Jerusalem Lyric Opera Studio

Sofia Mazar

Musical Director, Vocal Coach

The Israeli pianist and musicologist Dr. Sonia Mazar is an acclaimed accompanist, vocal coach and a lecturer, and one of the leading figures in the field of Opera in Israel. She is Assistant of Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she was granted the Europe Forum`s award for researching Italian Opera of Ottocento. Sonia is recipient of the Center for the Study of Italian Culture and the Corinaldi Fund Individual Research Grant.

Dr. Mazar is initiator and co-founder of the Jerusalem Lyric Opera Studio, the premiere world opera training program providing intensive and individually tailored instruction by a renowned faculty of artists to emerging artists. At the 2019 Sonia became a Musical Director of the Jerusalem Lyric Opera Festival.

Sonia is a member of the teacher`s staff of the Music & Dance Academy in Jerusalem since 1997, where she serves as a lecture and a vocal coach. In addition, she serves as a member of the musical stuff at the New Israeli Opera. Her activity as teacher includes lectures and masterclasses in Europe and Israel and many of her students have become distinguished singers.

Dr. Mazar has also worked for Israeli Festival, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva, the Israel Camerata and other. She has also officiated at many music festivals and Masterclasses, and she performs regularly in recitals both in Italy, Israel, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and Belgian including Moscow International House of Music, Turin University, Brussel Museum, Brahms House, Jerusalem Theater and other.

André Bücker

Artistic Director and General Manager of the Staatstheater Augsburg

André Bücker studied theatre, film and television studies, history & philosophy at the University of Bochum. From 2012 to 2015, he directed Richard Wagner`s Der Ring des Nibelungen at Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, with great success both regionally and internationally. Since 2018, he has been the Artistic Director and General Manager of the newly founded Staatstheater Augsburg

Markus Hollop

Casting & Artistic Production Officer, the Grand Théâtre de Genève

The Berlin born bass Markus Hollop studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich in the singing class of Professor Josef Loibl. While still a student, he was a prizewinner of the international Carl Maria von Weber singing competition, the international singing competition of the Münchener Konzert Gesellschaft and received scholarships from the Deutsche Studienstiftung and the Nürnberger Meistersängerwettbewerb.

Very young he started an international career, which took him to the most important opera houses and festivals in Europe, Asia and the USA, examples being the Bavarian State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the State Opera and the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opéra National de Paris, the Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the opera houses in Turin, Rome, Bologna, Palermo and Naples, the Japanese operas Nomori and Nikikai (Tokyo and Yokohama), the Opera Pacific (Los Angeles) , the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, the Festival de Radio France and the Ravenna Festival.

He has worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, John Eliot Gardiner, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Kent Nagano, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sebastian Weigle, James Conlon, John Eliot Gardener, Asher Fisch and sang in productions by the directors Andreas Homoki, Robert Carsen, Peter Konwitschny, Peter Stein, Damiano Michieletto, Luc Bondy, Philippe Arlaud and many more.

Focusing mostly on the German romantic repertoire, especially by the composers Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, another particular concern for him has been contemporary music, since his debut at the 1st Munich Biennale for Modern Music Theater in 1988, aged only 21 years.

For the recording of Busoni`s "Doktor Faust" under the baton of Kent Nagano, he received a 2001 Grammophone Award ("Grammy") in the "Best Opera Recording" category.

Since the 2016/17 season, alongside his work as a singer, Markus Hollop works as “Chargé de production artistique et casting” at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Jérôme Brunetière

General and artistic manager of the Opéra de Toulon.

Jérôme Brunetière is the Artistic Director of the Opera de Toulon. He was the general secretary of the Festival d`Aix en Provence and the director of the Academy and Mediterranean Programming. In 2004, he served as the commercial and marketing director of the Paris National Opera and accompanied Gerard Mortier`s first seasons at the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille. In 2007, he was appointed Secretary General of the Festival d`Aix en Provence, where he led audience development and in particular the creation of new educational and socio-artistic services dedicated to opening up the Festival`s activities to the most diverse audiences. In 2020, he created the Digital Stage of the Festival during confinement to keep in touch with the public despite the cancellation of the edition due to Covid. That same year, Pierre Audi also entrusted him with the responsibility of the Festival Academy, as well as of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, and in charge of the programming of all the concerts and small scenic forms, which are under the appellation “musical theatre”, enrich the program at the Festival. In addition to his responsibilities in Aix, from 2015 to 2017 he advised the director of Opera Philadelphia, David Devan, for the creation of the Festival O, which repositioned Opera Philadelphia in the North American operatic landscape. He was also a member of the board of directors of Opera Europa from 2007 to 2013.

