CREATIVE TEAM
James Conlon
Conductor
From: New York City, New York.
LA Opera: La Traviata (2006, debut); 68 different operas and over 470 performances to date. He has been Richard Seaver Music Director since 2006. In 2026, he will become Conductor Laureate.
About: James Conlon, one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. He has led virtually every major North American and European orchestra and over 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and filmography, numerous writings, television appearances, and guest speaking engagements, he is one of classical music’s most recognized and prolific figures. He has been Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the RAI in Torino (2016-20), Music Director of the Ravinia Festival (2005-15), 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), where is now Music Director Laureate. He has won three Grammy Awards and was awarded France’s Légion d’Honneu
JamesConlon.com
Garnett Bruce
Director
From: Washington, DC.
LA Opera: debut.
About: He has directed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera and made his European opera debut staging Turandot for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He has been the Artistic Advisor for Opera San Antonio since 2018. From 2008 to 2011 he was the artistic adviser and principal stage director for Opera Omaha. He began directing for the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in 2004, receiving a faculty appointment in 2006. He was on staff at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 1993 and joined the faculty from 1997 until 2019. In 2022 he joined the faculty of University of Texas as Resident Stage Director of the Butler School of Music. He has created stagings of Turandot, Carmen, Tosca, Aida, Pagliacci and La Bohème that have been seen coast to coas
GarnettBruce.com
David Hockney
Scenic Designer
From: Bradford, England.
LA Opera: Tristan und Isolde (1987, debut; 1997; 2008); Die Frau ohne Schatten (1993, 2004).
About: A former longtime Los Angeles resident, David Hockney is considered one of the most influential artists of his time. His distinctive style and use of color and light have graced an enormous range of media since the 1960s, encompassing etchings, paintings, drawings, photographic collages and printing, as well as the creation of landmark theatrical designs for film, theater and opera. For Glyndebourne Opera, he has designed The Rake’s Progress and The Magic Flute. His designs for Turandot premiered in 1992 at Lyric Opera of Chicago, were televised from San Francisco Opera on PBS’s Great Performances, and have been seen in Italy and throughout the United States. He has also designed sets and costumes for Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Le Rossignol and Oedipus Rex. In 1997 he received the Order of the Companion of Honour Award from Queen Elizabeth II.
Hockney.com
Ian Falconer
Costume Designer
From: Rowayton, Connecticut.
LA Opera: Die Frau ohne Schatten (1993, debut; 2004).
About: The late Ian Falconer (1959-2023) studied at New York University, Parson’s School of Design and the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles. He worked as a painter, illustrator and scenic designer, and his work included many theater productions in New York and Los Angeles. He designed sets and costumes for New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. He designed many covers for The New Yorker and was the author and illustrator of all the titles in the bestselling Olivia series: Olivia (for which he was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2001), Olivia Saves the Circus, Olivia...and the Missing Toy, Olivia and the Fairy Princess and Olivia Forms a Band. A 2009 animated series based on the books won a Parents’ Choice Award. His last book, Two Dogs, was published in 2022.
Thomas J. Munn
Original Lighting Designer
From: New Britain, Connecticut.
LA Opera: Samson et Dalila (1999, debut).
About: Thomas J. Munn (1944-2022) was Resident Lighting Designer for the San Francisco Opera for over 20 years. In 1975 he was invited to design the lighting for Macbeth for the Netherlands Opera. That production brought him to the attention to Kurt Herbert Adler, who invited him to join the San Francisco Opera production team. Tom designed the lighting for 285 productions for the company as well as dozens of productions for companies around the world. In 2003, he was appointed Professor of Theatre and Dance at UC Davis, where he co-created the MFA program in theater design. He developed innovative ways to use projections and was instrumental in installing early computerized lighting systems. When San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House was renovated following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, he was an integral part of the design of the new theatrical lighting system.
Gary Marder
Revival Lighting Designer
From: San Diego, California.
LA Opera: debut.
