Andrew Dwan is a versatile performer known for his magnetic stage presence, whose previous roles include the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Collatinus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Dandini in Rossini's Cenerentola, and Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore. He recently completed his second summer at the San Francisco Merola Opera Program, where his Mephistopheles was praised for “rich, flexible tone and convincing acting” (Bay Area Reporter) and whose “constantly secure voice knew how to shape every phrase with dramatic significance” (Rehearsal Studio), as well as providing “comic delight out of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’” (San Francisco Chronicle). Next year he looks forward to premiering Aaron Zigman's oratorio Emigre, making his lead role debut with the Shanghai Symphony and New York Philharmonic.

Baritone Markel Reed, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been featured in various concerts, recitals and performances throughout North America and Europe. As a passionate conveyor of the operatic repertoire, Mr. Reed is a wonderful interpreter of both classic and contemporary works. In Spring 2022, Markel premiered the title role of Terence Blanchard’s Champion with Boston Lyric Opera as Young Emile Griffith. Markel returns to New York following a successful debut as Marcello in La Bohème with Opera Steamboat. In the Summer of 2019, he originated the role of “Chester” in the premiere of Blanchard’s acclaimed opera Fire Shut up in my Bones with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis going on to cover Adult James in The Metropolitan Opera’s production this past season. Mr. Reed had the pleasure of singing in The Met’s grammy winning production of Porgy and Bess, in which he covered the role of Lawyer Frazier. Summer of 2021 saw him return to OTSL to create the role of James Baldwin in The Tongue & the Lash composed by Damien Sneed, original script by Karen Chilton. Markel Reed pursued his Bachelors of Music Performance at Oakwood University and is an alumnus of the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre program.

American conductor and pianist Kamal Khan has performed with many opera companies around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Dallas Opera, Baltimore Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil, Teatro de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Oper der Stadt Bonn and the Staatstheater Schwerin, Germany, Cape Town Opera, Opera South Africa, Opera de Puerto Rico, Asian Cultural Center, Korea and the International Festivals of Cervantino in Mexico and Santander, Mérida, La Coruña, Tenerife and Málaga in Spain. Additionally he has conducted the Jerusalem Symphony, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, São Paulo Philharmonic, Balearic Islands Philharmonic, Oviedo Philharmonic, the Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic, Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

As a recitalist and accompanist Kamal Khan has appeared in venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall and Weill Hall in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Gran Teatro Liceu and the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Palais Garnier in Paris, Suntory Hall and Casals Hall in Tokyo, the Palau de Congressos in Andorra and the Baxter Concert Hall and Montecasino in South Africa with singers such as Nadine Sierra, Pretty Yende, Marcelo Alvarez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Michael Fabiano, Angela Meade, Sir Bryn Terfel, Veronica Villarroel, June Anderson, Juan Pons, Harolyn Blackwell, Ainoha Arteta, Justino Diaz, Lauren Flanigan, Herman Prey, Larissa Martinez and violinist Joshua Bell.

Prof. Khan is a founding member of “Opera for Peace” and is the Director of the Taller para Cantantes in Santo Domingo DR. and is Affiliate Faculty at the Royal Opera Covent Garden Jette Parker Young Artists Program and the Guildhall School. He was He was the Director of the Opera School at the University of Cape Town and Assistant Conductor and conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and was Resident Conductor and Chorus Master of the Palm Beach Opera where he founded the Resident Artist Program. He was also Resident Conductor of the Opera Festival in Tenerife, Head of Faculty of the International School of Vocal Study of the Balearic Islands and Artistic Director of the Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival. Additionally he has worked with the Juilliard School. Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music in New York, the International Vocal Arts Institute, European Center for Vocal Arts, Chautauqua School of Music, Opera Theatre of St Louis, Ravinia Festival and Glimmerglass Opera. He has given masterclasses at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Opera Hogskolan at the University of the Arts in Stockholm, the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, the University of Michigan, and Georgia State University in Atlanta.

A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music Kamal Khan was Assistant Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and collaborated with such conductors as James Levine, Nello Santi, James Conlon, Julius Rudel, Christian Thielemann, Carlo Rizzi and Marco Armiliato and singers Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, Renata Scotto, Sherrill Milnes, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, Renée Fleming, Carlo Bergonzi, Tatiana Troyanos. Ghena Dimitrova and Bonaldo Giaiotti to name a few. While at the MET he was involved in the musical preparation of many new productions including the telecasts of Schenk / Schneider-Siemssen’s complete Ring Cycle, del Monaco’s La Fanciulla del West and Simon Boccanegra, Zeffielli’s Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci and the world premiers of Glass’ The Voyage and Corgliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles.

