2008 Artistic and Production Staff

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Judith H. Walker, General Director

Ms. Walker directs the artistic and administrative components of the Festival. During her tenure, Ms. Walker initiated and implemented the following: the Opera Guild, Music at Twilight, the Apprentice Program, Artist-in-Residence, Kids Fest, and Opera Connects for Teachers. Festival revenues have consistently grown under Ms. Walker's direction: ticket revenue grew 682 percent, while expenses increased by only 242 percent. Ms. Walker holds a B.S. from Southern Illinois University, and has served as a panelist for the Virginia Commission of the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and Mid-Atlantic Arts. She has served as President of the Junior League of Charlottesville, and as Vice-President of both the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library and Charlottesville University Symphony Orchestra boards. She was a member of the Charlottesville Rotary for many years and is a member of OPERA America. She regularly serves as a judge for regional auditions for the Metropolitan Opera. She has served with the Charlottesville Regional Tourism Council as chair of the Tourism Expansion Committee as well as on the Virginia Tourism Corporation's committee Strengthening the Brand. Currently she serves on the board of Piedmont Council for the Arts and is a member of Odyssey and the Contemporary Club. In 1997 she was honored with the prestigious Piedmont Council for the Arts Individual Award for her outstanding contribution to the arts.

Cecelia Schieve, Stage Director, My Fair Lady

Ms. Schieve serves as Director of the Young Artist Studio and Education at Florida Grand Opera. Her prior positions include Assistant General Director and Director of the Studio Theatre Young Artist Program at Anchorage Opera and Director of Opera at Boston Conservatory. Ms. Schieve's expertise is in training singers at the beginning of their professional careers. This is her sixth season directing at Ash Lawn Opera, and her other stage directing positions include Central City Opera, Merrimack Lyric, Artpark, Buffalo Opera, Brown Bag Opera, Chautauqua Institute, Miami Opera, and the Washington National Opera, Kennedy Center. Ms. Schieve has also held positions at the Universities

of Maryland, Kent State and Wisconsin (Madison); New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music.

Christopher J. Larkin, Music Director, My Fair Lady

Mr. Larkin's credits include conducting shows for such notable companies as Santa Fe Opera, Washington Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Florentine Opera, and Fort Worth Opera, among others. He has served as Music Director of the New York City Opera National Company, leading national tours of Madame Butterfly and Il Barbiere di Siviglia . As Associate Conductor at Houston Grand Opera, he conducted Carmen, Madame Butterfly, and I Pagliacci as well as leading the world premieres of Little Women and Jackie O . His other productions include La Traviata , Roméo et Juliette , Le Nozze di Figaro, Samson et Dalila , La Bohème , and L'Italiana in Algeri. His upcoming production will be Angels in America at Forth Worth Opera.

David B. Lefkowich, Stage Director, Carmen

Mr. Lefkowich has an accomplished background in directing and fi ght choreography. His recent productions include Roméo et Juliette, The Merry Widow, Acis and Galatea, La Bohème, and Le Portrait de Manon. He has worked with many opera companies, including Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Julliard Opera Center and Glimmerglass Opera, and recently made his European directing debut at the Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona, Spain. Mr. Lefkowich has multiple years of experience in ballet, modern dance, ballroom dance, and stage combat. Because of this experience, Mr. Lefkowich often doubles as a fight director. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Theater

from Northwestern University, and a certificate from L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. We are pleased to have him return to Ash Lawn Opera after serving as Stage Director last season for The Sound of Music .

Andrew J. Bisantz, Music Director, Carmen

Mr. Bisantz is a highly acclaimed conductor, currently serving as Resident Conductor of Florida Grand Opera after spending four seasons as their Assistant Conductor and Education Manager. He also acts as a coach for the Young Artist program. Before Florida Grand Opera, Mr. Bisantz spent several seasons conducting and as assistant conductor at Glimmerglass Opera and was on the faculty of Florida International University. His conducting credits include Carmen , Le Portrait de Manon , Così fan tutte , and Dido and Aeneas . Mr. Bisantz has the honor of being the youngest student at the Cleveland Institute of Music to be awarded his Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting.

