Ran-Arthur Braun. Before turning to directing and during his post-graduate studies - Ran sang, among others, at the Genova Opera House; Carlo Felice; Auditorium Dijon; Opera D'Avignon; Opera Toulouse; Opera Reims; Besançon; Rennes; Versailles; Palais des Beaux-arts; La Sala Costa; Genova; H.D.K. Berlin; Royal Conservatory The Hague; The Jerusalem Academy and The Jerusalem Theater.
Since 2002/3, Ran has worked primarily as a Fight Choreographer / Assistant Stage Director and Stage Manager, as well as achieving directorial credit on a personal level.
Ran studied at the Opera Studio La Monnaie with Keith Warner, Willy Decker and Christof Loy.
His list of credits includes: Teatro Mancineli, Orvieto; Teatro di Cagli; Amsterdam Opera Studio; Wien Kammeroper; Opera Zuid; Dordrecht Festival; I.V.A.I. (workshop run by the New Israeli Opera, N.Y. Metropolitan Opera); Celebration Barn, Maine; La Monnaie Opera Studio; Flanders Opera Studio,Flanders Opera, Abu Gosh Festival; Jerusalem Festival; Reisopera,Teatro Vercelli, Teatro Nuovo – Torino, Jeugdtheaterhofplein – Rotterdam, Teatro Monte Granara, Cami Hall - NY, Hudson River Theater - NY, The Citadel Theater,Theater Compagnie - Amsterdam, The North Netherlands Theater Company, Schouwburg Roosendaal, Bregenzer Festival and Bemus Festival.
Ran was the first Resident Stage director at the Fight Directors Workshop in Maine, USA. He is also the co-ordinator of the first International Fight Directors Workshop in Amsterdam.
Festival edition: July 2004 (Opera Barocca).
Ran-Arthur Braun: rantenor@hotmail.com.
 

Steven Daigle, associate professor of opera and dramatic director of Eastman Opera Theatre, has served as part of the artistic staff for more than 200 lyric theater productions, along with calling over 400 professional operatic performances as a production stage manager.
He received his bachelor's degree in vocal education and performance from Southeastern Louisiana University. He received his master of music degree in opera stage directing from Florida State University, where he studied with Lincoln Clark.
As a singer, he has performed major roles in productions of "A Little Night Music", "Hello Dolly", "Le nozze de Figaro", "La Perichole", "Die Fledermaus", "Patience", "Gianni Schicchi", "The Medium", "Guys and Dolls", "Kiss Me Kate", and "South Pacific", among others.
Daigle's experience as a stage director encompasses a range of repertory for the lyric theatre stage. Directing credits include "Il Turco in Italia", "Cosi Fan Tutte", "Transformations", "La Bohème", "Passion", "Suor Angelica", "The Goblin Market", "Le nozze di Figaro", "Candide", "Xerxes", "The Turn of the Screw", "Albert Herring", "Die Fledermaus", "Patience", "The Tender Land", "Porgy and Bess", "L'elisir d'Amore", "The Merry Widow", "The Sorcerer", "Robinson Crusoe", "The Desert Song", "The Grand Duke", "Countess Maritza", "The Gypsy Princess", "Angelique", "Gianni Schicchi", "Trouble in Tahiti", "Christopher Sly", "Signor Deluso", "Riders to the Sea", "Camelot", "Annie", and "Man of La Mancha" - for the Ohio Light Opera Company, Eastman, The Lyric of Atlanta, Oberlin Conservatory, Louisiana State University, Florida State Opera, South Georgia Opera, Columbia Theatre Players and Kent State Opera Workshop. Productions include collaborations with Robert Ward, Carlisle Floyd, Louis Lane, Robert Spano and Evan Whallon.
Articles and reviews of Daigle's work have been published in Opera News, Opera London, American Record Guide, Gramophone, Fanfare, Classical Singer, and Opera Now.
With the Ohio Light Opera Company, he has served as stage manager (1990-93), assistant director (1994-95), and general manager (1997-98). In 1999 he was appointed artistic director for the company. As artistic director, he has produced and directed revivals of traditional operettas that have been given an American premiere in their original form: Lecocq's Le Petit Duc, Künneke's Der Vetter Aus Dingsda, Strauss' Der Lustige Krieg, Kálmán's Zigeunerprimas and Ein Herbstmanover. Eight historical recordings under Daigle's supervision can be heard on Newport Classic and Albany Record labels. These include three of Daigle's historical reconstructions: Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta and Sweethearts; Kálmán's Ein Herbstmanover (English translation and first complete recording). In September 2003, Ohio Light Opera was given an Award of Achievement by Northern Ohio Live for its role in preserving operetta during the past 25 years.
Daigle served on the faculty at Kent State University and as assistant director (1989-96) and acting director (1994, 1996-97) of the Opera Theater program at the Oberlin Conservatory. In the summer of 1998 he served on the faculty of the Oberlin in Italy program in Urbania, Italy.
 

Jonathan Field has become one of America's more versatile and popular stage directors, having directed over seventy-five productions in all four corners of the United States. His productions for Lyric Opera of Chicago include "Trouble in Tahiti", "Gianni Schicchi", "The Old Maid" and "The Thief and The Spanish Hour", which were so successful they were repeated at the Illinois Humanities Festival with Stephen Sondheim as keynote speaker. For San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theatre he directed productions of "La Cenerentola" and "Die Fledermaus" which played in over 20 states, as well as an updated version of "La Bohème" for Seattle Opera. Field directed "Eugene Onegin", "The Love for Three Oranges" and "Boris Godunov in Russian" in San Francisco. Additionally, he has directed ten productions with the Arizona Opera, being deemed by the press "their most perceptive stage director". He has worked there with esteemed artists such as Teresa Zylis-Gara, Jerome Hines, Pablo Elvira, Giorgio Tozzi and Angelina Reux.
Mr. Field's versatility extends from the avant garde to musical comedies. He has successfully introduced computer generated scenery to the world of opera in a production of "Candide" that was called by the San Francisco press "virtual Voltaire - the backgrounds are as varied as the story." He has also pioneered the use of video projected scenery in productions of "The Turn of the Screw", "Tales of Hoffman", and "Der Freischutz" which have brought praise from audience and critics alike. In the realm of operetta and musicals he has staged "H.M.S. Pinafore" for Opera Omaha, "Trial by Jury" for Lake George Opera, Bernstein's "Wonderful Town in Chicago" and "Merry Widow and Countess Maritza" in San Francisco. For the Oakland Symphony he translated and choreographed Stravinsky's "Pulcinella" using members of the Oakland Ballet.
Mr. Field has worked on several world premieres, most notably assisting Robert Altman with Bolcom's McTeague at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and David Alden with Susa's "The Love of Don Perlimplin" with San Francisco Opera.
In addition to being the artistic director of Lyric Opera Cleveland, Mr. Field serves as the head of the opera department at Oberlin College in Ohio.
Festival edition: June 2000.
 

Will Graham has been Director of Planning and Administration for the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute since its inception in September 2001. In 1997, Mr. Graham was appointed Artistic Director of the National Opera Company, the predecessor of the Fletcher Opera Institute. For ten years previously, he served as Chairman of the Opera Department and Director of the Opera Institute at Boston University School for the Arts. Before serving as Director of Opera at the University of Missouri at Kansas City for six years. He was Production Supervisor for Western Opera Theatre, Director of Workshops at Canadian Opera and Director of the Minnesota Opera Studio. He has directed for Minnesota Opera, Opera New England, Opera South, Western Opera Theatre, National Opera Company, Kansas City Lyric Opera and the Lyric Opera of Cleveland. He has also conducted acting workshops throughout New England and at the University of California, Arizona State University, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Wilmington, Meredith College, Pittsburgh State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Washington and San Quentin Prison. He annually presents master classes in performance techniques for vocal programs at Chautauqua and Tanglewood. His international credits include opera productions in Moscow and Urbania, Italy. Mr. Graham has written four libretti for the composer Charles Fussell: Specimen Days (a cantata based on the works of Walt Whitman), Wilde (a symphony for baritone and orchestra), A Walt Whitman Sampler (a commission for the Harvard Glee Club) and Infinite Fraternity for Coro Allegro of Boston. Mr. Graham and Mr. Fussell are currently at work on a joint commission for the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and the Cantata Singers of Boston. Mr. Graham provided the libretto for Kitty Hawk, an opera by J. Mark Scearce, which was premiered by the National Opera Company in April 2000. Mr. Graham has also created scenarios for Carolina Ballet's productions of The Messiah and The Kreutzer Sonata.
