Bios and photos are available for hundreds of artists who have performed and worked with West Bay Opera.
To view a complete list of artists, click here.
The experience of singing a role onstage in a West Bay Opera production is invaluable to a singer’s operatic career. Our performers are selected in open auditions which attract singers from throughout Northern California. Under the coaching, direction, and inspiration of outstanding music and stage directors, these singers enjoy the rare opportunity to study and perform solo roles.
Many of West Bay Opera’s young artists have subsequently won recognition in prestigious vocal competitions such as the San Francisco Merola Auditions and the Metropolitan Opera Finals. A number have gone on to sing with major American and European opera companies. The list of these performers includes Luana DeVol, who sang Leonora in Fidelio, first with West Bay Opera and thereafter with major opera houses in Germany; Monte Pederson, who sang the title role in Der Fliegende Holländer at West Bay Opera and then with the San Francisco Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin; and Patricia Schuman, who sang the title role of Carmen with West Bay Opera, went on to sing it in the Peter Brooks production on Broadway, and is now a star at the Metropolitan Opera.
Performances are accompanied by the West Bay Opera Orchestra. The players are selected from professional ensembles and orchestras throughout Northern California. The chance to play under the baton of noted guest conductors attracts many of the area?s most gifted musicians to the Orchestra.
West Bay Opera employs talented professionals to design sets, lighting, and costumes for each production. Like the young opera singers with whom they work, the costumers, technicians, and crew gain valuable career experience while working on productions. The company draws upon the resources in the community as well as from Bay Area colleges and universities to fill these positions for each production.
West Bay Opera's musical and stage directors are highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals. Some have national and international reputations of long standing, among them Pierrette Alarie, Samuel Cristler, Anne Catherine Ewers, Matthew Farruggio, Jonathon Field, Daniel Helfgot, Ernest Frederic Knell, Yefim Maizel, Henry Mollicone, David Ostwald, Stewart Robinson, Kenneth Tigar, Barbara Day Turner, and the late Jan Popper and Henry Holt (nephew of West Bay Opera's founder). Others are emerging professionals who, through their work with the company, gain valuable experience.