Peter Lodahl

Music director of the Copenhagen Philharmonic

Danish tenor Peter Lodahl studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and at the Royal Opera Academy in Copenhagen. Upon completion of his vocal education, he took on his first engagement at the Kiel Opera where his first roles included Decio in Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Lord Percy in Anna Bolena, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Cassio in Otello and Don Alfredo in Eduard Künneke’s Lady Hamilton. He then moved on to the Komische Oper in Berlin to further expand his repertory with roles such as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Alfredo in La Traviata, Lenski in Eugene Onegin and Rodolfo in La Bohème. He received the nomination for the “Young Artist Of The Year” award by the opera magazine Opernwelt and less than two years later he joined the ensemble of the opera company of his home country, the Royal Danish Opera, where he won over audiences and critics alike as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Alfredo (La Traviata), Duke (Rigoletto), Romeo (Roméo et Juliette), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Fenton (Falstaff), Rodolfo (La Bohème) and An Artist / A Negro in Lulu. Further successes include Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppeawith the Royal Swedish Opera Stockholm, Tamino at the Berlin State Opera, Don Ottavio at Hamburg’s State Opera, Ein Jüngling in Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten with Den Norske Opera in Oslo, Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff at the Göteborg Opera as well as the title role in Mozart’s Mitridate at the Drottningholms Slottsteater. On the concert podium he appeared in Stuttgart’s Liederhalle with soprano Diana Damrau and he enjoys a frequent collaboration with
 conductors such as Giancarlo Andretta, Michael Boder, Anthony Bramall, Frans Brüggen, Dan Ettinger, Simon Gaudenz, Paul Goodwin, Michael Hofstetter, Manfred Honeck, Konrad Junghänel, Patrick Lange, Shao-Chia Lü, Kazushi Ono, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Günter Neuhold, Marc Piollet, Christoph Poppen, Markus Poschner, Carlo Rizzi, Henrik Schäfer, Michael Schønwandt, Peter Schreier, Andreas Spering, Carl St. Clair, Andreas Stoehr and Arnold Östman. Being a versatile concert soloist, Peter Lodahl’s concert repertory includes Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, St John and St Matthew Passion, a wide selection of Cantatas, Mozart’s Reuqiem, Missa Brevis and Mass in C minor, Handel’s Messiah, Jephta and Joshua, Haydn’s Creation and The Seasons as well as his Missa in tempore belli and Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mahler’s Las Lied von der Erde and Bartok’s Cantata Profana. He further appeared at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, in Mozart’s Requiem with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s St John Pasison with Aalborg Symphony Orchestra and in concert with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern. Peter gave his debut with Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels performing Leukippos in Strauss’s Daphne besides taking part in productions of Der Rosenkavalier and Les vêpres siciliennes in Copenhagen, followed by a New Year’s Concert with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and another concert featuring Donizetti’s seldom performed Requiem with the Copenhagen Philharmonic. After appearing as Lenski in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Copenhagen Opera Festival, Peter Lodahl’s engagements in the season 2015/2016 included a new production of Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot at Madrid’s Teatro Real, his highly-acclaimed rendering of the role of Jay Gatsby in the European Premiere of Harbison’s ”The Great Gatsby” at Dresden’s Semperoper, as well as a new production of Strauss’s Daphne at the Hamburg State Opera. In Hamburg, Peter furthermore appeared as Artist/Negro in Berg’s Lulu and went on performing Das Liebesverbot at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Particularly noteworthy is his rendering of the title role in Enjott Schneider’s Marco Polo, a newly composed opera sung in Chinese and explicitly written for the two opera houses in Guangzhou and Beijing. These appearances were further completed by several concert projects including the world premiere of Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen’s Juleoratoriumwith the Århus Sinfonietta and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Noord Nederlands Orkest. In the frame of the Grafenegg Academy 2018, Peter performed the role of “Der Offizier” in a semi-staged version of Ernst Krenek’s one-act opera Der Diktator opposite Christopher Maltman in the title role. Without a doubt, one of the most challenging and exciting projects is represented by Christian Jost’s world premiere of Dichterliebe recomposed at the Konzerthaus Berlin based on Schumann’s famous song cycle, with the composer himself conducting the Berlin-based Horenstein Ensemble. A recording of the concert has recently been released by Deutsche Grammophon.

Steffi Turre

Casting Director, Halle Opera House

Steffi Turre first studied business administration in Cologne, then musicology, German and Italian studies in Cologne and Liège. During her studies, she gained experience in the areas of dramaturgy, press and public relations and directing at various opera houses. After two years as a dramaturge assistant for drama and opera at the Cologne theaters, she was engaged as a music dramaturge at the Cologne Opera for three years, then moved to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg in the same position for three years and was from 2008 to 2010 Lead music dramaturge at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg. During these years she worked with directors such as Günter Krämer, Torsten Fischer, Helmuth Lohner, Katharina Thalbach, Christof Nel, Stein Winge, Christopher Alden, Hermann Schneider and Georg Rootering. Steffi Turre is a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Association in Cologne and also works as a dramaturge for various festivals and choirs. From 2010 to 2014, Steffi Turre worked as artistic operations director/opera management at the Bremerhaven City Theater, after which she was employed as chief dramaturge of the opera and artistic director of the opera studio at the Oldenburg State Theater for two seasons. After five years as chief dispatcher at the Halle Theater, she is now employed as casting director and head of opera planning under Walter Sutcliffe.

Ethan Schmeisser

Artistic director of Romanian National Opera

Ethan Schmeisser, conductor and pianist, was born in Israel. He graduated cum laude from the conducting program at the Tel Aviv Music Academy and completed his second degree under the guidance of the late Mendi Rodan. He has received the AICF scholarships. He has conducted the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Camerata Jeruslaem, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, the Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra IBA, Barrocade and other orchestras ensembles in Israel. He has conducted at the Perugia Music Festival in Italy, the opera houses of Odessa, Lucca, Shanghai and Fuzhuo in China. He has worked as a harpsichordist and pianist for opera productions and concerts with many local orchestras including the the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has founded the Bononcini Ensemble and Venice female voice ensemble with whom he performed in many concerts in Israel. He was the Chorus Master and Head of Music at the Israeli Opera. At the Israeli Opera he conducted many productions in the opera house as well as at the Akko Festival and in the Israeli Opera’s community productions throughout Israel. He also performs as pianist and music director for many Israeli Opera productions including Die Zauberflote (Mozart) for the entire family, the Saturday Opera Highlights concert series and more.