Festival edition: June 2001.
 

Lorna Haywood - received critical acclaim for her operatic roles in the United States and abroad in performances with Covent Garden, the English National Opera, the Welsh National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington Opera, Tulsa Opera, Boston Concert Opera, Dallas Opera, Baltimore Lyric Opera, and the opera companies of New Orleans, San Diego, Seattle, and Fort Worth, to name a few. With less than twenty-four hours notice Ms. Haywood made “the most stunning San Francisco Opera debut in years," singing the title role in Janacek’s Katya Kabanova. She is now working on the other side of the orchestra pit as an operatic stage director. Recent productions include "La Traviata" for Norway’s Opera Nordfjord, "Le nozze di Figaro" and "La Bohème" for Madison Opera, "La Traviata" for Penascola Opera and "Tosca" for Eugene Opera. Forthcoming engagements include "Madama Butterfly" for Opera San Jose and Madison Opera,"The Merry Wives of Windsor" for the Opera Dept. University of Minnesota, a new production of "II Trovatore" for Opera San Jose and "Die Zauberflöte" for Atlanta Opera. Ms. Haywood appeared at the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Lincoln Centre, the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, the Aspen Festival, Chautauqua Festival, the Handel Festival at the Kennedy Centre and the Tanglewood Music Festival. The conductors with whom she has collaborated include James Levine, Leonard Bernstein, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Charles MacKerras, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, Antol Dorati, Mirislav Rostroprovich, Yoel Levi and Sir Georg Solti. As a world-renowned teacher, Ms. Haywood was for nineteen years a distinguished professor of voice at the University of Michigan School of Music. She has been a resident faculty member of the Young Artist Programs of the Florida Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Ohio Light Opera, and has been voice teacher for the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program since 1996. Ms. Haywood is a graduate of the Royal College of Music in London, and the Juilliard School in New York, where she was a pupil of Sergius Kagen and Beverly Johnson. She is a winner of the highly coveted Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship; her recording of Britten's "War Requiem" with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony (Telarc) won a Grammy Award. Other recordings include Paul Paray's "Joan of Arc Mass" with the Royal Scottish Orchestra (Grammy nomiation), late choral music of Beethoven with the London Symphony Orchestra, "Amahl the Night Visitors" with Gian-Carol Menotti and the Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra, Wagner’s "Die Feen", and two Vanguard recordings of works of P.D.Q. Bach.
Festival editions: July 2002, July 2003.

