Faculty
Festival Napa Valley attracts some of the world’s finest vocalists, who serve as faculty and coaches for the vocal conservatory. Performing with renowned vocalists is a distinctive part of the conservatory experience at Festival Napa Valley.
One of the leading collaborative pianists of his generation, John Churchwell enjoys a career on the concert stage as well as in the nation’s leading opera houses. A champion of American music, John was involved in the world premieres of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby and Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking.
Pianist, Opera Coach and Producer, Ronny Michael Greenberg is a leading innovator in the world of performing arts. A native of Montreal, he has toured internationally, performing in opera houses and concert halls including the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Montreal’s Place des Arts Theater, and across Italy, New Zealand, and Hawaii.
Tanya directs and choreographs theatre, opera and dance and is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Opera del Espacio. Credits include Tosca Jumps!, a multimedia adaptation of Puccini’s opera (EdgeFest/LATC, Highways, Luckman Intimate); Supreme Being by Richard Foreman; Romeo and/y Juliet(a), a Spanglish Re-Mix with Quantum Theatre, and a touring production of Ubu Roi in Brazil. Since 2001, Tanya has been a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Cal State LA.
One of the world’s busiest collaborators, Martin Katz has been dubbed “The gold standard of collaborative pianists today” by the New York Times. He has been in constant demand by the world’s most celebrated vocal soloists for five decades, and 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, just to name a few.
Pianist and vocal coach Grant Loehnig serves as Head of Music Staff at Opera Philadelphia and is a Master Opera Coach on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music. He works regularly on the music staff of Lyric Opera of Chicago and Aspen Opera Theater. He also frequently serves as a district judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
With a voice described as having a “rich vocal range full of inviting nuance,” Malcolm MacKenzie continues to attract attention in the dramatic baritone repertoire. Opera News recently praised him as a “confident, commanding Count di Luna…of robust tone, ardent address, arching phrases and genuine baritonal squillo.” Of his recent role debut as Baron Scarpia they wrote: "His rich, warm, and dark tone was bolstered by a relentless legato line which amplified the sensuous sleaziness of his Scarpia."
Grammy® Award-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor is internationally acclaimed equally in the pillars of the classical music canon, as she is in new works of modern masters. She regularly performs as a soloist with major symphony orchestras, is sought after by many of the most heralded composers of the modern day, and enjoys a vivid recital career.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia and raised in France and Canada, Miloš Repický has developed a diverse musical presence as pianist, conductor, chamber musician, educator, and producer. He is on the music staff at the Metropolitan Opera, where he serves as assistant conductor and prompter, played harpsichord continuo for Le nozze di Figaro, and has led the musical preparation of Jenufa, La fanciulla del West, Anna Bolena, The Death of Klinghoffer, and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, among many other operas.
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.
GRAMMY® Award winning Soprano Tamara Wilson continues to garner international recognition for her interpretations of Verdi, Mozart, Strauss and Wagner and is the recipient of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award. Other recent honors include an Olivier Award nomination and Grand Prize in the annual Francisco Viñas Competition held at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain.