Ryan Brown is the founder and artistic director of Opera Lafayette, which celebrates its 30^th anniversary this season. Through his work with Opera Lafayette, Ryan has gained an international reputation for his role in the revival and reassessment of significant works from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. His discography of twelve sound recordings for Naxos has focused on the French repertoire, including well-known works by composers such as Lully, Rameau, and Gluck, as well as premiere recordings of operas by Rebel/Francoeur, Monsigny, Philidor, Grétry, Sacchini, and Félicien David. Ryan has also created three DVDs with Opera Lafayette for Naxos, including the modern premiere of Beethoven’s Leonore and its companion piece: Gaveaux and Bouilly’s Leonore, ou L’Amour conjugal, the 97 model for Beethoven’s Leonore. Rameau’s Les Fêtes de L’Hymen et de L’Amour, ou Les Dieux d’Egypte, a collaboration with the New York Baroque Dance Company, the Seán Curran Company, and Kalanidhi Dance was also released through the Naxos label.

Ryan has also led performances of operas by Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Paisiello, and Cimarosa. He regularly appears in Washington, DC and New York with Opera Lafayette and has also conducted in San Francisco, Seattle, and at The Glimmerglass Festival, and the Opéra Royal de Versailles. Ryan was raised in a musical family in California and performed extensively as a violinist and chamber musician before turning his attention to conducting. His teachers include Dorothy DeLay and Gustav Meier. He is a recipient of La Médaille d’Or du Rayonnement Culturel from La Renaissance Française, and when not conducting spends his time in southwestern Colorado. 

Pascale Beaudin’s incomparable diction, intelligent musicality and expressivity make her much sought after for concert and recital work. She has graced operatic stages in North America and Europe in roles such as Zerlina, Papagena, Fiordiligi, Oscar, and Marzelline, in houses such as the Opéra de Montréal, Opéra de Québec, Opéra de Marseille, Opéra de Metz, Angers-Nantes Opéra, and most recently with Quantum Theatre. The New York Times praised her shimmering voice and girlish sassiness, while the Washington Post reported that she, “sang the aria ‘Per pietà’ with such deliberate quiet elegance and restraint that it was a highlight not just of the evening, but also of my year.”

The Acadian soprano has collaborated with Chatham Baroque, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Lanaudière Festival, the Orford Festival, Clavecin en Concert, Scotia Festival, and Chamber Music Detroit. A favorite of Opera Lafayette audiences, she had the pleasure to appear in Così fan tutte, Les Femmes vengées, L’Épreuve villageoise, Léonore, ou l’amour conjugal, Leonore, The Blacksmith, and more recently Les Fêtes de Thalie. She is a member of the Four Nations Ensemble, a chamber music group based in New York and specializing in Early Music. She will make her debut at the Oregon Bach Festival this summer in a new edition of Bach’s St-Markus Passion. After many years in Montreal, Pascale has happily made a home in Pittsburgh with her husband Scott Pauley and their dog Ruby, where they took advantage of recent pandemic to lovingly renovate a gutted 1880s row house.

Seán Curran’s career in the arts spans 35 years, beginning with traditional Irish step dancing as a child in Boston. A sought-after choreographer and director, notable projects include Salome (Opera Theatre of St. Louis, San Francisco Opera, Opera Montreal, San Diego Opera); Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Shakespeare Theater); Ariadne on Naxos, Nixon in China, (Opera Theater of St. Louis); M. Butterfly ( Santa Fe Opera); Alcina, Turandot, and Acis and Galetea (NYC Opera); As You Like It (Shakespeare in the Park); the Metropolitan Opera’s Romeo and Juliette, and Io and Léandre et Héro (Opera Lafayette). 

A graduate of New York University, Curran now serves as Arts Professor and Chair of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Department of Dance. Curran is known for his early performance work with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, receiving a “Bessie” award, and as an original NYC cast member of STOMP! His award-winning ensemble, Seán Curran Company, has toured nearly 100 venues in the U.S., Europe and Asia with seasons in New York at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Theater Workshop, Guggenheim Museum, Joyce Theater, 92nd Street Y/Harkness Dance Project, and Danspace Project. Seán Curran Company’s service to the field includes donation of performances and classes to the ACLU NYC Chapter, Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Residence (a safe house for LGBTQ youth), and Dancers Responding to AIDS.