Dainius Pavilionis

Deputy Artistic Director of the Torun Symphony Orchestra

Dainius Pavilionis - was born in 1977 in Marijampolė, Lithuania, into a family with rich musical traditions. He graduated from music school in the piano class and won many competitions. In 1992, he started studying at the Conservatory. J. Gruodis in Kaunas in the choral conducting class. From 1996, he continued his studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music in the class of Prof. Povilas Gylys, and since 2002 at the Department of Opera and Symphony conducting in the class of Prof. Juozas Domarkas, whom he sees as his mentor and musical father. After obtaining his diploma in 2006, he became a lecturer at his alma mater, and in 2017 he became the head of the conducting department. Since 2006, he has been the conductor of the Representative Orchestra of the Lithuanian Army. The musical community quickly recognized Dainius Pavilionis as an outstanding conductor and that is why he systematically cooperates with, among others, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and the Vilnius State Symphony Orchestra. In the years 2010 - 2015 he was artistic director and conductor at the State Music Theater in Klaipėda, where he prepared many premieres, including: "The Merry Wives of Windsor" by O. Nicolai, "Sister Angelica" by G. Puccini, "Countess Marica" ​​by E. Kalman, "Doctor Aybolit" by I. Morozov and "The Queen of Spades" by P. Tchaikovsky. He is the winner of many awards, including: at the 4th International Review of Young Conductors Witold Lutosławski in Białystok (2006) and at the 8th International Conductors` Competition. G. Fitelberg in Katowice (2007). Dainius Pavilionis conducts symphony orchestras not only in Lithuania and Poland. He is invited to give concerts throughout Europe. Since September 1, 2020, he has been the deputy artistic director of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra.

Patrick Lange

Conductor, General Music Director of the Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden(2017-2022).

Internationally renowned conductor, Patrick Lange, is a regular guest at theaters like the Vienna State Opera and Paris Opera. Further engagements have taken him to the Semperoper Dresden, the Royal Opera House in London, Opera Australia in Sydney, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Zurich Opera House, the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, the Korean National Opera in Seoul, and the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, among others. In the 2022/23 season, Patrick Lange returned to the Vienna State Opera for Die Fledermaus and the ballets Sleeping Beauty and In Seventh Heaven. He also returned to the Paris Opera, conducting Stravinsky`s The Firebird and Mahler`s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. He was at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein for Vasily Barkhatov`s new production of Der fliegende Holländer, had the musical direction of the new production of Der Freischütz at the Theater an der Wien, and conducted Rusalka at the Komische Oper Berlin. He will open his 2023/24 season with a new production of Madama Butterfly at the Seongnam Arts Center in South Korea, before returning to the Paris Opera for Ravel`s L`enfant et les sortilèges and Ma mère l`oye, as well as for Giselle. Amongst other engagements, he will also be conducting Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty at the Vienna State Opera. On the concert podium, he will appear with the West German Radio Orchestra in Cologne, the Jena Philharmonic, and the Sinfonica Madrid, among others. Patrick Lange was Principal and Chief Conductor of the Komische Opera Berlin since 2008 and from 2017 to 2022 General Music Director of the Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden. In Berin, his interpretations of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (staged by Andreas Homoki), Rusalka (staged by Barrie Kosky) and Der Freischütz (staged by Calixto Bieito) have received international acclaim. During this time in Wiesbaden, he led new productions of Tannhäuser, Arabella, Un ballo in maschera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Jenufa, Salome, Carmen, Der Rosenkavalier and Der fliegende Holländer. He also attracted national attention for his adaptation of The Magic Flute for children. On the concert stage, he has worked with orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, the Hamburg and Bamberg Symphonies, the Staatskapelle Weimar, as well as the radio symphony orchestras of the BR, SWR and WDR, and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela. He has toured with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Vienna RSO, and several times with the German Federal Youth Orchestra, with which he is closely associated.

Vera Petrova

Deputy Director for artistic matters, Sofia Opera and Ballet House

Vera Petrova grew up in a family of musicians. Her musical training began at an early age. She studied piano, all theoretical musical disciplines, and acting. She graduated in directing and art management from the New Bulgarian University. The main role in her professional growth was played by the director Plamen Kartaloff. In 2006 she won the prestigious scholarship for creative exchange at the famous Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, and in the 2007-2008 season, she worked at Covent Garden as an intern director. Her engagements on the professional stage began during her period of study at NBU - at the National Musical Theatre "Stefan Makedonski" she was an assistant director of the productions "Die lustige Witwe" by Franz Lehár and "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" by Mozart. Since 1996 she has been working at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Initially, she was Plamen Kartaloff`s assistant director in some of his most successful productions of this period - Rossini`s "Il barbiere di Siviglia", Verdi`s "Don Carlo", Puccini`s "Turandot", Ponchielli`s "La Gioconda" and the large-scale outdoor production of "Prince Igor" by Borodin. Since 2002 she has been a full-time director with attractive original interpretations for opera concerts, and adapted versions of productions for prestigious visits of the theatre both in Bulgaria and abroad - Switzerland (Summer Festival, Solothurn), Japan, and Romania (International Festival "Elena Teodorini", Craiova, where she presented her directorial version of "La Cenerentola" by Rossini). During this period she realized her first solo performances "La serva padrona" by Pergolesi (Burgas and Sliven) and "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" by Mozart (Romania, Constanţa). They were followed by her engagements as an assistant director in international opera co-productions - "La Cleopatra" by Cimarosa and "Oedipus Rex" by Stravinsky at the Mariinsky Theatre and the Graz Opera House with director Jonathan Miller and conductor Valery Gergiev, as well as "Le nozze di Figaro" of the Cyprus Opera Society and the University of Arts - Okinawa, Japan, directed by Rikiya Hirao. In Cyprus, she directed Purcell`s Dido and Aeneas, Mozart`s "Don Giovanni" and "Le nozze di Figaro" in the open air at the Larnaca Castle. In 2006 she staged "Otello" by Verdi with the conductor Georgi Dimitrov at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv. In the 2008-2009 season, she made her first solo production on the stage of the Sofia Opera and Ballet - "Aleko" by Rachmaninoff. Together with Hristiyana Mihaleva (costume designer) and Boryana Angelova (set designer), she staged "Das Land des Lächelns" by Franz Lehár at the Music and Drama Theatre "Konstantin Kisimov", Veliko Tarnovo - a production that was also presented as a guest performance on the stage of the Musical Theatre in Sofia. At the Sofia Opera and Ballet she also staged "Aladino e la lampada magica" by Nino Rota, "La Cenerentola" by Rossini, and "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky, which production opened the 2017 season at the Giuseppe Verdi Opera House - Trieste. In the period 2009-2013, she actively participated in the realization of the first production in Bulgaria of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner, staged by Acad. Plamen Kartaloff. With the performances of the new Wagner repertoire of the Sofia Opera, she traveled to the Ludwig II Festival Theatre in Füssen, to the Ljubljana Festival, and to the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre - Minsk and the Bolshoi Theatre - Moscow.

