About The Opera - Company Personalities
Steven Daigle, Artistic Director
Steven Daigle, associate professor of opera and head of Eastman Opera Theater Department, has served as part of the artistic staff for more than 300 lyric theater productions, along with calling over 400 professional operatic performances as a production stage manager. He received his bachelor's degree in vocal education and performance from Southeastern Louisiana University. He received his master of music degree in opera stage directing from Florida State University, where he studied with Lincoln Clark.
As a singer, he has performed major roles in productions of A Little Night Music, Hello Dolly!, Le nozze de Figaro, La Perichole, Die Fledermaus, Patience, Gianni Schicchi, The Medium, Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me Kate, and South Pacific, among others. Daigle's experience as a stage director encompasses a range of repertory for the lyric theater stage. Directing credits include Sweeney Todd, Dialogues of The Carmelites, Susannah, Pride and Prejudice, Il Turco in Italia, Cosi Fan Tutte, Transformations, La Bohème, Passion, Suor Angelica, The Goblin Market, Le nozze di Figaro, Candide, Xerxes, The Turn of the Screw, Albert Herring, Die Fledermaus, Patience, The Tender Land, Porgy and Bess, L'elisir d'Amore, The Merry Widow, The Sorcerer, Robinson Crusoe, The Desert Song, The Grand Duke, Countess Maritza, The Gypsy Princess, Angelique, Gianni Schicchi, Trouble in Tahiti, Christopher Sly, Signor Deluso, Riders to the Sea, Camelot, Annie, and Man of La Mancha for the Ohio Light Opera Company, Eastman, The Lyric of Atlanta, Oberlin Conservatory, Louisiana State University, Florida State Opera, South Georgia Opera, Columbia Theater Players, and Kent State Opera Workshop. Productions include collaborations with Robert Ward, Carlisle Floyd, Louis Lane, Robert Spano, and Evan Whallon. Articles and reviews of Daigle's work have been published in Opera News, Opera London, American Record Guide, Gramophone, Fanfare, Classical Singer, and Opera Now .
With the Ohio Light Opera Company, he has served as stage manager (1990-93), assistant director (1994-95), and general manager (1997-98). In 1999 he was appointed artistic director for the company. As artistic director, he has produced and directed revivals of traditional operettas that have been given an American premiere in their original form: Lecocq's Le Petit Duc , Künneke's Der Vetter Aus Dingsda , Strauss' Der Lustige Krieg , Kálmán's Zigeunerprimas and Ein Herbstmanover . Eight historical recordings under Daigle's supervision can be heard on Newport Classic and Albany Record labels. These include three of Daigle's historical reconstructions: Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta and Sweethearts ; Kálmán's Ein Herbstmanover (English translation and first complete recording). In September 2003, Ohio Light Opera was given an Award of Achievement by Northern Ohio Live for its role in preserving operetta during the past 25 years. Daigle served on the faculty at Kent State University and as assistant director (1989-96) and acting director (1994, 1996-97) of the Opera Theater program at the Oberlin Conservatory. In the summer of 1998 he served on the faculty of the Oberlin in Italy program in Urbania, Italy.
Julie Wright Costa, Associate Artistic Director
Julie Wright Costa, acting artistic director, is held in high regard as an interpreter of operetta, having performed leading roles nationally and with The Ohio Light Opera for 17 seasons. She returned to Ohio Light Opera in the 2006 Festival as a performer and stage director, performing the roles of Mrs. Bennett in the world premiere of Pride & Prejudice and The Queen of Portugal in The Queen's Lace Handkerchief. Julie also served as stage director for The Queen's Lace Handkerchief. In April, 2006 Julie made her debut with Opera Southwest in New Mexico, directing their production of Lehár's Die Lustige Witwe / The Merry Widow, featuring OLO veterans Boyd Mackus and Dennis Jesse. Other performances include an encore recital with Music at Saddlerock (Colorado), a Mozart program for the University of Utah faculty series, featuring Mozart's lieder and notturni, and a musical review for Operetta Foundation (California) entitled Operetta: Saucy, Sultry and Sentimental, A Musical and Theatrical Tribute to Franz Lehár. Julie is extremely honored to be a part of a unique recording project for Operetta Archives, recording rare gems of operetta due to be released on compact disc, (Fascinating Night), later this year. Career highlights include performances with the opera companies of Chautauqua, Cleveland, North Carolina and Utah, as well as performances with the symphonies of Charlotte, Illinois, Utah and Detroit. As a stage director, she has directed Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, Hindemith's Hin und Zürück and David Liptak's The Moon Singer for the Eastman School of Music, Utopia Limited, The Gondoliers, Ruddigore, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Les Brigands / The Brigands, L'Île de Tulipatan / The Island of Tulipatan and The Sorcerer for Ohio Light Opera and Richard Traubner's acclaimed rendition of Orphée aux Enfers / Orpheus in the Underworld for the University of Utah's Lyric Opera Ensemble. She also directed an operetta scenes program for the University of Utah's Lyric Opera Ensemble last fall. Favorite performances include leading roles in productions of La Bohème, Le Nozze di Figaro / The Marriage of Figaro, The Turn of the Screw, Bittersweet, Gräfin Maritza / Countess Maritza, Guiditta, The Mikado and Camelot. She can be heard on compact disc recordings for the Newport Classic, Albany and Operetta Archives labels. Julie resides in Salt Lake City with her husband, composer John Costa, where she serves as a tenured associate professor of voice with the University of Utah’s School of Music.
