Pelléas and Mélisande

Called “a voice for this historic moment” (Washington Post), Grammy-winning baritone Will Liverman is the recipient of the 2022 Beverly Sills Artist Award by the Metropolitan Opera. He opened the Met’s 2021/22 season in a celebrated “breakout performance” (New York Times) in the leading role of Charles in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. The subsequent recording won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Following Fire’s success, the Met announced that Liverman will star in Anthony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, which will be the second opera by a Black composer in the company’s history, premiering in the fall of 2023.

Following performances at Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festival, Liverman’s 2022/23 season opened at the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, where he played the Celebrant in Bernstein’s Mass. Next, the European premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s Blue took Liverman to Dutch National Opera, where he makes his house debut as the Reverend in the Music Critics Association’s 2020 pick for “Best New Opera.”

Liverman’s The Factotum, which he stars in and composed with DJ/recording artist K. Rico, premiered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in February 2023. An updated version of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville set in Chicago’s South Side, The Factotum blends classical singing with diverse musical styles, moving from hip-hop, R&B, funk, and gospel to traditional barbershop quartet to create a soul opera. Other 2022/23 season engagements include performances of Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande at LA Opera and Zurga in The Pearl Fishers at Austin Opera; appearances with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and Portland Opera; and solo recital performances at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Notable past performances include revisiting the role of Charles in Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in a “rich leading performance” (Chicago Tribune); reprisals of his roles in Akhnaten (Horemhab) and The Magic Flute (Papageno) at the Met; Malcolm Fleet in Nico Muhly’s Marnie at the Met; Steward in Jonathan Dove’s Flight at Dallas Opera; Pantalone in The Love of Three Oranges at Opera Philadelphia; Silvio in Pagliacci at Opera Colorado; and Schaunard in La Bohème with the Santa Fe and Dallas Operas, and Opera Philadelphia.

Additionally, Liverman has performed the leading role of Figaro in The Barber of Seville with the Seattle, Virginia, Kentucky, Madison, and Utah Operas. In February 2021, Cedille Records released Liverman’s Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers with pianist Paul Sanchez. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart and was nominated for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. His 2020 album, Whither Must I Wander, with pianist Jonathan King, released on Odradek Records, was named one of the Chicago Tribune’s “best classical recordings of 2020” and BBC Music Magazine praised Liverman’s “firm, oaky baritone with a sharp interpretive attitude… admirable poise and clarity of intention.”

Awards and achievements include receiving a 2022 Sphinx MPower Artist Grant, the 2020 Marian Anderson Vocal Award, a 2019 Richard Tucker Career Grant, a 2019 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, a 2017 3Arts Award, and a 2017 George London Award. In 2015, he won the Stella Maris International Vocal Competition, the Gerda Lissner Charitable Fund Award, and a top prize from Opera Index.

Liverman concluded his tenure at the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2015 and was previously a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival. He holds his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College in Illinois.

Please visit WillLiverman.com for more information.

Photo: Jaclyn Simpson

Lauded by Opera News as “enchanting…radiant…glittering,” and as an artist who “owned the place” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, soprano Sydney Mancasola is quickly establishing herself as one of the most engaging singing actresses of her generation. Sydney was previously a member of the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt, where her roles included Gilda in Rigoletto, Musetta in La Bohème, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Onoria in Ezio, the Italian Singer in Capriccio and the First Niece in Peter Grimes, and where she was the soprano soloist in a new production of Mozart's La Betulia Liberata.

Sydney opened her 2020/21 season with a return to English National Opera to sing Musetta in their unique outdoor "Drive & Live" production of La Bohéme held at Alexandra Palace, produced as a response to the Covid-19 crisis. She also made her company debut with Lucerner Theater, in Switzerland singing the role of Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte. In future seasons, Sydney will make debuts at Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Lille, and Los Angeles Opera as well as returning to the Metropolitan Opera, Komische Opera Berlin and Des Moines Metro Opera.

