Pique Dame Creatives' Bios

José Luis Moscovich, is the conductor for Pique Dame. He has been General Director of West Bay Opera since 2006. For the preceding decade he was music director and conductor of the San Francisco Camerata, the only professional orchestra in the US devoted exclusively to the music of Latin American composers. He was also principal guest conductor of the ARTEA Orchestra and the Bay Area Concerto Ensemble. He has also appeared with the Marin Chamber Orchestra, the UCSF Orchestra, the Nova Vista Orchestra, and a number of other ensembles. Recently, he has also conducted productions at Opera Santa Barbara and Opera Idaho. He has conducted West Bay Opera’s productions of   Macbeth, Nabucco, Falstaff, Carmen, Fidelio, Norma, Salome, Il trittico, Despertar al sueño, Le nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly,Yevgeny Onegin, Faust, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Il trovatore, Die Zauberflöte, L'elisir d'amore, Tosca, Otello, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Samson et Dalila, Dido and Aeneas, La vida breve, Turandot, Der Freischütz, Orfeo ed Euridice, Der fliegende Holländer, Cavalleria rusticana, and Pagliacci. He has also conducted at the Teatro El Círculo opera house in Rosario, Argentina; taught master classes in opera performance in Beijing, China and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and lectured for the Wagner Society of Northern California. He was assistant conductor of the San Francisco Choral Society. He wrote the libretto and conducted the premiere of Corpus Evita , an opera by Carlos Franzetti, later conducting the recording of that work for Amapola Records, nominated for a GRAMMY in 2005. His other recording with the Camerata is a CD of Latin American orchestral music, for Klavier Records. He was trained as a clarinetist and conductor in his native Argentina, where he studied at the National Conservatory in Rosario. Selected by the American Symphony Orchestra League, he also trained under Lorin Maazel, and Maurice Abravanel.

Peter Crompton , is the Set Designer for  Pique Dame . He saw his first opera at the age of ten, but had to wait until 1990 before he was allowed to design and paint one. His previous designs for West Bay Opera include Falstaff, I due Foscari, Carmen, Fidelio, Salome, Il trittico, Yevgeny Onegin, Faust, L’elisir d’amore, Otello, Aida, Turandot, Manon Lescaut, The Threepenny Opera, Don Giovanni, La traviata, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Pagliacci. Mr. Crompton has designed for Festival Opera, Opera San José, Diablo Light Opera Company, Lamplighters, Bay Area Revels, Marin Theatre Company, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Birmingham Opera, Summer Repertory Theatre in Santa Rosa, Western Ballet, NVC, Santa Barbara Grand Opera, Berkeley Opera, and West Bay Opera, among others. He has won San Francisco Bay Area Critic’s Choice, Shellies, and Goodman Choice awards. Recent productions include Carmen for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Mary Poppins for Santa Rosa Junior College. Mr. Crompton resides in Santa Rosa, where he teaches set design at Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University, and tends an increasingly bizarre sculpture garden with his wife Robyn. The garden is open every October for ARTrails. His sculptures can be seen at Hammerfriar Gallery in Healdsburg.

Abra Berman,  is the costume designer for Pique Dame.   She has been designing costumes for over twenty-five years. She was designer for West Bay Opera's productions of Dido and Aeneas, La vida breve, Samson et Dalila, Aida, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Die Zauberflöte, Faust, Rigoletto, Le nozze di Figaro, Salome, Norma, Carmen, La bohème and Falstaff. Other collaborations includes SF Playhouse, Marin Shakespeare Company, Company C Contemporary Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Berkeley Playhouse, Berkeley Opera, Brava Theatre, Pocket Opera, Lamplighters Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Alameda Civic Light Opera, Palo Alto Players, The De Young Museum, The Museum of Performance and Design, Hillbarn Theatre, Arclight Theatre, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Ballet Califia, Cinnabar Theatre, and Sonoma County Repertory Theatre, among others. Abra has an MFA from UCLA in theatrical costume design. 

Frédéric O. Boulay , is Projection Designer for Pique Dame . He made his debut with West Bay Opera as Projection Designer for Les contes d’Hoffmann , and since then has designed projections for Tosca, L’elixir d'amore, Die Zauberflöte, Il trovatore, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Faust, Rigoletto, Yevgeny Onegin, Madama Butterfly, Le nozze di Figaro, Il trittico,, Salome, Norma, Fidelio, Carmen, La bohème, I due Foscari, Falstaff, Nabucco and Macbeth. Frederic's design work is at the intersection of art and technology, and he loves pushing the boundaries of what can be done on stage using new technology. His upcoming engagements as Projection Designer include A Golden Celebration of Dance at the Chicago Auditorium; a new production of Alice in Wonderland with Mark Foehringer Dance Project|SF in San Francisco and the Youth America Grand Prix at the David Koch Theatre in New York City. A native of France, he is a member of United Scenic Artists and holds both a Masters of Arts in Theatre Design & Production and an Executive MBA. Frédéric is of the Owner and Founder of Oaktown Productions and the Managing Director for Rooster Productions. None of this would be possible without the love and support of his amazing wife Magda and his two young boys Étienne & Théodore.

Giselle Lee is Sound Designer for Pique Dame . Giselle grew up in Mountain View and earned a BA in Technical Theatre from Cal State Long Beach. Following a string of SoCal gigs at various convention centers, theaters, and clubs on the Sunset Strip, Giselle returned to the SF Bay. After doing work with Western Ballet she spent time at West Bay Opera under the mentorship of Tod Nixon and JF Revon and went on to secure a position at Beach Blanket Babylon. She stepped in as Sound Designer last season and has designed West Bay Opera's productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Il trittico, Salome, Norma, Fidelio, Carmen, La bohème, I due Foscari, Falstaff, Nabucco and Macbeth

Shirley Benson, is Properties Designer for Pique Dame. Both she and her props were last seen in Lyrics production of Trial by Jury in June, 2017. She will also be working on Oklahoma with Lyric theatre this fall. Other credits with West Bay Opera include La bohème, Salome, Il trittico, Le nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly, Yevgeny Onegin, Rigoletto, Faust, Il trovatore, Die Zauberflöte, L’elisir d’amore, Tosca, Otello, Lucia di Lammermoor, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Aida, Don Giovanni, Samson et Dalila, Dido and Aeneas, La vida breve and Turandot . She has sung in the chorus with Mission City Opera, where she has also been properties manager for seven shows, including The Marriage of Figaro in 2009 and La bohème in 2010. She designed properties for many of Lyric Theatre of San Jose’s productions, including Camelot, Carousel, Kismet, Brigadoon , a Bollywood-style Sorcerer, and The Grand Duke . She also designed Utopia Limited for Lyric Theatre. Ms. Benson has been singing and designing and building props for various community theaters and Bahá'í choirs since the age of 12.

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