About: Long associated with San Francisco Opera, he has designed numerous productions there including Mefistofele, The Barber of Seville, The Flying Dutchman, La Traviata, Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, Un Ballo in Maschera, Tosca, La Cenerentola, Carmen, Jenůfa, Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber, Manon, Rigoletto and Turandot, as well as this season’s upcoming production of Handel’s Partenope. Recent engagements elsewhere include Tosca and Madama Butterfly for Washington National Opera, The Barber of Seville for the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet, Dream of the Red Chamber for the Hong Kong Arts Festival and The Magic Flute for Opera Australia. He has designed La Traviata in Torino and Tokyo, The Makropulos Case and Samson and Dalila for Houston Grand Opera, Carmen, Peter Grimes and Norma for San Diego Opera and Dialogues of the Carmelites for Palm Beach Opera.
Jeremy Frank
Chorus Director
From: Glendive, Montana.
LA Opera: He became Chorus Director in 2022, after working on over 75 productions as associate chorus director and/or assistant conductor. He is a coach for the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
About: He has collaborated with major opera houses throughout the United States and has prepared operas and vocal chamber music at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, working with Gustavo Dudamel, Esa Pekka Salonen, Phillipe Jordan, Grant Gershon, Barbara Hannigan and Pablo Heras-Casado. A pianist and vocal coach, he is an Adjunct Lecturer in Vocal Arts and Opera at the University of Southern California. As a pianist, he has partnered with Sondra Radvanovsky, Eric Owens, Brandon Jovanovich, J’nai Bridges, Dolora Zajick, Kate Lindsey and Susan Graham. He helped prepare Seattle Opera’s Ring cycle in 2013 and has been a guest faculty member for young artist programs at Utah Opera and Seattle Opera.
JeremyMFrank.com
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz
Children's Chorus Director
From: Vigo, Spain.
LA Opera: Hansel and Gretel (2018, debut); La Bohème (2019); St. Matthew Passion (2021); Tosca (2022); Otello (2023).
About: An internationally regarded choral conductor, clinician, and educator, he became artistic director of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus in 2018. He has prepared choirs for appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, among others. From 2004 to 2017, he was artistic director of the American Boychoir, leading the ensemble in over 150 performances and up to five national and international tours annually. He conducted the American Boychoir on six recordings, led its performances on the Academy Awards and a 9/11 memorial service broadcast globally on CNN, and he was the music director on the film Boychoir, directed by François Girard. He has guest conducted children’s and youth choirs around the globe.
Kitty McNamee
Choreographer
From: Ashland, Ohio.
LA Opera: Roméo et Juliette (2005, debut; 2011); La Traviata (2006, 2009, 2014, 2019); Don Carlo (2006, 2018); La Rondine (2008); Lucia di Lammermoor (2014, 2022); The Tales of Hoffmann (2017); The Marriage of Figaro (2023).
About: She was Artistic Director of Hysterica Dance Co., which redefined dance in Los Angeles. She collaborates extensively with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ballets include RIFT (Cabrillo Festival, Kennedy Center), Traces and Transit (National Choreographer’s Initiative) and colony (LA Ballet’s NEXT Wave Series). She has choreographed for Secret Cinema’s live performances with Laura Marling in London, Colony Collapse (commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Sense and Sensibility (South Coast Rep), The Fantasticks (Pasadena Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Los Angeles Philharmonic), Man of LaMancha (Reprise!) and Sondheim’s 75th (Hollywood Bowl).
KittyMcNamee.com
Andrew Kenneth Moss
Fight & Intimacy Director
From: Corning, New York.
LA Opera: Il Trovatore (2021, debut); Aida (2022); Lucia di Lammermoor (2022); Tosca (2022); Otello (2023); Don Giovanni (2023), La Traviata (2024).
About: He has worked on productions including Armida at the Metropolitan Opera, SAFE at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival, A Little Night Music at the Huntington Theatre Company, Cold Mountain at Music Academy of the West and Carmen, Don Giovanni, I Puritani and Greek at Boston Lyric Opera. New York credits include Forever Dusty for New World Stages and Pinocchio’s Ashes for Theater for a New City. He staged combat for Dead Man Walking, West Side Story, The Seven Deadly Sins and Oklahoma! as resident fight director at Central City Opera.
