50th Anniversary Gala Performance
Saturday, September 13, 2025 Academy of Music
Gala, but different.
Sarah Marshall, 50th Anniversary Gala Chair
5:00 – 6:00 PM
VIP Cocktail Reception
Academy of Music Ballroom
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Vox Ex Machina performance Academy of Music
8:00 – 11:00 PM Celebration*
Reading Terminal Market
*For Gala Sponsors & Benefactor and VIVACE ticket holders
Opera Philadelphia’s 50th Anniversary Gala performance Saturday, September 13, 2025 Academy of Music
FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY
Stephanie Blythe
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Nicole Heaston
Will Liverman
Daniela Mack
Grant Loehnig
Stage Manager: Jennifer Shaw
Lighting Designer: Drew Billiau
Chorus Master: Elizabeth Braden
Lead Machine Developer: Daniel Belquer
Charles C. Freyer | Chair
Anthony Roth Costanzo*| President
Barbara A. Teichert | Vice Chair
Alexander Hankin | Secretary
David Low | Treasurer
Stephen K. Klasko | Immediate Past Chair
Ira Brind
Lawrence Brownlee
William Dunbar
David Ferguson
Charles C. Freyer
Deena Gu Laties
Alexander Hankin
Peter Leone
David Low
Sarah Marshall
HONORARY MEMBERS
Dennis Alter
H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest †
Stephen A. Madva, Esq., Chairman Emeritus
Alan B. Miller
Alice W. Strine, Esq.
Charlotte Watts
Agnes Mulroney
Nabila Sajid
Nancy Sanders
Carolyn Horn Seidle
Ellen Steiner
Barbara Augusta Teichert
Lisa Washington
Kathleen Weir
Yueyi (Kelly) Zhou
ADVISORY BOARD
Betsy Z. Cohen
Renée Fleming
John Hunter
Henry Timms
If I think deeply about what 50 years means for this incredible company, I start imagining the past 18,524 days of magic. How many great artists have stood on stages all over this city, drawn their bow across a string, crafted a gilded archway, or embroidered a leather lapel? How many staff members have fought to keep the art vibrant, how many supporters have summoned the depths of their vision and generosity so that all of our lives can be made that much better by the beauty opera brings? Every day, for the past 18,524 days, this incredible and ever-growing community has gone that extra mile to make opera come alive. In so doing, they have also transformed it. As someone who has been singing opera for 30 years around the world, I can say with certainty that Opera Philadelphia has changed the trajectory of the art form with the excellence we represent, the artists we have nurtured, and the innovation and bold vision that have made us a leader in our field.
Not only do we get to celebrate all the incredible success, excitement, and work this golden anniversary represents, but we can build on that estimable foundation and scale to new heights. If you look around, you will see long-time Opera Philadelphia supporters and first-time ticket buyers, side by side. Thanks to the success of Pick Your Price, our family is growing fast, and with it, our potential. This gala kicks off our anniversary season, and you will see operas by famous composers from the canon, world premieres, and imaginative works that embody the essence of what opera can be in today’s world. Above all, as you listen to the incredible music this season, and watch the art before your eyes, I hope you feel some kind of emotion. That is what always keeps me coming back to opera. It connects us to our emotions.
Whether you’re counting the years, days, hours, or minutes that have made this company what it is, tonight we will celebrate it all. Thank you to the audiences, artists, staff, supporters, and crucially to the board members who lead this company and are paving the path to its future. As my voice teacher used to say with a wink: Life is short, opera is long!
Warmest,
Anthony Roth Costanzo General Director & President
OPERA PHILADELPHIA WISHES TO THANK THE FOLLOWING GENEROUS SUPPORTERS OF THIS 50TH ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISING EVENT.
SARAH AND BRAD MARSHALL
JUDITH DURKIN FREYER AND CHARLES C. FREYER
JUDY AND PETER LEONE
BALLARD SPAHR LLP
SYLVIA LANKA-BARONE AND WILLIAM BARONE
IRA BRIND AND STACEY SPECTOR
LAURA DRAKE
DAVID HAAS AND LISA CLARK
MR. BRIAN D. PEDROW
NANCY AND BARRY SANDERS
KATIE AND TONY SCHAEFFER
CAROLYN HORN SEIDLE
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM A. SLAUGHTER, ESQ.
MRS. SANDRA K. BALDINO
MRS. JACQUELINE B. MARS
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
LISA WASHINGTON
MADDY & JIM CARLSON
BARBARA EBERLEIN AND JERRY WIND
MS. DEENA GU LATIES
MRS. SHEILA KESSLER
RO AND MARTIN KING
DAVID LOW
DR. JOEL & MRS. ROBERTA PORTER
ELLEN STEINER
SUSAN M. LONG AND ANDREW J. SZABO
ROBERT TAGLIERI AND TIMOTHY MOIR
KATHY AND NICK WEIR
MS. LESLIE WHIPKEY
ELAINE WOO CAMARDA AND A. MORRIS WILLIAMS, JR.
MR. JEFFREY P. CUNARD AND MS. MARIKO IKEHARA
TOBEY AND MARK DICHTER
AMY FINKELSTEIN
DRS. JASON KARLAWISH AND JOHN BRUZA
MS. KATHERINE L. NIVEN
MS. MARTA NOTTEBOHM
HELEN E. PETTIT
EILEEN ROSENAU
BARBARA AUGUSTA TEICHERT
BARBARA A. WALKOWSKI
DR. R. J. WALLNER
ELIZABETH B. WARSHAWER
Gala, but different.
Sarah and Brad Marshall
are proud to support Opera Philadelphia and its 50th Anniversary Season
Tanti affetti (from La donna del lago)
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Daniela Mack
Members of the Opera Philadelphia Chorus
Che farò senza Euridice (from Orfeo ed Euridice)*
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
Stephanie Blythe
Quella fiamma (from Arminio)
GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Geoffrey Deemer, oboe
Dis-moi que je suis belle (from Thaïs)*
JULES MASSENET
Nicole Heaston
Largo al factotum (from Il barbiere di Siviglia)
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Will Liverman
Fearsome this Night (from Wolf-in-Skins)*
GREGORY SPEARS
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Daniela Mack
Listen, Mary… Trust me (from Highway One)
WILLIAM GRANT STILL
Nicole Heaston
Will Liverman
Down by the Riverside*
ARR. DAMIEN SNEED
Will Liverman
Stephanie Blythe
Dan Kazemi, piano
Somewhere (from West Side Story)
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
All Artists
Members of the Opera Philadelphia Chorus
*Live painted by the machine
Ballard Spahr joins in celebrating the 50th Anniversary Gala—a milestone that echoes five decades of artistic brilliance, innovation, and cultural impact.