Some of the works he has conducted include Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Norma, I Puritani, La Sonnambula, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Favorita, L’Elisir d’amore, Tosca, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Il Tritico, Turandot, La Traviata, Nabucco, Un Ballo in Maschera, Carmen, Don Carlo, Werther, Mefistofele, Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, Die Fliegende Holländer, Ariadne auf Naxos, Porgy and Bess, Die Fledermaus, The Rake’s Progress, The Merry Widow and the African premieres of Il Viaggio a Reims, Dead Man Walking and the world premiers of Five:20 Operas Made in South Africa and Four:30 Operas Made in South Africa.

A native of Washington DC, Kamal Khan was the recipient from the first National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts prize, he is also received prizes and grants from the National Association of Music Teachers and the National Symphony Orchestra and the PBS- Channel 13 documentary “I Live to Sing” based on his work in South Africa won the 2014 EMMY for best cultural programing http://www.thirteen.org/program-content/i-live-to-sing-full-program/

WWW.KAMALKHAN.COM

John de los Santos Director Bio Director/choreographer, John has staged the world premieres of Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun (Santa Fe Opera), Stardust (Helios Opera), Pure Country (Lyric Stage), and The Astronaut Love Show (Kraine Theater, NYC). Other productions include The Rose & the Knife, Le Comte Ory, and Otello (LoftOpera), Cag + Pag (New Camerata Opera), La Cage Aux Folles (Skylight Music Theatre), La Fille du Regiment (Arizona Opera), Carousel (Charlottesville Opera), Trouble in Tahiti (Lexington Philharmonic), and Maria de Buenos Aires (San Diego and Arizona Opera). In 2015, he choreographed the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's Great Scott for the Dallas Opera. His choreography has also been seen at the Washington National, Florida Grand, Philadelphia, Des Moines Metro, Utah Festival, and Austin Lyric Opera Companies. John was the resident choreographer at Fort Worth Opera for Rigoletto, Salome, La Traviata, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and the world premieres of Frau Margot and Before Night Falls. John then made his directing debut with the company with a 2009 production of Carmen, followed by The Mikado and The Pearl Fishers. John has served on the directing faculty of the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, NY, where his productions have included Anything Goes, Crazy for You, The Medium, The Fantasticks, The Mikado, La Boheme, Guys & Dolls, Brigadoon, and L'Italiana in Algeri. As a librettist John de los Santos’ first collaboration with composer Clint Borzoni, When Adonis Calls, was selected for inclusion in both Opera America’s New Works Forum and Fort Worth Opera's Frontiers showcase. It had its stage premiere under John’s direction at Asheville Lyric Opera. His second collaboration with Borzoni, The Copper Queen, was the winner of Arizona Opera’s commission initiative, Arizona SPARK. It premiered as a feature film in October 2021, and had it staged premiere at Marble City Opera under John's direction. His latest libretto with Borzoni, The Christmas Spider, will premiere with The American Opera Project. In 2015, he was commissioned by Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative to create an original work with composer Christopher Weiss. The resulting piece, Service Provider, premiered at The Kennedy Center, and has since had over a dozen productions. Over the summer of 2020, John and composer Marc Migó were commissioned by UrbanArias to write an operatic film as part of Decameron Opera Project. The film, The Roost, was directed by John and was recently included in the archives of the Library of Congress. John has also collaborated with composers Robert Paterson, Tony Solitro, and Lingbo Ma. From 2019-2021, John served as librettist-in-residence for Opera Lab at The Juilliard School with dramaturg, Cori Ellison. Other productions include Italienisches Liederbuch for Voces Intimae, The Golden Apple for Lyric Stage, Spring Awakening, and Dogfight for WaterTower Theatre. For the Dallas-based theatre company Uptown Players, choreographed the American premiere of the Pet Shop Boys musical Closer to Heaven, the regional premiere of Altar Boyz (for which John was awarded the DFW Critics Forum Award for Best Choreography), and directed and choreographed the regional premieres of Kinky Boots and Hello Again and the American premiere of Soho Cinders.

http://johndelossantos.com

Atom Moore is a New York City-based photographer working in and around the watch industry locally and internationally. A love of watches brought this photographic veteran almost entirely into the sphere of watches. Creating unique art works and videos from watches since 2015 he has had 3 critically acclaimed watch photography exhibitions. Atom works directly with top watch brands and industry publications.

Ashley Soliman is a costume designer and visual artist based in New York City.

Drawing upon a variety of sources to create expressive imagery and objects, her creative practices are anchored by the language of color and the physical manifestation of inner worlds. She is propelled by the collaborative nature of theater and the desire to create garments that resonate with both performer and audience. Ashley’s keen eye, versatile skills, and curiosity guide her through the distinct challenges that each theatrical project brings, resulting in a fresh approach for tales new and old. As a character driven designer, her costumes have been praised for their rewarding use of color, as well as for being “wacky”, “masterful”, and “rich in detail”.