More recently, notable debuts have included her house debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Pamina in the Julie Taymor production of The Magic Flute and as Frasquita in Carmen, which was broadcast to theatres around the world as part of the Met’s Live in HD program, as well as her debut as Bess in a new production of Breaking the Waves at both the Adelaide Festival Centre in Australia and Edinburgh International Festival, where she was awarded a Herald Angel for her performance. Last season Sydney returned to the Komische Oper Berlin to sing the title role in Barrie Kosky’s production of Semele and Pamina in The Magic Flute and made her house debut at Washington National Opera as Pamina, conducted by Eun Sun Kim. More recent roles at Oper Frankfurt have included Roxana in a new production of Szymanowski’s Król Roger, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Frasquita in Carmen.

Further operatic highlights include her European debut with Komische Oper Berlin as the heroines Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, and Servilia in a concert performance of La Clemenza di Tito. Additional highlights include her role debut as Gilda in the Jonathan Miller production of Rigoletto at English National Opera; the title role in Manon at Oper Köln, her role debut as Violetta in La Traviata and Lisette in La Rondine at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; the title role in Manon and the role of Comtesse Adèle in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory at Des Moines Metro Opera; her company debut with Palm Beach Opera as Marie in The Daughter of the Regiment and her role debut as Leïla in The Pearl Fishers with Florida Grand Opera.

Learn more at SydneyMancasolaSoprano.com.

American bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen is in regular demand by the world’s leading opera companies and orchestras for his vibrant, handsome stage presence and distinctive vocalism. His appearances for the 2022/23 season include a return to the Metropolitan Opera to create the role of Richard in the world premiere of The Hours by Kevin Puts.

In the 2020/21 season, Mr. Ketelsened returns to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich for his role debut as Kaspar in Der Freischütz, in a new production by Dmitri Tcherniakov, and to Dutch National Opera for his role debut as Adahm in Rudi Stephan’s Die ersten Menschen. He was also scheduled to return to the Metropolitan Opera as both Escamillo in Carmen and Leporello in Don Giovanni, and to Dallas Opera as the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, while in concert, he was scheduled to sing Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra and Choirs.

In the 2019/20 season, Mr. Ketelsen sang Leporello in Don Giovanni at both Washington National Opera and the Hamburgische Staatsoper, and returned to Opernhaus Zürich for his role debut as Selim in The Turk in Italy. He was also scheduled to sing the Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffmann at New National Theatre Tokyo, and to make his role debut in the title role of Saint François d’Assise at Grand Théâtre de Genève, in a new production by multimedia artist Adel Abdessemed. In concert, he reprised Leporello with Music Aeterna under the baton of Teodor Currentzis.

One of the greatest basses of our time, Ferruccio Furlanetto is one of the most sought after singers in the world. The critics praise him for his vast range, thundering vocal power, and excellent acting ability. His international career began with the role of King Philip II in Don Carlo at the Salzburg Easter Festival under the baton of Herbert von Karajan in 1986. In the same year he debuted at the Salzburg Summer Festival with the role of Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro. His debuts on the leading opera stages happened earlier: Teatro alla Scala (1979), Metropolitan Opera (1980), Vienna State Opera (1985).

He has collaborated with some leading orchestras and conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Bernstein, Valery Gergiev, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Barenboim, Georges Prêtre, Semyon Bychkov, Daniele Gatti, Riccardo Muti, Mariss Jansons and Vladimir Jurowski. He performs in concerts and recitals at the leading world’s concert halls, in the repertory ranging from Verdi’s Requiem to Russian songs and Schubert’s Winterreise. He has made numerous recordings of opera on CD and DVD, and his performances were broadcasted internationally over the radio and television. He feels equally at home at many opera houses such as La Scala in Milan, London's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, the Opera National de Paris, and the Metropolitan Opera as well in Rome, Turin, Florence, Bologna, Palermo, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Moscow. At the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, he has become the first Italian bass to appear in the title role of Boris Godunov. He also performed the role on the stage of Bolshoi Theater with great critical and public acclaim last season, becoming the only western artist who sang Boris Godunov on both historical main stages of Russia.