Michael Gieleta

Stage director, Irish National Opera

In October 2022 Michael’s production of Tosca for the Irish National Opera and the Wroclaw Opera won the Production of the Year Award at the Kiepura Awards as well as garnering further awards in five categories. His latest opera credits include the foremen4oned production of Tosca for the Irish Na4onal Opera and Wroclaw Opera, an equally acclaimed production of the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players (Houston Grand Opera and Floren4ne Opera), Der Schauspieldirektor and Le Rossignol (Santa Fe Opera), The Magic Flute (Chicago Opera Theater) and La Rondine (Saint Louis Opera Theater). He has enjoyed a close collaboration with Wexford Opera Fes4val in Ireland where he directed three award-nominated productions: Delius’ Koanga, Statkowski’s Maria, and Smetana Hubicka. He was involved in setting up the co-productions of the operas with Saint Louis Opera Theater (The Kiss) and Gdansk Opera/Solidarity of the Arts Fes4val (Maria) In the US, Michael has furthermore enjoyed working as a professor with emerging artists’ programs at the Yale School of Music (Iolanta and La Bohème for Yale Opera at Yale University). His first opera production in South Africa was Lucia di Lammermoor at the State Theatre in Pretoria, conducted by Jeremy Silver. The success of the production was followed by the vignettes of Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Lucia di Lammermoor as well as Tosca, Madama BuKerfly, L’Elisir d’Amore, and Don Pasquale also at the State Theatre, Pretoria as well as Manon at Cape Town Opera starring the present-day opera star PreSy Yende. He has worked with several South African artists both in SA and abroad. He proactively supported the involvement of South African singers, dancers, choreographers, and designers through his productions in Europe and the US. His opera assis4ng direc4ng credits in opera include The Queen of Spades (The Royal Opera House with Francesca Zambello), Katya Kabanova (Glyndebourne Festival Opera with Nikolaus Lehnhoff), and Carmen (Glyndebourne Fes4val Opera with David McVicar). Recent theatre directing credits include The Laramie Project (Dramatyczny Theatre, Warsaw) Noel Coward`s BiKer Sweet (Bard Summerscape) starring Sian Phillips, the world premiere of Peter Nichols’ Lingua Franca (Finborough Theatre, London and 59E59 Theater, New York), Amadeus (Maltz Jupiter Theater, Florida), Our Class (Roma Teatro Fes4val), Tom Stoppard’s Ar2st Descending a Staircase (Old Red Lion), Mimi and the Stalker (Theatre 503), Le Mariage and Fragile! (Arcola Theatre), Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams (Finborough Theatre),Change of Heart (New End), TwelTh Night (Haugesund Fes4viteten, Norway),The Marys (Southwark Playhouse and Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford), A Perfect Ganesh (Gielgud Theatre), The Seagull and Two for the Seesaw (Old Fire Station, Oxford), Scenes from an Execution, White Chateaux, and The Stronger (Minerva Theatre, Chichester). Michael’s associate credits in theatre include the famed production of Pirandello`s Absolutely! (perhaps) directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Dame Joan Plowright (West End), The Tempest with RSC Ar4s4c Director Michael Boyd (RSC), and Heartbreak House with BAFTA-winning director Christopher Morahan Chichester Festival Theatre) as well as Peter Wood’s revival of Sir Tom Stoppard`s Arcadia. Musical theatre work includes Company (Oxford Playhouse - starring Olivier award winner Rory Kinnear), Last Song of the Nigh2ngale (New End Theatre and tour – starring double Olivier-Award winner Tracie BenneS), and the British premiere of Stephen Sondheim Anyone Can Whistle (Bridewell Theatre starring double Olivier-Award winner Janie Dee). Self-devised and adapted pieces include Kurt Weil’s Last Train From Berlin (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Cy Coleman’s Seesaw (Bridewell Theatre). Michael was the Artistic Director of the Cherub Company London, where he produced, directed, developed, and premiered works by renowned contemporary playwrights including Peter Nichols, Tom Stoppard, Gao Xingjian, Glyn Maxwell, Martin Sherman, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, Cy Coleman, Ronald Harwood, Nilo Cruz, Tiziano Terzani, Fabrice Melquiot and Howard Barker. He was honored to have developed a personal rapport with the above-mentioned writers during the process of counseling those producers. Within the Ar4s4c Director’s capacity, he facilitated and co-funded publica4on of Cherub-produced plays by Samuel French, Nick Hern Books, Faber & Faber and L’Arche Editeur secured Cherub’s position and influence on the cultural market. After his appointment, Michael was invited to the Board of Trustees of Cherub Company London, a diverse variety of professional fundraisers, media lawyers, West End commercial producers, private asset managers, corporate accountants, and the associate director of London’s National Theatre. In his role, he successfully managed four departments with permanent staff - the production office, the literary office, the casting department, and accounts. He established agreements with leading management and talent agencies; contracted artists and crea4ves, managed national and international production budgets, and mediated international co-production agreements whose budgets have incurred zero deficit. He was responsible for introducing full-union rate remuneration to all artists involved and has transformed the company into an equal opportunity employer and an environmentally friendly organization. Governed by a board of trustees, Michael transformed an aging touring company into a modern London-centric theatre company, headhun4ng and maintaining relationships with individual patrons securing annual dona4ons, nego4a4ng corporate support for the company including SABMiller Coors, Pernod-Ricard and Channel Four TV. He also raised funds from governmental sources in Britain and across the EU countries including the Arts Council of England, EEA, and Norway Grants, Polish Cultural Ins4tutes in New York City and London, and Ins4tut Français du Royaume-Uni. He directs regularly at the Royal Academy of Drama4c Art in London and is one of RADA`s directors at the Shakespeare School. He has also taught and directed at the Royal College of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire, Yale Opera School, and Rose Bruford College, in addition to the opera and theatre masterclasses that he regularly conducts internationally, including a series of workshops for emerging opera singers of deprived backgrounds. He oversees a charity committed to educating women victims of Central African ethnic cleansing in Africa, holding multiple fundraising events in the United Kingdom, United States, South Africa and Canada. He was an Arts Council of England mentor for future theatre practitioners in the disadvantaged borough of Haringey, London, and has worked 4relessly to devise educational projects, community events, and post-show discussions aSrac4ng London’s ethnic and cultural minorities. In 2022 Michael created the UK for Ukraine: For Art’s Sake programme. It aimed to aid all refugees fleeing Ukraine — from providing housing to helping with contracts and making introductions to talent agencies. Over 80 Ukrainian families have been successfully hosted by British cultural figures. Apart from basic existential needs, Michael provided the refugee artists with free theatre and concert tickets as well as mentoring sessions with British experts in each of the artistic disciplines.

