Ann Baltz is Founder and Artistic Director of the nationally acclaimed performance training program, OperaWorks. A master teacher of performance skills and operatic improvisation for opera companies, conservatories and universities, Ms. Baltz has been heralded as one of the leading opera educators in America today. She is a frequent presenter at the Classical Singer's Conventions, and has been featured as a speaker for Opera America's Seminar Building a Career: Strategies for Success. Representative schools where she has presented workshops include the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, New England Conservatory, Boston University, Westminster Choir College, Rice University, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
An inventive approach and reputation as the consummate pedagogue have made Ms. Baltz a much sought-after teacher and coach. Her students, many of them graduates of OperaWorks, grace the operatic and concert stages, and consistently reach the highest honors in national and international competition. Among her teaching positions, Ms. Baltz served as Director of Apprentice Programs for Orlando Opera, and Opera Pacific; Music Director for the Wesley Balk Summer Institute; and as Guest Director of the Opera Workshops at Carnegie-Melon University. Ms. Baltz is on the opera faculty of California State University, Northridge.
Her diverse professional background includes roles as assistant conductor, coach, and chorus master in more than 40 productions of operas with such companies as Minnesota Opera, Orlando Opera, Portland Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Pacific and Wolf Trap Opera. She has worked with noted conductors including Richard Bonynge, Anton Coppola, Stewart Robertson, and celebrated singers Dame Joan Sutherland, James McCracken, and Ruth Ann Swenson. An accomplished pianist, Ms. Baltz played extensively on tour with Columbia Artist Concerts, Western Opera Theater, and Minnesota Opera.
Through her deep commitment to new and experimental works, Ms. Baltz has served as Music Director and Co-creator of Composer-Librettist Studios in San Francisco, New York, and Minneapolis, as well as Music Director for New Works Projects at the Minnesota Opera Institute and Portland Opera.
In 2004, Ms. Baltz received a Red Carpet Award from "Women In Theatre" recognizing her outstanding achievements in theater in Los Angeles. She was a recipient of a prestigious grant from the National Institute for Music Theater to engage in an in-depth study of twelve operas and the Italian language.
As a writer, Ms. Baltz has contributed articles for Opera America's publications Business Advice for Singers and Making Choices. Additional articles appear in Classical Singer, and Vocals magazines. She frequently serves as an adjudicator for competitions throughout the country including the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions.
Ms. Baltz earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of New Mexico and a Masters degree in Piano Accompanying from Arizona State University. She studied at the San Francisco Opera where she received the Otto Guth Award for outstanding coach in the Merola Program.
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John Ahart spent forty-one years teaching directing and working with actors on college campuses, most of that at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He was founding and artistic director of his own Illinois theatre company, which for twenty years was devoted to creating original works drawn from the American experience—from the famous and from the unknown. That award-winning theatre became the Official State Theatre of Illinois and was called by the press “a national treasure.” Director, playwright, teacher and administrator, he has devoted the last ten years to writing.
Author of The Director’s Eye, one of the leading textbooks for directing students, the recently completed Gift of Two: Creating Nurturing Partnerships, a work, written in conjunction with his wife, leadership consultant MaryAnn Ahart, and currently he is at work on A Different Direction: 7 Possibilities for Saving the (Barely) Living Theatre. His work as a teacher/director placed high premium on building trusting, creative ensembles that brought to life stories of universal experiences. That commitment to nurturing understanding of ourselves and each other served him well as an artist and mentor. His former students include those who have received America’s most valued awards in the performing arts.
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David Aks has a wide range of operatic, choral and orchestral experience. He served as Assistant Conductor to Seiji Ozawa for Tosca at Tanglewood, and been Music Director for numerous productions including The Marriage of Figaro, The Impressario, The Magic Flute, Cosi Fan Tutte The Coronation of Poppea, Trouble in Tahiti, L'Enfant et les Sortileges ,Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods, The Tender Land, Suor Angelica, The Mikado, Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Medium. He has conducted several highly acclaimed Opera Highlights programs as part of the Concerts-in-the-Park series in Los Angeles. For many years Mr. Aks has taught at the prestigious OperaWorks summer workshop where he has coached, conducted and taught classes in conducting and dramatic scene analysis. He has also taught at the Altenburg Musiktheater Akademie in Germany.
