Luis Gonzalez
(Assistant Conductor)
Luis Gonzalez returns to Opera Tampa for the
company’s highly anticipated 25th anniversary
season. He marks the occasion as Assistant
Conductor for this season’s productions
of Carmen (Jorge Parodi, cond.) and Aida
(Andrew Bisantz, cond.) and created supertitle
translations for both operas. Previous
engagements include Assistant Conductor for The
Pearl Fishers, La Bohème and the world premiere
of Anton Coppola’s Lady Swanwhite. Additional
credits include Assistant Conductor and Chorus
Master for Savannah VOICE Festival (Dialogues
of the Carmelites, The Little Prince, Pagliacci
and Birthday Clown) and Chorus Master for St.
Petersburg Opera (Roméo et Juliette, Norma,
West Side Story, Pagliacci, Il barbiere di Siviglia,
Turandot and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on
Christmas Carols).
Dean Anthony
(Stage Director)
Anthony draws inspiration and expertise from
a comprehensive career spanning more than
30 years and innumerable turns as performer,
director, educator and producer. Anthony is
currently the Director of Opera with the Janiec
Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center.
Frequently engaged as a stage director, his
artistic process is hallmarked by an energetic,
gritty and physical style. His portfolio stretches
across the repertoire from Le Nozze di Figaro
to Dead Man Walking and includes regular
engagements across the United States. Anthony’s
upcoming 2020-2021 season includes productions
of Tales of Hoffmann, Barber of Seville, Carmen,
Sweeney Todd, The Magic Flute, La Rondine,
Le Nozze di Figaro and Man of La Mancha. In
collaboration with composer Michael Ching, Mr.
Anthony produced and created the opera Speed
Dating Tonight! which garnered nationwide
attention and has been booked for more than 80
plus productions to date.
Robin Stamper
(Chorus Master)
The artistic/managing director and chorus master
for Opera Tampa, Robin Stamper continues a
versatile career as a coach-accompanist, chorus
master and opera conductor. A graduate of the
Juilliard School in piano performance, Stamper
served as director of music for Kentucky Opera,
artistic director for Nevada Opera, music director
for Orlando Opera and artistic director for Florida
Opera Theatre. He joined the Opera Tampa
family in 2015. He will debut as conductor for
Opera Tampa with this season’s The Pirates of
Penzance.
Joseph Oshry
(Lighting Designer)
Joseph is glad to return to Opera Tampa at the
Straz Center to light Carmen. Since 1986, he has
designed lighting for more than 590 productions
with such organizations as Asolo Rep, Palm Beach
Dramaworks, Maltz-Jupiter Theatre, Orlando
Shakespeare Theatre, Palm Beach Opera, New
Orleans Opera, Sarasota International Dance
Festival, Ballet Eddy Toussaint USA and the
Interlochen Dance Ensemble in Michigan. Joseph
has received two Individual Artist Fellowships
from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and is
a four-time recipient of the Theatre Tampa Bay
award for outstanding lighting design. He also is
a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 New
York and of IATSE Local 412 Sarasota.
Dawn Rivard
(Hair and Makeup Designer)
Rivard has designed for productions in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland, and won an Emmy®
Award for Feast of All Saints. She has built wigs
for Stockard Channing, Queen Latifah, Elizabeth
Moss, Jessica Biel, Sir Peter Ustinov, Jonathan
Rhys Meyers and Lily Collins (The Mortal
Instruments: City of Bones) which garnered her
a Canadian Academy Award. Rivard has done
wig and makeup work at Teatro alla Scala,
Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza, Turin’s Teatro
Regio and the Dutch National Opera. Broadway
productions includes Ragtime, Sunset Boulevard
and Showboat, and she has designed hair and
makeup for The Dallas Opera as well as the world
premieres of Sister Carrie and two-time Grammy®
Award-winning Elmer Gantry.
Cat Carter
(Stage Manager)
Carter started her professional career as a stage
manager at PCPA Theaterfest in California, after
which she worked with California Theater Center,
San Diego Repertory Theatre and in the La Jolla
Playhouse box of ce. Since relocating to Florida,
she’s stage managed for Tampa Rep, St. Pete
Opera and Opera Tampa. Carter also has served
as a logistics coordinator for FirstNight St. Pete
and as tech support for Tampa Fringe.
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
(Composer)
Bizet began to study at the Paris Conservatoire
at age nine. Considered a musical genius, he
distinguished himself by winning contests. He
wrote many operas including The Pearl Fishers
(1863) which was performed 18 times in his
lifetime and is known for its memorable male
duet. His last work, written three months before
his death, is Carmen.
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