for performances including Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony and the final scene of Wagner’s Die Walküre, with guest artists Christine Goerke and Greer Grimsley. The BSO season concludes in June 2022 with Mr. Conlon conducting an orchestra co-commission from Wynton Marsalis, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Beatrice Rana, and Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony (“Leningrad”). As Artistic Advisor, in addition to leading these performances, Mr. Conlon will help ensure the continued artistic quality of the orchestra and fill many duties off the podium, including those related to artistic personnel—such as filling important vacancies and attracting exceptional musicians.
Additional highlights of Mr. Conlon’s season include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at Rome Opera, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the Paris Opera’s Gala lyrique with Renée Fleming, and concerts with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony and works by Beethoven and Bernstein), Gürzenich Orchester Köln (Sinfoniettas by Zemlinsky and Korngold), Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra (works by Shostakovich and Zemlinsky), and at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Mr. Conlon’s 2021/22 season follows a spring and summer in which he was highly active amidst the re-opening of many venues to live performance. These engagements included concerts with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and RAI National Symphony Orchestra. He also led a series of performances in Spain scheduled around World Music Day (June 21). In Madrid, over a period of two days, he conducted the complete symphonies of Schumann and Brahms in collaboration with four different Spanish orchestras: the Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, and Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE). He subsequently conducted JONDE at the Festival de Granada and Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza. Additional summer 2021 engagements included the Aspen, Napa, Ravello, and Ravinia Festivals.
In an effort to call attention to lesser-known works of composers silenced by the Nazi regime, Mr. Conlon has devoted himself to extensive programming of this music throughout Europe and North America. In 1999 he received the Vienna-based Zemlinsky Prize for his efforts in bringing that composer’s music to international attention; in 2013 he was awarded the Roger E. Joseph Prize at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for his extraordinary efforts to eradicate racial and religious prejudice and discrimination; and in 2007 he received the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League. His work on behalf of suppressed composers led to the creation of The OREL Foundation, an invaluable resource on the topic for music lovers, students, musicians, and scholars; the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School; and a recent virtual TEDx Talk titled “Resurrecting Forbidden Music.”
Mr. Conlon is an enthusiastic advocate of public scholarship and cultural institutions as forums for the exchange of ideas and inquiry into the role music plays in our shared humanity and civic life. At LA Opera, he leads pre-performance talks, drawing upon musicology, literary studies, history, and social sciences to contemplate—together with his audience—the enduring power and relevance of opera and classical music in general. Additionally, he frequently collaborates with universities, museums, and other cultural institutions, and works with scholars, practitioners, and community members across disciplines. His appearances throughout the country as a speaker on a variety of cultural and educational topics are widely praised.
Mr. Conlon’s extensive discography and videography can be found on the Bridge, Capriccio, Decca, EMI, Erato, and Sony Classical labels. His recordings of LA Opera productions have received four Grammy Awards, two respectively for John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Additional highlights include an ECHO Klassik Award-winning recording cycle of operas and orchestral works by Alexander Zemlinsky; a CD/DVD release of works by Viktor Ullmann, which won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; and the world-premiere recording of Liszt’s oratorio St. Stanislaus.
Mr. Conlon holds four honorary doctorates and has received numerous other awards. He was one of the first five recipients of the Opera News Awards, and was honored by the New York Public Library as a Library Lion. He was named Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic. He was also named Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture and, in 2002, personally accepted France’s highest honor, the Legion d’Honneur, from then-President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac.
Learn more at JamesConlon.com.
Shishir Kurup
Librettist

From: Bombay, India. LA Opera: Moses (2019, 2023).
Born in Bombay and raised in Kenya and the United States, Shishir Kurup is a longtime member of the nationally renowned Cornerstone Theater Company. For Cornerstone’s Hunger Cycle he acted in Café Vida by Lisa Loomer, directed Seed: A Weird Act of Faith by Sigrid Gilmer, directed Love on San Pedro by James McManus and wrote Bliss Point. In the years before the Hunger Cycle he directed Michael John Garces’ Los Illegals, wrote and directed On Caring for the Beast, was the lyricist for Cornerstone’s Making Paradise: The West Hollywood Musical and directed Lynn Manning’s The Unrequited in the community of Watts, Los Angeles. He has written over 250 songs for various Cornerstone productions. He directed Quiara Hudes’ The Happiest Song Plays Last and Water by the Spoonful at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has directed and acted at regional theaters around the country.
Learn more at ShishirKurup.com.
Henry Mollicone
Composer