Mr. Aks has held professional conducting positions in New York, Florida and Colombia, South America. He is currently Professor of Music at the California State University, Northridge where, in addition to his duties as head of the opera program, he is the former conductor of the CSUN Symphony, instructor of cello and chair of the string area. Recent guest conducting appearances have included the Fresno Phliharmonic, The Antelope Valley Symphony and the Black Sea Philharmonic in Romania.
Mr. Aks has studied at Indiana University, Oberlin College, the Minnesota Opera Institute, the Conducting Class of Franco Ferrara in Siena, Italy, and at the Tanglewood Festival (studies with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Colin Davis and André Previn). He is currently Artistic Director and Conductor of the CSUN Opera Theater at California State University, Northridge.
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Vida Alikani is a yoga instructor working with OperaWorks for a third summer. In her teaching she brings together her love for movement and for cultivating mind-body awareness, and her commitment to encouraging students to explore their unique essence and creative power.
Vida graduated from CSUN's honors program with a degree in English Literature. Upon graduation, she wrote articles for health and fitness magazines while continuing to pursue her training in ballet and other forms of dance such as flamenco and modern. She was a member of the Pars National Ballet in Los Angeles, as well as a teacher for the dance company.
It was in New York City that she discovered yoga and began her practice. She also continued to teach ballet, write, study visual art and create collages. Her interest in yoga philosophy and passion for teaching drew her to the instructor training program at the Center for Yoga in Los Angeles, where she received her certification.
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Pamela Blanc has over twenty-five years teaching the Alexander Technique in theatrical and musical performance. She received her certification in 1979 from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in San Francisco under the Direction of Mr. Frank Ottiwell and Mr. Giora Pinkas. Ms. Blanc continued her studies over the years with the following Alexander Technique teachers: Marjorie Barstow, Patrick Macdonald, Walter & Dilys Carrington, Marjory Barlow, and Peggy Williams. (All of who studied with Mr. F.M. Alexander (1869-1956).
Ms. Blanc has a private practice in West Los Angeles and has been a visiting Assistant Professor in the Music Department at UCLA since 1998. Her Alexander teaching has been enriched by study with Carl Stough who developed Breathing Coordination and with Jessica Wolf, an Alexander Technique teacher who spent over 20 years studying with the late Mr. Stough. Pamela completed a Graduate Training Program in the Art of Breathing at the American Center for the Alexander Technique in June 2003 under the Direction of Ms. Wolf.
Ms. Blanc teaches the Technique to the South Bay Children's Choir at El Caiman College (2000-2003), in the Music Department at Cal State University Northridge (2003-2004), and with OperaWorks Summer Programs (2000-2005). Pamela has taught for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, University of Southern California School of Theater, The International Festival of Movement and Dance on the Volga in Yaroslavl, Russia, UCLA Extension, The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, The Alexander Technique Performance Workshops, the New York Film Academy and the Alexander Training Institutes of San Francisco and of Los Angeles.
Ms. Blanc is a Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles, overseeing Continuing Education Programs for Alexander Technique Teachers. She is an active member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSat) and serves as Chair of the Training Directors Committee.
Dan Bridston maintains an active vocal coaching studio in Los Angeles and is also highly regarded as a pianist for recitals, productions and auditions. Mr. Bridston has served as conductor and music director with Los Angeles Opera's Community Programs and Education Department, and as Associate Conductor for many main stage productions. He has served on the faculty of California State University, Long Beach, where he taught Opera Studio and Diction for Singers.
Dan's professional engagements include coach for Opera Pacific, Michigan Opera Theater, Dayton Opera, Guild Opera Company, Riverside Opera, Bel Canto Opera and Gotham City Opera. For many years, he was the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera auditions in Los Angeles and San Bernardino districts. He is currently the pianist for the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Foundation and the AEIOU vocal competition. He is a vocal coach and pianist at OperaWorks, the renowned opera training program (Ann Baltz, Artistic Director).
Mr. Bridston sits on the Board of Directors for both the Intimate Opera Company (Wendy Kikkert, Artistic Director) and Southland Opera (Ann Noriel, General Director). He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Opera America and the National Association of Negro Musicians.