Happiest when making new work and teaching, Curran continues to be an ambassador for dance by building and educating dance audiences. In 2019, he was honored with a prestigious Martha Hill Dance Fund award, recognizing his contributions to dance education.

Paulina Francisco is a versatile and engaging interpreter of Baroque and early Classical music. Recent reviews have celebrated her vivacious soprano as “a ray of sunshine” (The Guardian), and hailed her “agility, impact, and vibrant projection” (ClassyKey) which “preserves a finesse of delivery allowing one to savor the ornamentation and agility” (Olyrix).

In March, Paulina made her London Handel Festival debut singing the role of L’Allegro in L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo. She is a winner of the 11th edition of Le Jardin des Voix with Les Arts Florissants and a soloist in their internationally renowned production of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, staged by Mourad Merzouki. In the 2023-2024 season, Paulina made her debut with Opera Lafayette, singing the role of Thalie in Les Fêtes de Thalie under the direction of Christophe Rousset, which was received as “delightfully insouciant” (The Washington Post) and “like a rainbow-haired Cyndi Lauper” (Washington Classical Review). Other recent highlights include singing the title role in John Eccles’ Semele with American Baroque Opera Company, curating a chamber recital for the Washington Bach Consort, and a summer festival performance with Vox Luminis. 

Anuradha Nehru is the founder and artistic director of the Kalanidhi Dance. An award-winning Kuchipudi artist, Anuradha served as the Artistic Director of Kalanidhi Dance for the past 33 years, which has grown into one of the leading Indian classical dance schools and performing companies in the United States. Under her leadership, Kalanidhi dance has performed at several prestigious venues and dance festivals in the U.S. and around the world. As a choreographer, Anuradha’s quest is to constantly find new ways to create fresh and relevant works that connect with contemporary audiences. She believes in staying true to the depth and beauty of the Indian classical dance style while pushing its boundaries to explore new avenues of creative expression.

Her ability to transcend artistic genres is best exemplified in her collaboration with Opera Lafayette in three different operatic works. The first, in 2013, was Lalla Roukh, a 19th century French opera situated in India; the second, Les Fetes de L’Hymen et de L’Amour in 2014 and the most recent, The Enchanted Forest, in 2018, were also received by critical acclaim. Recipient of several awards which include, the Pola Nirenska award (2020), Outstanding Artist award from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (2016), National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts award, and the Master Apprentice award from Maryland State Arts Council, Anuradha continues to shape the next generation of outstanding Kuchipudi dancers.

The New York Baroque Dance Company is a leader in the revival of 18th-century ballet, bringing forgotten masterpieces to life with what The London Guardian has called “a whirlwind of desperately needed fresh air.” Founded in 1976 by Catherine Turocy and Ann Jacoby, NYBDC has collaborated on over 70 operas, reconstructing dances from period notation and choreographing in period style. The company has toured North America, Europe and Japan with conductors James Richman, John Eliot Gardiner, Christopher Hogwood, Nicholas McGegan and Wolfgang Katschner. NYBDC also performs with Opera Lafayette, the Dallas Bach Society, Ars Lyrica Houston, and Philharmonia Baroque, among others. Groundbreaking productions include premieres of Rameau operas at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Opera de Lyon and a double bill with Rameau’s Pygmalion and Handel’s Terpsicore that has been given over 100 times. The company appeared regularly at the International Handel Festival in Goettingen for over 15 years and is being archived by the New York Public Library. Through educational residencies, NYBDC dancers also offer instruction to professionals and the general public. Individual dancer bios may be found at www.nybaroquedance.org

Nick Olcott has been acting, writing, and directing for theatre and opera for more than 40 years. His professional opera credits include Boston Lyric Opera, Cleveland Opera, Opera Lafayette, the InSeries, Wolf Trap Opera, Pine Mountain Music Festival, and Ashlawn Opera Festival.

He was on the faculty of the Maryland Opera Studio for more than twenty years and served as resident stage director for the Washington National Opera Young Artist Program for ten. His theatre credits include Arena Stage, 1st Stage, Constellation Theatre Company, the Round House Theatre, Theater J, the Philadelphia Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, Rep Stage, Adventure Theatre MTC, and Imagination Stage.