Gala, but different.
are proud to support Opera Philadelphia and its 50th Anniversary Season David Haas & Lisa Clark
A renowned opera singer, recitalist, and cabaret artist, mezzo-soprano STEPHANIE BLYTHE is one of the most highly respected and critically acclaimed artists of her generation. Her repertoire ranges from Handel to Wagner, French art song to contemporary and classic American song. She has performed on many of the world’s greatest stages, such as Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Paris National Opera and the San Francisco, Chicago Lyric, and Seattle opera house. She starred in the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD broadcasts of Orfeo ed Euridice, Il Trittico, Rodelinda, Cendrillon, and the complete Ring Cycle and also appeared in PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Carousel and her acclaimed show, We’ll Meet Again: The Songs of Kate Smith. Her recordings include her solo album, as long as there are songs (Innova), and works by Mahler, Brahms, Wagner, Handel, and Bach (Virgin Classics). Ms. Blythe was named Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year for 2009. Her other awards include the 2007 Opera News Award and the 1999 Richard Tucker Award. She currently holds the position of Artistic Director of the Bard College Conservatory of Music Graduate Vocal Arts Program.
GRAMMY-winning Countertenor ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. He is the General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia, and the Artistic Director of SongStudio at Carnegie Hall. He has appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious opera companies and orchestras including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Opera National de Paris, Teatro Real, New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, Berlin Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, NDR at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Versailles, Madison Square Garden, The Hollywood Bowl, Kabuki-Za Tokyo, The Guggenheim, The Park Avenue Armory, and Little Island. As a producer, he has created projects for The New York Philharmonic, The BBC Proms, WQXR, and St. Ann’s Warehouse among others. Costanzo graduated with honors from Princeton University and Manhattan School of Music, where he is now on the board of trustees along with being on the board of National Black Theater. A winner of the Met Opera Competition and Operalia, Costanzo also has an Honorary Doctorate from Manhattan School of Music, a History Makers Award from the New York Historical, has been a visiting fellow at Oxford University, and a distinguished visiting scholar at Harvard. He has been in a Merchant Ivory film and has a forthcoming book for Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
NICOLE HEASTON completed her Master’s Degree in Voice at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and received her undergraduate degree in music at the University of Akron. She is a distinguished graduate of Houston Grand Opera’s Butler Studio.
Ms. Heaston’s 2025-2026 season includes returns to Los Angeles Opera, as Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, and Detroit Opera, for a double bill of Kurt Weill’s Down in the Valley and William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA. She sings Britten’s poignant War Requiem with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, conducted David Afkham, and joins both Opera Philadelphia and Opera Roanoke for celebration galas. In the future, she returns to Houston Grand Opera in a leading role.
During the 2024-2025 season, the soprano returned to the role of Claire Devon in the North American premiere of Mazzoli/Vavrek’s The Listeners at Opera Philadelphia; a native Chicagoan, she headlined Lyric Opera of Chicago’s spring 2025 performances of the opera, making her company debut. With the National Symphony Orchestra, she sang the title role in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, led by Gianandrea Noseda and featuring a star cast, and with Houston Grand Opera, premiered a new song cycle by composer Joel Thompson, entitled A Voice Within. Other engagements during the season included a return to the title role of Massenet’s Thaïs with Spoleto Festival USA, a Christmas Program with Houston’s Mercury Chamber Orchestra, and the fiery role of Armida in Detroit Opera’s production of Handel’s Rinaldo.
Recent engagements include the long-awaited world premiere of The Listeners at Den Norkse Opera, Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Houston Grand Opera, and her first career performances of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, at Charleston’s Spoleto Festival USA. Since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, she has appeared several times with the theater, singing Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (conducted by James Levine), and Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos.
Called “a voice for this historic moment” (The Washington Post), GRAMMY® Award-winning baritone WILL LIVERMAN has been praised internationally for his versatility in dramatic and comedic operatic roles and his dedication and vision as a composer, artist, and advisor. He is co-creator of soul opera The Factotum, which premiered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2023.
Liverman has appeared at English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, LA Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Washington National Opera, among many others. At The Met, Liverman made history as the first-ever Black Papageno in The Magic Flute; headlined Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which won a 2023 GRAMMY® Award; and starred in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. He premiered Kevin Puts’ The Manchurian Candidate at Minnesota Opera and Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse at Opera Philadelphia, and served as Artistic Advisor for Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall.
Recent and upcoming concert highlights include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; performances at The Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center; and music festivals including the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Tanglewood, and Aspen.
Cedille Records released Liverman’s Show Me The Way (2024) and Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers (2021), which were both nominated for GRAMMY® Awards for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. In October 2023, Liverman released his first EP, The Dunbar/Moore Sessions - Volume I on Lexicon Classics. Volume II and a special edition CD vinyl release of the complete sessions are slated for release in summer 2025.
A recipient of The Met’s Beverly Sills Artist Award, Liverman holds degrees from The Juilliard School (M.M.) and Wheaton College in Illinois (B.M.). www.willliverman.com.
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 has worked regularly on the music staffs of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Aspen Opera Theater, Festival Napa Valley, and Wolf Trap Opera. He also frequently serves as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
His recital credits include collaborations with Anthony Roth Costanzo, Morris Robinson, Paul Groves, John Holiday, Will Liverman, Marcus DeLoach, and the dance company BalletX. Recordings include a premiere recording of songs of Carlisle Floyd with Susanne Mentzer, art songs of Karim Al-Zand, the premiere recording of David Hertzberg’s opera The Wake World, and the premiere of Tyshawn Sorey’s Save the Boys, written expressly for countertenor John Holiday and Grant.
