Strong ideas, lucid communication and intensely focused energy are among the qualities that define Stephanie Childress among today’s most compelling young musicians. Recently appointed principal guest conductor of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, she has quickly gained attention on both sides of the Atlantic for the broad scope of her repertoire. Having been inspired to start conducting due to her love of opera, the Franco-British conductor began the 2023–24 season making her Hamburg Staatsoper debut in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and returning to Glyndebourne for Don Giovanni. The 2023–24 season includes Stephanie’s conducting debut with Detroit Opera, in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves. On the orchestral podium, Childress will make debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, National Arts Centre Ottawa, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic and with Japan’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. From 2020 to 2023, she served as an assistant conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Following her 2020 second-prize win at France’s inaugural conducting competition, La Maestra, she has conducted top French orchestras including l’Orchestre de Paris, the Paris Mozart Orchestra and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Stephanie is an active supporter of the Tri-borough Music Hub, an award-winning British music-education organization. Photo credit: Karolina Heller

Tom Morris was Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic from 2009 to 2022, where he re-established the theater’s program after closure, conceived and directed two landmark festivals (Bristol Proms and Bristol Jam). Work as a director includes: Juliet and her Romeo, The Meaning of Zong (with Giles Terera), Cyrano, King Lear, Touching the Void, The Grinning Man, Swallows & Amazons and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (all for Bristol Old Vic and/or West End/International tour), Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Vienna Statsoper), Breaking the Waves (Scottish Opera/ Opera Ventures, Opera Comique, Adelaide Festival, Detroit Opera), The Death of Klinghoffer (ENO and Metropolitan Opera), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (National Theatre), War Horse (National Theatre, Lincoln Center and world tour (winning numerous awards including Tony for Best Director, with co-director Marianne Elliott)), Disembodied, Newsnight: The Opera, Home, Passions, Unsung, Othello Music, Trio and All That Fall (all for BAC). Writing includes A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker (Bristol Old Vic), World Cup Final 1966, Jason & the Argonauts and Ben Hur (all with Carl Heap for BAC), The Wooden Frock, Nights at the Circus and A Matter of Life and Death (all with Emma Rice for Kneehigh) and the libretto for Orpheus in Hell for ENO. Photo credit: Jon Craig

Diana Wyenn is a director, writer, choreographer, curator, and interdisciplinary artist from Los Angeles advocating for equity, environmental and disability justice. She has created, directed, and choreographed theater, film, and opera projects presented by Center Theatre Group, the LA Phil, LA Opera, LACMA, MOCA, the Roundabout Theatre Company, World Health Organization, Malmö Opera, National Sawdust, Beth Morrison Projects, REDCAT, Center for Cultural Power, LA Performance Practice, CalTech, UCLA, New York University, ASU Gammage, Yale University, Grand Performances, and more. Wyenn recently served as Executive Producer at REDCAT and has received project support from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Arts and Disability Center, Center for Cultural Innovation, and California Arts Council. Her devised works, including Blood/Sugar and Kristina Wong for Public Office, have been performed at universities and performing arts centers across the U.S. A co-founder of Plain Wood Productions and co-artistic director of Ammunition Theatre Company, she earned her BFA from New York University and is a proud member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). dianawyenn.com @dianawyenn Photo by Cinthya Silverstein

Katherine Coyl is a professional intimacy and fight director based in Chicago. Her recent and future work includes two world premiere operas, including fights and intimacy for the world premiere of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing with Chicago Opera Theatre. She also will serve as Intimacy Director for Carmen at Des Moines Metro Opera this coming June. Other recent credits include the world premiere of Quamino’s Map at Chicago Opera Theatre, The Bacchae at University of Iowa, Athena at Urbanite Theatre, and La bohème at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Kat is the current president of the International League of Fight Directors and Choreographers, is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists, an associate member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and proudly identifies as Latinx/Hispanic and Queer.