Ferruccio Furlanetto is Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations as well as Kammersänger and Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera.

Mr. Furlanetto made his LA Opera debut in 2006 as King Philip II in Don Carlo, a role he reprised in 2018.

Engagements for the 2022/23 season include Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin with San Francisco Opera.

Susan Graham – hailed as “an artist to treasure” by the New York Times – rose to the highest echelon of international performers within just a few years of her professional debut, mastering an astonishing range of repertoire and genres along the way. Her operatic roles span four centuries, from Monteverdi’s Poppea to Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, which was written especially for her. A familiar face at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, she also maintains a strong international presence at such key venues as Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet, Santa Fe Opera and the Hollywood Bowl. She won a Grammy Award for her collection of Ives songs, and has also been recognized throughout her career as one of the foremost exponents of French vocal music. Although a native of Texas, she was awarded the French government’s prestigious “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur,” both for her popularity as a performer in France and in honor of her commitment to French music.

Engagements for the truncated 2019/20 season included her celebrated portrayal of Mrs. Patrick De Rocher, mother of the convicted murderer, in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s company premiere of Dead Man Walking. She also starred as Madeline Mitchell in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers with Opera San José. In concert, she sang excerpts from Les Troyens with Donald Runnicles and the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin at the Berlin Musikfest.

For the 2018/19 season, Graham joined Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony for Mahler’s Third Symphony at London’s BBC Proms and in Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, Lucerne, and Paris. She made her role debut as Humperdinck’s Witch in Hansel and Gretel at LA Opera, hosted “An Evening with Susan Graham” at Dallas’s Meyerson Symphony Center, sang Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony, headlined the Mayshad Foundation’s season-closing gala concert in Marrakech, and returned to Carnegie Hall, first with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and then with Alec Baldwin and Leonard Slatkin for the Manhattan School of Music’s Centennial Gala Concert. To mark the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death, she performed Les nuits d’été with the Houston Symphony and made her New Zealand debut in La mort de Cléopâtre with the New Zealand Symphony under Edo de Waart. Other highlights of recent seasons include starring in Trouble in Tahiti at Lyric Opera of Chicago to honor the Bernstein Centennial, making her title role debut opposite James Morris in Marc Blitzstein’s 1948 opera Regina at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and appearing alongside Anna Netrebko, Renée Fleming and a host of other luminaries to celebrate the Metropolitan Opera’s five decades at its Lincoln Center home.

Graham’s earliest operatic successes were in such trouser roles as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Her technical expertise soon brought mastery of Mozart’s more virtuosic roles, like Sesto in La clemenza di Tito, Idamante in Idomeneo and Cecilio in Lucio Silla, as well as the title roles of Handel’s Ariodante and Xerxes. She went on to triumph in two iconic Richard Strauss mezzo roles, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos. These brought her to prominence on all the world’s major opera stages, including the Met, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, La Scala, Bavarian State Opera, Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival, among many others. In addition to creating the role of Sister Helen Prejean at San Francisco Opera, she starred in Washington National Opera’s recent revival of Dead Man Walking, making her triumphant role debut as the convict’s mother. She also sang the leading ladies in the Met’s world premieres of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby and Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy, and made her Dallas Opera debut as Tina in a new production of The Aspern Papers by Dominick Argento. As Houston Grand Opera’s Lynn Wyatt Great Artist, she starred as Prince Orlofsky in the company’s first staging of Die Fledermaus in 30 years, before heading an all-star cast as Sycorax in the Met’s Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island and making her rapturously received musical theater debut in a new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

