Carlos Cordero, Composer

Hola, People! My name is Carlos Cordero, a new choral music advocate, composer, hug-giver, and singer with a crazy mind. I write music that challenges us to talk about how to be kinder with each other. I am originally from Venezuela, a beautiful country with delicious food where I got to be a choral conductor and music educator at El Sistema. I love writing music for choirs, which is why I create my brand The Happy Choir, but I also write for instruments, just less often! My pieces have traveled around the world, including America, Europe, and Asia, allowing me to grow as an artist and collaborate with amazing communities.

Germán Barboza, Librettist

Germán is a Venezuelan artist who combines his passion for the voice and colors to create immersive landscapes. Whether through writing text, music, or creating visual concepts, his aim is to design new environments for the audience to step into. As a performer, Germán has sung with award-winning ensembles Venezziola, Cantat Vocal, De Profundis, Inspirarte, and most recently made his debut as Bernardo in the first Uruguayan production of West Side Story at Adela Reta National Auditorium of SODRE where he currently lives.

Kyle Naig, Music Director

Kyle Naig is a musician from Des Moines, Iowa. He is a recent graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, where he worked on productions of Aïda, Saul, Don Giovanni, Florencia en el Amazonas, and La bohème, as well as the premiere workshop of El Milagro del Recuerdo in Mexico City. In the 2024 season, he looks forward to several conducting engagements, including returns to Des Moines Metro Opera, Pacific Opera Project, and Opera Orlando.

Liz Cass, Executive Producer

Liz Cass is a producer, educator, arts leader, and active operatic performer based in Austin, Texas. She is the founder and executive producer of the award-winning opera company LOLA (Local Opera Local Artists), and executive director of the Armstrong Community Music School. A passionate advocate for the arts, Liz is president of the Seagle Festival Alumni Association, secretary of Austin Classical Guitar and a member of the community advisory board of KMFA 89.5, Austin’s classical music radio station.

Rebecca Herman, Stage Director and Artistic Producer

Rebecca is the Artistic Producer of Local Opera Local Artists (LOLA) in Austin, TX & opera stage director is a storyteller who thrives on surprising, exciting, & moving audiences large & small. She is the Associate Director for Tomer Zvulun’s production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, recently seen at Calgary Opera and Utah Opera. In the 23-24 season, she is excited to be joining Colorado Opera as assistant director for Don Giovani, Opera Omaha as assistant director for La Traviata, and returning to Austin Opera to direct Carmen.

Cecelia Raker, Dramaturge

Cecelia is a librettist and dramaturg from New Mexico. As a queer Jewish artist and parent, she loves play, naps, and disrupting dominant power structures. Current projects include an updated Rumpelstiltskin youth opera commissioned by the Glimmerglass Festival (with Jens Ibsen), a Yiddish-English musical about finding purpose after trauma (with Debra Caplan), and a rollicking trans Gold Rush opera (with Keith Allegretti). Most recently, you might have seen Cecelia and Jens’ opera BUBBIE AND THE DEMON with One Ounce Opera here in Austin last month. Cecelia is based in Austin and Denver. MFA Michener Center for Writers/UT Austin, 2020.

Liam Dolan Henderson, Technical Director

Liam is a Lighting Designer and an Audio Engineer from Austin, Texas. He holds a B.A. in Theater and Dance and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been performing and working in theater since a young age, and has done everything from acting to carpentry, directing, and more.  Liam has worked and designed for the Austin Symphony, Austin Classical Guitar, Ventana Ballet, Butler School of Music, large conventions, and Broadway tours. Liam particularly enjoys designing for the performing arts, and plans to continue to design and create in these fields.

Lisa Goering, Production and Stage Manager

Lisa’s stage management credits include: Middletown, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Flea in Her Ear (St. Edward's University); Hedda Gabler, As You Like It, A Streetcar Named Desire (Austin Shakespeare); The Who's Tommy, Ragtime, The Drowsy Chaperone, RENT, Hairspray (ZACH Theatre); Little Shop of Horrors (Zilker Theatre Productions); and It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Penfold Theatre Company).  Lisa has also worked as an ASM for Austin Opera, and as the Production Manager for Jarrott Productions and ZTP.  In addition, Lisa works as a costume technician locally and regionally.

Clarissa Garcia (Production Assistant)

Clarissa is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management and minor in Nutrition at the University of Texas at Austin. Credits include stage management for In Sisters We Trust, or My F*cked Up American Girl Doll Play (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2022), Address The Body! UTNT (UT New Theatre) (2023), Petrificationology (Cohen New Works Festival) (2023) and SXSW Music Festival, as well as assistant stage management for Alice's Wonderland (Summer Stock Austin).