Richard Howell is a U.K.-based lighting designer working in theater, opera, and dance. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Designs include productions at the Old Vic Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Court, Public Theater New York, Kiln Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange, Chichester Festival Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Sheffield Crucible, Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Royal Bath, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Opera Holland Park, Gothenburg Opera, Danish National Opera, Scottish Opera and Sadlers Wells. In 2017, Richard won a Knight of Illumination award for Guards at the Taj at the Bush Theatre in London.

Will Duke is a video and projection designer working internationally across opera, theater, dance, musical theater and experimental performance. Will’s work has been exhibited throughout the UK and internationally. Current and forthcoming credits include Breaking the Waves (Detroit Opera) and The Handmaid's Tale (San Francisco Opera). Dance and opera credits include: Peter Grimes (La Scala); Carmen (Scottish Opera); Nixon in China (Teatro Real, Madrid; Royal Danish Opera); Cabaret (Lido, Paris); Aida (Royal Danish Opera); The Life And Death of Alexander Litvinenko (Grange Festival); Don Giovanni (Greek National Opera, Royal Danish Opera); Peter Grimes (Teatro Real, Madrid); Orlando (Wiener Staatsoper); Giulio Cesare (La Scala); Idomeneo (Teatro Real, Madrid); Breaking The Waves (Scottish Opera); Die Tote Stadt (Komische Oper Berlin); Snow Maiden (Opera North); Simplicius Simplicissimus (Independent Opera, Sadler’s Wells); Kommilitonen! (Welsh National Youth Opera); Benjamin, Derniere Nuit (Opera Lyon). Will is recipient of the 2016 Knights of Illumination Award for Best Projection Design for his work on The Encounter and was nominated for a Stage Award in 2022 as part of the design team for Into the Woods.

Mark Grey is an Emmy Award-winning sound designer and composer who made history as the first sound designer for The New York Philharmonic (On the Transmigration of Souls, 2002, which also won the Pulitzer Prize in Music) and The Metropolitan Opera (Doctor Atomic, 2008, Nixon in China, 2011, Death of Klinghoffer, 2014, The Merry Widow, 2015, Bluebeard’s Castle/Iolanta, 2015, L’Amour de Loin, 2016). At the Detroit Opera, he also did the sound design for Blue at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre in September 2021 and for Fountain of Tears (Ainadamar) at the Detroit Opera House in 2023. The grand opera he composed, Frankenstein, premiered at La Monnaie in Brussels in 2019 as well as his mobile chamber opera, Birds In The Moon, with The New York Philharmonic in 2021. He also has had several commissions from The Atlanta Symphony and The Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has collaborated with composer John Adams and several others for nearly three decades. His sound designs have been heard throughout most major concert halls, HD simulcast theaters, and opera houses worldwide.

Soutra Gilmour, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a set and costume designer who has made a name for herself in theater and opera. Soutra’s work on the 2016 production of Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera in New York was well-received, with critics praising her ability to create a sense of grandeur and majesty on stage. Set and costume designs for opera include Down By the Greenwood Side/Into The little Hill (Royal Opera House), Anna Bolena, Don Giovanni, Mary Stuart (English Touring Opera), The Shops (Bregenz Festival), The Birds, Trouble In Tahiti (The Opera Group), El Cimmarron (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Saul, Hansel and Gretel (Opera North), A Better Place (English National Opera) and Girl of Sand (Almeida Opera). Her designs for theater include Antigone (National Theatre), Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic), Reasons to be Pretty (Almeida), Inadmissible Evidence (Donmar Warehouse), Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre), Piaf (Donmar Warehouse, The Vaudeville and Teatro Liceo, Buenos Aires), Ghost City (59e59, New York), When the World Was Green (Young Vic), and Modern Dance for Beginners (Soho Theatre). Photo credit: Dan Wooller

Born in England, Joanne Middleton Weaver came to the United States in the late 1980s. She began apprenticing with Elsen Associates at what was then Washington Opera, now Washington National Opera. Joanne has since designed at many opera companies throughout the U.S. during her 30-year career: Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera, to name a few. She has designed for Detroit Opera since 1995. Her credits there include La bohème, The Passenger, Frida, Margaret Garner, Cyrano, Faust, and make-up design for X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.