It was in an early Lyon production of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict that Graham scored particular raves from the international press, and a triumph in the title role of Massenet’s Chérubin at Covent Garden sealed her operatic stardom. Further invitations to collaborate on French music were forthcoming from many of its preeminent conductors, including Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, James Levine and Seiji Ozawa. New productions of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust and Massenet’s Werther were mounted for the mezzo in New York, London, Paris, Chicago, San Francisco and beyond. More recently, she made title role debuts in Offenbach’s comic masterpieces La belle Hélène and The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein at Santa Fe Opera, as well as proving herself the standout star of the Met’s star-studded revival of Les Troyens, which was broadcast live to cinema audiences worldwide in the company’s celebrated “Live in HD” series. Graham’s affinity for French repertoire has not been limited to the opera stage, also serving as the foundation for her extensive concert and recital career. Such great cantatas and symphonic song cycles as Berlioz’s La mort de Cléopâtre and Les nuits d’été, Ravel’s Shéhérazade and Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer provide opportunities for collaborations with the world’s leading orchestras, and she makes regular appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Orchestre de Paris and London Symphony Orchestra.

Graham recently expanded her distinguished discography with Nonesuch Records’ DVD/Blu-ray release of William Kentridge’s new treatment of Berg’s Lulu, which captures her celebrated role debut as Countess Geschwitz at the Met. She has also recorded all the works described above, as well as appearing on a series of lauded solo albums, including Virgins, Vixens & Viragos on the Onyx label, featuring songs and arias by composers from Purcell to Sondheim; Un frisson français, a program of French song recorded with pianist Malcolm Martineau, also for Onyx; C’est ça la vie, c’est ça l’amour!, an album of 20th-century operetta rarities on Erato; and La Belle Époque, an award-winning collection of songs by Reynaldo Hahn with pianist Roger Vignoles, from Sony Classical. Among the mezzo’s numerous honors are Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year and an Opera News Award, while Gramophone magazine has dubbed her “America’s favorite mezzo.”

Learn more at SusanGraham.com.

Kai Edgar is 11 years old and is thrilled to be making his LA Opera debut. He recently made his operatic debut creating the role of Richie in the world premiere of The Hours by Kevin Puts at the Metropolitan Opera with Renee Fleming, Kelli O’Hara and Joyce DiDonato. In the summer of 2023, he will appear with Santa Fe Opera as Yniold in Pelléas et Mélisande and as the Shepherd Boy in Tosca.

His musical theater credits include the title role in the national tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Colin in The Secret Garden (Broadway at Music Circus in Sacramento); Michael in Billy Elliot (Music Theater Works); Oliver in Oliver! (Marriott Theatre); Ernie in The Secret of My Success (Paramount Theatre); and Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol (Raue Center for the Arts).

He has also appeared on television in NBC’s Chicago Fire and in voiceover roles on Disney Junior’s Firebuds and Nickelodeon’s Santiago of the Seas. Thank you to everyone at LA Opera for this opportunity, his team at DDO Artists, and his vocal coaches, Audrey Belle Adams and Tom Vendafreddo.

Instagram: @KaiJosephEdgar

Patrick Blackwell continues to expand his impressive repertoire in opera, oratorio and musical theater. His career has seen him engaged by many of the leading opera companies and orchestras of the U.S. and Europe, including appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival, Munich Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago and LA Opera. He trained at the Juilliard School and began his career as a young artist with the Santa Fe Opera, Houston Opera Studio, the Merola Opera Program with San Francisco Opera, Opera Music Theatre International with Jerome Hines and Aspen Opera.

In July 2023, he appears with the Opera Festival of Chicago in An Italian Soirée and as Leone in Verdi's Attila. His appearances for the 2023/24 season include a return to LA Opera as Baron Douphol in La Traviata and a debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Don Fernando in Fidelio.

He has appeared in concert with the Munich Philharmonic in Porgy and Bess conducted by Lorin Maazel and in the title role of Porgy on a European tour with NY Harlem Productions. His association with this piece is extensive, having appeared as Porgy and other roles with Utah Opera, the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, Fresno Grand Opera, the Castleton Festival, conducted by Lorin Maazel, and on tour throughout the United States.

