Aida

Soprano Melody Moore is enjoying a thriving career on the world’s leading stages, prompting Opera News to label her “a revelation,” and of her recent sold-out appearance at Carnegie Hall to rave, “As I left the auditorium, I could only think: more of Moore, please.” She recently released her first solo album entitled An American Song Album with pianist Bradley Moore on Pentatone Records.

In the 2019/20 season, Ms. Moore made her role debut as Amneris in a new production of Aida at the Houston Grand Opera. In concert, she made her debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Das klagende Lied under the baton of music director Andrés Orozco-Estrada

Planned performances that were canceled during the COVID-reduced season included a role and house debut as the Foreign Princess in Rusalka at Cincinnati Opera, a return to LA Opera as Bess's Mother in Breaking the Waves, the title role in Salome in concert at Bard College, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Opera Naples, and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at Seattle Opera, as well as Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony with the Oregon Symphony and a solo recital and masterclass at Lawrence University.

In the 2018/19 season, Ms. Moore returned to Houston Grand Opera to reprise the roles of Senta in the season opening production of The Flying Dutchman led by Music Director Patrick Summers, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in a new production by Kasper Holten, and returned to LA Opera for a role debut as Gertrude (the Mother) in Hansel and Gretel under the baton of Music Director James Conlon. On the concert stage, she debuted with the Dresdner Philharmonie in the roles of Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, both of which were recorded for commercial release by Pentatone Records. Ms. Moore also sang Senta with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Music Director Edo de Waart, and debuted with the Grant Park Music Festival for Delius’ A Mass of Life at the Grant Park Music Festival, and sang the title role in Salome in Daegu, South Korea. Other recording projects included Minnie in The Girl of the Golden West in Cluj, Romania, and the title role in Madama Butterfly in Lisbon, both recorded for commercial release by Pentatone Records.

In the 2017/18 season, Moore made three major role debuts: Elisabetta in Don Carlo at Washington National Opera; the title role in Salome at Florida Grand Opera; and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at Hawaii Opera Theater, as well as singing her signature roles of Tosca in a return to Opéra de Montréal and for her house debut with Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, and Senta in The Flying Dutchman in a new production by Tomer Zvulun at Atlanta Opera. Her portrayal of Desdemona in a full recording of Verdi’s Otello was released by Pentatone Records.

Recent career highlights include a house and role debut at Seattle Opera in the title role of Janáček’s Kátya Kabanová; appearances with San Francisco Opera in the title role of Tosca, Susan Rescorla in Heart of a Soldier, Mimì in La Bohème, and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro; Houston Grand Opera as Julie in Show Boat, Marta in the American premiere of Weinberg’s The Passenger, the title role in Carmen, Dorabella in Così fan tutte; Washington National Opera as the title role of Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, Phillip Glass’ Appomatox, and in Francesca Zambello’s highly acclaimed production of the Wagner’s full Ring cycle; Opéra de Montréal as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly; Glimmerglass Festival as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Senta in The Flying Dutchman; Lincoln Center Festival in The Passenger; English National Opera as Mimi and as Marguerite in Faust; New York City Opera as Rita Clayton in the New York premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s Séance on a Wet Afternoon and as Regine St. Laurent in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna; and Austin Lyric Opera as Senta in The Flying Dutchman. Additional performances include the title roles of Manon Lescaut at New Orleans Opera, Tosca with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Pamina in The Magic Flute at Opéra de Bordeaux; and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Atlanta Opera and Opera Colorado.

On the concert stage, Ms. Moore has appeared with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Bruckner’s Te Deum led by Music Director Donald Runnicles; Bard SummerScape Festival as the title role in Turandot; Bavarian Radio Symphony in performances and recording of excerpts of Gordon Getty’s opera Plump Jack, conducted by Ulf Shirmer and with the New Century Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. She has joined Rufus Wainwright for gala concerts at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, and has sung Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Madison Symphony and at Festival of the Arts Boca. Her solo recital performances have included a sold-out debut recital at Carnegie Hall and the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, as well a program featuring suppressed music of the Holocaust presented under the auspices of the Atlanta Opera.

A graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Melody Moore is a former Adler Fellow of San Francisco Opera and a participant of the Merola program.

Learn more at MelodyMooreSoprano.com.

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.

His engagements for the 2021/22 season include his return to LA Opera as Radames in Aida, Florestan in Fidelio with San Francisco Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca with Cincinnati Opera, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the title role of Otello at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

He opened the truncated 2019/20 season with his role debut as Don Alvaro in a new production of La forza del destino at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and subsequently made his role and house debuts as Radames in Houston Grand Opera’s new production of Aida. He also returned to Washington National Opera as the title character in Otello. On the concert stage, he joined Gianandrea Noseda at the Vienna Konzerthaus for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.  (Engagements cancelled due to the pandemic included leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera and Canadian Opera Company.)