Dick Jones: now conducting his well received workshops throughout the United States, Mr. Jones has concertized in the U.S. as well as in South America and has a strong background in singing, acting and dancing. He has performed on television, in concerts, and in musical comedies with such celebrities as Joel Grey, Carol Lawrence, Charles Nelson Riley and Jack Gilford. As a faculty member of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Centre for American Artists, he has taught stage techniques and stage deportment. He also served on the faculty at the American Conservatory where he taught Opera Classes as well as stage techniques. In 1983, Mr. Jones was invited to participate in the First International Arts Teaching Tour in the People’s Republic of China. There he conducted workshops at the Beijing and Shanghai Conservatories of Music and had the honour of being asked to stage portions of “Madama Butterfly” for the Peking Western Opera Theatre. He has been affiliated with Opera Pacific, Costa Mesa. CA and Opera San Jose. For several years Mr. Jones taught stage artistry and AIMS in Graz, Austria, where he staged "Carmen" and numerous operatic concerts. He was also on faculty at the University of Miami, School of Music in Salzburg, Austria. Mr. Jones was Program Director and Vice President of WGN Continental Broadcasting Company. During his tenure, he wrote, produced and directed numerous TV and radio programs, from classical to jazz. As Executive Director of the prestigious WGN-Illinois Opera Guild’s national competition “The Auditions of the Air”, Mr. Jones significantly furthered the careers of Sherrill Milnes, Kathleen Battle, Brent Ellis, Linda Zoghby, Daid Kuebler, Jeannine Altmeyer, Vinson Cole, Marvis Martin and Susan Dunn. Now making his home in Sun City, California, Mr. Jones offers private coaching and continues to provide seminars in staging and performing techniques at colleges and universities, as well as directing productions of musical comedy and opera.
Festival edition: August 2001.

Michael McConnell: at the age of twenty-nine, as the youngest general director of an opera company in the United States, Michael McConnell began a ten-year creative and administrative association with Lyric Opera Cleveland. During his tenure the Company achieved national prominence for its innovative profile in opera and music theatre. He and the Company came to international attention during the 1993-94 season for the commission and subsequent production of "Mrs. Dalloway", an opera by Libby Larsen and Bonnie Grice based upon the Virginia Woolf novel. Long-praised by local audiences and critics for his strong insights and keen theatricality, Mr. McConnell reaped additional praise for "Mrs. Dalloway" in Opera News and The Village Voice for work of "strong focus" and "theatrical urgency." "The work made its intimate, probing points thanks to Michael McConnell's urgent production," wrote Opera (UK).
A North Carolina native, he received his musical training as a pianist at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he was a student of the renowned Olga Conus. He was an honours graduate in musicology, later studying opera styles and production with Roger Brunyate and Italo Tajo.
In addition to much work in the standard repertory, his professional directing credits include numerous productions of lesser-known and world premiere pieces such as Berlioz's "Beatrice & Benedict", Agatha Christie's "Black Coffee", Cavalli's "Callisto", Gershwin's "Girl Crazy"; Monteverdi's "The Coronation Of Poppea" and "The Return Of Ulysses", Larry Baker's "Haydn's Head", Milhaud's "Les Malheurs d'Orphee", Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress", Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins", Britten's "The Turn Of The Screw" and Zelman Bokser's "The Woman Who Dared". Mr. McConnell's work has been succssfully mounted by Skylight Opera Theatre, Opera Memphis, Dayton Opera, The Mississippi Opera, The City Musick, Rochester Opera Theatre and Pittsburgh Opera Theatre. He directed educational programs and tours for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Cleveland Orchestra, Opera Memphis and the Cincinnati Opera.
He began his career on the production staffs of the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Cincinnati Opera, assisting such stage directors as Gian Carlo Menotti, Lou Galterio, Frank Corsaro, James de Blasis and Colin Graham. As a music journalist, he has written numerous articles and reviews for Opera News, The Music Journal, Northern Ohio Live and The Charlotte Observer.
University and conservatory teaching credits include the University of Cincinnati's College - Conservatory of Music, The Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory, and The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was Director of Opera from 1991-1995. Currently he is Associate Professor of Opera at Florida State University.
Recent directing credits include highly-acclaimed productions of Bellini's "Norma" for Opera Memphis, Luciano Chailly's "Procedura Penale" and Donizetti's "Il Giovedi Grasso" for Opera Theatre of Lucca, "Tosca" for the Mississippi Opera and "Sweeney Todd" for The Theatre of the Human Race in Dayton, Ohio. Last season he directed "Hansel & Gretel" for Dayton Opera and "Don Giovanni" and "Orpheus In The Underworld" for Florida State University. Following a production of Argento's "Postcard From Morocco" for Florida State University in June, he returned to Opera Theatre of Lucca for Rossini's "La Cenerentola", he then went on to Dayton Opera for "Lucia Di Lammermoor".
