Aida

With a “heroically shining tone of exceptional clarity and precision” (Opera Magazine) and “gorgeously burnished power” (New York Times), American tenor Russell Thomas uses his signature elegance and intensity to create vivid character portrayals on the world’s most important stages. The 2018/19 season features Mr. Thomas’s hotly anticipated stage debut in Verdi’s iconic Otello, to be seen at the Canadian Opera Company after concert performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He sings Manrico in Il Trovatore at the Bavarian State Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, makes his role debut as Roberto Devereux at San Francisco Opera, and brings his celebrated Titus in The Clemency of Titus to LA Opera. On the concert stage, he joins the World Orchestra for Peace in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the BBC Proms, and performs Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He closes his season by reuniting with conductor Teodor Currentzis and director Peter Sellars for a new Idomeneo at the Salzburger Festspiele.

Morris Robinson is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most interesting and sought after basses performing today. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in their production of Fidelio.
He has since appeared there as Sarastro in The Magic Flute (both in the original production and in a new children’s English version), the King in Aida and in roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser and new productions of Les Troyens and Salome.

Since his debut that year with La Traviata, he has conducted 61 different operas and 403 performances to date with the company. Most recently, he conducted the 2020 company premiere of The Anonymous Lover (L'Amant Anonyme) by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

One of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, he 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 2016, he became Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the RAI in Torino. He previously was Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony (2005-2015), Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera (1995-2004), General Music Director of the City of Cologne (1989-2002), Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983-91) and Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival (1979-2016). He has won three Grammy Awards and was awarded France’s Légion d’Honneur.

She has also served as the Artistic Advisor to the San Francisco Opera from 2005-2011 and as the Artistic Director of the Skylight Theater from 1987-1992. In her current roles at the Kennedy Center and the Glimmerglass Festival she is responsible for producing 12 productions annually. She has begun major commissioning programs for new works in both companies that have resulted in productions of many large and small-scaled new works. Both companies have thrived financially and increased their national and international profiles as a result of her artistic vision and leadership.

Her American directing debut took place at the Houston Grand Opera with a production of Fidelio. She debuted in Europe at Teatro la Fenice in Venice with Beatrice di Tenda and has since staged new productions at major theaters and opera houses in Europe and the USA. She has worked at over 50 major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Paris Opera, the Bolshoi, Munich State Opera, Covent Garden and the Australian Opera. Her work has also been seen at many of the world's major festivals. Collaborating with outstanding artists and designers and promoting emerging talent, she takes a special interest in new music theater works, innovative productions, and in producing theater and opera for wider audiences.

Francesca Zambello has been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contribution to French culture, and the Russian Federation's medal for Service to Culture. Other honors for her work include three Olivier Awards from the London Society of Theaters and two Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical and Best Opera. She has also received the award for Best Company Achievement. The French Grand Prix des Critiques was awarded to her twice for her work at the Paris Opera. Other awards include Best Production in Japan, the Palme d'Or in Germany, the Golden Mask in Russia and the Helpmann Award in Australia.

Francesca Zambello's most recent opera projects have included the Ring cycle and Aida for the San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera, and Porgy and Bess and Show Boat for commercial DVD release. Musical and theater projects have included developing Voigt Lessons with Terrance McNally and Debbie Voight; Rebecca for Vienna's Raimund Theater, Stuttgart's Palladium Theater (presented by Stage Entertainment), and in St. Gallen, Switzerland; The Little Prince with Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman; Napoleon in the West End; The Little Mermaid for Disney on Broadway; a musical adaptation of The Little House on the Prairie for national tour; The Master Butchers at the Guthrie Theater; and Aladdin in Disneyland. Film works have included Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors for BBC Television; a new film for the BBC, Sony and PBS of The Little Prince; and West Side Story for the floating stage in Bregenz.

Ms. Zambello has also served as a guest professor at Yale University. An American who grew up in Europe, she speaks French, Italian, German, and Russian. She attended Moscow University in 1976 and graduated cum laude from Colgate University in 1978. She began her career as an Assistant Director to the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Francesca Zambello lives in New York with her wife, Faith Gay, a founding partner at Selendy and Gay, and step-son, Jackson.

Learn more at FrancescaZambello.com.