For over ten years Grant served as Head of Music Staff for Wolf Trap Opera, where he also served as a recitalist and chorus master. He prepared the chorus and small roles for Houston Symphony’s performances of Wozzeck, awarded the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
Grant is a graduate of Macalester College, Manhattan School of Music, Houston Grand Opera Studio, Music Academy of the West, and San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program. Before joining the Curtis Institute faculty, he served on the Opera Studies faculty of Rice University in Houston.
Argentine mezzo-soprano DANIELA MACK stands at the forefront of a new generation of opera singers, bringing a compelling blend of intensity, adventurousness, and effortless charisma to her performances.
This season, Ms. Mack sings Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Houston Grand Opera and Opera Omaha and returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago in El último sueño de Frida y Diego as Frida. On the concert stage, Ms. Mack returns to San Francisco Opera in a program of Beethoven and Falla.
In the 2024-2025 season, Ms. Mack returned to both the Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera as Federico García Lorca in the new production of Ainadamar. She also appeared with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Angela in Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners, with San Francisco Opera as Idamante in Idomeneo, and made her house debut at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia.
Highlights include Ms. Mack’s Metropolitan Opera debut as the Kitchen Boy in Rusalka, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Royal Opera House, Rosmira in Partenope at Teatro Real, Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Teatro de la Maestranza, Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict with the BBC Philharmonic, and Carnegie Hall in Serse with The English Concert.
Born in Buenos Aires, Ms. Mack is an alumna of the Adler Fellowship program at San Francisco Opera, studied at Louisiana State University, and was a finalist in the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
wish Opera Philadelphia a happy Golden Anniversary
Gala, but different.
is proud to support Opera Philadelphia and its 50th Anniversary Season
Soprano
Julie-Ann Green
Jorie Moss
Evelyn Santiago Schulz
Sophia Santiago
Alto
Tanisha L. Anderson
Meghan McGinty
Ellen Grace Peters
Kaitlyn Tierney
Tenor
Nathaniel Bear
Gabriel Feldt
Daniel Taylor
Steve Williamson
Bass
Loren Greer
Daniel Laverriere
Frank Mitchell
John T.K. Scherch
DANIEL BELQUER is a composer, artist, and technologist whose work bridges music, theater, and cutting-edge innovation. Born in Brazil and based in Philadelphia, Belquer has become internationally recognized for creating immersive, multidisciplinary experiences that blend sound, visual art, physical computing, and performance. His artistic language weaves together the traditions of opera, theater, and concert music with experimental technologies such as haptic wearables, interactive sculpture, AI systems, and custom-built electronic instruments.
Belquer’s projects—including Astrocelium, Dramma Queeen, and Jacobz Laddr—have been presented at venues and festivals worldwide, earning acclaim for their bold fusion of innovation and emotional connection. As Artistic and Technical Director of Music: Not Impossible, he helped pioneer wearable technologies that translate sound into vibration, enabling deaf and hearing audiences alike to experience music together. The project was recognized with the Gold Edison Award, Fast Company’s Next Big Thing in Tech, and Time Magazine’s Best Inventions.
In addition to his artistic practice, Belquer is a passionate educator and mentor. He has led workshops and residencies across the U.S., Europe, and Brazil, teaching performers, technologists, and students how digital tools can expand artistic expression. His work is deeply informed by his background as a pianist, vocal coach, and conductor, giving his technological experiments a uniquely musical sensibility.
At the heart of Belquer’s vision is the conviction that art and technology, when intertwined, can open portals to new forms of human connection. His works invite audiences to step into these portals—spaces where voice, sound, and invention converge into transformative experience.
VOX EX MACHINA is a pioneering performance project created in celebration of Opera Philadelphia’s 50th Anniversary. As a company recognized worldwide for its innovation, Opera Philadelphia once again stands at the forefront with this special concert and gala.
Vox Ex Machina is a multidisciplinary artwork where the human voice activates a one-of-a-kind machine that transforms sound into visible form. At its heart is a custom-built apparatus: opera singers project their voices into bespoke software, driving a robotic device that etches their resonances as negative traces onto acrylic plates. Five arias will be sung, producing clear marks on colorful textures that reveal a one-of-a-kind painting placed beneath—each aria creating a unique unveiling. What is normally invisible—breath, emotion, tone—becomes a tangible record of presence, an imprint of voice captured in matter.
The machine has undergone a uniquely innovative, collaborative, and thoughtful process of development and evolution. Early experiments began with a novel project-based course at Drexel University’s ExCITe Center sponsored by Drexel’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships, where students from Mechanical, Electrical, and Biomedical Engineering collaborated with peers from the Music Industry Program to prototype and refine the core mechanics and software. Under Daniel Belquer’s leadership, four distinct prototypes emerged, and elements were combined, elevated, and re-engineered by a team of Drexel students and interns over the summer, ultimately evolving into the piece premiering on this occasion.
The project’s title, Vox Ex Machina, draws inspiration from ancient Greek theater’s “Deus Ex Machina”—a stage device used to introduce gods into mortal dramas. Here, however, it is the human voice itself that descends as the divine force, shaping the stage and altering the environment.
Presented as part of Opera Philadelphia’s 50th Anniversary Season, Vox Ex Machina offers a radical rethinking of operatic tradition: an encounter where voice is not only heard but seen, sculpted, and inscribed into the world. It is intended to honor and celebrate this genre, which has driven artistic and technological innovation for centuries.
Project Director ...................................................................................................... Daniel Belquer
Academic Supervisor Dr. Youngmoo Kim
Assistant Supervisor ................................................................................................... Cole Seidel
Circuit Design & Electronics ..................................................................................... Jacob Zolda
Mechanical Design Burak Demirelli
Machinist & Electrician ................................................................................................... David Lu
Software Design Luke Hathaway
Thanks to Drexel University: ExCITe Center, College of Engineering, Music Industry Program, Professor Ryan Moys and the students of the 2025 MIP T380 class, Stephen Dickerson, and Drew Billau.