On the concert platform, Mr. Blackwell is highly sought after as the bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in the world premiere of Earnestine Rodgers Robinson’s Crucifixion in addition to performing works by Mozart at the Arts Festival in North Korea, the Fauré Requiem with the Fresno Philharmonic and Osride in Mose in Egitto by Rossini with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center.

In the United States, Mr. Blackwell’s operatic engagements have included Leporello in Don Giovanni, Colline in La Boheme, Zuniga in Carmen for New York City Opera, First Nazarene in Salome and Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro for Utah Opera, Sarastro in The Magic Flute for Fresno Grand Opera, Ferrando in Il Trovatore for Knoxville Opera, the King in Aïda and Melitone in La Forza del Destino for New Jersey State Opera and Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera for New Orleans Opera.

With Chicago Lyric Opera Mr. Blackwell’s roles have included Burnah in Amistad, Henry Davis in Street Scene, Cal in Regina and the Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette. 

Recent engagements include Zuniga in Carmen with San Diego Opera and Méphistophélès in Faust with Valley Opera & Performing Arts. 

Since his debut that year with La Traviata, he has conducted 67 different operas and more than 450 performances to date with the company. Highlights of recent seasons include the 2020 company premiere of The Anonymous Lover (L'Amant Anonyme) by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the 2021 company premiere of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, the 2022 company premiere of Bach's St. Matthew Passion and a 2023 production of Verdi's Otello.

(Click here to visit James Conlon's Corner, where you can find essays, videos and conversations he has created especially for LA Opera.)

One of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. He has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra since his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1974. He has conducted more than 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and videography, numerous essays and commentaries, frequent television appearances and guest speaking engagements, Mr. Conlon is one of classical music’s most recognized interpreters.

In 2021, he became Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

He 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).

Mr. Conlon has served as the Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony (2005–15), 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. As a guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, he has led more than 270 performances since his 1976 debut. He has also conducted at leading opera houses and festivals including 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 LA Opera's Music Director since 2006, Mr. Conlon has led more performances than any other conductor in the company’s history—to date, over 450 performances of 67 different operas by more than 30 different composers. Highlights of his LA Opera tenure include conducting the company’s first Ring cycle; initiating the groundbreaking Recovered Voices series, an ongoing commitment to staging masterpieces of 20^th-century European opera that were suppressed by the Third Reich; and spearheading Britten 100/LA, a city-wide celebration honoring the centennial of that composer’s birth. During the period in which Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was closed due to the pandemic, Mr. Conlon conducted LA Opera’s live-streamed, socially distanced production—staged at the Colburn School—of The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a prominent Black composer in 18^th-century France. The performance was presented as an online-only event in fall 2020 and marked the work’s West Coast premiere. The Pavilion reopened in June 2021 with Mr. Conlon conducting the company premiere of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, with which LA Opera became the first major American opera company to perform live in its own theater since the coronavirus outbreak. The performance was subsequently released online for at-home viewing. During LA Opera’s 2022/23 season, Mr. Conlon conducted two operas long absent from the company’s repertory, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Verdi's Otello, along with a new production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

His productions there have subsequently included The Magic Flute, Faust, The Marriage of Figaro, Salome, Aida, Adriana Lecouvreur, Les Troyens and Andrea Chénier. LA Opera presented his production of Idomeneo, for which he also designed costumes, in 2004.

