2008 Artistic and Production Staff

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Judith H. Walker, General Director

Ms. Walker directs the artistic and administrative components of the Festival. During her tenure, Ms. Walker initiated and implemented the following: the Opera Guild, Music at Twilight, the Apprentice Program, Artist-in-Residence, Kids Fest, and Opera Connects for Teachers. Festival revenues have consistently grown under Ms. Walker's direction: ticket revenue grew 682 percent, while expenses increased by only 242 percent. Ms. Walker holds a B.S. from Southern Illinois University, and has served as a panelist for the Virginia Commission of the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and Mid-Atlantic Arts. She has served as President of the Junior League of Charlottesville, and as Vice-President of both the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library and Charlottesville University Symphony Orchestra boards. She was a member of the Charlottesville Rotary for many years and is a member of OPERA America. She regularly serves as a judge for regional auditions for the Metropolitan Opera. She has served with the Charlottesville Regional Tourism Council as chair of the Tourism Expansion Committee as well as on the Virginia Tourism Corporation's committee Strengthening the Brand. Currently she serves on the board of Piedmont Council for the Arts and is a member of Odyssey and the Contemporary Club. In 1997 she was honored with the prestigious Piedmont Council for the Arts Individual Award for her outstanding contribution to the arts.

Chris Larkin, Music Director, My Fair Lady

Mr. Larkin's credits include conducting shows for such notable companies as Santa Fe Opera, Washington Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Florentine Opera, and Fort Worth Opera, among others. He has served as Music Director of the New York City Opera National Company, leading national tours of Madame Butterfly and Il Barbiere di Siviglia . As Associate Conductor at Houston Grand Opera, he conducted Carmen, Madame Butterfly, and I Pagliacci as well as leading the world premieres of Little Women and Jackie O . His other productions include La Traviata, Roméo et Juliette, Le Nozze di Figaro, Samson et Dalila, La Bohème, and L'Italiana in Algeri. His upcoming production will be Angels in America at Forth Worth Opera.

Cecelia Schieve, Stage Director, My Fair Lady

Ms. Schieve serves as Director of the Young Artist Studio and Education at Florida Grant Opera. Her prior positions include Assistant General Director and Director of Studio Theatre Young Artist Program at Anchorage Opera and Director of Opera at Boston Conservatory. Ms. Schieve's expertise is in training singers at the beginning of their professional careers. This is her third season directing at Ash Lawn Opera, and her other stage directing positions include Central City Opera, Merrimack Lyric, Artpark, Buffalo Opera, Brown Bag Opera , Chautauqua Institute, Miami Opera, and the Washington National Opera, Kennedy Center. Ms. Schieve has also held positions at the Universities of Maryland, Kent State and Wisconsin (Madison); New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music.

Andrew Bisantz , Music Director, Carmen

Mr. Bisantz is a highly acclaimed conductor, currently serving as Resident Conductor of Florida Grand Opera after spending four seasons as FGO's Assistant Conductor and Education Manager. He also acts as a coach for the Young Artist program. Before Florida Grand Opera, Mr. Bisantz spent several seasons conducting and as assistant conducter at Glimmerglass Opera and was on the faculty of Florida International University . His conducting credits include Carmen, Le Portrait de Manon, Cosi fan tutte, and Dido and Aeneas . Mr. Bisantz has the honor of being the youngest student at the Cleveland Institute of Music to be awarded his Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting.

David Lefkowich, Stage Director, Carmen

Mr. Lefkowich has an accomplished background in directing and fight choreography. His recent productions include Roméo et Juliette, The Merry Widow, Acis and Galatea, La Bohème, and Le Portrait de Manon. He has worked with many opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Julliard Opera Center and Glimmerglass Opera, and recently made his European directing debut at the Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona, Spain. Mr. Lefkowich has multiple years of experience in ballet, modern dance, and ballroom dance. Combined with his many years in stage combat, Mr. Lefkowich often doubles as fight director and choreographer while directing a musical production. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Theater from Northwestern University, and a certificate from L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. We are pleased to have him return to Ash Lawn Opera after serving as Stage Director last season for The Sound of Music.

Adam Turner, Resident Conductor

Mr. Turner is currently conductor and coach pianist at Theater Pforzheim in Germany, where his productions will include Le nozze di Figaro, La Boheme, and Eugene Onegin, among others. He has previously served as assistant conductor for Florida Grand Opera and Summer Opera Theatre, in addition to his work as vocal coach for Washington National Opera's Young Institute for Singers. At the Jenny Wiley Theatre, he conducted and led performances from piano of Into the Woods, Peter Pan, My Way, and The Legend of Jenny Wiley. While earning his Master's of Music at The Catholic University of America, Mr. Turner conducted such productions as Cosi fan tutte, Copland's The Tender Land, and Britten's Albert Herring and served as music director for the world premiere of The Furies. Mr. Turner received his Bachelor's Degree at Morehead State University where he gained experience as conductor, musical director and vocal coach on a variety of productions. While there, he also was honored as an Outstanding Undergraduate in Music for three consecutive years.

LeVonne D. Lindsay, Costume Designer

Ms. Lindsay serves as an Assistant Professor at Valdosta State University where she teaches and designs costumes. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Costume Design from the University of Maryland, College Park, and since then has served as an Allen Lee Hughes Costume Shop Fellow at Arena Stage and a Costume Shop Assistant with Wolftrap Opera Company. Her costume design credits include productions of A Clockwork Orange, Pigmaleon, Grease, and Color Me Dark.

Perry Mears, Coach Accompanist

Mr. Mears currently works as an accompanist-coach at Lee University where he also received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master of Church Music. He holds a Master of Music in Performance (Collaborative Piano) from the University of Maryland, College Park . Mr. Mears has served as an accompanist-coach previously at the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Maryland Opera Studio. His show credits include Werther, Il Matrionio Segretto, and The Newport Rivals.

Eric Andries, Coach Accompanist

Mr. Andries has served as a rehearsal pianist with Shreveport Opera, Amarillo Opera, Mobile Opera, Opera Birmingham and Opera Southwest, among others. His show credits include Rigoletto, Lucia Di Lammermoor, and La Boheme. Eric's musical experience includes opera, musical theatre, classical, jazz and salsa. He earned both his Bachelor and his Master of Music from Louisiana State University .