Assistant Stage Manager ......................................................................... Lillian Welsh
Principal Pianist Grant Loehnig
Properties Supervisor ..................................... Avista Custom Theatrical Services, LLC
Head Electrician .................................................................. Christopher Hetherington
Head Properties .............................................................................. Samantha Higgins
Head Flyman .................................................................................... Magnus Adamow
Programmer / Assistant Electrician John Allerheiligen
Additional Production Support .......................................................... OP Scene Shop
Special thanks to Cecilia Dean
Opera Philadelphia thanks the following labor organizations whose members, artists, craftsmen, and craftswomen greatly contribute to our performances:
American Federation of Musicians, Local 77 is the collective bargaining agent for Opera Philadelphia Orchestra musicians.
American Guild of Musical Artists / The American Guild of Musical Artists, the union of professional singers, dancers, and production personnel in opera, ballet, and concert, affiliated with the AFL-CIO, represents the Artists and Staging Staff for all purposes of collective bargaining.
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees / Local 8
Theatrical Wardrobe Union / Local 799, I.A.T.S.E.
United Scenic Artists / Local 829, I.A.T.S.E.
Box Office and Front of House Employees Union / Local B29, I.A.T.S.E.
Highway Truck Drivers and Helpers / Local 107, Teamsters
Philadelphia
Vox
wish Opera Philadelphia a happy Golden Anniversary
By F. Paul Driscoll
The history of Opera Philadelphia, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this season, is distinguished not only by the company’s remarkable record of artistic excellence but by its singular commitment to change and innovation. Just as the city of Philadelphia has changed and grown during the last half-century, so has its principal opera company changed and grown and reinvented itself, making the city a destination for lovers of arts and culture. Opera Philadelphia’s cutting-edge performances and productions are all informed by an unwavering commitment to the highest standards in singing, staging, design and orchestral performance. With all due respect to the glories of the past, opera’s only chance to survive and prosper—its only shot to engage the passions and the pocketbooks of contemporary audiences—is to embrace change, whether through new work, new production schemes or new venues.
Opera has always been welcome in Philadelphia. In the eighteenth century, light-hearted “ballad operas,” such as The Beggar’s Opera, were popular in Philadelphia theaters, but the city’s first proper “grand opera” production was The Libertine, an English-language adaptation of Mozart’s Don Giovanni offered at the Chestnut Street Theater in 1818. Opera came of age in Philadelphia in 1857, when the glorious Academy of Music on South Broad Street was inaugurated with Verdi’s Trovatore — just four years after that opera’s world premiere in Rome. The Academy’s opera presentations since then have included the U.S. premieres of Wagner’s Fliegende Holländer (1876) and Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos (1928), among many other works, and more than fifty years of regular appearances by the Metropolitan Opera, which brought top-tier opera stars to Philadelphia every Tuesday night.
After the Met’s regular visits to Philadelphia stopped in 1961, two beloved “hometown” opera companies, Philadelphia Grand Opera Company and the Philadelphia Lyric Opera, thrived by presenting productions of standard-repertoire titles that were thrillingly sung but (all too often) woefully under-rehearsed and underfunded. The two companies decided to merge in 1975, creating the Opera Company of Philadelphia, which would be renamed Opera Philadelphia in 2013.
Broadcasting executive Max M. Leon, board president and general manager of Philadelphia Grand Opera Company, was the new company’s first general director. Born in Poland, Leon immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and was an active force in the musical life of Philadelphia as conductor, impresario and patron for the rest of his life. Leon’s first presentation for the new company was Gounod’s Faust, with twenty-eight-yearold bass-baritone James Morris as Méphistophélès. Leon’s other productions included Anna Bolena starring Renata Scotto and Samuel Ramey, and the world premiere of The Hero. A comic opera commissioned from Pulitzer Prize-winner Gian Carlo Menotti to honor of the U.S. Bicentennial, The Hero failed to score with either critics or audiences.
Leon’s successor as general director was veteran arts administrator J. Edward Corn, who tapped conductor Julius Rudel as the company’s artistic advisor. Corn’s résumé included management roles at San Francisco Opera, St. Louis Municipal Opera, St. Louis Symphony and the Metropolitan Opera. He brought the company a renewed emphasis on education that inspired a delightful production of Joseph Baber and John Gardner’s children’s opera Rumpelstiltskin, produced by Margaret Anne Everitt, OCP’s director of educational and community services. After Corn left OCP to become the director of the NEA’s new opera and musical theater program, Everitt succeeded him as the company’s third general director.
Everitt’s years as general director were adventurous, exuberant and controversial. Under Everitt, OCP programming occasionally featured high-concept Regietheater stagings that alienated conservatives, as in Bernard Uzan’s polarizing 1985 staging of Le Damnation de Faust, which fused the character of Faust with composer Hector Berlioz to create a hospitalized protagonist in the throes of a drug-induced fantasy. Everitt provided Philadelphia audiences with plenty of star power on stage during the 1980s —
Régine Crespin took on Madame Flora in Menotti’s The Medium in 1986 and Jessye Norman headlined a 1982 double bill of Oedipus Rex and Dido and Aeneas — but the biggest star of the Everitt years was tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who lent his name and donated his services to a vocal competition produced by OCP. The Luciano Pavarotti International Vocal Competition brought great visibility to the company and to a host of young singers, but it was time-consuming, costly and a major drain on OCP’s resources.
Everitt stepped down in 1991 and was succeeded by Robert B. Driver, who was general and artistic director of Syracuse Opera and the artistic director of both Indianapolis Opera and Opera Memphis. Driver’s solid grounding in business and in opera allowed him to reduce the sizable deficit he had inherited by making fiscally responsible decisions, such as severing relations with the Pavarotti competition, whatever the cost to his popularity. During his tenure, Driver expanded the number of OCP performances per production and increased the company subscriber base. He implemented supertitles for all performances and introduced Philadelphia students to opera through Sounds of Learning, a muchadmired and highly effective educational program. Driver also had a keen eye for young talent, offering early career opportunities to artists such as Stephanie Blythe, Christine Goerke, Nathan Gunn, Juan Diego Flórez, Gregg Baker, Angela Brown and Patricia Racette. In 2005, the company appointed its first music director—Corrado Rovaris, a deft, elegant Italian maestro who made his OCP debut leading L’italiana in Algeri in 2000. Twenty years later, Rovaris continues to elicit performances of impressive responsiveness and musical depth from his orchestra.