He has been nominated for Helen Hayes Awards as actor, director, choreographer, and writer. His musical Sherlock Holmes and the Purloined Patience received the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play.

Patrick Dupre Quigley is the Artistic Director Designate of Opera Lafayette and the Founder and Artistic Director of Seraphic Fire.

An advocate for a more inclusive concert experience, Quigley’s programs regularly span more than 1000 years of musical history. Quigley deeply respects music traditions outside the Western European canon and has developed concerts and collaborations highlighting the music of the Babylonian Jews, New Orleans’s Black Gospel tradition, Latin Pop, and the Baroque music of North and South America. Quigley’s discography with Seraphic Fire includes 16 titles, representing diverse musical voices. Two titles have received GRAMMY® nominations.

Recent and upcoming engagements include conducting debuts with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and Phoenix Symphony; and return engagements with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, the Charlotte Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and New World Symphony.

Quigley holds an undergraduate degree in Music Theory and History from the University of Notre Dame where he studied with Alexander Blachly and Daniel Stowe. Quigley studied conducting with Marguerite Brooks while earning a Master of Music degree at the Yale School of Music. He assisted Michael Tilson Thomas at the San Francisco Symphony.  Quigley is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and currently resides in Washington, DC.  

“A shining tenor” (New York Classical Review), James Reese delivers dynamic, thoughtful performances that facilitate intimate connections between audiences and the art. An emerging specialist in early repertoire and a champion of new works, Reese's rare ability to impart emotional immediacy on music from Bach to the present day has earned him overwhelming critical acclaim over the course of a burgeoning and multifaceted career. As a soloist, Reese has performed with leading orchestras and ensembles throughout North America and looks forward to forging new musical relationships with the Baltimore Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Mobile Symphony in 2025.

James regularly collaborates with the leading period instrument ensembles of North America, among them Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque, the American Bach Soloists, and The Sebastians. Notable projects this season include an international tour to Germany and Slovakia with the Boston Early Music Festival (Carissimi's Jephte), his debut with Opera Lafayette, and a staged performance of Bach's St. Markus Passion with Concert Theater Works, collaborating with the storied actor Joseph Marcell. This spring James also recorded the tenor arias of Bach's St. Matthew Passion with Cantata Collective, conducted by Nicholas McGegan, to be released in 2026. Last year saw James perform in venues from Hawaii to international locales including Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Scandinavia, and Germany, making debuts with Tafelmusik (CAN), the Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Symphony Nova Scotia. An active recitalist, Reese works frequently with his friends and collaborators, pianist Daniel Overly and lutenist Brandon Acker, in recitals of art song, lieder, lute song, and airs de cour.

Hailed as an “impressive tenor” (The New York Times) who sings with “sweet vibrancy” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) Gene Stenger is one of the country’s most called upon Bach Gene Stenger specialists who is also heralded for his performances of oratorios by Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Mozart.

Mr. Stenger’s 2024-25 season includes solo engagements with the Charlottesville Symphony (Mozart’s Requiem), American Classical Orchestra (Bach’s St. John Passion), Washington Bach Consort (Bach’s Christmas Oratorio), Colorado Bach Ensemble (Bach’s Christmas Oratorio & St. Matthew Passion), Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (Handel’s Messiah), Chattanooga Bach Choir (Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis), Harvard University Choirs (world premiere of James Kallembach’s opera, American Jezebel: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson), Upper Valley Baroque (Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato), and Academy of Sacred Drama New York (Tosi’s Il martiro di Santa Caterina).

In the 2023-24 season, Gene returned to Resonance Works Pittsburgh for a jump-in offer to sing his first Rossini role, Rodrigo in La donna del lago. He received critical acclaim for his performances and was declared “particularly stunning in the role of the heroic tenor, with a vibrant and powerful voice and a charismatic stage presence” (The Pittsburgh Tatler).

Recent discography credits include a new solo quartet recording of David Lang’s the little match girl passion on Cantaloupe Records, the role of the Minstrel/Narrator in the world premiere recording of Arnold Rosner’s opera The Chronicle of Nine with Odyssey Opera and Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) on the BMOP label, and tenor soloist in Schmelzer’s Le Memorie Dolorose with TENET Vocal Artists and ACRONYM.