2000, 2001, 2002 highlights include: "Falstaff" with New Jersey Opera Festival; "Madama Butterfly" at Opera Grand Rapids; "Manon Lescaut" at Opera Memphis; "Rake's Progress", "Pirates of Penzanze" and "Candide" at Florida State Opera; "La Traviata" and "Candide" with Dayton Opera; "Agrippina" with Opera Theatre of Lucca; "Falstaff" with Opera San Jose and "Magic Flute" with Opera Grand Rapids.
Michael McConnell is listed in The Who's Who In America and Who's Who In American Music. He is the recipient of a Cleveland Critic's Award (1981--The Mikado) and Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement nominiations for his production of "The Turn Of The Screw" (1989), for Lyric Opera's Mozart Cycle (1991) an for Lyric Opera's 20th Anniversary Season (1993). As a regular judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, he is also a frequent panelist for the Opera/Music Theatre Program of The National Endowment for the Arts and has served on the Board of Directors of OPERA America. His master classes and lectures have been heard at The Cleveland Orchestra, Kent State University, University of Akron, Opera San Jose, Wright State University and University of Memphis. Michael McConnell is a member of Actor's Equity Association.
Festival edition: June 2003.
 

DEJAN MILADINOVIC (1948) was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, into a family of operatic artists (his father Dushan was chief conductor and artistic director of Belgrade National Opera and his mother Militza was a leading mezzo with the same opera company). He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre Direction from the Academy for Theatre in Belgrade, (1971), and received the title Master of Theatrical Arts from the same Academy (1976).
DEJAN MILADINOVIC has served as the Head Director (1973 - 1978) and Artistic Director of the National Opera of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (1986 - 1988). He has also served as Director and Artistic Councilor for "Grand Opera Projects" with Convention Centre "Sava" in Belgrade (1986 - 1988).
He was also Head Director of Belgrade National Opera (1978 - 2001) and he has accepted the position as Artistic Director of Belgrade National Opera (1997 - 2001) which was offered to him by all the artists and staff of Belgrade Opera.
He was Associate Professor and Artistic Director of Opera Theatre at Meadows School of Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas (1991 - 1995), and Associate Professor of Opera Theatre at the Music Conservatory, Belgrade (1994 - 2001), and Associate Professor at Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California (2001 - 2002).
DEJAN MILADINOVIC has staged more than 140 productions (mostly operas, and then plays, operettas, musical comedies) with professional companies in former Yugoslavia and abroad (USA, especially New York, Dallas, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Seattle, Baltimore, San Diego, etc.). www.dejanm.com.
Festival editions: July 2004.
 

Gordon Ostrowski.
Director of opera studies at Manhattan School of Music since 1991, Gordon Ostrowski previously served as assistant to the general director of Michigan Opera Theatre. In 1983, Mr. Ostrowski joined the staff of the Cincinnati Opera as assistant director for the main company and stage director for ECCO! (Ensemble Company of Cincinnati Opera!). During his tenure in Cincinnati, he assisted on more than twenty productions, including acclaimed revivals of little-known works such as "Zazà" and "Schwanda the Bagpiper."
As stage director for ECCO! he directed productions of "Amahl and the Night Visitors", "Sweet Betsy from Pike", "The Barber of Seville", "The Telephone", "Slow Dusk", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "Hansel and Gretel". For Stage Left Productions, a part of the Cincinnati Opera’s summer festival, Mr. Ostrowski directed productions of "A Hand of Bridge", "Abstract Opera No. 1", "Passionella", "Signor Deluso", and "The Last Leaf".
In 1987 Mr. Ostrowski joined the staff at the University of Southern California as producer/stage manager of the USC Opera Workshop. During that time he produced nine operas, including "Don Giovanni", "The Consul", "Così fan tutte", "Le nozze di Figaro", "Oedipus Rex", "Le pauvre Matelot", "La Voix humaine", "La clemenza di Tito", and "The Tender Land".