The successful 2006 company premiere of Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’s Margaret Garner—a co-commission with Michigan Opera Theatre and Cincinnati Opera— marked the increasing importance of new work to Opera Company of Philadelphia. New work and innovative production methods would be key components in the Philadelphia career of Canadian David Devan, who succeeded Driver as general director in 2011. Devan also oversaw the company’s 2013 rebranding as Opera Philadelphia, an expression of the company’s commitment to the entire city.
In 2014, Devan told Opera News, “We want to be one of the leading instigators of new work in the country.” During Devan’s thirteen-year tenure, the company created eighteen new operas. With the future of the art form in mind, Opera Philadelphia introduced the first comprehensive Composer in Residence program in the United States. The composers chosen for the program, funded by the Mellon Foundation, take part in personalized learning tracks providing opportunities to cultivate their skills in all aspects of opera production. Three works created by members of the Composer in Residence program won “Best New Opera” awards from the Music Critics Association of North America: Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves (2016), David Hertzberg’s The Wake World (2017) and Rene Orth and Hannah Moskovitch’s 10 Days in a Madhouse (2023).
In 2017, the company inaugurated a groundbreaking new festival format, offering performances throughout the city at venues from the Academy of Music and the Perelman Theater to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Collection. The inaugural festival, O17, offered the world premiere of the genre-defying We Shall Not Be Moved, by Daniel Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Elizabeth Cree, a Victorian murder mystery opera by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell. Subsequent festivals presented the world premieres of Lembit Beecher and Hannah Moscovitch’s touching Sky on Swings (2018), Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s unforgettable tragedy Denis & Katya (2019) and Glass Handel (2018) an art installation/performance piece presented at the Barnes Foundation. Inspired by the music of George Frideric Handel and Philip Glass, the performance was devised by visionary countertenor and producer Anthony Roth Costanzo, an artist whose association with Opera Philadelphia began in 1996, when he sang the Shepherd Boy in a gala performance of Tosca with Luciano Pavarotti.
When Devan retired as general director and president of Opera Philadelphia, Costanzo was named as his successor, officially taking up the position on June 1, 2024 — and immediately building on the company’s reputation for innovation. In August 2024, Costanzo announced the launch of Pick Your Price, a pay-what-you-can model for the 2024–2025 season, with all tickets for all performances starting at $11. In a New York Times interview, Costanzo explained, “Our goal is to bring opera to more people and more people to the opera.” The plan seems to be working: the day the initiative was announced, Opera Philadelphia sold more than 2,200 tickets for the new season, compared to twenty the day before. In August 2025, as the company prepared to open its new season with Damiano Michieletto’s staging of Il Viaggio a Reims, Costanzo reported in an interview with WHYY radio’s Cherri Gregg that Opera Philadelphia had been the only sold-out opera company in the United States during the 2024–25 season. The upcoming Opera Philadelphia season, the first fully curated by Costanzo, begins a new chapter in the company’s history with a mix of Vivaldi, Rossini and brandnew works — and promises to be one of the company’s most exciting seasons ever.
F. Paul Driscoll is the former editor of Opera News
1975 – The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company and the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company merge to form the Opera Company of Philadelphia. 1976 – The Opera Company of Philadelphia presents the World Premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Hero, in honor of America’s bicentennial.
1978 – J. Edward Corn becomes the company’s general director, and Julius Rudel is named Artistic Consultant.
1979 – In partnership with Iowa State University and the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Music at the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Opera Company of Philadelphia revives and updates the great band leader John Philip Sousa’s operetta The Free Lance
1980 – Our production of The Magic Flute uses visual technology developed in collaboration with The Franklin Institute.
1981 – Margaret Ann Everitt Becomes General Director. The First Pavarotti International Voice Competition is held.
1983 – Opera Company of Philadelphia wins an Emmy for “Pavarotti in Philadelphia: La bohème”.
1988 – Deborah Voigt and Roberto Alagna, along with many other talented singers, win the Pavarotti Voice Competition.
1991 – Robert Driver becomes General Director. The Sounds of Learning program begins as a trial, bringing Philadelphia students to a dress rehearsal of Rigoletto
1996 – The final Pavarotti International Voice Competition takes place. A gala performance of Tosca is presented, starring Pavarotti and featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo as the Shepherd Boy.
1997 – The Opera Company of Philadelphia partners with the Curtis Institute of Music, American Vocal Academy, and others to present OperaFest Philadelphia, in honor of 400 years of opera.
2001 – The Opera Company of Philadelphia officially becomes a Resident Company of the Kimmel Center.
2005 – The Opera Company of Philadelphia appoints its first Music Director, Maestro Corrado Rovaris.
2009 – David Devan Becomes General Director of the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
2011 – The company launches the American Repertoire Program and the Composer in Residence Program.
2013 – The Opera Company of Philadelphia undergoes a rebranding, emerging as Opera Philadelphia.
2017 – Opera Philadelphia’s annual fall festival launches with O17, featuring world premieres of We Shall Not Be Moved, Elizabeth Cree, and The Wake World.
2020 – Opera Philadelphia Channel is launched, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2024 – World-famous countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is named General Director. The company launches its innovative Pick Your Price Initiative.
2025 – Opera Philadelphia celebrates 50 years with Vox Ex Machina.
applaud Opera Philadelphia on 50 years of excellence
Gala, but different.
Mrs. Sandra K. Baldino
is proud to support
Opera Philadelphia and its 50th Anniversary Season
Covering the arts since 1829 and Opera Philadelphia since 1975. Brava on your 50th anniversary!
Gala, but different.
David Low
is proud to support Opera Philadelphia and its 50th Anniversary Season
Lisa Washington
wishes Opera Philadelphia a happy Golden Anniversary
Opera Philadelphia expresses our deepest gratitude to the individuals and institutions whose support allows us to bring you Vox Ex Machina.