Sara Brodie is an accomplished director and choreographer whose work spans theater, dance, opera and interdisciplinary productions. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Sara worked in London for seven years as an actress, dancer, casting director and behind the scenes before returning to New Zealand. Sara has directed opera productions including Don Giovanni for New Zealand Opera, Ainadamar for the New Zealand Arts Festival, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at New Zealand School of Music, Fatal Desire for the Asia Pacific Arts Festival and the premiere of Jenny McLeod’s Hohepa for New Zealand Opera and the New Zealand Arts Festival. Sara has also had a long association with Days Bay Opera, having directed all eight of their productions. Sara directed the Kia Ora Khalid, with a score by composer Gareth Farr, and Skydancer, a symphonic work in collaboration with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. She directed John Adams’s Nixon in China for the 2016 Auckland Arts Festival.

American soprano Kiera Duffy is recognized for both her gleaming high soprano and insightful musicianship in repertoire that encompasses Handel, Bach, and Mozart to the modern sounds of Berg, Glass, and Zorn. Highlights of Kiera’s 23/24 season include a return to Opera Philadelphia for the world premiere of Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse and Comet / Poppea, a co-production with Anthony Roth Costanzo, Cath Brittan, and The Industry which debuts at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Los Angeles. Recent engagements include a residency at the University of Iowa in collaboration with Miró String, Pierrot Lunaire with Long Beach Opera, a debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate conducted by Harry Bicket, the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Knussen’s O Hototogisu! fragment of a Japonisme conducted by Daniel Harding, the Berlin Philharmonic as Le Feu/Princesse in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Lembit Beecher’s world premiere opera Sophia’s Forest in Philadelphia, and a solo recital at the Midland Center for the Arts in Michigan. Photo credit: Grant Beachy

Last season, Ben Taylor made his Boston Lyric Opera debut in La bohème (Schaunard), followed by debuts with Bayerische Staatsoper for La fanciulla del West (Bello), OperaDelaware/Opera Baltimore for La traviata (Germont), and Opera Philadelphia for La bohème (Schaunard). He returned to The Metropolitan Opera for The Magic Flute (Papageno) and Dialogues des Carmélites and Berkshire Opera Festival for La bohème (Marcello). On the concert stage he will make his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in La fanciulla del West (Bello). He recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2021 in Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Chester), followed by debuts with Detroit Opera and Spoleto Festival USA in La bohème (Schaunard), Cincinnati Opera for the world premiere of Castor and Patience (West), North Carolina Opera for Sanctuary Road (William Grant Still), Baltimore Concert Opera for Adriana Lecouvreur (Michonnet), and a return to Pittsburgh Opera for The Magic Flute (Papageno).

Elizabeth Van Os, known for her dynamic stage presence, flexible technique, and impressive vocal range, has been an active part of the music scene in New York City since 2012. Her opera credits include Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte,  Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Mimì in La bohème, and Marguerite in Faust. In 2019, she sang the title role in Martinu’s Juliette in a concert performance with the American Symphony Orchestra. As a concert soloist, Elizabeth has performed with the Collegiate Chorale and the Ars Musica Chorale of New Jersey. In 2022, she was a featured soloist in Trinity Wall Street’s staged production of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard. Other highlights include a concert performance of Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre with pianist Joseph Yungen. Elizabeth is an active chorister and has appeared with Musica Sacra, the New York Virtuoso Singers, MasterVoices, anad the New York Philharmonic Chorus, and the Bard Festival Chorale.