From 1987 to 1989 Mr. Ostrowski was associated with the Santa Fe Opera as a production assistant to noted directors such as Ken Cazan, John Copley, and Robert Carsen. During the 1990 season he served as assistant director to John Copley for his revival of "Così fan tutte". At Santa Fe, Mr. Ostrowski worked with well-known artists such as Susan Graham and Manhattan School of Music faculty member Ashley Putnam.
In 1996, Mr. Ostrowski was stage director for the East-West International Academy in Altenberg, Germany. In 1998, he assisted Manhattan School of Music alumna Marilyn Tyler at the New Opera Festival of Rome. He has taught classes for apprentice artists at Chautauqua Opera since 1998. In 2000 he directed the world premiere of Seymour Barab’s "Cinderella" for Virginia Opera. He is stage director for Centro Studi Lirica in Italy with the Manhattan School of Music faculty member Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. This summer he will direct "Don Giovanni" for the International Lyric Academy of Rome.
He is past president of Opera for Youth, Inc. and an active member of the National Opera Association. In addition, he has been honoured by his invitation to serve on the board of directors of Opera America, an international organization for the development and promotion of opera.
Festival editions: August 2002, 2003.
 

David F. Ostwald, stage director and teacher, he has over one hundred and thirty productions and more than twenty years of teaching to his credit. David grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. His childhood was rich in musical and theatrical experiences. He sang in the San Francisco Boy's Chorus and played violin and viola in youth orchestras and chamber ensembles. He started acting at seven as a Dwarf in "Snow White". At fifteen he was stage managing operas for a semi-professional theatre, and by seventeen, he began his directing career with a production of "The Prince and the Pauper" for eighty-five boys. In college and graduate school David's theatrical interests were focussed on directing plays. It was only at the end of that period that he began directing operas. He remains a committed generalist, directing both operas and plays from all periods and genres. He is also committedly bi-coastal - dividing his time between New York and San Francisco. As a director, David seeks to create an atmosphere of trust in which all the participants - performers, musicians, designers and technicians alike, feel free to risk doing their most committed work fulfilling a shared interpretive goal. David prefers to work in intimate venues in which the performers' slightest nuance can be enjoyed by each member of the audience. His productions abroad include works for Theatre am Turm in Frankfurt, School of Orpheus in Chartres and Brussels, and Festival Musical de la Antigua in Guatemala. His U.S. opera credits include "Three Penny Opera", "La Boheme", "Marriage of Figaro" and "Gianni Schicchi" for Western Opera Theatre, "Lucia di Lammermoor" at Artpark, "Albert Herring" at Wolftrap, "Postcards from Morocco", "La Fina Giardiniera" and "The Mother of Us All" at the Juilliard School, "Madama Butterfly" and "The Taming of the Shrew" for the Kansas City Lyric, "The Flying Dutchman" at the Atlanta Lyric, "The Wedding on the Eifel Tower" at the Aspen Music Festival, "Carmen", and "Cosi fan Tutte" for the Eugene Opera and "Dido and Aeneas" for the Carmel Bach Festival, and for Opera Antica in Florida. He has directed plays at regional theatres such as South Coast Repertory, The Magic Theatre, The Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Centre, Berkeley Stage Company, and Playhouse on the Square. Mr. Ostwald's active teaching career has focussed on teaching acting to opera singers in which he gives master classes, and about which he has written a book, ACTING FOR SINGERS. In addition to acting, David has taught directing, opera history and modern drama. He currently teaches and directs at the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute. Previously he taught at The State University of New York at Purchase where for ten years he headed the Opera Program, at The Juilliard School, at Queens College in New York and at the University of California at Berkeley. In addition to music and theatre, hiking, skiing, back packing and camping have always been an integral part of David's life, and have engendered a deep concern for the environment. David has lived in Europe for several short periods and loves to travel.