From: Providence, Rhode Island. LA Opera: Moses (2019, 2023).
Henry Mollicone (1946-2022) was a composer, conductor and educator. He was best known for his popular opera The Face on the Barroom Floor and for his philanthropic compositions that raised funds in the hundreds of thousands for the homeless.
He graduated from New England Conservatory with an M.M. and soon after was engaged as an assistant conductor with the New York City Opera and as assistant dance orchestrator to Leonard Bernstein for the Broadway musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He composed music for film and television, conducted numerous operas and musicals (including as music director of the San Jose Civic Light Opera) and orchestras (including Silicon Valley Symphony and his own Winchester Orchestra).
He composed several operas and numerous choral works, solo and instrumental works, piano pieces and songs. He taught at Santa Clara University as composer-in-residence and conducted the university orchestra.
Eli Villanueva
Director

Eli Villanueva, a talented and passionate musician, director and educator, brings his magic to every project on which he works. His uniquely energetic and joyful approach draws out consistently remarkable performances from community members and students new to performing, as well as from seasoned professionals. In his 20th season as Resident Stage Director and teaching artist for LA Opera Connects, Eli teaches and directs as many as 2,000 students annually in original productions including, the acclaimed In-School Operas, Opera Camp, and the Community Opera at the Cathedral conducted by Music Director James Conlon.
Mr. Villanueva’s compositions are praised for their appeal to audiences and performers alike. His commissioned works of One-Act operas include Then I Stood Up which premiered in 2017, The White Bird of Poston, Friedl and The Festival Play of Daniel, an adaptation of the 13th-century liturgical play, Play of Daniel. In addition, music ranging from solo to choral works can be found through publishing companies, Fred Bock Music, Laurendale Associates, and Cherry Lane Music.
Opera Camp
Secondary In-School Opera
Elementary In-School Opera
Opera Tales
Natalie Iscovich
Choreographer

Natalie Iscovich is thrilled to be working with LA Opera. She was the choreographer for Las Tres Mujeres de Jerusalén in 2022, and looks forward to joining with the community again with the 2023 production of Moses at the Cathedral. Natalie is a Los Angeles-based professional theatrical performer, dancer, choreographer and teacher. She received her BFA in dance performance and choreography from Chapman University. She has partnered with LA Opera Connects since 2021, during the midst of social distancing and masking, aiming to bring three operas, in dance form, to LAUSD elementary and high school students. In the summer of 2022, she choreographed the world premiere of the new musical Witnesses with CCAE Theatricals in San Diego, and has recently been awarded for her work with the production. As a performer she has been a part of various live productions, as well as film and television.
Credits include the national tour of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (associate choreographer), Macbeth with LA Opera, Aida with the Pacific Symphony. Television: The Thundermans (Nick). Film: The Sound the Soul Makes. Regional: Cabaret (MCRE), Mamma Mia! (associate choreographer), West Side Story (MCRE), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (MTW), The Full Monty, Beauty and the Beast, The Addams Family, Tarzan, Side Show, Seussical: the Musical (3DT), In the Heights, Kiss Me, Kate and Bye Bye Birdie (CMT).
She is passionate about education and creating environments for dancers and people to become the best version of themselves. She is a certified yoga and pilates instructor and has learned the importance of injury management and supporting artists with their physical and mental well being. She is honored to work at The Artist Collective LA, where she engages with young aspiring professionals to hone their artistry.
Charlie Kim
Assistant Conductor

Charlie Kim is a versatile performer with several musical identities—pianist, tenor, conductor, educator, and community arts leader. He can be seen as pianist and music director for LA Opera in educational and community outreach efforts. Most recently, Charlie was a featured soloist on the Walt Disney Concert Hall Stage with the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the United We Sing concert, the world premiere of Ready, Bright by Derrick Spiva, as well as being featured as a song leader for community events like Big Sing in Grand Park. Other recent vocal appearances include Lagrime di San Pietro (Los Angeles Master Chorale world tour), Nanki-Poo in The Mikado (Pacific Opera Project), and Ojiichan/Mojave Boy in The White Bird of Poston (Los Angeles Opera Connects). Charlie will make an appearance in the summer of 2023 as guest music director and pianist for the Newport Classical Festival in Rhode Island.
Charlie is member of SAG-AFTRA, with credits as a performer onscreen, in the recording studio, and as a coach for onscreen talent. He can be heard on the soundtrack to Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker, the 2021 Grammy-winning Complete Symphonies of Charles Ives with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and The Sacred Veil by Eric Whitacre with Sony Records. Has has appeared on screen with Cardi B and Weird Al Yankovich and has served as talent coach with names like JK Simmons for Amazon Studios. His commercial work is currently receiving national circulation. As a community arts leader, Charlie is the conductor and artistic director for the San Fernando Valley Master Chorale. He seeks to create more opportunities for high-quality classical music by partnering with other local performance organizations and forging supportive relationships with the City of Los Angeles. Charlie currently serves as the Director of Choirs and Orchestra at the Brentwood School in Los Angeles.
Alan E. Muraoka
Scenic Designer

