James Conlon
Conductor
From: New York City.
LA Opera: La Traviata (2006, debut); he has conducted 70 different operas and over 500 performances with the company. He has been Richard Seaver Music Director since 2006. At the end of this season, he will become Conductor Laureate.
About: He has led virtually every major North American and European orchestra and over 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. 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’Honneur. Learn more at JamesConlon.com.
Lee Blakeley
Original Production
From: West Yorkshire, England.
LA Opera: Falstaff (debut, 2013)
About: The late Lee Blakeley (1971-2017) trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. With the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, he directed the French premieres of four Sondheim musicals: Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music (with Leslie Caron) and Into the Woods. He directed The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, Madama Butterfly and The Pearl Fishers with Santa Fe Opera; The Tales of Hoffmann for Canadian Opera Company; a new musical, Jessica Walker’s Pat Kirkwood is Angry, at the Manchester Royal Exchange and the Brits Off Broadway Festival; Orfeo ed Eurydice for Minnesota Opera; and A Night at the Chinese Opera for Scottish Opera. His latest productions included Il Turco in Italia for Angers Nantes Opéra and The King and I for the Châtelet. He was made a Winston Churchill Fellow in 2007.
Shawna Lucey
Director
From: Houston, Texas.
LA Opera: La Traviata (2024, debut); Così fan tutte (2025).
About: An acclaimed theater and opera director, Shawna Lucey has been the General Director and CEO of Opera San José since 2022. Her legacy production of Tosca launched San Francisco Opera’s 99th season in 2021, followed in 2022 by her centennial celebration groundbreaking legacy production of La Traviata. Her directorial work has been seen across the USA, at the Metropolitan Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Santa Fe Opera, and many others. Internationally, she has staged works at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, Moscow's Bolshoi Theater, and Schauspiel Hannover, among many others. Her productions at Opera San José include Bluebeard’s Castle and a recent double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, hailed by Operaville as “simply the most beautifully crafted version of this popular twosome that you are likely to see.” (ShawnaLucey.com; Instagram: @29flames)
Adrian Linford
Scenic and Costume Designer
From: London, England.
LA Opera: Falstaff (2013).
About: His work in the United States includes The Barber of Seville at Opera San Jose, Rigoletto and The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein at Santa Fe Opera, Falstaff at Houston Grand Opera and Dallas Opera, Orfeo ed Eurydice at Minnesota Opera, the world premiere of Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince for Houston Grand Opera and Bluebeard’s Castle for Atlanta Opera, which received the Royal Philharmonic Society Opera Award in the UK and was also presented at the International Edinburgh Festival, Beijing Musical Festival, and in New Zealand. He has also designed The Marriage of Figaro for Dublin’s Opera Theatre Company, Katya Kabanova and Die Fledermaus for Scottish Opera, Nabucco and Così fan tutte for Opera West in Scotland and Orlando for Cambridge Handel Opera, and he was co-designer for Francesca Zambello’s production of Il Trovatore for the Bastille Opera in Paris. (AdrianLinford.com)
Pablo Santiago
Lighting Designer
From: Chiapas, Mexico.
LA Opera: prism (2018, debut); The Anonymous Lover (2020); Breaking the Waves (2021); Omar (2022); Highway 1, USA (2024); The Dwarf (2024); Madama Butterfly (2024); Hildegard (2025); La Bohème (2025).
About: Pablo Santiago is an acclaimed lighting designer whose work seamlessly bridges live performance and digital film, transforming stages into immersive and emotionally resonant environments. He has worked with renowned institutions including the Kennedy Center, Teatro Municipal São Paulo, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theatre, BAM Harvey Theater, Geffen Playhouse and the Hollywood Bowl. He has collaborated with the LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Pablo continues to push the boundaries of the craft, illuminating narratives that captivate and inspire audiences around the world. (PabloSantiagoDesign.com)
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. He is an adjunct lecturer in vocal arts and opera at USC. As a pianist, he has partnered with Sondra Radvanovsky, Eric Owens, Brandon Jovanovich, J’nai Bridges, Dolora Zajick, Kate Lindsey and Susan Graham. He has been a guest faculty member for young artist programs at Utah Opera and Seattle Opera. (JeremyMFrank.com)
Andrew Kenneth Moss
Fight Director
From: Corning, New York.
LA Opera: 12 productions to date since his 2021 debut with Il Trovatore, including last season’s Madama Butterfly, Romeo and Juliet and Rigoletto, and this season's West Side Story.
About: Last summer, he was fight director at Santa Fe Opera for La Bohème, Rigoletto, The Turn of the Screw and Die Walküre. His credits include fight direction for 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 productions of Carmen, Don Giovanni, I Puritani, and Greek for Boston Lyric Opera. His work for Central City Opera includes Dead Man Walking, Oklahoma!, Seven Deadly Sins, Madama Butterfly, and West Side Story. New York productions include Forever Dusty for New World Stages, Pinocchio’s Ashes for Theater for a New City, and The Saint of Bleecker Street at Dicapo Opera Theatre. (AndrewKennethMoss.com)
Sara E. Widzer
Intimacy Director
From: Los Angeles, California.
LA Opera: directed The Death of Orpheus (2020); livestream director of Il Trovatore (2021); intimacy director for several productions including, most recently, Così fan tutte, Ainadamar and West Side Story.
About: This season's engagements include intimacy direction for Fellow Travelers at Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. Previous intimacy direction: La Traviata (San Diego Opera), Rodrigo (Opera UCLA), La Bohème (Washington National Opera), Semele (Opera Santa Barbara), After Glow (film by Ryan McKinny). Previous stage/intimacy direction: world premieres of Carla Lucero’s touch (Opera Birmingham) and JUANA (Opera UCLA); Cabildo/ Proving Up at UC Boulder. Directing credits also include Carmen (Opera Orlando), The Flying Dutchman (Hawaii Opera Theatre, Virginia Opera) and The Music Man (Royal Opera House, Muscat). (SaraEWidzer.com)