The 2018/19 season featured Mr. Thomas’s hotly anticipated stage debut in Verdi’s iconic Otello, seen at the Canadian Opera Company after concert performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He sang Manrico in Il Trovatore at the Bavarian State Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, made his role debut as Roberto Devereux at San Francisco Opera, and brought his celebrated Titus in The Clemency of Titus to LA Opera. On the concert stage, he joined the World Orchestra for Peace in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the BBC Proms, and performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He closed his season by reuniting with conductor Teodor Currentzis and director Peter Sellars for a new Idomeneo at the Salzburger Festspiele.

“The Georgian baritone George Gagnidze was an exceptionally menacing Scarpia, singing with robust, earthy power and seductive lyricism when the villain turns on the charm”. With these words the New York Times hailed George Gagnidze in a 2008 performance of Tosca at Avery Fisher Hall. One year later he made his sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Rigoletto, and has since then ranked among the leading singers of his genre.

Regularly invited by the most prestigious international opera companies, scheduled engagements of the 2020/21 season include the title part of Nabucco at the Metropolitan Opera, Iago in Otello with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Germont in La Traviata at the Teatro San Carlo of Naples. Planned performances as Amonasro in a new production of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera as well as the title role of Rigoletto at the San Francisco Opera were cancelled due to the Coronavirus crisis.

In the 2019/20 season, the star baritone made his debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Germont in La Traviata, sang the title role of Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Iago in Otello for his debut at the Washington National Opera as well as Scarpia in Tosca at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, while appearances as Scarpia at the Metropolitan Opera and a gala performance as Iago in Mannheim were cancelled due to the pandemic.

George Gagnidze made his role debut as Michele in Il Tabarro at the Metropolitan Opera in the 2018/19 season, marking his 100th Met performance. He also sang his 100th performance as Rigoletto at the Met, performed Germont in La Traviata and Iago in Otello at the Paris Opera, Iago at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, his first Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at the Royal Opera House of Muscat and Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana for his debut at the Teatro San Carlo and in open air performances at the Sassi di Matera, telecast all over Europe.

Other past highlights include Rigoletto, Macbeth, Tosca,, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Aida and Khovanshchina at the Metropolitan Opera, Nabucco and Tosca at the Vienna State Opera, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Tosca and Aida at the Teatro alla Scala, Tosca, Francesca da Rimini and Aida at Opéra National of Paris, Simon Boccanegra and Tosca at the Teatro Real di Madrid, Andrea Chénier and Aida at the San Francisco Opera, Rigoletto at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci at Gran Teatro del Liceu of Barcelona and the Staatsoper Hamburg, Rigoletto and Pagliacci at the Los Angeles Opera, Rigoletto, Andrea Chénier, La Gioconda and Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Luisa Miller at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, a new production of Nabucco and La traviata at the Arena of Verona, Khovanshchina at the BBC Proms in London and Otello at Staatsoper Hamburg, the Greek National Opera of Athens and at the Hollywood Bowl.

Born in Tbilisi and trained at the state conservatory of his home town, George Gagnidze debuted as Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Paliashvili State Opera in 1996. He entered the “Concorso Voci Verdiane” in 2005 as an award winner of the “Leyla Gencer Voice Competition” and the “Elena Obraztsova Competition”. The jury, chaired by José Carreras and Katia Ricciarelli, awarded him first prize for his outstanding vocal interpretation. After launching his international career from Germany, he was soon engaged by many of the world’s important opera houses.

In the course of his career, George Gagnidze has worked with many renowned conductors and stage directors, including Semyon Bychkov, James Conlon, Plácido Domingo, Gustavo Dudamel, Mikko Franck, Jesús López-Cobos, James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Nicola Luisotti, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Oren, Kirill Petrenko, Yuri Temirkanov; Luc Bondy, Henning Brockhaus, Robert Carsen, Liliana Cavani, Edoardo De Angelis, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Michael Mayer, David McVicar Peter Stein, Robert Sturua, and Francesca Zambello.

His DVD/Blu-Ray recordings include Tosca from the Metropolitan Opera, Aida from La Scala and Nabucco from the Arena of Verona.

Learn more at GeorgeGagnidze.com.

Morris Robinson is considered one the most interesting and sought-after basses performing today.

Since his debut that year with La Traviata, he has conducted 62 different operas and more than 400 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, and the 2021 company premiere of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex.

(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 September 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 400 performances of more than 60 different operas by over 20 composers. Highlights of his LA Opera tenure include conducting the company’s first Ring cycle, recently re-aired in a marathon webcast celebrating the performances’ tenth anniversary; 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 2021/22 season, Mr. Conlon conducts three operas long absent from the company’s repertory: Verdi’s Il Trovatore, which opens the season; Wagner’s Tannhäuser; and Verdi’s Aida. He also conducts John Neumeier’s ballet adaptation of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, performed at LA Opera for the first time.

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.