Gregory Buchalter received rave reviews when he conducted Salomé with the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland with Maria Ewing and Helga Dernesch this year. He has conducted Die Fledermaus at the Vienna Volksoper and was the first American to conduct with the Kazakstan State Opera; the performances there included a televised Gala concert for the President of Kazakstan. He has also conducted at the Los Angeles Opera, in Israel, and throughout the New York area. He has been Chorus Master at the Bregenz Festival in Austria, Theater des Westens in Berlin and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Buchalter was recently appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of Opera Camerata of Washington. The Washington Post called his conducting “spectacular” for his inaugural performance with the company, an Operatic Concert with the American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and the Dominican tenor Francisco Casanova.
Mr. Buchalter is currently the chorus master of the Santa Fe Opera and recently conducted Mozart's Entfuhrung aus dem Serail for his anniversary at the Spoleto Festival. He is a member of the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera. He has worked extensively with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and has been Chorus Master at the MET for several productions including the telecast of Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Don Giovanni and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. In addition, the position of “Maestro di Banda” was created at the MET for him. He has also prepared several world premiers at the MET: John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, Philip Glass’ The Voyage and John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. In the latter, Mr. Buchalter created the on-stage part of the jazz band conductor.
At the Santa Fe Opera, he was instrumental in the preparation of the American premier of Salinnen’s The King Goes Forth To France. In February 1992, Mr. Buchalter founded his own chorus, “Choros Aristos”, and led them in a performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at New York’s Merkin Hall in commemoration of that composer’s 200th birthday. In 1995, he conducted the “Metropolitan Consort”, a group comprised of members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in a highly successful concert of Baroque music. For several seasons he has been guest conductor with the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble where he has conducted such works as Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky. As both pianist and conductor, Mr. Buchalter has toured such places as Cairo, Kuwait, Malaysia, Turkey and Hong Kong. As a lecturer and speaker he has been invited to hold Master Classes throughout the United States.
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Internationally acclaimed tenor, John Duykers, made his professional operatic debut with Seattle Opera. Since then he has appeared with many of the leading opera companies of the world including The Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Netherlands Opera, the Grand Theatre of Geneva, Frankfurt Opera, Opera de Marseille, the Canadian Opera Company, Santa Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera, San Diego Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
John Duykers is particularly known for his performances of contemporary music, having sung in more than 100 contemporary operas including 50 plus world premieres. Among these, he created the role of Mao Tse Tung in John Adams' Nixon in China which he performed throughout the world. He made his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the title role of Tannhäuser and has been a regular performer there over many years. He as appeared regularly with San Francisco Opera where he performed in recent seasons in Britten's Billy Budd, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Ligeti's Grand Macabre and Los Angeles Opera where he sang most recently in Strauss' Die Frau Ohne Schatten. John Duykers has had a close association with a number of contemporary composers, notably John Adams and Philip Glass. He sang the premiere of Glass' White Raven, In The Penal Colony in 2001 and Galileo Galilei in 2002. 2005 brought the premiere of Paul Dresher's The Tyrant with the Seattle Chamber Players, followed by subsequent performances with Present Music in Milwaukee, Cleveland Opera and forthcoming performances at the EdgeFest in Berkely and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. In 2006 he sang the premiere of Libby Larsen's Everyman Jack for Sonoma City Opera and in 2007, the premiere of Lou Harrison's Young Caesar at San Francisco's Yerba Buna Center.
John Duykers has received critical acclaim in numerous productions of the Paul Dresher Ensemble, George Coates Performance Works, and the A.Ga.Pe Performance Group which have been seen on the world's most important contemporary music and theater stages.
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Laurel Goetzinger is a director, singer and Equity actor whose career spans opera, operetta, musical theatre and plays in both the professional world and academia.
Currently the Director of The Boze Lyric Theatre and a tenured professor of Voice at Anderson University in Indiana, she has directed many productions, including the undergraduate world premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women. Her professional directing credits include The Magic Flute with the Lafayette and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestras, The Gifts of the Magi at the Indiana Repertory Theatre and The Sound of Music at Bay View Summer Music Festival. She has also taught and directed at DePauw University, Miami University (Ohio), Butler University, and the State University of New York at Fredonia.
