Brian Staufenbiel is the creative director for Opera Parallèle where he has directed and created the conceptual designs of the company’s productions since it was founded in 2010. Specializing in multimedia, immersive, and interdisciplinary productions, he actively works across a wide range of artistic disciplines collaborating in film, and with media designers, choreographers and dancers, circus artists, and designer fabricators. His progressive approach to stagecraft has garnered critical acclaim for many of the company’s productions, including Wozzeck, Orphée, Champion and Dead Man Walking.  Staufenbiel recently directed films for the online festival season of the Sun Valley Music Festival, a film of Dove/Angelis’ Flight for Seattle Opera, an award-winning graphic novel film of Talbot/Scheer’s Everest with Opera Parallèle, and a feature-length film of Gordon Getty’s opera Goodbye Mr. Chips for Festival Napa Valley.   

Nora Winsler is a versatile and accomplished director who has made significant contributions to numerous productions across the United States. For the past two years, Winsler held the position of Resident Assistant Director at Virginia Opera. After touring seven productions with the company and directing their 2022 outreach show, Jack and The Beanstalk, Winsler returns to Virginia Opera to direct Il Barbiere di Siviglia this fall. Tapped as an assistant director by leading directors, Winsler has worked with Tara Faircloth, Kevin Newbury, Joachim Schamberger, and Mary Birnbaum. Most recently, Winsler’s work has been seen at Des Moines Metro Opera where she was the assistant director on Carmen and directed several scenes for the Apprentice Artist Scenes Concerts. In 2022, she contributed to the success of two productions at the Glimmerglass Festival working with Francessca Zambello and Brenna Corner (Tenor Overboard) and Kimille Howard (The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson). Previous directing credits include All is Calm and Extraordinary Women at Opera North and Hänsel und Gretel at Luray Opera in 2017. She was honored with the Robert L.B. Tobin Director Designer Prize for Choreography by Opera America in 2022. During her time at James Madison University, she received an Undergraduate Research Grant for her project titled “Best Practices in Interdisciplinary Arts Collaboration… and Tea” in 2017.

Aubrey Allicock has been hailed by the New York Times as "sturdy", "dynamic", and "excellent" as he continues to make his mark among prominent opera companies and symphonies both at home and abroad. A Grammy nominee for his participation in John Adams's Doctor Atomic as General Groves, Mr. Allicock adds to that list a BBC Music Magazine Award for Opera. Notable engagements include: creating the role of Young Emile in Terence Blanchard’s Champion, having performed the world première with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis with ensuing productions with Washington National Opera, Dutch National Opera, New Orleans Opera and Opéra de Montréal. Additional highlights include the role Mamoud in John Adams’ Death of Klinghoffer with The Metropolitan Opera; General Groves in Doctor Atomic with the BBC, Argante in Rinaldo, Glyndebourne; Tiridate in Handel’s Radamisto, Philharmonia Baroque; John Adam’s El Niño, Concertgebouw; Welsh National Opera in Will Todd’s Migrations; Alberich in Das Rheingold, Virginia Opera; Frederick Delius’ Koanga, Wexford Festival; title role, Le nozze di Figaro; Opera Theater of Saint Louis and Seattle Opera; Carmen, Komische Oper Berlin; Minskman in Flight with Seattle Opera; We Shall Not Be Moved, Opera Philadelphia; Yusef Salaam in Central Park Five with Portland Opera; Pirate King in Pirates of Penance, Virginia Opera; and Dick Hallorann in The Shining, Lyric Opera Kansas City. Up and coming performances include: Alberich in Das Rheingold with Dayton Opera; he makes his Spoleto USA debut in 2024; and records We Shall Not Be Moved and The Shining with Lyric Opera Kansas City. 

Gabrielle Bennett is a native of Lexington, Kentucky, earned her BM in vocal performance from the University of Kentucky. With UKOT, she performed the roles of Cosette in Les Miserables, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, and The Doll in the Tales of Hoffmann, and opera chick in Bounce: The basketball Opera and toured in their SOOP productions of Jack and the Beanstalk and Its All About Teeth. She was in the chorus of UKOT's Phantom of the Opera, Pirates of Penzance, Suor Angelica, and Its a Grand night for Singing. She was Miss Andrew and Miss Lark in the LEX's Mary Poppins and chorus in their 2018 Concert with the Stars. She was the witch in Distilled Theatre Company’s production of Into The Woods. She sang in parks and recreation's event Opera under the stars. She was a studio artist with Kentucky Opera 2018-2019 performing in their outreach program Exploring the River Region, and chorus of Showboat, Madame Butterfly, The Mikado, The Abduction from the Seraglio and Dead Man Walking. She has sung in the chorus of Atlanta Opera’s production of Madame Butterfly. Gabrielle is married to Dr. Tyler Bennett, a veterinarian and they have four dogs, three cats, goats, silkie chickens, pheasants, peacocks, and a famous emu named Jeep.  

