Faculty

PRINCIPAL COACH
Ken Weiss
Principal coach Ken Weiss has been an assistant conductor at Washington National Opera since 1998. He has served on the coaching staffs of Wolf Trap Opera, the Baltimore Opera's Young Artist Program, Western Opera Theater, the Maryland Opera Studio, and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. As a conductor, he has led Così fan tutte for the Opera Theater of Lucca, Die Zauberflöte for Opera North in New Hampshire, and The Daughter of the Regiment for Opera New England. He is also a frequent lecturer for the Opera's education division. Mr. Weiss is a graduate of the University of Maryland, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program.

Guest coaches include:

VOCAL COACHES
Steven Gathman
Steven Gathman joined Washington National Opera’s music staff in 1993 as Chorus Master. In the 2000-2001 season, he made his company debut leading performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia. In addition to his regular duties, Mr. Gathman has appeared on stage as Monsieur Gobin in La Rondine, conducted Look-In performances of Don Giovanni, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Walküre, and led a program with members of Washington National Opera Chorus at the White House. He has served on the music staffs of the Festival dei due Mondi in Spoleto, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Pacific, Greater Buffalo Opera, and Opera North. Mr. Gathman also teaches at the University of Maryland at College Park.

Yelena Kurdina
Yelena Kurdina, a vocal coach and an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera since 1992, has also worked with Washington National Opera and Los Angeles Opera and is on the faculty of the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, she is also active as a recital accompanist for such artists as Elena Obraztsova and Dmitry Hvorostovsky.

Anthony Manoli
Anthony V. Manoli was the assistant conductor for Washington National Opera's productions of Vanessa and La Cenerentola. Mr. Manoli has served as a coach/assistant conductor for leading opera companies including the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opera Lausanne and L'Opéra du Rhin. He has also worked with the Spoleto Festival in both Italy and the United States, Washington National Opera, Opera Company of Boston, Opera New England, Lake George Opera Festival, and L'Opera Français in New York.

Giovanni Reggioli
Giovanni Reggioli has conducted performances of Carmen, La Bohème, and La traviata at Washington National Opera. He has also served as a coach for the Young Artist Programs at Teatro alla Scala in Milan and at the Metropolitan Opera, and he has served as the recital accompanist for Renata Scotto, Cecilia Bartoli, and Simon Estes. He was the recipient of the conducting scholarship at the Laboratorio Lirico di Alessandria in Italy and the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship at the Juilliard School in New York in 1991, 1992, and 1993.

Eric Weimer
Eric Weimer has been a full-time Assistant Conductor at Lyric Opera of Chicago since 1987.  In this capacity, he has coached and prepared some 80 opera productions, specializing in the Italian and German repertoires.  Mo. Weimer’s “second house” is the Metropolitan Opera: he has worked there every spring since 1991. Other important collaborations include those with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony and Franz Welser-Moest and the Cleveland Orchestra.  A former musicologist—Dr. Weimer holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and is the author of Opera seria and the Evolution of Classical Style—he is also in great demand as a coach of young singers. He is on the music staff of the Ryan Opera Center (formerly the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists) and also works with the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program of the MET.  Mo. Weimer has recently conducted three performances of Le nozze di Figaro with the DePaul Opera Theater, and next season he will conduct two performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

DRAMA COACHES

Sandra Bernhard

A San Francisco Opera (SFO) company member for over 18 seasons, Sandra Bernhard has served as assistant director for over 40 productions since 1990, educational director from 1994-1996 and as a coach and acting instructor for the SFO Merola Opera Program. Bernhard has also written librettos (Point of Departure, A Night in Berlin, Postage Due) and opera education materials which include Opera Inside Out, Interactive Opera, How do I love thee..., and Buffa Bus Stop at San Francisco Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Virginia Opera and Florida Grand Opera. Bernhard has been a visiting instructor and director at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music since 1997 and has taught at Rising Star Audition Program, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Utah Opera Young Artist Program, Louisiana State University, Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Program and Chautauqua Opera.

Lucy Schaufer
Lucy Schaufer, an American mezzo-soprano, debuted with Washington National Opera as Erika in Vanessa in the 2002-2003 season. Internationally recognized as a versatile artist, Ms. Schaufer has recently performed the role of Erika in Strasbourg and Zerlina in Don Giovanni in Portugal. Previous performances include Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the title role in Cendrillon in Israel, Mercedes in Carmen, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Charlotte in Werther in Cologne, Sesto in Guilio Cesare, and Erika in Monte Carlo. In 2004, she makes her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as the Page in a new production of Salome by Jürgen Flimm, conducted by Valery Gergiev, and as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, conducted by Plácido Domingo. .