Festival 2002, Oberlin in Italy, June.
 

Syd Ralph. An award-winning theatre director, Syd’s productions have featured at the Covent Garden Festival, at Buckingham Palace (for the National Youth Music Theatre) and inside Wandsworth Prison!
Last summer she directed “The Ephesian Matron” and “Dido and Aeneas” for the University of Kent at Canterbury Summer Opera, working with a cast of professional and student singers. She returns this summer to direct their production of “La Boheme”.
Syd has always been committed to the development of new work and was delighted to direct the ENO Studio 2000 workshop development of a new chamber opera “One Two”, composed by Gary Carpenter, with libretto by Eva Salzman. This creative director/writers collaboration was continued under the aegis of the London Opera Lab 2000 development programme and final performances of the opera were presented at the Musical Futures Festival at the Greenwich Theatre, London.
She was invited by Nicholas Cleobury to direct the first performance of Joanna Ive’s oratorio “Sirens”, for the 1997 Sounds New Festival, Canterbury. She had previously worked in collaboration with Nicholas Cleobury, the Britten Sinfonia and composer Rory Boyle on a devised education production, “Dahl Stew”, for the Broomhill Festival Syd directed “West Side Story” and “Guys and Dolls” for Pimlico Opera. Both had casts of professional singers and inmates and were rehearsed and performed inside Wandsworth Prison. The production of “Guys and Dolls” featured in an award-winning BBC2 documentary.
Syd has worked extensively with the National Youth Music Theatre, including directing their production of “Noyes Fludde”, featuring Denis Quilley and Mary King, for the Covent Garden Festival.
Syd has worked as an adjudicator for the New Musicals Alliance international “Quest for a New Musical”. She directed one of the award winning musicals, “Goodnight Mr Tom”, at the Buxton Opera House. She has also adjudicated for the Barclays Music Theatre Awards and the Cambridge Arts Theatre new musicals initiative.
Her directing work for young people includes, “Barnum” at Epsom Playhouse for Stagecoach Theatre Arts, outreach course director for the Royal Opera House education programme, “Godspell” for the Elmhurst School of Performing Arts and various courses for the government’s Creative Partnerships initiative. Syd was the first artistic director of Richard Stilgoe’s Orpheus Centre.
As well as preparing for her production of “La Boheme” for the University of Kent in Canterbury Summer Opera. Syd also returns to Stagecoach Theatre Arts and is currently in the planning stages for their flagship production of “The Pirates of Penzance”, for performance at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford later this year.
Festival edition: “La lingua del canto”, Ausgust-September 2004.
 

Sigrid T'Hooft, scenic director and specialist of gesture and Baroque movement. She graduated in Musicology at the University of Leuven (B). She also has classical ballet training and has taken courses in piano & guitar, and was also active as a choral singer for many years. During her time as a student, she began an intensive early dance study with the most eminent teachers, and gradually moulded her own autodidactical training in fields that were barely institutionalised.
Her specialisation now ranges from dance and dance music, to gesture and historical staging practice, from the Renaissance to the Baroque period. It brought her national and international reputation as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, stage director and as a researcher.
In these fields her most important teachers were: Andrea Francalanci, Angene Feves & Barbara Sparti (Renaissance dance), Francine Lancelot, Christine Bayle, Anna Yepes & Irene Ginger (Baroque dance), Adriano Sinivia (Commedia dell’Arte), Carles Mas i Garcia (castagnets, Spanish Baroquedance), Christine Bayle, Ian Caddy & Margit Legler (gesture).
She is founder and artistic director of the ensembles Pass’Ostinato (1988) and Fontainebleau (1991) with whom, over the years, she has created many programmes, very often under the musical direction of Peter Van Heyghen.
They have performed throughout Europe and some of her programmes have been broadcasted. Her ‘Phalesius’-production was also recorded on Vanguard-Classics.