Adam Turner, Resident Conductor

Mr. Turner just completed a season as conductor and coach pianist at Stadttheater Pforzheim in Germany, where his productions included La Bohème , Eugene Onegin , Der fl iegende Holländer , Paganini , and Les Misérables . He has previously served as assistant conductor for Florida Grand Opera and Summer Opera Theatre, in addition to his work as vocal coach for Washington National Opera's Young Institute for Singers. At the Jenny Wiley Theatre, he conducted and led performances from piano of Into the Woods , Peter Pan , My Way , and The Legend of Jenny Wiley . While earning his Master of Music at The Catholic University of America, Mr. Turner conducted such productions as Così fan tutte ,

Copland's The Tender Land , and Britten's Albert Herring and served as music director for the world premiere of The Furies . Mr. Turner received his Bachelor's Degree at Morehead State University where he gained experience as conductor, musical director and vocal coach on a variety of productions. While there, he also was honored as an Outstanding Undergraduate in Music for three consecutive years.

Brian C. Barker, Scene Designer

Mr. Barker has most recently worked in scene design with the touring Gibson Design Group, Clarence Brown Lab Theatre in Tennessee, and Barksdale and Carpenter's Science Theatres in Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Barker holds a B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University and a M.F.A. in Scenic Design from the University of Tennessee. He had the honor of placing third in the SETC Sculptural Arts National Set Design Awards Contest in both 2006 and 2007.

Michelle Thomas, Technical Director

Ms. Thomas has worked as carpenter and technical director with the Monomoy Theatre in Cape Cod and Seaside Music Theatre in Daytona Beach. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Technical Direction from the North Carolina School of the Arts. While there, she worked as carpenter, master flyman, and technical director on a variety of productions. Thomas also has experience in costume construction; costume, lighting and scene design; structural engineering; drawing; and art history.

LeVonne D. Lindsay, Costume Designer

Ms. Lindsay has been serving as an Assistant Professor at Valdosta State University, teaching and designing costumes, and will begin as assistant professor of costume design at James Madison University this fall. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Costume Design from the University of Maryland, College Park, and since then has served as an Allen Lee Hughes Costume Shop Fellow at Arena Stage and a Costume Shop Assistant with Wolftrap Opera. Her costume design credits include productions of A Clockwork Orange , Pygmalion , Grease , and Color Me Dark .

Rachel E. Blackburn, Stage Manager

Ms. Blackburn has most recently been working as director, actor, and stage manager in Tulsa, OK, with such companies as the American Theatre Company, Owassa Community Theatre, and Broken Arrow Playhouse. Her stage management credits extend internationally, from here at Ash Lawn Opera in 2002 to Opera Ireland in Dublin. Ms. Blackburn earned her Bachelor of Arts in Stage Direction from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and received a certifi cation in Technical Theatre from

the Performing Arts Center in Tulsa, OK.

Eric Andries, Coach Accompanist

Mr. Andries has served as a rehearsal pianist with Shreveport Opera, Amarillo Opera, Mobile Opera, Opera Birmingham and Opera Southwest, among others. His show credits include Rigoletto , Lucia Di Lammermoor, and La Boh è me. Eric's musical experience includes opera, musical theatre, classical, jazz and salsa. He earned both his Bachelor and Master of Music from Louisiana State University.

Perry Mears, Coach Accompanist

Mr. Mears currently works as an accompanist-coach at Lee University where he also received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master of Church Music. He holds a Master of Music in Performance (Collaborative Piano) from the University of Maryland, College Park. Mr. Mears has served as an accompanist-coach previously at the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Maryland Opera Studio. His show credits include Werther , Il Matrionio Segretto , and The Newport Rivals.