Kearstin Piper Brown, praised for her “thrilling singing” (Opera Now), and recognized as “a rising talent to watch” back in 2007 (The Cincinnati Enquirer) has become one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos in the US. In 2023, she makes her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the world premiere of The Walkers by Daniel Bernard Roumain, and sings Wendy Torrance in The Shining by Paul Moravec, first with Opera Parallèle and subsequently with Opera Atlanta. In 2024, she will make her debut with Florida Grand Opera as Nedda. In 2022, she resumed performances in the lead role of Esther in Ricky Ian Gordon’s opera Intimate Apparel with Lincoln Center Theater (as part of the joint Metropolitan Opera’s New Works Program), for which she won several awards, including the World Theater Award for “Outstanding Debut Performance in an Off-Broadway Production”. Other career highlights of her recent past were Musetta and Bess, both with New Orleans Opera, Dorothy Jean Hamer in Chandler Carter’s This Little Light of Mine with Santa Fe Opera as well as Clara in Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life with San Francisco Opera. 

Kevin Deas has gained international renown as one of America’s leading bass-baritones. He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having performed it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, as well as the most illustrious orchestras on the North American continent, and at the Ravinia, Vail and Saratoga festivals. 2021-22 season highlights include performances of Mozart’s Requiem with the Florida Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the National Cathedral, Boston Baroque, and the New York Philharmonic. Other notable performances in the season include Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Phoenix Symphony, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and will be performing the role of Porgy in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with the Des Moines Metro Opera, as well as the role of Dick Hallorann in Paul Moravec’s critically acclaimed opera The Shining with the Opera Colorado. 

Thomas Glass, baritone, is the winner of the 2022 Mabel Dorn Reader Foundation Prize at Opera Theater of Saint Louis and a Grand Prize Winner at the 2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  He is a recent alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Program. In the 2022-2023 season, Mr. Glass makes his San Francisco Opera debut covering Mark Antony in John Adams’ new opera Antony and Cleopatra. He also makes his role and house debut at Palm Beach Opera as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and returns to Minnesota Opera for his role debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni. Highlights of recent seasons include house and role debuts at The Metropolitan Opera (Yamadori in Madama Butterfly), Opera Theater of Saint Louis (title role in Harvey Milk: Reimagined), Berkshire Opera Festival (Ford in Falstaff), Atlanta Opera (Dandini in La Cenerentola) and at Arizona Opera (John Lassiter in Riders of the Purple Sage) as well as role debuts at Houston Grand Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Marcello in La bohème, and the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia.  Born in Edina, Minnesota, Thomas earned his Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Craig Irvin brings a vibrant sound and commitment to character to a wide variety of repertoire. Opera News has praised his “rich, resonant baritone” while the Dallas Morning News has noted his “truly commanding baritone.” In the 2022-2023 season, Mr. Irvin had role debuts as Jochanaan in Salome with Madison Opera and Older Thompson in Glory Denied with Knoxville Opera and Permian Basin Opera. Additionally, Irvin returned to The Atlanta Opera as Maximillian in Candide, Tulsa Opera as The Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods, and was seen in concert with New West Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Irvin welcomes the 2023-2024 season with two exciting role debuts: as Jack Torrance in The Atlanta Opera’s production of The Shining, and Scarpia in Madison Opera’s Tosca; further engagements include the Pirate King in Kentucky Opera’s The Pirates of Penzance, a signature role of his. Irvin reprised his inimitable performance of the Pirate King in the 2021-2022 season as well, with both The Atlanta Opera and Utah Symphony and Opera. Also that season, Irvin joined Orchestra Iowa for Handel’s Messiah and the Cincinnati May Festival for Candide. Career highlights include creating the role of Horstmayer in Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer-prize winning Silent Night, singing Dominik and covering Mandryka in the Canadian Opera Company’s Arabella, as well as productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago such as Tosca, The Mikado, La fanciulla del West, Un ballo in maschera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Carmen. 