Matthias Rexroth

Voice Teacher

Matthias Rexroth is a first-prize winner of two international vocal competitions: the 37th Francesco-Viñas in Barcelona and the 19th Belvedere-Competition in Vienna. Shortly after he became the “Rising Star“ of the Kölner Philharmonie and took part in a tour of major European concert houses. Since then he has been considered to be one of the most versatile male altos. His international career as an opera singer includes the title roles in Stefan Herheim’s Giulio Cesare at the Norwegian National Opera, Gluck’s Ezio with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Telemann’s Der geduldige Sokrates with René Jacobs at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music and the Staatsoper Berlin, Monteverdi’s Ottone at the Hamburg State Opera as well as Britten’s Oberon at Staatstheater Darmstadt, Handel’s Athamas at the Aalto Theater Essen, Handel’s Ottone and Admeto at the Handel Festival Halle (the latter granting him a nomination for “Best Singing Actor” in the frame of the German Faust prize in 2007), Armindo in Handel’s Partenope under Christophe Rousset and Unulfo in Handel’s Rodelinda under Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Theater an der Wien, as well as Ozia in Almeida’s La Giuditta at Frankfurt Opera. At the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad, he took part in the world premiere of the Hölderin/Sophocles – fragments Kolonos expressly composed for him by Wolfgang Rihm. His collaboration with Nikolaus Harnoncourt includes roles such as Handel’s Hamor in Jephtha, Didymus in Theodora, and Purcell’s Ode for St Cecilia’s day at the Wiener Musikverein and the Styriarte in Graz. His concert activity includes appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia under Fabio Luisi, as well as many other internationally renowned orchestras such as Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Frankfurter Museumsorchester, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, RadioTelevisione Española Madrid, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester, Concerto Köln, Bachakademie Stuttgart. He is a regular and welcome guest at the festivals of Schwetzingen, Innsbruck, Ludwigsburg, Rheingau, Baden-Baden, and Shanghai. Recent engagements include his debut as Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus at the Aalto Theater Essen and at the Daegu Opera House in South Korea, Alfred Schnittke’s Faust Kantate under Vladimir Fedossejew with the ORF- Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, both at the Wiener Musikverein, a European tour with Bach’s Mass in B minor with Akademie für Alte Musik. Further successes comprise Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Teseo, Cesti’s L’Orontea under Ivor Bolton (recorded and released by Oehms Classics), Purcell’s King Arthur and Martini’s L’Impresario delle Canarie at the Semperoper Dresden, Cavalli’s Veremonda at the Schwetzinger Festspiele, as well as Bach’s St John Passion with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Handel’s Messiah with the Bachfest Leipzig. Since the spring of 2014, he is a Professor at the Opera Academy/Akademia Operowa at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses nationally and internationally, e.g. in New York, San Francisco, Daegu, Novosibirsk, and Israel. Many of his students are successful young singers of the new generation, engaged at the opera houses in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Warsaw, London, Zürich, Paris, and Milan. Born in Nurnberg, Matthias Rexroth studied at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and privately with Marilyn Horne.

Neeme Kuningas

Stage Director, Estonian National Opera

After receiving his MA in singing from Tallinn State Conservatoire in 1979, he continued his studies at the Russian Theatre Academy (GITIS) under the guidance of Georgy Ansimov, Boris Pokrovsky and Yevgeni Akulov as an opera director.

Neeme Kuningas has been the chief stage director of the Estonian National Opera and Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre. He has worked extensively with young singers at the Opera Studio of Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Theatre And Music College in Gothenburg, China Central Conservatoire in Beijing and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He has created several performances for both children and youngsters as a librettist and stage director. Neeme Kuningas’ subtle sense of dramaturgy has lead him to creating translations of opera, operetta and musical librettos, such as Contes d’Hoffmann, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Serva-Padrona, Gräfin Mariza, Kiss Me, Kate!, Fiddler On the Roof, Wiener Blut, La belle Hélène, Vox Humana, Der Schauspieldirector, Man of La Mancha, Love for Three Oranges etc. Neeme Kuningas has staged over one hundred productions in the field of opera, operetta and musicals. His productions have been shown in Germany, Russia, Hungary, Sweden, Finland, Belarus and Turkey

Neeme Kuningas´ most recent highlights include the award-winning opera Wallenberg (co-directed with Dmitri Bertman) that won the artistic team the Cultural Prize of the Republic of Estonia 2007 for their outstanding work; Verdi’s Rigoletto in which he stresses the dramatic context of the opera, while being respectful of its conventions, and Wagner’s monumental music drama Tristan und Isolde.