As dancer and actress she has performed with companies such as: LaCaDance Barocktanztheater – Schweiz, Ris & Danceries - Paris, European Early Dance Company – Berlin, L’Autre Pas – Berlin and RenaiDanse - Basel. She has also worked with musical ensembles such as: Hortus Musicus dir. Andres Mustonen -Tallinn, Musica Antiqua dir. Reinhard Goebel -Köln, Les Haulz et les Bas -Basel, Corelli Ensemble – Frankfurt, Collegium Marianum - Prague and La Petite Bande dir. Sigiswald Kuijken, a.o.
She choreographed for, or did the staging of, Don Quixote Suite / G.Ph. Telemann, La Liberazione / Fr. Caccini, Hmoll-suite / Bach, Hercules / H. Schmelzer, La Contessa de’ Numi / A. Caldara, La Furba e lo Sciocco / D. Sarro, Dido & Aeneas / Purcell, Nebucadnezar / R. Keiser, Venus and Adonis / J. Blow and on works of Corelli, Rameau, Vivaldi a.o.
Sigrid teaches Baroque gesture for singers at the Royal Music Conservatory of The Hague (NL) concentrating in 2004 on the production of ‘Venus & Adonis’ by John Blow, directed by Nigel North. She is regularly invited as a guest teacher for early dance, dance music or Baroque gesture in the Royal Music Conservatory Brussels (B) and at the International Händel-Academy of Karlsruhe (D).
As a freelance teacher she gave many early dance workshops throughout Europe.
She privately coaches young professional Baroque singers in adapting gesture to their concert programmes and is a regular lecturer at conferences on dance and early opera.
In 2003 she presented to Perspectiv (the Association of Historic Theatres in Europe) a blueprint of “Teseo”, The Esterháza School for Early Opera.
Since 1989 she has been a collaborator for the Belgian Broadcasting Company VRT, and since 2000 she produces programmes for Klara, the classical radiodivision of VRT.
Sigrid speaks Flemish, French, German and English fluently.
Festival edition: July 2004 (Opera Barocca).
 

Howard Wong. Howard Wong began vocal studies under Benjamin Luxon and Sheila Amit whilst studying at Canterbury Christ Church University College, where he was awarded a BA (hons) and an MA in music. He then obtained a scholarship to study with Theresa Goble on the Postgraduate Vocal Studies Programme at the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he subsequently graduated with distinction.
Since winning the prestigious Concordia Foundation and National Association of English Singer and Speakers Competition, Howard has started to establish himself as a popular recitalist throughout Britain, especially in the English Art Song genre. He recently appeared as the special guest artist for the "21st Anniversary of Finzi Friends Trust Celebrations" at the composer’s former home. He has performed in many of UK’s most prestigious venues, including The Royal Opera House, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and others. On the oratorio platform, Howard has sung throughout Britain, in works such as Requiems by Brahms, Durufle, Faure, Saint-Saens, Mozart and Verdi; Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Seasons and Creation; Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle; Dvorak’s Stabat Mater; Monteverdi’s Vespers and numerous Masses by Mozart and Haydn. On the opera stage, he has performed a number of Mozart and Britten roles and recently sang Coligianni in Pergolesi’s "Il Maestro di Musica" in Trento, Italy. Furthermore, he has just completed a UK tour of Donizetti’s "L’Elisir d’Amore", covering the role of Dulcamara, and that of Don Magnifico in Rossini’s "La Cenerentola". In the past year, other solo engagements have given rise to invitations to perform in Sweden, Italy, Hong Kong and Belgium.
Aside his singing engagements, Howard has worked as a part-time lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University College, where he conducted a Choral Society of 150 singers and was a course-leader for group workshops entitled "Unlock Your Voice". His work in youth music theatre has led him into directing a number of musicals. He is currently in the process of planning performances of Benjamin Britten’s children’s opera, "The Little Sweep". He was also the founder and conductor of a sixty-piece orchestra, where he conducted works ranging from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.1 to premiers of new compositions.
Festival edition: September 2003.