Alan E. Muraoka has worked in the entertainment industry as a production designer and art director for film and television, as well as a theatrical set designer for Ned Rorem's Our Town and Jake Hagee's Dead Man Walking for Central City Opera, Ricky Ian Gordon's Orpheus and Eurydice for Long Beach Opera, Tobias Picker's Thérèse Raquin, Philip Glass's Fall of the House of Usher and the world premiere of Stewart Copeland's The Invention of Morel at Chicago Opera Theater. Recent projects include John Corigliano's The Ghost of Versailles in a season that included the “Beaumarchais Trilogy”; Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Figaro 90210 for Chautauqua Institute. Alan also works as a production designer in film and television and is currently designing the television series New Amsterdam for NBC/Universal. Alan is a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Learn more at AlanMuraoka.com.
Alexa Behm
Costume Designer

Alexa Behm, the costume designer of Moses (2023), is excited join the LA Opera Connects team in this wonderful community engagement project. She designs costumes for characters spanning multiple genres of entertainment. For the last few years, Alexa has been freelancing as a Local 705 costumer for episodic television. Her most recent credits include Fatal Attraction (Paramount+), The Offer (Paramount+), and American Horror Stories (Hulu). Her most recent theater credits include La Boéhme, Spring Awakening, Anything Goes and Candide. Alexa is a proud alumnus of UCLA, holding her MFA in design for theater, film, and digital media. She would like to thank the LA Opera team for welcoming her to this collaboration.
Learn more at ABehmDesign.com.
Azra King-Abadi
Lighting Designer

From: Montreal, Canada. LA Opera: Wonderful Town (2016); Oedipus Rex (2021).
Azra King-Abadi is a theater designer specializing in lighting and costume design. She is currently based in Los Angeles, after moving here from Montreal.
She trained at Concordia University and received her BFA in Fine Arts, Specialization in Theatre Design. Later she attended Cal State Long Beach where she received her MFA in Lighting Design. After graduation, she began working as a freelance designer in the Los Angeles area and took over the position of Assistant Lighting Designer for LA Opera. She is a member of United Scenic Artists, union local 829. She has worked at several prestigious companies such as the LA Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Long Beach Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Central City Opera, as well as many prestigious educational programs and theatre companies in California. Before moving to Los Angeles she mainly designed costumes in her hometown of Montreal. She designed for exciting young companies such as Tableau D’Hote and Gravy Bath Productions.
Azra found herself drawn to theater, as an environment for collaboration and the ability to mix so many different media.
Her design approach focuses on the emotional truth of the moment is order to tell the story in an effective way and bring the audience along on the journey. She enjoys the expressionistic style and tries to represent a character’s internal psychology on the stage. She has been able to do this in a variety of ways since she has worked in varying theaters with a wide range of capacities and/or budgets. She is always excited by the prospect of creating new and exciting work, and participating in the collaborative process.
Learn more at AzraKingAbadi.com.
Jon Gottlieb
Sound Designer

Read the synopsis

Synopsis
The Egyptian Pharaoh has ordered the death of all newborn sons of the enslaved Israelites. Jocabed, a slave, places a basket into the Nile with her infant son tucked inside, and watches it float away. The basket is found by Bithia, an Egyptian princess, who raises the child as her own son and names him Moses.
When they are young men, Ramses, the future Pharaoh, wishes that he could abdicate in favor of his adopted brother Moses, for Moses has the disposition of a warrior and king. Seeing a foreman whip a fallen slave, Moses leaps forward to defend the slave. Ramses warns Moses to control his anger. The foreman and his men later attack Moses, who kills the foreman. Ramses banishes Moses.
Caught in a sandstorm, Moses awakens near a well where he defends Zipporah and her six sisters from seven shepherds harassing them. Impressed, their father Jethro allows Zipporah to marry the brave stranger. They are soon expecting a child.
The Voice of God summons Moses to Mount Sinai, instructing him to free the Israelites. Moses confronts Ramses, who demands a demonstration of God’s power. The Ten Plagues descend upon Egypt, sparing only the Israelites. Ramses’ own young son dies during the final plague. Ramses relents and tells Moses to lead his people into the desert.
The Exodus begins. Ramses observes their joy and his grief turns into rage. He leads his army after them to the shore of the Red Sea. Moses raises his arms and the sea parts, allowing the Israelites to cross. When Ramses and his army follow, the seas close, drowning Pharaoh’s army.
On the hard journey, the people of Israel lose faith. They dance before a golden calf, worshiping it. Moses again climbs Mount Sinai, finding himself before the Burning Bush from which God declares that he will punish this heresy. Moses offers himself in place of the people. God’s love flows over Moses. He gives Moses the tablet of the Ten Commandments. The people of Israel find their faith again. They are finally free, safe and home.
Production made possible by a generous grant from
Dan Murphy Foundation
Special support also received from
City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs
Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
and
Mrs. Joseph A. Saunders
Piano graciously provided by
Yamaha, Official Piano of LA Opera
LA Opera’s 2022/23 season is generously underwritten by
GRoW @ Annenberg
Moses Tickets
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