As an operatic performer, her New York credits include work with the Broque Opera, Tri-Cities Opera and American Opera Theatre. Favorite roles include Nicklauss/Muse in Tales of Hoffman, Valencienne in The Merry Widow and many of the "ina" roles - Rosina, Despina, Zerlina, and the infamous Princess Angelina in The Ring of the Fettuccines. Her musical theatre credits include Julie in Carousel, Laurey in Oklahoma, Maria, Mother Abbess and Sr. Margaretta in The Sound of Music, and Rosabella in Most Happy Fella performed at theatres including Music Under The Stars in Milwaukee, the Muny Opera in St. Louis, and Chautauqua Music Institute in Chautauqua. In Indiana she has performed with Indianapolis Opera, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre and with various orchestras. As a recitalist often featuring the music of women composers, she has performed in Chicago, St. Louis, San Diego and London.
Ms. Goetzinger holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Illinois State University in Vocal/Choral Music Education and Theatre, and her Master of Music from the University of Illinois in Voice Performance and Opera.
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Cathy Hurst is an award-winning stage director and teacher with a national reputation for her innovative productions in both theater and musical theater. Ms. Hurst was the Artistic Director of Saint Michael’s Playhouse, an equity theatre in residence at Saint Michael's College, from 1998- 2002. Under her direction, the Playhouse produced several world premieres (including her own culinary comedy, Cirque du Soufflé). Ms. Hurst directed Oleanna, Zoo Story and What Happened Was with The Company of Fools in Sun Valley, Idaho (produced by executive board members Bruce Willis and Demi Moore). She co-created and directed opera premieres with OperaWorks from 1988 – 1997, including Aria Ready to Order? and Operation: Diva Drop. As an actor, Ms. Hurst’s favorite roles include playing Jocasta in The Nevada Dance Theatre production of Oedipus in Las Vegas, and Violet in the Theatre de Le June Lune production of The Kitchen in Minneapolis.
Ms. Hurst is currently 2nd Co-Chair Designate for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival New England Region. She has received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Award for Best Director of an Ensemble in the New England Region for her production of Cat’s Paw at Saint Michael's College. Her acting textbook, Acting in Person and in Style, is in its fifth edition.
Ms. Hurst has been a tenured professor and stage director for over twenty years. She is currently on the faculty at Saint Michael's College in Burlington, Vermont, where she teaches courses in acting, directing, musical theatre and playwrighting. Prior to moving to New England, Ms. Hurst was tenured at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, teaching in the undergraduate program and serving as the head of the acting track in the Master of Fine Arts Music-Theatre program. Her students have careers in professional theatre in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Providence. Ms. Hurst has also been on the faculty at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Vermont and the New England Culinary Institute.
Her education includes a B.A. degree in Theatre from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with Wesley Balk.
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Chun-Wei Kang pianist, is a native of Taiwan. She has performed in recital both as soloist and ensemble performer throughout the United States, Canada and East Asia, including concerto performances with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra. In June 2000, Ms. Kang made her first appearance on the nationally syndicated Taiwanese Television Performing Arts channel in recital with her brother, Long-Long Kang, a violinist, and in January 2003, she was broadcasted in Japan with soprano Monique McDonald. Ms. Kang has won several awards and scholarships including the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Memorial Award, which was given to a musician who demonstrated outstanding professionalism in collaborative piano. She has also served as staff pianist in the National Music Competition in Taiwan, Canadian Provincial Festival and the Centro Studi Italiani Opera Festival. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Master's degree, Ms. Kang is the vocal coach and pianist at Barnard College, Manhattan Opera Theatre and the Institute for Musical Arts in New York City. She has worked with renowned artists such as Anne Epperson, Warren Jones, and Martin Katz.
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Patrice Pastore's career spans several diverse areas. She is a specialist in contemporary vocal music with performances at the Birch Creek Summer Festival, Grandin Festival, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Ithaca Opera, Hangar Theatre, Opera Theatre of Lucca. She has collaborated with prestigious composers including Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, George Crumb, Lukas Foss, John Harbison, Chen Yi, Libby Larsen. She has recorded for Spectrum and Golden Crest.