In 2014 Neeme Kuningas was awarded by the President of Estonian Republic with The Order of the White Star (Ordre de l’Etoile Blanche).

Kristian Benedikt

Voice teacher, Metropolitan Opera

Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt has built up a reputation as one of the leading international singers of Verdi’s Otello. He sang this most demanding role more than 120 times: at Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Wiener Staatsoper, Bavarian State Opera Munich, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Modena, Piacenza, Cagliari, Palermo, Ekaterinburg, Santiago de Chile, Vilnius, Graz, Basel, Stockholm, Latvian Opera Festival and at Victoria’s Pacific Opera, Montreal Opera, Savonlinna Festival and others. Upcoming plans include Andrea Chenier (U. Giordano) at St. Gallen Opera in June and July 2023. Next season he will sing Calaf, Otello, and Tannhäuser in various European theatres. In February 2023 Kristian made his debut at Bulgarian National Opera in Sofia with the role of Florestan (L. van Beethoven’s Fidelio). The last of his works – Herman (P. Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades) at the Swedish Royal Opera in Stockholm. In October 2022 he once again sang Otello at Craiova and Brasov theatres in Romania. In the same year, he participated in a concert Double Jubilee with Petras Geniušas (at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic), festive concerts with LSSO Kristian Benedikt and his friends, Echoes of Operetta with Kaunas State Musical Theater at Kaunas Philharmonic, Kristian Benedikt Gala with Klaipėda Musical Theater, Concert for the Defenders of Freedom Day - G. Verdi Requiem with LNOBT, Tenoriada – a concert tour around Lithuania. In April 2022 Benedikt sang Calaf (Turandot, directed by R. Willson) at the Houston Grand Opera. In 2021 Benedict performed Samson at the Korean National Opera. In November Kristian Benedikt Grand Gala took place – a jubilee concert with world-known opera star Maria Guleghina (LNOBT orchestra and choir, conductor – Modestas Pitrėnas). During the pandemic, Benedict was preparing new roles, expanding his repertoire, creating new concert programs, and discovering new forms of creative expression. He made recordings in studios and participated in online concerts (solo at the Kaunas Philharmonic, Japanese Songs at the National Philharmonic), gathered Tenoriada, which was registered in the Lithuanian Guinness Book of Records as the concert with the highest number (16) of tenors (he was registered in that book also in 2013 - as a Lithuanian soloist, singing in the longest concert - performance of R. Wager`s Rienzi in Boston) and actively participated in performing sacred music in various Lithuanian churches. In March of 2021 Benedikt participated in the concert recording of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and Lithuanian Radio and Television Thanks to Lithuanian Medics. in April, together with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and Kaunas State Choir, he recorded the Corrado part (A. Ponchielli Lithuanians, conductor - Modestas Pitrėnas). The CD will be released by Orpheus. After the pandemic subsided, in June 2021 the soloist successfully debuted in the role of Florestan (L. van Beethoven`s Fidelio). It was a triple debut: for the first time in France, in the METZ Metropole Opera and in the role of Florestan. In the same summer, the soloist sang solo concerts, participated in Kristupas‘ Festival, M.K. Čiurlionis Music Festival, Midsummer Festival at the Palace of the Grand Dukes, Klaipėda Music Festival (performed Erik in The Flying Dutchman), Peter Dvorski International Music Festival in the Czech Republic and Pažaislis Festival with Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and Kaunas State Choir. In 2018 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the role of Samson (Samson et Dalila). In 2019 he debuted as Andrea Chenier at the Trieste Teatro Verdi and as Calaf at the famous Teatre Colón in Buenos-Aires along with Maria Guleghina as Turandot. He had a double debut in Portugal – sang Don Alvaro (La forza del destino) at Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon and again sang Herman (The Queen of Spades) at the Metropolitan. In 2020 he debuted as Erik (The Flying Dutchman, Höllander – Bryn Terfel) at Bilbao ABAO theatre. Benedikt‘s first CD solo album Tenore di forza was released in 2019. It was recorded with Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and choir of Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, conductor Modestas Pitrėnas, sound director – Vilius Keras. It was released by DELOS (California) and distributed worldwide. During his latest seasons, Benedikt sang at the Wiener Staatsoper (Otello), London Royal Covent Garden Opera (Canio), Mariinsky Theatre (Otello, Samson, Lohengrin), Teatro Municipal de Santiago Chile (Otello, Calaf), Beijing NCPA (Samson), Moscow Bolshoi Theatre (Herman), Hungarian National Opera (Otello, Herman), Torino Regio (Samson), Barcelona Liceo (Rienzi), Bergamo Opera (Cavaradossi), Dresden Semperoper (Otello), Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet theatre (Alfredo, Corrado, Don Jose, Pinkerton, Duca, Eleazar, Otello, Ernani, Siegmund, Calaf), Finland National Opera (Dick Johnson), Odeon in Odense (Siegmund), Vilnius City Opera (Des Grieux, Samson), Macedonian National Opera (Calaf), Savonlinna Festival (Otello), Al Bustan Festival (Otello), Festival Opera pa Skaret (Don Jose, Edgardo) etc. Among the highlights of Benedikt’s repertoire are the roles of Don Jose (Carmen), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Samson (Samson et Dalila), Calaf (Turandot), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Canio (I pagliacci) as well as roles like Eleazar (La Juive), Manrico (Il trovatore), Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del West), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), title roles of Andrea Chenier, Ernani, Rienzi and Lohengrin could be mentioned. He has performed under the baton of conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Marco Armiliato, Marcello Votti, Riccardo Chailly, Maurizio Barbacini, Paolo Carigniani, Asher Fisch, Renato Palumbo, Valeri Gergiev, Alexander Vedernikov, and is working with stage directors like Giancarlo del Monaco, Damiano Michieletto, Willy Decker, David Alden, Calixto Bieito, Hugo de Ana, Dmitri Bertman, Eimuntas Nekrošius and Pier Francesco Maestrini. As a concert singer he has sung Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Rachmaninov’s The Bells and Webber’s Requiem among others. From 2008 to 2018 Benedikt worked with famous Italian tenor Gianfranco Cecchele, paying special attention to the Italian opera and taking over the vocal tradition of Mario del Monaco. He has also studied with Virgilijus Noreika, Jaakko Ryhänen, and Robert Lloyd.