Luciano Laurentiu, Pianist

Born in Timisoara, Romania where he trained at the Ion Vidu Music Academy, Mr. Laurentiu’s piano instruction continued at Wheaton College and at The Eastman School of Music. Based in Chicago IL until July 2019, he made his piano solo debut on WFMT (Chicago’s premier classical music station) in April 2010 and his Orchestra Hall debut at Symphony Center in November 2015. In Chicago, Luciano Laurentiu was staff accompanist and vocal coach at DePaul University’s School of Music and Chorus Master of the Paderewski Symphony Chorus. 

Phil Davidson, Violin

Phil Davidson is a multi-genre violinist based in Austin, TX. He holds a music degree from Drake University and is a former member of the Des Moines Symphony and Des Moines Metro Opera orchestra.  He currently performs throughout the US and Canada with The Invincible Czars, presenting their own new scores to classic silent films. When in Austin he's an active freelancer and teacher in styles ranging from classical and musical theatre to bluegrass, heavy metal and world music. His recent recording credits include Bond Fusion Music, LOLA - Local Opera Local Artists, Flamenco Symphony, and Muppletone.

Zach Matteson, Violin

Hailing from Montana, Zachariah is proud to call Austin, TX home. He obtained his Bachelors and Master’s at the University of Maryland (studies with David Salness, Kimberly Fisher, and Irina Muresanu) and his Artist Diploma from the University of Texas at Austin (studies with William Fedkenheuer and the Miró Quartet). He is also a member of the quartet+, Invoke, and recently joined the Austin Symphony Orchestra in the Fall of 2023 as a member of the 1st violin section. When he's not fiddling around, you can find him at a local coffee shop writing haikus, or slurping a bowl down from Ramen Tatsuya.

Meagan Peaco, Viola

A native of Ellicott City, Maryland, Meagan began studying viola in 3rd grade. She went on to Carnegie Mellon University where she double majored in Viola Performance and Biology. After graduating, she chose to follow her passion, earning her Master of Music in Viola Performance at UT Austin. Loving the warmth and the amazing music scene, Meagan decided to stay and begin teaching violin and viola. She was a teacher for the UT Austin String Project and has used that background to build a teaching program focusing on the overall growth of her students, primarily based on the Suzuki methodology.

Henna Chou, Cello

Henna Chou (HC) is a sound explorer with experiences living in Tucson, AZ; Overland Park, KS; Berkeley, CA; Ames, IA; Beijing, China; and Montpelier, VT.  Chou enjoys participating in Austin’s creative community as a cellist, guitarist, keyboardist, and sound artist. Previous participations include work with COTFG, Salvage Vanguard Theater, Paper Chairs Theater, BLiPSWiTCH, Collide Arts, The Blanton Museum of Art, The Contemporary Austin, Blanton Museum of Art, New Music Co-Op, Phonography Austin, Golden Hornet, Heloise Gold and The Resonant Lung.

Jessica Blau, Zara

Mezzo-soprano Jessica Blau is a multi-faceted performer working to create dynamic change in the classical music world. In addition to her operatic performances in traditional roles such as Carmen, Cherubino, Rosina, Dorabella, and Nicklausse, she has also studied and performed as a flamenco dancer for over two decades. The love of classical music and flamenco has recently inspired in her the creation of interdisciplinary concerts combining both genres, such as Sojourns on the Silk Road: from the Orient to the Occident (Houston, TX, 2022) and the upcoming Viva España: Songs of Spain from Zarzuela to Flamenco with Portland Opera (2024).

Eric Botto, Adrik

Praised for his “robust voice,” Mexican American tenor Eric Botto has triumphed in romantic leads as Rodolfo (La bohème), Gennaro (Lucrezia Borgia), Alfredo (La traviata), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), and Nadir (Les pêcheurs de perles). This Summer Eric is slated to return to Chautauqua Opera to perform the role of David in Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch’s 2019 opera, Pepito, and to perform with the Chautauqua Symphony in their Opera and Pops event. Eric has received accolades from various competitions in recent years including 2nd place in Lyra New York’s International Vocal Competition, a Career Advancement Award from Pikes Peak Opera League, and recognition from Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges Grant Awards the nationally recognized Lotte Lenya Competition, hosted by the Kurt Weill Foundation.

Kimberly Monzon, Kira

Applauded for her rich and radiant vocal color, Kimberly Monzón has been delighting audiences in opera houses and concert halls throughout the country with vibrant portrayals of leading heroines. Roles to her credit include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Magda in La rondine, Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lucy in A Room with a View, Frasquita in Carmen, Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, Erste Frau in Die Zauberflöte, and Johanna in Sweeney Todd with companies including Columbus Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Idaho, Puget Sound Concert Opera, and Opera Project Columbus.