Wyncote Foundation at the Recommendation of Frederick Haas
E.A. Michelson Philanthropy
Barbara Augusta Teichert
Wyncote Foundation at the Recommendation of David Haas
Barbara and Amos Hostetter
Jean and Gene Stark
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel
Diamonstein-Spielvogel Foundation
Judy and Peter Leone
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
Carolyn Horn Seidle
The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
The William Penn Foundation
Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation
Bloomberg Philanthropies
The Buck Family Foundation
Ira Brind and Stacey Spector
Judith Durkin Freyer and Charles C. Freyer
Sarah and Brad Marshall
Mrs. John P. Mulroney
Katie Adams Schaeffer and Tony Schaeffer
Edith Carol Stein
Paul L. King
Anonymous
Lorraine Alexander†
Willo Carey and Peter A. Benoliel†
Ms. Deena Gu Laties, in honor of Willo Carey
Christian Humann Foundation
Independence Foundation
Donald and Gay Kimelman
The H.F. Lenfest Fund
Steven Pesner
The Presser Foundation
Dr. Renée Rollin
Michael L. Spolan
Ellen Steiner
The Tang Fund
Bells Grocery Store
Comcast NBCUniversal
Cunningham Piano Company
Eugene Garfield Foundation
Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman Venture Fund for New Opera
Dr. Frank F. Furstenberg
Linda and David Glickstein
Mark and Helene Hankin Family
Katherine and John Karamatsoukas
Mrs. Sheila Kessler
Joel and Sharon Koppelman
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Little Jr.
Andrew J. Martin-Weber
Constance C. Moore†
National Endowment for the Arts
Nancy and Barry Sanders
Mr. Robert J. Schena
Platinum Patron
William A. Barone & Ms. Sylvia K. Lanka-Barone
Myron and Sheila S. Bassman
Carol S. Eicher
Bonnie and Lon Greenberg
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joe Neubauer
PECO
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
David and Susan Rattner
Donald Schwarz and Andrew Gelber
Kathy and Nick Weir
Diamond Patron
Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Anonymous
Chubb Limited
Mark and Peggy Curchack
Feather O. Houstoun
Mr. Jeffrey P. Cunard and Ms. Mariko Ikehara
Mr. William A. Loeb
David Low
Ms. Jacqueline B. Mars
The McLean Contributionship
Tom and Jody O'Rourke
Drs. Richard and Rhonda Soricelli
Mrs. Keith R. Straw
Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Wechsler
Ann Ziff
Gold Patron
Mr. James P. Macelderry† and Ms. Marilyn S. Fishman
Silver Patron
Alice Barone†
Ms. Sarah Billinghurst Solomon
Robert and Julie Jensen Bryan
Georgette Ciukurescu
George S Day, Phd and Alice Donavin Day
Kay Deaux
Dr. Bruce Eisenstein in memory of Dr. Toby Eisenstein
David M. Ferguson, Ph.D.
Dr. Garrett FitzGerald
Deborah Glass, in memory of Leonard Mellman
Joan and William Goldstein
Gray Charitable Trust
Ms. Rhoda K. Herrold
Mr. Kenneth Klothen and Ms. Eve Biskind
KPK Development Co.
Camille Dickinson Labarre
Anne Silvers Lee and Wynn Lee
The Leone Family, in memory of Joseph G. Leone
Carol and Howard Lidz
Liddy Lindsay
Dr. and Mrs. Michael B. Love
Susan and Graham McDonald
Ms. Katherine L. Niven
OPERA America
Seán and Colleen O'Riordan
The Dean and Zoe Pappas Family Foundation
Bill Robling and Deborah R. Kravetz
Stuart A. Schwartz and Sheila Jamison-Schwartz
Dr. Barry R. Shatzman
Mr. Jonathan H. Sprogell and Ms. Kathryn Taylor
Mr. Andrew Szabo and Ms. Susan M. Long
The Philadelphia Contributionship
Universal Health Services
Ms. Marta Barbeosch Varela
Lisa Washington
Ms. Linda Wingate and Dr. William Liberi
Bronze+ Patron
Thomas S. Heckman and Mary Jo Ashenfelter
Jim & Maddy Carlson
William Lake Leonard, Esq.
Helen E. Pettit
Mrs. Louise H. Reed
Dr. R.J. Wallner
Bronze Patron
Lydia Alvarez, in memory of Isabelle Ferguson
Anonymous
Ms. Susan Asplundh
Chestnut Hill Rotary Club
Eugene and Virginia Beier
Mrs. Joanne Berwind
Mr. Allen D. Black and Mr. R. Randolph Apgar
Carrie and J. Bradley Boericke
Nancy Brodie
Elaine Woo Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr.
Anonymous
James Cohen
Mr. Stephen Cohen and Mr. John McNett
Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation
Eduardo Glandt and George Ritchie
Ms. Juliet J. Goodfriend and Dr. Marc R. Moreau
Anonymous
Michelle Harde
Brad M Hoppenfeld M.D.
Jeffrey R. Jowett
Mr. and Mrs. David Levy
Matthew Ligman
Dwight and Christina McCawley
Anonymous
Ninja Transfers LLC
Dr. and Mrs. A. H. Nishikawa
Rush Order Tees
David Craig and Jackie Renner
Anonymous
Joyce Seewald Sando
Mr. and Mrs. Curtis E. Sawyer
Nancy and Joel Streim
The Rev. Richard L. Ullman
Mr. Mark L. Villamar and Ms. Esther Milsted Esq.
Peter J. Wender
Carol Westfall
Dr. Leah Whipple
Janet Yaseen Foundation
Ms. Ana-Maria V. Zaugg and Mr. David W. Anstice
Mr. Robert Zimet
Partner
Scott Alexander
Mr. Abraham Axler
Karen Bedrosian-Richardson
Ellen Berelson and Lawrence Franks
Susan Bienkowski
Nicholas Alexander Brown
Bruce Chemel
Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony B. Creamer III
Allyson Dezii
Tobey and Mark Dichter
Ms. Vivian Barton Dozor
Dr. Andrew F. Drake
Elise Drake
Robert and Monica Driver
William and Fay Dunbar
Mr. and Ms. Robert S. Duplessis
Mary Fallon, in loving memory of
Steven Wayne Parr
Mrs. Amy Finkelstein
Jim and Kay Gately
Andrew R. Gelber in memory of Sylvia Gelber
Marsha Lynn Gordon and Javier Garcia
Mr. George Graham and Mr. Kyle Merker
Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
David and Ann Harrison, Esqs.