Kelly Kaduce, soprano, has been proclaimed “…an exceptional actress whose performance was as finely modulated dramatically as it was musically… and her dark, focused sound was lusty and lyrical one moment, tender and floating the next” for her creation of the title role in David Carlson’s Anna Karenina (Opera News ). Among her engagements in the 2019-20 season are the title role of Suor Angelica and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Memphis, a reprise of Wendy in Paul Moravec’s The Shining with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Older Alyce in Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied with Atlanta Opera. Ms. Kaduce’s recent engagements include the title roles of Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, and Rusalka, and the world premiere of The Shining with Minnesota Opera; Madama Butterfly with Florida Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and West Australian Opera; Mimì in La bohème with Boston Lyric Opera; Tosca with Houston Grand Opera; Katja in Weinberg’s Die Passagierin with Lyric Opera of Chicago; Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites, Nedda in Pagliacci, and the title role of Salome with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Liu in Turandot with Utah Opera; Anne Sorenson in Puts’ Silent Night and Princess Lan in Tan Dun’s Tea with Opera Philadelphia; Liu in Turandot in a return to Minnesota Opera; Rusalka with L’Opéra de Montréal and Opera Colorado; Patricia Nixon in Nixon in China and Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Eugene Opera; Violetta in La traviata with Opera Tulsa and Malmö Opera; Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Eugene Opera; Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Michigan Opera Theatre; Desdemona in Otello with Kentucky Opera; and Suor Angelica at Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile. 

Malcolm MacKenzie has been described as having a voice “rich vocal range full of inviting nuance,” and is quickly capturing attention in the dramatic baritone repertoire. Opera News recently praised him as a “confident, commanding Count di Luna…of robust tone, ardent address, arching phrases and genuine baritonal squillo.”  Mr. MacKenzie has been heard at leading opera houses throughout the U.S. and Europe, appearing at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Paris Opera (Bastille), Finland’s Savonlinna Festival, Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, San Diego Opera, Arizona Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera, in roles including Simon Boccanegra, Iago, Tonio, Baron Scarpia, Don Giovanni, Count di Luna, Renato, Jack Rance, Marcello, Germont, and Count Almaviva. In the 2022-2023 season, Mr. MacKenzie appears as Alfio in Opera Colorado’s Cavalleria rusticana, joins Quad City Symphony for their Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony, reprises his Mark Torrance in The Shining with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, performs as Doctor in Vanessa with Spoleto Festival and returns to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Rodrigue in the premiere of their five-act Don Carlos, which he also covered the previous season. Mr. MacKenzie’s 2021-2022 season featured him in the title role of Gianni Schicchi at Piedmont Opera, a reprise of his much-lauded Germont in La Traviata at Toledo Opera, and an appearance in the dual roles of Master Johnson and Master Owen in Omar at Spoleto Festival.   

Victor Robertson was nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award for the roles of Elijah and Street in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X for the concert recording with Boston Modern Orchestra Projects, Victor Robertson also appeared in the production at Detroit Opera and Opera Omaha.  Recent successes include the role of Raymond Santana in Anthony Davis’s Central Park Five at Portland Opera and the role of Nestor in the world premiere of Castor and Patience by Gregory Spears at Cincinnati Opera. Current season engagements include Sportin’ Life Porgy and Bess in a co-production between Opera North Carolina and Opera Carolina, and his concert performances of Men of Broadway with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Recent highlights include Alfredo La Traviata at Orlando Opera, and the role Benny “Kid” Paret which Victor created in the 2017 world premiere of Terence Blanchard’s celebrated Champion at Washington National Opera and revived the role at Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera de Montreal.   His standard repertoire includes Almaviva Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Tonio La Fille du Regiment, Ramiro La Cenerentola, title role Romeo et Juliette, Fenton Falstaff, Nemorino L’Elisir d’Amore, title role Les Contes d’Hoffman, Nadir Les pecheurs de perles and Rinuccio Gianni Schicchi. Victor made his Metropolitan Opera debut in their new 2017 production of Merry Widow as Raoul, and in the same year, his Broadway debut in its longest running show, Phantom of the Opera as Piangi. 