Adina Cocargeanu

Vocal Coach, "Ion Dacian" National Operetta and Musical Theater

Adina Cocargeanu was born in Constanta in 1985 and started studying piano at 7 in her hometown music high school. She continued at the George Enescu Music Highschool in Bucharest where she graduated. She finished her studies at the National University of Music in 2008. Since 2007 she works as a pianist and coach at the National Operetta and Musical Theatre “Ion Dacian” in Bucharest, she is a collaborator at the National Opera Bucharest. She performed solo and chamber music recitals in Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Israel, the United States of America, Turkey, and Finland. She collaborated with The Chicago Lyric Opera, South Bend Lyric Opera in the US, and the Meitar Studio at the Israeli Opera House. She did recitals for several embassies in Romania. She also plays the organ and harpsichord and since 2012 she has been the organist of the Anglican Church in Bucharest.

Luisella Germano

Vocal Coach at the Theater an der Wien, “La Monnaie“ Opera house (Brussels). the University of Music

Born in Turin (Italy), Luisella Germano graduated with honors in Piano at the Conservatorio Statale “G.Verdi” in Torino (State Conservatory of Music in Turin). After receiving a scholarship from “De Sono” Associazione per la musica in Torino (De SonoAssociation for Music in Turin), she specialized in chamber music with “Trio di Trieste” at the Accademia Ducale in Genoa, and “Trio di Milano” at the High Music School in Fiesole (Florence). Before turning her attention to the operatic repertoire, Ms. Germano won many prizes in several international competitions as a soloist and as part of chamber ensembles. After graduating with honors from the highly prestigious Accademia Teatro “La Scala” in Milan, as “vocal coach”, she worked at the Opera houses in Frankfurt, Nice, and Turin (2003 to 2012). In 2012 won an audition at the Vienna State Opera as “vocal coach”. She worked there as responsible for the Italian repertoire from 2012 till 2020. After 2020 she worked regularly as a guest at “Theater an der Wien”(Vienna), at “Teatro Massimo” Palermo (Italy), at „Teatro Regio“ Torino (Italy), at “La Monnaie“ Opera house (Brussels). From 2006 till 2017 she also regularly worked with the RAI Symphony National Orchestra as “vocal coach” and pianist. During the summers of 2016 and 2017, she served on the artistic staff at the Salzburger Festspiele (Salzburg Opera Festival) as a vocal coach and musical Assistant. Ms. Germano has worked alongside conductors such as Alain Altinoglu, Marco Armiliato, Semyon Bychkov, Jesus Lopez Cobos, James Conlon, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Myung-Whung Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Ivanovič Fedoseev, Michele Mariotti, Riccardo Muti, Gianandrea Noseda, Juraj Valčuha, Zubin Mehta, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Evelino Pidó, Pinchas Steinberg, Jeffrey Tate. From 2016 on she worked several times with M° Riccardo Muti as “vocal coach” and “fortepiano player” for the Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy. Since 2018 Ms. Germano has held a collaborative pianist position at the “Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien” (the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna) –Department of Vocal Studies.

Larisa Tetuev

Soprano, Voice Teacher

Since arriving in Israel in 1990 from the former Soviet Union, soprano Larissa Tetuev has established herself as the leading Israeli soprano with a formidable international career. Having begun her musical studies as a pianist, Ms. Tetuev participated in the Israel Vocal Arts Institute and was immediately recognized as a promising talent, receiving scholarships for professional study abroad. The soprano-lirico made her debut with the New Israeli Opera in the title role of Marenka in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride and participated that same season in the visiting Kirov production of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, conducted by Valery Gergiev. The following season, Ms. Tetuev sang her first Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, stepping in for an ailing colleague on short notice and emerging with a huge success. Some of her earlier roles, performed in Israel, include Fiordiligi in Cosí fan Tutte, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Micaela Carmen, Violetta in La Traviata, and the title role in Cilea’s Adrianna Lecouvreur.

In the 1997-98 season Ms. Tetuev made her United States debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Fort Worth Opera. Such was her success that she was immediately re-engaged by that company and sang there in the tile role of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, and later reprised her Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. Ms. Tetuev sang her first ever Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello in the autumn of 2000 with the Portland Opera to critical acclaim.

Ms. Tetuev has performed under the baton of leading conductors such as the late Gari Bertini, Asher Fisch, Alexei Gergiev, Yuri Aharonovich, and Zubin Mehta. Her concert-stage repertoire with includes Stabat Mater of Rossini, Pergolesi and Dvorak, C Minor Mass by Mozart, the Faure Requiem, and Strauss’s Vier Letzte Lieder. The Verdi Requiem and the Beethoven 9th Symphony. In January 2000, she appeared in the New Israeli Opera’s "Viva la Voce" series in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, under the baton of Yuri Aharonovich, to outstanding reviews. In The autumn of the same year, Ms. Tetuev appeared in Leeds, Manchester, and in London, at Queen Elizabeth Hall, with the Shostakovich Symphony No. 14. and in 2001 she was invited to Durban for a Verdi gala. Continuing in the same tradition, the reviews were superlative in every case.