He was born in Glasgow and trained at the Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama as an actor, designer and director. Productions include Roberto Devereux, Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci, Giulio Cesare, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Il Trovatore (Metropolitan Opera), Les Troyens (La Scala), Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Australia), La Clemenza di Tito (Aix-en-Provence Festival), Don Carlo (Tokyo), Tristan und Isolde (Tokyo and Vienna), Falstaff (Vienna), The Turn of the Screw, Medea, Alcina and Tosca (English National Opera), The Abduction from the Seraglio, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne Festival), The Rake’s Progress, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata and Idomeneo (Scottish Opera), Don Giovanni and Il Re Pastore (Opera North), Wozzeck, Billy Budd and Giulio Cesare (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Semele (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées), The Turn of The Screw and Macbeth (Mariinsky), Agrippina (Barcelona, La Monnaie, Brussels, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Frankfurt), Der Rosenkavalier (Scottish Opera, Opera North and ENO), Così fan tutte (Strasbourg and Scottish Opera), The Tales of Hoffmann (Salzburg Festival) and the Ring cycle(Strasbourg).

His awards include the 2011 Grand Prix de la Musique du Syndicat de la Critique. In 2012 he received a knighthood and was made a Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres.

She has collaborated on numerous productions including The Rake’s Progress (Aix Festival, Amsterdam Opera), Benvenuto Cellini (London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome), La Damnation de Faust (English National Opera, the Flanders Opera, Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, Berlin Staatsoper), Falstaff (Vienna State Opera), Giovanna d’Arco, Les Troyens (Milan’s La Scala), Les Troyens, Aida, The Marriage of Figaro, Elektra, The Magic Flute, Il Turco in Italia, Rigoletto (London’s Royal Opera House Covent Garden), L’elisir d’amore, La Bohème, Gianni Schicchi (Glyndebourne Festival), Madame Butterfly, Pelléas et Mélisande (Scottish Opera), Norma, Tosca, Roberto Devereux, Maria Stuarda, Il Trovatore (Metropolitan Opera), Billy Budd, Rusalka, Il Trovatore (Chicago Lyric Opera), Don Giovanni, Il Trovatore, Lohengrin, Les Troyens (San Francisco Opera) and La Clemenza di Tito (London, Copenhagen, Bremen and Aix-en-Provence).

She has also worked on the stages of the Old Vic, the Royal Shakespeare Company, London’s National Theatre and Complicité Theatre Company and Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, as well as for the Channel 4 television network (Howard Goodall’s Great Dates). She has also worked as revival director on numerous opera productions in Rome, San Francisco, Oslo, Palermo and London (Royal Opera House and English National Opera).

Her designs are frequently seen in Britain in the West End and at the National Theatre, as well as in the United States, Europe, Japan and on international tours. Her current work includes productions of Pelleas et Melisande for Scottish Opera; The Tempest for Birmingham Royal Ballet; and This House at the Garrick Theatre London.

Recent productions include Stella at Brighton Festival, Hoxton Hall (LIFT) & Holland Festival; Wonder.Land at the National Theatre, Manchester International Festival & Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci at the Metropolitan Opera; and War Horse on tour in the United States, the UK, Amsterdam and China. (RaeSmith.co.uk)

Paule Constable's designs include, for the National Theatre include Pinocchio, Follies, Mosquitoes, Common, Angels in America, The Red Barn, The Threepenny Opera, The Suicide, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, The Light Princess, Table, This House (also Chichester, West End and UK Tour), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night (also West End and Broadway, 2013 Olivier Award for Best Lighting, 2015 Tony Award for Best Lighting), A Comedy of Errors, Danton, The Power of Yes, Phedre, Death and the King’s Horseman, War Horse (also West End, Toronto, Australia, US tour and Broadway, 2011 Tony Award for Best Lighting), Some Trace of Her, Women of Troy, Triple Bill, Saint Joan (Knight of Illuminations Award for Best Lighting), Attempts on her Life, Caucasian Chalk Circle (tour and Cottesloe), Waves, Southwark Fair, Paul, Coram Boy, Translations, The House of Bernarda Alba, His Dark Materials (2005 Olivier Award, Best Lighting), Play Without Words, Three Sisters, Jumpers, Ivanov, Darker Face of the Earth and Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