Scott Clark, Sombras

American Baritone, Scott Clark, feels right at home as an interpreter of new work. He created the role of F. Scott Fitzgerald in the new opera The Ghosts of Gatsby by Evan Mack and Joshua McGuire. He also starred as Homecoming Soldier in Seagle Music Festival’s production The Falling and the Rising by Zach Redler and Jerre Dye. Scott was a Resident Artist with the Opera Columbus and Capital University joint program, where he performed the role of Marco in Gianni Schicchi. Clark was an emerging artist at Seagle Music Festival for two summers; there, he performed the roles of Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. He has been a young artist with Houston Grand Opera’s “Opera to Go” program singing the role of Belcore in The Elixir of Love.

Kevin Arratia-Diaz, Luka

Young Mexican American tenor, Kevin Arratia-Diaz, is a local performer in the Central Texas area, where Kevin has performed with companies such as OPERA San Antonio, Austin Opera, One Ounce Opera, LOLA and newly joined Gilbert and Sullivan Austin as part of their upcoming production, The Yeomen of the Guard, as Leonard and cover for Fairfax June 2024. Also, performed in Italy as Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi and Chorus in La Bohéme. Kevin has performed with choral groups such as Vocem Cordis and debuting with Un/Heard Voices, a T/B chamber ensemble which advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community, in 2024. When not performing, Kevin works as a Sales Associate, Visual Merchandiser and Social Media Influencer for Coach.

Julián Arizola, Coro

Julián Gámez-Arizola (Chorus) is an Austin-based actor, composer, educator, and musician originally from the border city of Laredo, Texas based in Austin, Texas. Most recently, he performed as Victor and sang in the chorus in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna at Austin Opera. Gámez Arizola's acting credits include work with various companies, including Una Noche Buena (2023) at ZACH Theater, Jungle Book (2023) at Austin Scottish Rite Theater, and Los Tequileros with Teatro Vivo (2015). Composing credits include Paquito y Abuelito (2023) at Austin Scottish Rite Theater and Tomas and the Library Lady (2016) at ZACH Theater.

Maureen Broy Papovich, Coro

Maureen Broy Papovich, soprano,  is an active performer, appearing with ensembles around the country as well as local groups including Austin opera, LOLA, One Ounce Opera, San Antonio Chamber Choir, the Texas Bach Festival and Inversion Ensemble.  Inspired by her experience in Austin singing new music, Ms. Papovich has collaborated with local composers to write two new song cycles, The ERA Project with composer, Rain Nox and Most Importantly Loves with composer, Adrienne Inglis.  Please visit her website at maureenbroypapovich.com to learn more about her work.

Melody Chang, Coro

Melody Chang is a Taiwanese American mezzo-soprano and vocal coach. She has captivated audiences with her warm and rich voice. She’s performed with Zach Theatre, Austin Opera, Inversion Ensemble, Density512 and more. She wants to share her gift of music to everyone to make them feel happiness and joy. You can follow her journey @melmusica.

Jesse Enderle

Jesse, an operatic baritone, has graced the stage in diverse roles, contributing to the rich tapestry of opera with his compelling performances. His repertoire spans a variety of works, including leading roles in Susannah, The Mikado, Don Giovanni, and Le nozze di Figaro​​​​. Furthermore, Enderle has demonstrated his adaptability and talent by crossing over into musical theater, highlighting his wide-ranging abilities and appeal as a performer​​.

Robert LeBas, Coro

Mikaela Pace, Coro

Mikaela Pace is a rising Native American soprano from Carrollton, TX. Favorite past roles include Tonina (Prima la musica e poi le parole), Laurie Moss (The Tender Land), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), and Rose Maurant (Street Scene). Since her move to Austin after completing her master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Baylor University (2023), she has performed with various local companies including Once Ounce Opera, Georgetown Palace Theatre, and soon Entr’acte. Mikaela holds a voice studio of 46 students. She is most looking forward to sharing the stage with her former professor and beloved mentor Dr. Kimberly Monzon. Full bio: mikaelapace.com

Elisabeta Racolta, Coro

Austin based, rising Mezzo-Soprano, Elisabeta Racolta, started her performing journey early, appearing before and during her student years in three productions as Cherubino in ‘Le Nozze Di Figaro’, and as the title role, and Mercedes in Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ with Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival under the baton of Leonardo Catalanotto and Emanuele Andrizzi in Italy. Her broad repertoire spanning the 16th to 21st centuries includes opera arias, cantatas, oratorio, folk, Zarzuela and art songs in eight languages.

Holt Skinner, Coro

Holt Skinner is a Countertenor and Tenor originally from West Plains, Missouri and a graduate of the University of Missouri. He actively sings with the Austin based groups Texas Early Music Project, Austin Cantorum, ensemble viii, Local Opera Local Artists, and Inversion Ensemble. He has been featured as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Austin Symphony Orchestra, Bach Cantatas 34 and 172, and the Bach Mass in F Major. He has also performed operatic roles in Handel’s Alcina, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and the premiere of Lardo Weeping. Beyond the stage, Holt channels his technical expertise as a Developer Advocate at Google.