Faculty

Natasha Adorlee is an Emmy Award–winning choreographer, filmmaker, composer, and creative leader based in San Francisco. Working primarily in contemporary ballet, her practice sits at the intersection of movement, light, and cinematic space, integrating influences from street dance, film, and music to create emotionally rigorous and visually architectural works for the stage and screen.

A strong and endearing personality, Nicolas André conducts both opera and concerts, from early music to world premieres, ballet, and vocal music. André is currently associate conductor of the French ensemble Le Concert Sprituel, and from 2018 to 2022, he was the musical assistant to Kent Nagano at Staatsoper Hamburg.

John Churchwell served as head of music for San Francisco Opera for 14 years. Prior to this appointment in 2011, he was an assistant conductor for both Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera for 14 years. Mr. Churchwell has worked on more than 175 productions with James Levine, Nicola Luisotti, Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi and Sir Charles Mackerras.

Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong has developed a reputation as “one of the most intelligent stage performers of her generation (Opera News).” Lauded equally for her musicianship and commanding stage presence, she has established herself as a regular on concert and operatic stages worldwide.

Soprano Christine Goerke is the recipient of the Richard Tucker Award and has appeared at many of the world’s leading opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra national de Paris, and La Scala. Christine has earned international acclaim for her portrayals of the powerful dramatic heroines of Strauss and Wagner.

Ronny Michael Greenberg is a pianist, producer, and musical visionary whose career bridges performance, curation, and artistic leadership. His work has illuminated stages from Carnegie Hall to Vienna’s Konzerthaus, while also reshaping how audiences experience music through innovative, immersive cultural programming.

American composer Jake Heggie is best known for Dead Man Walking, the most widely-performed new opera of the last 25 years. His compositions have been performed on five continents, and he regularly collaborates with some of the world’s most beloved artists as both a composer and pianist.

One of the world’s busiest collaborators, Martin Katz has been dubbed “The gold standard of collaborative pianists today” by the NY Times. He has appeared and recorded regularly with Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Karita  Mattila, Samuel Ramey, David Daniels, Lawrence Brownlee, Jose  Carreras, Cecilia Bartoli, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Kathleen Battle. 

Pianist and vocal coach Noah Lindquist is assistant conductor at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In his private studio he has coached singers heard on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Oper Frankfurt, and Opernhaus Zürich, among others. Lindquist is also in demand as a guest coach at Young Artist programs and has coached the young artists of the Ryan Opera Center, San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows, and Hawai’i Opera Theatre’s Orvis Studio.

Claire Manjarrès is a director who enjoys blending different arts and styles in her productions. She has directed operas for theaters in France and founded the company, OP'LA! which specializes in adapting operas into short versions for families. She also works as a playwright and director alongside choreographers creating ballets and operas.

Equally at home in the world of opera, symphonic repertoire and contemporary music, American conductor Ryan McAdams has established a presence on both sides of the Atlantic. A contemporary music advocate, Ryan is the Principal Conductor of the Crash Ensemble, Ireland's foremost contemporary music group. 

Kent Nagano is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. He will be the next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in Madrid in September 2026 and is the newly appointed Principal Artistic Partner of Filarmonica Toscanini.

The Grammy® Award-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor is one of the most compelling vocal artists of her generation. She performs with leading orchestras and conductors around the world, with preeminent artists in recitals and chamber music, and with highly acclaimed opera companies in the U.S. and abroad.

Gino Quilico’s career spans more than forty-seven years and bears witness to an exceptional journey on the world’s greatest opera stages. He has performed at Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, Paris National Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Vienna Staatsoper, and Chicago Lyric Opera. His baritone voice, stage charisma, and acting talent have won over loyal audiences across several continents.

Collaborative pianist Blair Salter is a versatile performer and music director who has worked at prestigious opera companies and young artist programs throughout North America. She is currently Head Coach for LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, staff at Wolf Trap Opera, and works on the LAO staff as an assistant conductor, prompter, and pianist.

Alek Shrader is an opera tenor, director, and screenwriter. He has performed Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte with Opera de Oviedo in Spain, sang David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with the San Francisco Opera, and Alfredo in La traviata with Opera Philadelphia, among many other roles.

GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. has been lauded as a "passionate performer" (The New York Times) with a voice that is "electric, hall-filling" (The Baltimore Sun), making him "one of the most exciting baritone sounds to come along in years" (Opera News). 

Jean-Romain Vesperini is a widely acclaimed artistic director and producer of operatic performances on stages from La Scala to Paris, from The Bolshoi to Monte Carlo. A trained baritone, he is deeply connected to music, with a unique awareness of what a score brings to dramaturgy.