For the Royal Shakespeare Company, she designed Wolf Hall (also West End and Broadway), As You Like It, The Prince of Homburg, The Seagull, Tales from Ovid, The Dispute, Uncle Vanya, Beckett's Shorts and The Mysteries; How to Hold Your Breath, Clybourne Park, Posh, The City, Krapps Last Tape, Forty Winks, Boy Gets Girl, Night Songs, The Country, Dublin Carol and The Weir (also West End and Broadway) at the Royal Court; Elegy, Teddy Ferrara, Luise Miller, Ivanov (Donmar at the Wyndhams), The Chalk Garden (2009 Olivier Award for Best Lighting), The Man Who had all the Luck, Othello, Absurdia, The Cut, Proof and Little Foxes at the Donmar; Happy Days, Feast, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Generations, Vernon God Little, The Jungle Book, As I Lay Dying, 12th Night, More Grimm Tales and Omma at the Young Vic; Seventeen, Herons, Blasted, Three Sisters, The Servant, A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist at the Lyric Hammersmith; Don Carlos at Sheffield Crucible and in the West End (2006 Olivier Award for Best Lighting); Love Never Dies, Oliver and Evita in the West End and Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2 together with designing the lighting for the new 25th Anniversary production of Les Mis globally and on Broadway and the new production of The Phantom of the Opera.

Her work in opera includes Ulysses (ROH at the Roundhouse), Carmen, Faust, Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and Macbeth for the Royal Opera House; Nothing, Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, The Marriage of Figaro, The Cunning Little Vixen, Die Meistersinger, Billy Budd (also BAM), Rusalka, St Matthew Passion, Cosi fan tutti, Giulio Cesare (also Metropolitan Opera), Carmen and La Boheme at Glyndebourne; Benvenuto Cellini, Cosi fan tutte, Medea, Idomeneo, Satyagraha (also Metropolitan Opera), La Clemenza di Tito, Gotterdamerung, The Rape of Lucretia, The Rake's Progress and Manon for ENO; Norma, Roberto Devereux, Cav/Pag, The Merry Widow, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Anna Bolena at the Metroplitan Opera; The Tales of Hoffmann for Salzburg Festival; The Coronation of Poppea for Theatre Champs Elysees; Agrippina and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (La Monnaie); Cosi fan tutte and the Ring cycle for Opera National du Rhin, Tristan and Isolde for the New National Opera in Tokyo, Peter Grimes, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, The Magic Flute and Der Rosenkavalier for Opera North; Pelleas and Melisande, Ines di Castro and Madama Butterfly at Scottish Opera and Don Giovanni, The Sacrifice and Katya Kabanova for Welsh National Opera, as well as productions throughout Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

She is an Associate Director of the National Theatre and an associate of the Lyric Hammersmith and for Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures.

He has designed productions including Pelleas et Mellisande (Scottish Opera), Flight (Opera Holland Park), Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Is There WIFI in Heaven? (National Theatre of Great Britain), A Room with a View, After Miss Julie (Theatre Royal Bath/UK tour), The Merchant of Venice, The Turn of the Screw (Almeida Theatre), In the Republic of Happiness, Tribes (Royal Court), Julius Caesar, Making Noise Quietly (Donmar Warehouse), Flare Path (Haymarket), Miss Atomic Bomb (St James Theatre), The Wedding Singer, I Dreamed a Dream (UK tour), In Fidelity (Edinburgh Fringe/HighTide), Water Babies (Leicester Curve), Vampirette: The Musical (Manchester Opera House), Haunted (Sydney Opera House Studio/New York/UK tour), Chess (UK tour/Toronto), The Lady from the Sea (Manchester Royal Exchange) and Speaking in Tongues (Duke of York’s).

He is a founding director of Really Creative Media and has worked all over the world with artists such as the Pet Shop Boys, Clean Bandit and Queen, and with fashion brands such as Versace and Anya Hindmarsh.

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)