John Arnold is an Atlanta-based singer, actor, writer, podcast host, and multi-instrumentalist. John has performed to great acclaim with opera companies and associated emerging and resident artist programs across the United States, including the Atlanta Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, Des Moines Metro Opera, Kentucky Opera, Knoxville Opera, Madison Opera, the Merola Opera Program, Detroit Opera, and Opera New Jersey. In 2014, to keep the wolves from the door, John willed himself into an award-winning career as a copywriter and editor specializing in advertising, marketing, and communications. He is in demand as a concert and oratorio soloist, hosts the “Six Degrees of Schwarzenegger” and “KBR In Orbit” podcasts, and is one half of Lady Parts, a musical duo that performs lady-pop hits of the 80s and 90s. He lives in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta with his partner, the writer Drew Dotson (drewdotson.com), and their three beagles (threagles). 

William Green, tenor, made his debut with The Atlanta Opera in 2013 as Giuseppe in La traviata; he has sung with The Atlanta Opera in comprimario roles as well as a core member of the chorus for ten seasons. Mr. Green was featured in a new short opera, The Cost of Healing, for The Atlanta Opera’s 96 Hour Opera Project and performed in Bologne’s The Anonymous Lover for their 2022-23 season. William has also sung with Atlanta’s Capitol City Opera Company in roles ranging from Pedrillo in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail to Tybalt in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Recent role highlights with the company include Canio (Pagliacci), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Sir Joseph Porter (H.M.S. Pinafore), and Beadle/Pirelli (Sweeney Todd). Mr. Green’s scheduled 2020 debut as Loge in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Ontario’s Opera By Request was unfortunately cancelled due to the pandemic. In 2022, he was the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah and the premiere of David Briggs’ new organ transcription of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, both at Peachtree Road UMC in Atlanta. Other notable concert engagements include: the title role in the Third Act of Wagner’s Parsifal with the Georgetown University Orchestra and recital programs with the Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. Mr. Green is an alumnus of the American Wagner Project and Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. 

Kameron Lopreore, tenor, is thrilled to be returning to The Atlanta Opera as a Glynn Studio artist. This season with Atlanta Opera, he looks forward to performing the roles of Bill Watson and Lloyd the Bartender in Moravec’s The Shining, the Tenor Soloist in Shapiro’s Frankenstein: The Movie Score, Mattea Borsa in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Recently, he enjoyed the Santa Fe Opera’s prestigious young artist program. Additionally, he sang Tamino in The Magic Flute and Panatellas in the world premiere of Songbird at the Glimmerglass Festival. He performed the roles of Le Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen and Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Pensacola Opera. In November of 2019, and he travelled with The Glimmerglass Festival to perform the role of the Marquis in the culmination of Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles at the Château de Versailles in France. He is a prominently featured artist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra where he regularly performs major works such as Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas and Easter Oratorios, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater. He has enjoyed a two year resident artist position with Shreveport Opera where he performed roles such as Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Motel the tailor in Fiddler on the Roof. He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in voice from Loyola University New Orleans and he is the recipient of the first Italian American Scholarship Award as well as two Metropolitan Opera National Council district winner awards. In the summer of 2017, he performed in Chautauqua Opera’s studio artist program. Some more of his recent roles include E.T.A. Hoffman is Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Candide in Bernstein’s Candide. 

Eva Lukkonen, mezzo soprano, made her Atlanta Opera debut January 2022 in the role of Kate in their production of Pirates of Penzance, and stepped into the role of Texas for Cabaret at Pullman Yards in May/June, both productions under Maestro Francesco Milioto.  She was also one of the Judith “memories” in Atlanta Opera’s reimagining of Bluebeard’s Castle last fall, and was seen as Béatrice in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict with Atlanta Concert Opera in August. She also sang Cherubino in ACO's 2019 production of Le nozze di Figaro, a role she had previously performed under Maestro Harry Bicket at the Aspen Opera Theatre. In early 2020, she was the Prince Charmant cover in Cendrillon for Opera Birmingham’s 2020 production (canceled due to COVID). With Capitol City Opera, she was seen as Zita in Gianni Schicchi/Buoso's Ghost in 2019 and covered Stephano in their production of Roméo et Juliette early 2020. As a native of California, she has performed with regional companies there such as Townsend Opera Players (Sally in Die Fledermaus) and West End Theatre (Edith in Pirates of Penzance), and has sung with the Bakersfield Symphony in excerpts from Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino) and Der Rosenkavalier (Octavian). Eva will be seen this month in concert as Isabella in excerpts from Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri with Capitol City Opera.  She is grateful for this opportunity to perform with Atlanta Opera again in The Shining.