Michael Borowitz, Music Director
American conductor and pianist Michael Borowitz is currently Artistic Director of Nevada Opera, where this season he conducted performances of Verdi's La traviata, Rossini's La cenerentola and a new production of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. He also conducted performances of Menotti's The Unicorn, The Gorgon and The Manticore in collaboration with the Sierra Nevada Ballet. This season marks his debut as Music Director with Ohio Light Opera. As guest conductor with Opera Southwest, he conducted Verdi's Rigoletto and Puccini's La Boheme, as well as making a guest appearance with Opera Idaho for an opera gala. Next season he will conduct a 40th anniversary gala, Verdi's Aida, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado with Nevada Opera, and a production of Mozart's Die Zauberflote with Pensacola Opera.
Mr. Borowitz is currently editing a new critical edition of the stage works of Emmerich Kalman for the publishing house of Josef Weinberger, London. The first of these, a new English translation of the 1926 Die Zirkusprinzessin (The Circus Princess) is slated for its premiere in a new production with Nevada Opera in 2008.
For nine seasons Mr. Borowitz was Head of Music Staff with Des Moines Metro Opera, where he led performances of Puccini's Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, Argento's Christopher Sly, and the world premieres of Blumenfeld's Breakfast Waltzes and Wright's The Fifth String.
For five seasons he was Director of Musical Studies with Pittsburgh Opera, where he led performances of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, Argento's Postcards from Morocco, Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande, and Donizetti's Don Pasquale.
From 1997 to 2000 he was Artistic Director (and founder) of Cleveland Concert Opera, leading American premieres of Jaques-Dalcroze's Les Jumeaux de Bergame and a critical edition of Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. In 2000, Cleveland Concert Opera performed Poulenc's La Voix Humaine, first in Cleveland, Ohio, then toured its production to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Other recent performances include the American premiere of Massenet's La Grand' Tante, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Menotti's The Telephone, Ward's Roman Fever, the world premiere of Stringer's Coyote's Music, Wolf-Ferrari's Il Segreto di Susanna, and an opera gala for Pensacola Opera's 2002-2003 season.
Mr. Borowitz has been a guest conductor for Opera Southwest, Rimrock Opera, Opera Columbus, as well as assistant conductor with The Metropolitan Opera, Indianapolis Opera and Cleveland Opera, and has studied extensively at the Istituto Donizettiano in Bergamo. He holds music degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and The Cleveland Institute of Music, and has been on the teaching faculties of The University of Memphis, The Cleveland Institute of Music, Kent State University and The University of Akron.
J. Lynn Thompson, Principal Guest Conductor
J. Lynn Thompson's successful career in music performance and production includes more than 25 years as conductor, artistic leader, recording artist, performer, and educator. This season marks Thompson's 21st season with The Ohio Light Opera. With the OLO he has led over 600 performances of more than 75 different productions, including one world premiere, several American premieres, and the complete works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Additionally, Thompson and the OLO have to their credit fifteen full-length recordings of their productions - many first-time recordings - on the Newport Classic and Albany Records labels.
Thompson enters his third decade with Atlanta Lyric Theatre, formerly the Savoyards Musical Theatre Company - a company he assisted in founding in 1980 and for which he has served as Music Director/Conductor for the more than 20 years. He has led the company as its Artistic Director since 1990.
A native of North Carolina and raised in Tennessee, Thompson came to Atlanta at the invitation of the late Robert Shaw, long-time conductor of the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus. Hired as a featured soloist for Shaw's production of Leonard Bernstein's Mass in 1976, Thompson's career blossomed under the care and tutelage of Shaw and others in the national orchestral, musical theatre, and light opera worlds. Shortly after his Atlanta arrival, Thompson founded the orchestral studies program at North Atlanta High School, Magnet for the Performing Arts - a program he has led for the last 26 years. Thompson and his students have performed internationally, earning the school international corporate attention - Minolta, Tretorn, Norrell, IBM, Sabina Airlines and Coca-Cola are among those who regularly called on Thompson and the school for special musical arrangements and performances at shareholders' meetings and major corporate gatherings.
Additionally, 20/20 featured NAHS in a special report in which Thompson and his students were showcased. Students under his instruction have gone on to outstanding institutions such as The Juilliard School, Indiana School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin, Northwestern, Florida State, and the Curtis Institute. Many, such as Jasmine Guy, Andres Diaz, Carmen Thomas, and Joseph Wise, have achieved stardom, and others boast careers as international solo artists, Metropolitan Opera performers, and as members of the New World Symphony, the Houston Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony.
Thompson attended the University of Tennessee and Georgia State University and has studied with Robert Shaw, Robert Ward, Donald Neuen, and Samuel Jones. He was under the tutelage of Pat Hardy during her tenure at the Juilliard School and participated in the Conductor's Institute at the University of South Carolina. His work has brought him collaborations with conductors, Louis Lane and Robert Spano; singers, Michael Hume, Peter Harrower, and Victoria Mallory; and pianist, Paul Ford - currently rehearsal and performance accompanist for Stephen Sondheim. In 2001, Thompson was named a Lexus Leader of the Arts. Composers Wright and Forrest consulted on Thompson's 1998 production of Kismet in Atlanta, and he worked closely with the Kurt Weil Foundation in the remounting of the rarely performed The Firebrand of Florence with the Ohio Light Opera in 1999. Thompson served as the Principal Guest Conductor with the Pensacola Opera for two seasons, and as guest conductor with the Akron Symphony, Theatre of the Stars in Atlanta, and the Empire State Orchestra in Schenectady, New York. His own background as singer and performer has served him well; critics note his particular sensitivity and artistry on the podium and in recordings, labeling him "the singer's conductor."