Ms. Pastore is also recognized for her work with improvisation, both in performance and as part of symposiums in Ireland. She is currently at Ithaca College where she is a voice faculty member and performing artist. She has also taught diction and voice at Rising Star Singers Institute, Grandin Festival, Clark University, and New England Conservatory of Music.
Her education includes M.M., New England Conservatory of Music; M.A., Tufts University; B.A., Bryn Mawr College. She has studied with Barbara Honn, Ann Baltz, Wesley Balk, Jan de Gaetani, Mignon Dunn, Joan Dorneman, Joan Heller, Susan Clickner, Phyllis Curtin, and Ellen Repp. Influential programs also include Tanglewood, OperaWorks, Musicians Club of America, International Institute of Vocal Arts, Wesley Balk Institute.
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Elvia L. Puccinelli, pianist, has recently joined the UNT College of Music faculty as Assistant Professor of Music. A dedicated educator in the field of collaborative arts and a specialist in vocal literature, Dr. Puccinelli has held previous appointments with Baylor University and the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California.
Alongside her teaching, Dr. Puccinelli is active as a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and chamber musician. A frequent recitalist at a variety of national and international venues, her broad professional experience embraces such diverse performance events as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Chamber Concert Series, Placido Domingo's Operalia Competition, the International Viola Congress, and regional and national NATS conventions. Also an accomplished organist and harpsichordist, Dr. Puccinelli enjoys a wide variety of repertoire in her collaborations, from Baroque to Twenty-first century literature.
An alumna of San Francisco Opera's prestigious Merola Program, Dr. Puccinelli spends her summers coaching professional and aspiring singers at the OperaWorks program in Los Angeles. She was twice invited to serve as rehearsal pianist for Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood Music Festival.
Dr. Puccinelli holds a Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California, as well as an undergraduate degree in French, which remains an area of special interest to her. Dr. Puccinelli completed her piano and collaborative studies under Alan L. Smith, with additional studies at the Music Academy of the West, with Gwendolyn Koldofsky.
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Suzanne Recer has been a coach and accompanist in the Voice Department of California State University, Northridge since 1982 where her work has included accompanying voice lessons, coaching, performing in dozens of voice recitals each year and, from 1994 to 2003, acting as opera coach and accompanist for the university?s nationally recognized opera program.
A native of Oklahoma, Ms. Recer began her formal training there at Cameron University, then later graduated from Cal State Northridge. From 1979 to 1984, Ms Recer served as the Music Director of the Los Angeles Music Theatre Company, preparing and performing in each opera production. Before returning professionally to Cal State Northridge, she spent three years on the faculty of Chapman College as a piano instructor in addition to accompanying for the university?s choral ensembles, opera productions, as well as faculty and student voice recitals.
As a frequent recital partner, Ms. Recer has performed for the San Francisco Opera Affiliate Artist Series as well as numerous concerts for both instrumentalists and singers throughout California and the Southwest. Suzanne Recer was a staff opera coach and accompanist for both the 1996 and 1998 Cal State Summer Arts Festivals in Long Beach and has been a faculty member of the Operaworks Summer Program since 2000. In 2003, Ms. Recer added to her duties at Cal State Northridge by joining the music staff at Glendale College.
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Shane Schag , pianist, is a native of Shelby, Ohio. He has performed in recital both as soloist and ensemble performer throughout the United States and Europe, including a concerto performance with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. He has won several awards and scholarships including the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Memorial Award, which was given to a musician who demonstrated outstanding professionalism in collaborative piano. In addition to his concert performances, he serves as staff pianist and vocal coach at the Manhattan School of Music, the Institute for Musical Arts, Centro Studi Italiani Opera Festival, and Operaworks in Los Angeles. He has additionally worked as assistant conductor for the past two seasons at the Gotham Chamber Opera, and recently served in this capacity for a production of Side by Side by Sondheim presented by the American Musical Theatre Ensemble at the Manhattan School of Music.
