West Bay Opera

Mark D. Lew

Mark D. Lew began his music career in Anchorage, Alaska, where he grew up. Since moving to California he has sung with numerous groups throughout the Bay Area, including Pocket Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Festival Opera, and Berkeley Opera. He has come to be recognized as one of the Bay Area's leading tenors specializing in comprimario roles. Most recently, he created the role of Dan White in Oakland Opera Theatre's world premiere of Tom Dean's White Darkness. Peninsula opera audiences know him from his recent portrayals of Sportin' Life in Redwood Symphony's production of Porgy and Bess and Goro in West Bay Opera's 1999 production of Madama Butterfly.

In addition to singing, Mr. Lew has served the Bay Area music community as accompanist, vocal coach, choral director, translator, composer, and arranger. His works have been performed by the Oakland Symphony Chorus, Sonos Handbell Ensemble, and San Francisco Chamber Singers. An independent music publisher, he specializes in adapting lesser-known opera scenes and arias for concert presentation. Several of his editions are available for download on the Internet. His choral editions of La bohème and Aïda have been used by the Redwood Symphony, Oakland Symphony Chorus, and Festival Opera. Mr. Lew is an active participant in the OperaGlass project, a cooperative effort dedicated to making texts and translations of opera librettos freely available on the Internet. He has written extensively on opera and its history, on the Internet and in local publications.

15 May 2001