James Haughom
Eileen Kennedy and Robert Heim
Ms. Susan Henry
Drs. Christina L. and Richard J. Herring
Rochelle and Ron Kaiserman
Alan Karr and Jeanne Ruane
Mr. Jason Kucza
Beste Kuru
Laura LaRosa
Fran Levy and Leon L. Levy
Mr. John Mastrobattista and Ms. Madeline Leone
Anonymous
John McGinley
Drs. Joseph and Jane McGowan
Dr. Judy Catherine Miner
Mr. Benjamin F. Minick
Steven Z. Mitchell
Anonymous
W. Larz Pearson and Rick Trevino
Patricia Perfect
Ms. Jane Rath
Anonymous
Anne Faulkner Schoemaker
Estate of Robert Schoenberg
Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Scott
Paul and Susan Shaman
Janet Wilson Smith
Steven A Gold Charitable Educational Institutions Trust
Marion and Richard Taxin
Steven Voudouris
Laurie Wagman
Bond Wann
Bob Washburn & Judy Drasin
Arnold Weiss
Barbara Eberlein and Jerry Wind
Dr. Dilys V. Winegrad
Stephen Zeller
Mrs. Kelly Zhou and Dr. Brett Frankel
Mr. George J. Ahern
Jean W. Arnold
Marilyn P. Asplundh
Mrs. Sandra K. Baldino
Frances and Michael Baylson
Kenneth R. Hartell & Andrea Biondo
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Blair
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Broadt
Dr. Howard and Mrs. Tova Brooks
Mr. Leo M. Carey and Ms. Sonya D. Mouzon
Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas P. Cernansky
Ms. Vistula Chapman-Smith and Mr. Robert L. Smith
Frank Tobin & Ilene Chester
wishes Opera Philadelphia a happy Golden Anniversary Ellen Steiner
Susan M. Long and Andrew J. Szabo
applaud Opera Philadelphia on 50 years of excellence
Jonathan Conant
Ms. Micaela de Lignerolles
Mr. Paul Desanctis
Robert and Florence Dolceamore
Dr. Jean Dowdall and Mr. George Dowdall
Mr. John Driscoll
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph B. D'Silva
Dr. John J. Duffy and Dr. William F. Edmiston
Mr. Scott Dyer
James R. Fairburn
Barry Fisch
Mr. and Mrs. William W. Fox, Jr.
Ms. Lois Fried
Linda Dubin Garfield
Michael Gealt Ph.D.
Ms. Sandra E. Goodstein
Mrs. Kate Hall
Ms. Kathleen Harleman
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Hauser
Mr. Charles Head, Jr. and Mr. John Faggotti, In Memory of John Ventura
Dr. Archibald C. Hewes
Clark Hooper Baruch
Lee M. Huber
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hurtig
Mr. Wallace Hussong
Judith Insell
Dr. and Mrs. William Jantsch
Ms. Marianne Kah
Ms. Lisa Kahn
Drs. Jason Karlawish and John Bruza
Richard and Grace Karschner
Jo Ann Klein
Mrs. Anne Kohn
Joanne Kornoelje
Laura A. Lane and David R. DeVoe
Rebecca A. Lee
Drs. Jerry D. & Julie Maranze Levitt
Mr. Jeffrey Lienert
Dr. Thomas S. Lin
Ms. Maria Maccecchini
Cirel and Howard Magen
Dr. Richard J. Mandel
Joseph M. Manko, Sr.
Marica D. Levy
Paul J. Martin
Ms. Missy Mazzoli
Mr. George H. McNeely
Mr. Robert J. McShea, Jr. and Mr. Bill Ward
Moscow Philanthropic Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Munson
Anonymous
Mark and Abigail Nestlehutt
Peter O'Dwyer
Mr. Stephen Perry
Anne Peterson
Mr. Yves Quintin and Ms. Rosanne Loesch
Cheryl Gunter and Paul Rabe
David Rhody
Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Rohde
Dr. Pamela Rootenberg and Dr. David T. Springer
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel R. Ross
Katherine Sachs
Mr. Walter Schlosser Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. Hass Shafia
Barbara and George Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Corey R. Smith
Mary M Sproat
Dylan Steinberg & Amey Hutchins
Mr. Daniel Szyld and Ms. Kathleen Ross
Ms. Judith Tannenbaum
Termini Bros. Bakery
Mr. John J. Trifiletti
Mrs. Peggy Wachs
Dr. Steven and Janet Weinberger
Kenneth and Susan Weiss
The Corporate Giving Society generously supports Opera Philadelphia’s artistic and educational programming through contributions and in-kind donations.
Ballard Spahr LLP
Termini Brothers Bakery
Steve Voudouris
For more information about sponsorship opportunities, EITC contributions, or to join Opera Philadelphia’s Corporate Giving Society contact JT Newman, CFRE, Director of Development at 215.893.5911 or newman@operaphila.org
Businesses that support Opera Philadelphia may be eligible for Pennsylvania’s Education Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC). Help students explore the magic of opera AND earn tax credits! Learn more at operaphila.org/eitc
If you love the special magic of an Opera Philadelphia experience, consider including the Opera in your estate plans. In doing so, you will join a community of supporters that help to ensure great operatic memories for generations to come. When you bequeath a gift of cash or stock, or make the Opera the beneficiary of your IRA or life insurance policy, you make a truly meaningful gift that costs nothing now, yet benefits the company later.
Making a legacy gift admits you into the Legato Society, which brings you closer to the art you love and connects you to others who share your legacy goals. We are proud to salute our Legato Society members in all Opera Philadelphia performance programs.