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Lisa Sylvester enjoys an active career as collaborative pianist in a wide variety of repertoire and ensembles throughout Southern California. She has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the LA Philharmonic New Music Group, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Santa Barbara Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, the Ventura County Master Chorale, Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Music Festival, the California Ear Unit and the CalArts? New Century Players. She has served as rehearsal accompanist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon Rattle and Kent Nagano and for Opera Pacific under music director John DeMain and the Pacidfic Chorale under conductor John Alexander. For several years, Ms. Sylvester has served on the musical staff of the acclaimed Long Beach Opera as repetiteur, orchestral pianist and assistant conductor to Neal Stulberg and Andreas Mitisek.
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Dr. Paula Thomson has been a choreographer, tenured professor and professional movement coach in theatres and schools throughout Canada for the past twenty-five years. She has a Master Degree from York University and a Bachelor of Education from University of Toronto. She is also the recipient of a Doctorate in Psychology from the American Behavioral Studies Institute in California. Dr. Thomson studied dance at New York's Jose Limon School (with Libby Nye and Jennifer Scanlan), The Dance Circle, NYC (with Alfredo, Andra, Ernesta Corvino), Toronto's Centre of Movement (with Frau Til Thiele) and with Richard Sugarman and Sallie Whallen. She has trained extensively in Grotowski Physical Theatre with Linda Putnam and has worked with many of the major voice teachers (David Smukler, Janet Feindel, Ann Skinner) and Alexander teachers (Judith Liebewitz, Marjorie Barstow, Kelly McKevenue and Ann Penistan).
Dr. Thomson's choreographic credits span dance, theatre and opera. She was Artistic Director/Choreographer for Northern Lights Dance Theatre from 1984 - 1990, creating over 22 premieres, including Callings, Tables, Life Out of Balance and Only the Drowning and she has created dance premieres for Ballet Jorgen, Canadian Children's Dance Theatre and Dance Works Co-Works. For the Stratford Shakespearean Festival she choreographed productions from 1982 - 1986 including Arms and the Man, Love?s Labours Lost, Antigone, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Macbeth. She has worked with the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble from 1986 to 2001 where she has acted as movement coach / choreographer on numerous productions including The Old Song and Dance of Guacamayo, The Return of Ulysses, Zoe, La Callisto, Gaisone and Giulio Cesere in Egitto. For the Canadian Opera Company mainstage she has choreographed Fidelio, Bartered Bride, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Callisto, Manon Lescaut, Il Tabarro, Cavalleria Rusticana and Beatrice and Benedict. From 1993 - 1997, Paula has worked as a movement coach / choreographer for Canadian Stage Company's Dream in High Park (Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet) and on their production of Lips Together, Teeth Apart.
Dr. Thomson has trained extensively as a psychotherapist at the Centre for Training in Psychotherapy (Toronto), American Behavioral Studies Institute (Los Angeles), with Dr. Allan Schore (Los Angeles) in his study group and with Dr. Robert Stolorow (Los Angeles) in group supervision. She is a California licensed Clinical Psychologist and works in private practice in Los Angeles.
Dr. Thomson has been a tenured faculty member at York University's Departments of Theatre and Graduate Studies since 1982. She has been a guest teacher at numerous schools and theatres in Canada & the United States, most notably the Banff School of Fine Arts, Stratford Shakespearean Festival, Canadian Opera Company Ensemble, Opera Works & the Julliard School of Music.
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Melissa Weaver has been involved in the collaborative creation of more than 40 new stage works. With Agape Performance Group, she created seven original operas: The How Trilogy with George Coates; Slow Fire, Pioneer and Ravenshead with Paul Dresher; Serial
Murderess and D'Arc, woman on fire with Amanda Moody; Bitter Harvest, commissioned by Kent Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony; The Tyrant, a solo opera by Paul Dresher; Rinde Eckert's Dry Land Divine and The Gardening of Thomas D; and Henze's El Cimmaron (given the LA Times Beckmesser Award for Outstanding Contemporary Performance of 1983.
Melissa was an Artist-in-Residence at California Institute of the Arts from 1999-2005 and is a Music Theater graduate of USIU School of Performing and Visual Arts in San Diego and has a degree from University of Texas in Stage Direction. She is currently adjunct faculty at University of Miami, where she co-directs the Performance Articulation Lab for Singers with John Duykers.
READ ABOUT OUR NEW SUMMER FACULTY: Directors: Cathy Hurst Melissa Weaver John Ahart