Hailed by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as “riveting on stage and sang [singing] with damnable commitment and satisfying vocal chops,” mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Barkidjija is an avid performer of new music and has sung many regional and world premieres. She most recently was a Detroit Opera Resident Artist, and will return to the company as a guest artist to perform as Dodo in Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves, and cover the role of Fox in Leoš Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen. This winter, Gabrielle made her Carnegie Hall debut, singing the mezzo-soprano solo in the premiere of Daron Hagen’s Everyone, Everywhere with the Cecilia Chorus of New York. She also made her Zankel Hall debut as a participant in Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio program. This summer, she will return to the Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist where she will perform the role of Marcellina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Gabrielle has been a young artist with the Merola Opera Program, Central City Opera, and the Tanglewood Music Center. She has earned accolades from the Rochester Oratorio Society, Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Camille Coloratura Competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Competition, and the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition. She received her Bachelor’s of Music and her Masters of Music from Northwestern University where she was awarded a full merit scholarship to complete her Masters degree. She was also a young artist with the Boston University Opera Institute, and was the recipient of the Phyllis Curtin Award upon graduation.

American tenor David Portillo, winner of a 2024 Sphinx Medal of Excellence by the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, has established himself as a leading classical singer of his generation. Recent and upcoming performance highlights include Tamino in The Magic Flute (Metropolitan Opera), Septimius in Handel’s Theodora (Theater an der Wien), Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier (Santa Fe Opera), Ferrando in Così fan tutte (Dallas Opera), Pirro in Rossini’s Ermione opposite Angela Meade and Lawrence Brownlee (Washington Concert Opera), Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers (Austin Opera), Tonio in La fille du régiment (Minnesota Opera), Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (Calgary Opera), Hades in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice (Boston Lyric Opera), and Henry in Richard Strauss’s Die schweigsame Frau (Bard Festival). He joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel for a world tour of Beethoven’s Fidelio as Jacquino; St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for the Messiah and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and select Mozart arias; and Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque as the title role in Handel’s Jephtha.

Bass-baritone Nathan Stark has been praised by The Washington Post for his voice of “unearthly power” and by the Mercury News as a “natural comic actor.” Nathan has performed on opera, concert and recital stages in the U.S., Europe and China. He has performed more than 50 professional roles at opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Arizona Opera, Atlanta Opera, Virginia Opera, and Opera San José. Operatic roles include Don Basilio and Don Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri, Leporello and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Monterone and Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Colline in La Bohème, Banco in Verdi’s Macbeth, and Nick Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a concert soloist, Nathan has performed with the symphony orchestras of Boston, Detroit, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Holland (Michigan), and San Diego, as well as with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, and Chicago Philharmonic. As a recitalist, Nathan has performed throughout the United States and Germany, at the Great Wall of China, and at the Washington National Cathedral.

Award-winning American baritone Robert Mellon has been acclaimed by Opera News for his “excellent comic timing” and a baritone “gleaming like polished copper.” Robert’s 2023–24 season includes a role debut as George Milton in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men at Livermore Valley Opera, a Detroit Opera debut as Terry in Breaking the Waves, and returns to Opera Tampa as Leporello in Don Giovanni and In Series Opera as Ulysses in a reimagined production of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses. During the 2022–23 season his house debuts included Lyric Opera of Kansas City (Escamillo, Carmen), Tulsa Opera (Taddeo, L’italiana in Algeri), and Opera Tampa Tonio, Pagliacci), plus a role debut as Dandini in Opera Maine’s La Cenerentola. Recent performances include Marullo in Rigoletto at Opera Philadelphia and Iago in a reimagined production of Verdi's Otello with In Series Opera in Washington, D.C. Other roles include Marcello in La bohème, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Gubetta in Lucrezia Borgia, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte.

Bass-baritone Kevin Starnes, based in Detroit, is recognized for his rich tone and commanding voice. Kevin has performed a variety of styles in a career spanning more than 20 years. Opera credits include the role of Jose Tripaldi in Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar, the Duke in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, Max Kane in William Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight, and Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Music theater performances include Danny Zuko in Grease, Billy Flynn in Chicago, and as Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar. Concert performances include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Twine’s Changed My Name under the direction of Mary Alice Stollak. Kevin is a professional chorister with the Choral Artists of Michigan in Lake Orion. He holds a bachelor of arts in music and a master’s degree in administration from University of Michigan-Flint, where he helped develop a community outreach program centered around opera education. He earned his master of music in voice performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.