This year brings her designs to The Alliance Theatre, Juilliard, Fort Worth Opera, New Camerata Opera, and Manhattan School of Music. Selected world premieres include Sweet Potato Kicks The Sun (Santa Fe Opera), Protest (Shuga Pie Supreme), and Astronaut Love Show (Leschen & Sauter.) She was awarded “Best Costumes” for her work on Mind The Art Entertainment’s Fatty Fatty No Friends (NYC Fringe Festival) and Whiskey Pants (Frigid Fest), with the former receiving a NYITA “Best Costumes” nomination during a secondary run. Ashley had the pleasure of assisting costume designer Jessica Jahn on the debut of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s Coal Country at The Public Theater, which opened successfully before the pandemic cut its run short. Later that year, Ashley was commissioned by The American Opera Project to create hand-rendered illustrations for The Christmas Spider animation.

In addition to designing, Ashley spent four formative years as a painter and artisan at Jeff Fender Studio, where she discovered that she could apply her fine arts background to costume crafts. Under Jeff’s tutelage, she learned how to interpret and actualize concepts brought in by designers such as Gregg Barnes, Gregory Gale, Paul Tazewell, Suzy Benzinger, Sandy Powell, and Ann Roth. Ashley became versed in aging, distressing, embellishing, and fabric painting for projects appearing on Broadway and in opera, dance, film, and television (notably the erstwhile Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.)

Born and raised in Chino Hills, California, Ashley resides in Astoria with her husband and son. She holds a BFA in Fine Arts & Printmaking from the School of Visual Arts and is an adjunct professor of figure drawing at NYU Tisch.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Ms. Chen graduated from the National Academy of Art with highest honors in 1990, where she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.

In 1992, she entered Mannes College of Music, where in 1994 she performed Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on the theme of Paganini under the baton of Maestro

Michael Charry. Shortly after her graduation from Mannes with a special piano award, Ms. Chen made her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall as a winner of the 1995 New York Concert Artists Competition. Frequently performing as a piano duet with her husband Alexander Paley, Ms. Chen performs annually as part of the Alexander Paley Music Festival in Richmond, Virginia, as well as Moulin d’Ande, France.

In December 2001, Ms. Chen made her Paris debut playing Liszt’s Concerto Pathetique for two pianos in Salle O. Messiaen, Maison de Radio France. Following in 2003, she performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade in the composer’s own one piano, four hands version, which was broadcast live worldwide from Seattle, USA on kings.org. In March 2004, Ms. Chen performed both Mozart and Mendelssohn Piano Concertos for two pianos with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius, Lithuania.In the summer of 2009, Ms. Chen returned to Taiwan and gave a gala concert in the National Concert Hall in Taipei to benefit young musicians there. In 2011, she performed Mozart Concertos for two and three pianos in Klaipeda, Lithuania.

As a collaborative artist, Ms. Chen has worked with artists including Licia Abanese, Elly Ameling, Regina Resnik, Jon Vickers, Evelyn Lear, Diane Soviero, Deborah Voigt, Ruth Falcon, Mignon Dunn, Sherril Milnes, and Olga Peretyako, among others. In 1998, she joined the production of Fedora for Washington Opera. In addition, Ms. Chen served as a pianist for the Metropolitan Opera Guild as well as Amato Opera in NYC for many seasons. She has been a member of the music faculty for IVAI in both Virginia and NYC, CVAI in Canada, as well as a faculty member for VOICExperience in Florida, CoOperative at Rider University, and Savannah Voice Festival. She is a member of the faculty at Mannes College of Music.

Highlights of Ms. Chen’s recent engagements include concerts in Washington, D.C. as well as in Virginia and Maine, piano duo concerts in France, and Bach Concerti in Lithuania. Additionally, she has served as coach and conductor for operas including Der Schauspieldirektor by Mozart, The Telephone by Menotti, Incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi, and Alcina and Ariodante by Handel in concert version with New York Lyric Opera ; Czerny piano Concerto for one piano, four hands in Modolva and complete Rachmaninoff music for two pianos in France. In the spring of 2017, Ms. Chen was the official pianist of the Classical Singers Magazine Competition in Shanghai. In 2020, Ms. Chen served as a jury member for many international online voice competitions in Russia, China and US.

In season 2021-22,Ms Chen has joined New Camerata Opera in New York City for the productions.In spring,2022,Ms Chen will play series of concerts in the project of complete Brahms chamber music for piano duets,including Brahms liebeslieder waltzs and Neue liebeslieder walzes with the soloists from the Lithuanian State Opera in Vilnius.In April 2022,Ms Chen will premiere “Hommage a Rachmaninoff für 2 Klaviere“ with husband Alexander Paley by reknown German composer Thomas Böttger in France.In August,2022,Ms Chen will join the Savannah Voice Festival in the production of Menotti’s Medium.

Joshua Rose is a designer of scenery and lighting of all kinds. Theatre, Dance, Concerts and Opera. Recent projects include the world premiers of Marc Blitzstein’s “Sacco and Vanzetti” and Parisa Khobdeh’s “Imprimatura”. Favorite opera designs from the past 20 years include “Elixir of Love”, “Hansel and Gretel”, “The Magic Flute”, “Tales of Hoffman”, and many more.