Oriol Tomas conducts circus productions, operas, theatre and galas alike. He recently began collaborating with companies who fuse creativity and technology to offer multisensory experiences. In 2024, he directed his new creation, Sublim, with the Cirque du Soleil, La Traviata for the Massy Opera in Paris, and Alt-Escape, a multimedia performance as part of the Festival Seine Canada for the Paris Olympic Games.

Oriol Tomas’s award-winning Les Caprices de Marianne was performed in more than fifteen French opera houses. He has recently created a number of stagings internationally, notably Festa with the Cirque du Soleil, La Traviata at the Icelandic Opera in collaboration with Normal Studio, Don Giovanni at the Opéra de Tours and the Reims Opera, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra, Twenty-seven at the Montreal Opera and Beethoven’s Leonore with Opera Lafayette in Washington DC and in New York. Mr. Tomas has additionally worked with Quebec’s Opera Festival, Edmonton Opera, Manitoba Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Casino of Montréal, Quebec’s Music Counsel, 7 Doigts de la Main, Circo de Bakuza, Centaur Theatre, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, Metropolitan Orchestra and more.

Oriol Tomas received a Master’s in opera direction at the Superior Theatre School of the University of Quebec in Montreal and has a degree in theatre performance. He sits on several juries and teaches playing techniques to singers of the Atelier Lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal, the University of Montreal, the University of Ottawa, the Music Conservatory of Montreal, the Music Academy of Domaine Forget, the Pacific Opera Victoria's Young Artist Program, and Montreal’s Folyestivale.

Catherine Turocy, recognized as one of today’s leading choreographer/stage directors in Baroque period performance, with over 80 Baroque operas to her credit, has been decorated by the French Republic as a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters. After moving to NYC in 1976 she co-founded The New York Baroque Dance Company with Ann Jacoby. Her studies in historical dance began at Ohio State University with Shirley Wynne where she and Ann performed in the Baroque Dance Ensemble.

In 2018-19 she was a recipient of the Center for Ballet and the Arts Residency Fellowship. In 2018 Turocy received the IZZY Award in San Francisco for her stage direction/choreography. Other awards include the BESSIE Award in NYC for sustained achievement in choreography, the Natalie Skelton Award for Artistic Excellence and the Dance Film Association Award.

A founding member of the Society for Dance History Scholars, Ms. Turocy has lectured internationally at Royal Academies of Dance in London, Stockholm and Copenhagen; the Festival Estival in Paris; and The Society for Early Music in Tokyo. She served as consultant to the American Ballet Theater, Edward Villella at Miami City Ballet and Yaniro Castro of acanarytorsi. She was a movement consultant to master chef Thomas Keller, training his wait staff for Per Se in NYC. Ms. Turocy has worked with conductor James Richman and his Concert Royal Orchestra in NYC and in Texas. She has also worked closely with Ryan Brown, Antoine Plante, Matthew Dirst and internationally with Nicholas McGegan, Sir Christopher Hogwood, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and Wolfgang Katschner.

John Taylor Ward performs with “stylish abandon” (The New Yorker), “intense clarity and color” (New York Times), “finely calibrated precision and heartrending expressivity” (Washington Post). A native of Boone, North Carolina, Taylor grew up in a musical family – mostly bluegrass and Broadway. Before pursuing opera and early music studies at the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music, he spent his early years living a double life as both a sought-after musical theater actor and an Anglican boy treble. Taylor’s “lithe, louche, and admirably game” approach to the repertoire (Opera News) has yielded recent acclaimed debuts at Spoleto USA in the premier of Unholy Wars; Mexico’s Compañía Nacional de Teatro, starring in Iannis Xenakis’ Oresteia; and Vienna’s Musikverein as Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Notable DVD releases include the role of Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Barbara Hannigan, Proteo in Orfeo Chaman with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata, and an upcoming documentary series on the life and works of Claudio Monteverdi with the English Baroque Soloists. Taylor is the founding artistic director of the Lakes Area Music Festival of Minnesota. He is a laureate of the Jardin des voix and a member of the two-time Grammy winning ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.