To learn more about making a planned gift or about the Legato Society, visit operaphila.org/legato, or contact JT Newman, Director of Development, at newman@operaphila.org
Anonymous (9)
Lorraine and Ben Alexander†
Mary Jo Ashenfelter and Thomas S. Heckman
Mr. Kenneth H. Barr
Myron and Sheila S. Bassman
Mr.† and Mrs. Robert Bergen
Ms. Jane A. Berryman
Dr. Claire Boasi
Dr. Rita B. Bocher
Mr. Michael Bolton and Mr. Peter Keleher
Mrs. Sheila Buckley
Ms. Willo Carey
Dr. Thomas A. Childers and Dr. John B. Hall
Miss Lucy Clemens
Joan and Frederick Cohen
Dianne and Don Cooney
Mr.† and Mrs. Arthur Covello
Ms. Ginny L. Coyle
Mr. W. Kenneth Cressman and Mr. Lloyd Christy†
Ms. Joan DeJean†
Robert and Monica Driver
Mrs. Antoinette DuBiel
Dr. Bruce Eisenstein
Eddie and Rachel Eitches
James R. Fairburn
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Fanelli, Jr.
Susan and Bill Firestone
Aron and Joan Fisher
Judith Durkin Freyer and Charles C. Freyer
Mr. Timothy V. Gardocki
Linda Dubin Garfield
Mrs. Marjorie E. Garwig†
Gail Hauptfuhrer
Mr. Charles Head, Jr. and Mr. John Faggotti
Stephen T. Janick
Mr. Karl Janowitz and Ms. Amy Goldman
Mr. and Mrs. Joel E. Jensen†
Jeffrey R. Jowett
Mrs. Sheila Kessler
Gabrielle & Ernest Kimmel
Mr. Michael Knight
Mr. Tom Laporta
Anne Silvers Lee and Wynn Lee
John T. Lehman
Marguerite and Gerry† Lenfest
Karen† and Michael Lewis
Carol and Howard Lidz
Mr. William A. Loeb†
Mr. Larry Thomas Mahoney
Dwight and Christina McCawley
Drs. Joseph and Jane McGowan
Mrs. Lois Meyers
Mr. Siddhartha Misra
Constance C. Moore†
Helen E. Pettit
David Rhody
Dr. Scott F. Richard
Dr. Renée Rollin
Jeffrey and Kendell Saunders
Robert Schoenberg†
Carolyn Horn Seidle
Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Shannon
Mr. Jonathan H. Sprogell and Ms. Kathryn Taylor
Ellen Steiner
Mr. Kenneth R. Swimm
Mr. Andrew Szabo and Ms. Susan M. Long
Mr. Victor Tees
Mr. Michael Toklish
Christina M. Valente, Esq.
Charlotte Watts
Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Wechsler
Drs. Anne and Jim † Williamson
Kelley Wolfington and Richard Wolfington
Karen A. Zurlo Ph.D. and Philip Levin Esq.
Gala, but different.
Leslie Whipkey and Lee Hoffman
are proud to support Opera Philadelphia and its 50th Anniversary Season
Yes, this is the two-page spread where we ask for your support. But it’s also the moment to thank you for 50 years of joy, risk, and discovery.
You know how it goes… we tell you all the amazing things we’ve done: producing some of the best opera around, making all tickets $11 or Pick Your Price, becoming the only sold out opera company in America, provoking thought, wringing emotion, and inspiring community.
You read these things, nod your head, remember your favorite experiences here, and start to flip the page.
WAIT! Don’t flip just yet!
This 50th season marks a milestone celebrating both where we’ve been and where we’re going. For half a century, we’ve married tradition and innovation: great works from the canon alongside bold, brand-new operas that speak to today. But we are just getting started, and this is your moment to help shape what opera can mean for the next generation.
We need art more than ever right now.
If you’ve ever felt joy, exhilaration, tears, or laughter in one of these seats, don’t let it end here. Scan the QR code and make sure great opera thrives for years to come.
Thank you for being part of this extraordinary story.
Your Gift. Great Art. Opera for All.
Robert Taglieri and Timothy Moir
celebrate Opera Philadelphia and Vox Ex Machina
wish Opera Philadelphia a happy Golden Anniversary Nick and Kathy Weir
Anthony Roth Costanzo, General Director & President
Corrado Rovaris, Jack Mulroney Music Director
Veronica Chapman-Smith, Vice President of Community Initiatives
Jonathan Neumann, Chief Development Officer
Catherine Reay, Vice President of Administration & Human Resources
MUSIC
Michael Eberhard, Director of Casting & Artistic Administration
Sarah Williams, Director of New Works & Creative Producer
Elizabeth Braden, Director of Music & Chorus
Grant Loehnig, Head of Music Staff
Nathan Lofton, Orchestra Contractor & Personnel Manager
Timothy M. Ressler, Orchestra Librarian & Personnel Coordinator
J. Robert Loy, Assistant Librarian
PRODUCTION
Bridget A. Cook, Director of Production
Drew Billiau, Director of Design & Technology
Stephen Dickerson, Technical Director
Millie Hiibel, Costume Director
Emily Wanamaker, Associate Director of Production
DEVELOPMENT
Derren Mangum, Director of Institutional Giving
Adele Mustardo, Director of Events
JT Newman, CFRE, Director of Development
Veronika Perez, Development Manager
Colby Calhoun, Development Operations Manager
Claire Frisbie, Director of Marketing
Michael Knight, Director of Guest Services
Jeffrey Mason, Guest Services Manager
Yvette Bedgood, Guest Services Associate
Frank Luzi, Public Relations Consultant
Ryan Self, Graphic Design
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
Dr. Lily Kass, Scholar in Residence & Program Manager, Dress Rehearsal
Valentina Sierra, Program Manager, Residency
Abby Weissman, Manager of Youth and Community Programs
Elizabeth Gautsche, Teaching Artist
Chloe Lucente, Teaching Artist
Chabrelle Williams, Community Arts Facilitator
Karim Boyd, Backstage Pass Consultant
SCENE
Daniel Jin Applebaum
Courtney Beck
Linda Jackson
Gwyneth Muller
Aisha Wiley
SPECIAL CONSULTANTS
Javier Fuentes
John Thorpe
FINANCE
Jeremiah Marks, CFO Client Consultant
COUNSEL
Ballard Spahr, LLP, General Counsel