At the age of 15, he began painting on posted fashion advertisements and, from there, led one of the largest and most innovative art collectives in the city. His work has exhibited at institutions and galleries in Los Angeles (including the façade of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art's Grand Avenue location for their 2013 Gala celebrating the exhibition Art In The Streets), Miami, London, New York (including the prestigious public exhibition space of the Houston-Bowery Wall), and Hong Kong. RETNA has created exclusive collaborations with brands such as VistaJet, Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel. His production of Aida has been presented at San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera and Minnesota Opera. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

She has collaborated with Chen Shi Zheng on The Orphan of Zhao at Beijing Music Festival and Lincoln Center Festival, Snow in June at American Repertory Theatre, Peach Blossom Fan at REDCAT and The Flying Dutchman at the Spoleto Festival. Her New York design credits include Soft Power, Oedipus El Rey, Measure for Pleasure, Kit Marlowe, The Winter’s Tale, Civil Sex and Pericles at the Public Theatre; The Mother with Isabelle Huppert at the Atlantic Theatre Company, Apologia at the Rounabout, The View Upstairs at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre, Nathan the Wise, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Orlando, Venus in Fur, New Jerusalem and Texts for Nothing at Classic Stage Company; Thom Pain, Big Love, Kung Fu, Golden Child and Iphigenia 2.0 at Signature Theater; The Oldest Boy at Lincoln Center Theater; Tales from Red Vienna and The Explorer’s Club at Manhattan Theatre Club, Lives of the Saints and All in the Timing at Primary Stages; The Legend of Georgia Mcbride, The Submission, Coraline the Musical, and The Wooden Breeks at Manhattan Class Company; Macbeth, Coriolanus and Svejk at Theater for a New Audience. She has designed for many regional theater across the country.

She is the costume designer for Opera Australia's 2020 Ring cycle. Additional opera credits include Aida at San Francisco Opera; Cyrano de Bergerac at La Scala, Metropolitan Opera and Royal Opera House (Covent Garden); Les Troyens at Metropolitan Opera; Facing Goya at Spoleto Festival and Singapore Festival; La Hija de Rappaccini with Gotham Chamber Opera, The Rape of Lucretia at Houston Grand Opera; Ainadamar at Tanglewood; The Gambler at Opera Zuid (Holland), Steve Reich's Three Tales international tour; Salome, Fidelio, Die Walkure and Das Rheingold at Washington National Opera; Arshak II at San Francisco Opera; Madame Butterfly at Houston Grand Opera and Grand Theatre de Geneve; The Silver River at Spoleto and Lincoln Center Festival.

Other credits include The Sound of Music at Salzburger Marionetten Theater; Aladdin at Disneyland; and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Minneapolis Children’s Theater.

She has also received Obie, Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Ovation, and Irene Sharaff Young Master Awards.

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, he collaborates frequently with the Glimmerglass Festival, where he has designed more than 20 productions. Other highlights include the lighting designs for The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera; Cyrano de Bergerac at La Scala, The Queen of Spades at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Norma at the Ópera Nacional de Chile and The Pearl Fishers at Houston Grand Opera.

He has additionally conducted LA Opera performances of Handel's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato and Lee Holdridge's Dulce Rosa, as well as Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Florencia en el Amazonas, Gianni Schicchi, Wonderful Town, The Tales of Hoffmann, Tosca, The Pearl Fishers and Satyagraha.

Grant Gershon is hailed for his adventurous and bold artistic leadership and for eliciting technically precise and expressive performances from musicians. He has conducted Rigoletto, Tosca, La Bohème, La Traviata, Carmen and Madama Butterfly at Wolf Trap Opera with the National Symphony Orchestra; John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary at the San Francisco Symphony and Ravinia Festival; Vivaldi’s Griselda at Santa Fe Opera; and many concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The 2019/20 season marks his 19th season as the Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The Los Angeles Times has said the Master Chorale "has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon,” a reflection on both his programming and performances. During his tenure, he has led more than 200 Master Chorale performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in programs encompassing choral music from the earliest writings and pillars of the repertoire through to contemporary compositions. He has led world premiere performances of major works by John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Christopher Rouse, Steve Reich, Morten Lauridsen, Ricky Ian Gordon, Gabriela Lena Frank, Shawn Kirchner, Ellen Reid, and Chinary Ung, among many others.