Early in her career, Larissa Tetuev had the auspicious honor of being the first-ever non-Czech singer to perform the title role in Dvorak’s Russalka in Prague at the Prague State Theater under the baton of Irje Belohelavek and was invited to repeat her wonderful portrayal of this role when the Prague State Theater travelled to Japan with the production the autumn of 1999. Ms. Tetuev was engaged for another Micaela (Carmen) in Capetown and appeared with the Philharmonic of Luxembourg, under the baton of Yuri Aharonovich, in Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, with whom she traveled to reprise the work in Brussels.

Ms. Tetuev sang her first Liu in Turandot in 2000 at the Roman Amphitheater of Caesarea with the Israel Opera as part of a new "International Operatic Festival". She was engaged to sing Gil Shochat’s Song of Songs, in the framework of the prestigious Israel Festival 2000. The next season she returned to the Israel Opera and the "International Opera Festival" in Caesarea with her Israeli debut of Desdemona in Otello. in 2002, she traveled with the production to the Italian open-air festival "Varese Ligure". Again, she received rave reviews and was invited to return for a production of Le Nozze di Figaro in the summer of 2003.

In January 2002 Ms. Tetuev debuted in the title role in Norma at the Ft. Worth Opera, in a production made for her after the audiences had so adored her previous engagements that the opera offered her to appear in the opera of her choice. She then traveled to New York to appear with the American Symphony Orchestra in a production of Rachmaninov’s Francesca di Rimini. That season she returned to the Israel Opera for Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus.

The artist’s 2002-2003 season included debut performances in Peter Grimes, and Simon Boccanegra, both to rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, and a reprise of Eugene Onegin. She re-created the role of Madame Butterfly at the NIO in a production chosen especially for her and appeared with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in Rossini’s Stabat Mater in the prestigious Liturgica Festival. This was only after being invited to appear in Budapest at a gala diplomatic function where she sang arias from La Wally, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly. In a combined JSO/NIO production, Ms. Tetuev completed the 2002-2003 season with another Benjamin Britten work, this time the War Requiem followed immediately by Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and finally concluded the season with her first Verdi Requiem.

In 2003-2004 Ms. Tetuev began the season with the opening concert of the Dvorak Requiem in a September 11th Tribute in Jerusalem with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Leon Botstein. The season followed with numerous concerts, in Israel and abroad, continuing her acclaim-winning portrayals of Verdi and Puccini repertoire. She début Odabella in Attila and the title role in Tosca. She returned to the Israel Opera-Tel Aviv to reprise Russalka, one of her signature pieces,

The 2004-2005 season included a reprise of Tosca in the U.S., a Zefirelli-directed production of Pagliacci at the Israel Opera (for which she also received rave reviews from the maestro himself for her Nedda) the newly commissioned Journey to the End of the Millenium by Israeli composer Bardanasvhilli and a reprise of Elvira in Don Giovanni with the New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Noam Sheriff.

During the 2005-2006 season Ms. Tetuev debuted the title role in Manon Lescaut, made a reprise of Beethoven`s 9th Symphony, and appeared as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera. Franco Zeffirelli asked her to step into the La Traviata production that he directed at the Israel Opera in light of their past collaboration. Ms. Tetuev concluded the season with a Rachmaninoff recital as part of the prestigious Israel Festival and was invited to a gala performance with the London Royal Philharmonic, Michael Hankinson conducting. Larissa Tetuev, in addition to being Israel’s leading diva, is also invited to sit on juries of vocal competitions and to give master classes for the Israel Vocal Arts Institute.

The 2007-2008 season included a return to the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra for its opening season, this time for the Shostakovich From Jewish Folk Poetry, and later in 2007 roles at the Israel Opera Tel Aviv-Yafo included Leonora in Il Trovatore, Antonia in Les Contes Hoffman, and Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, which was directed by the world-renowned Gian Carlo Del Monaco

As the leading soprano at the Israel Opera for thirteen years and with a list of roles exceeding 30 operas, the 2008-2009 season included appearances in Boito’s Mephistopheles and another Bardanashvilli’s Journey to the End of the Millennium in Rome. She also toured Los Angeles with concert repertoire. The 2009-2010 season includes the World Premiere of Gil Shohat`s A Child Dreams, and Tchaikovsky`s Pique Dame. In 2010-2011 she performed Shostakovich’s, Lady Macbeth. She also performed in Italy and the USA on recital tours.

Ms. Tetuev’s teaching credits include master classes for Ms. Trish McCaffrey’s studio at the Manhattan College of Music, the Israel Opera Studio in Tel Aviv, and winter sessions at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute.

Marina Levite

Soprano, Voice Teacher

Marina Levite immigrated to Israel from Lviv in Ukraine at the end of 1978. She completed her studies at the Tel Aviv Music Academy and her master`s degree at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. Marina Levitt has performed in Israel, the US, France, Mexico, and Ireland. She performed with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and appears in prestigious Festivals like the Mozart Festival in France and the Wexford Festival in Ireland.

She sang in the Czar`s bride (Rimsky Korsakov) with the New York Opera Orchestra, the First Lady in the Magic Flute with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the button of maestro Zubin Mehta. At the Israeli Opera, she has performed Magenka in the Addicted bride, Mimi in La Boheme, Marguerite in Faust, Nedda in Pagliacci, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Antonia in Les Contes Hoffman, and others.

Her repertoire also includes chamber music and baroque music. In addition to her soloist career, Prof. Levitt is a part of the teacher staff of the vocal department at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance