Tosca

Conductor
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Tosca

Hometown: Sassari, Italy
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: Conductor, Aida (Staatstheater Hannover); Otello (Staatstheater Hannover); Il trovatore (Staatsoper Hamburg); L’elisir d’amore (Staatsoper Hamburg); La bohème (Muscat Royal Opera House Oman); Carmen (Royal Opéra de Wallonie Liège, Arena di Verona)

Last Updated: January 2024

At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Tosca

Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Seattle Opera Debut: Don Giovanni (’21)

Engagements: Il trovatore (Washington National Opera); Carmen (Calgary Opera/Des Moines Metro Opera); Lucia di Lammermoor (New Orleans Opera); Hansel and Gretel (Kentucky Opera)

Last Update: December 2023

Set Designer
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: 

Ercole Sormani Scenography
Founded in Milan in 1838, the scenic studio created by Ercole Sormani created opera scenery for La Scala during the days of Verdi and Puccini and to this day upholds the grand tradition of representational scenic painting. Glynn Ross, Seattle Opera’s founding director, purchased these Tosca sets in the 1960s. Refurbished over the years by Seattle Opera Scenic Studios, they have often transformed our stage and that of many other American theaters into Napoleonic Rome.

Costume Designer
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Tosca

Previously at Seattle Opera: Tosca (‘15)
Engagements: Tosca (New York City Opera); Cavalleria rusticana (New York City Opera); Pagliacci (New York City Opera); The Music Man (New York City Opera); Die Fledermaus (Santa Fe Opera); Strider (Broadway)

Last Updated: May 2024

Lighting Designer
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Freddie Ballentine and Kunal Lahiry in Concert; Tosca

Hometown: East Lansing, MI
Seattle Opera Debut: Die Fledermaus (’06)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Samson and Delilah in Concert (’23); The Marriage of Figaro (’22); Welcome Back Concert: Die Walküre (’21); Don Giovanni (’21);The Elixir of Love (’20); The Turn of the Screw (’18); Beatrice and Benedict (’18); An American Dream (’17 and ’15)

Engagements: Lighting Designer, La bohème (Opera Colorado); The Barber of Seville (Madison Opera); Salome, Pelléas & Mélisande (Des Moines Metro Opera); María de Buenos Aires (The Florentine Opera); Madame Butterfly (Opera Philadelphia)

Last updated: March 2025

Sound Designer
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Jubilee; The Magic Flute; Tosca

Hometown: Seattle, WA
Seattle Opera Debut: The Falling & The Rising (’19)
Previously at Seattle Opera: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (’24); Das Rheingold (’23); A Thousand Splendid Suns (’23); Orpheus and Eurydice (’22); Tosca ('21); Flight ('21); Don Giovanni ('21); Charlie Parker’s Yardbird (’20)
Engagements: Music Director/Accordion, Go, Dog. Go! (Chicago Children’s Theatre); Sound Designer, The Color Purple (Village Theatre); Twelfth Night (ACT Theatre); Composer, Peril in the Alps (Laguna Playhouse)

Last updated: December 2024

At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Wigs, Hair and Makeup Designer, Pagliacci; Jubilee; Lucidity; Les Troyens in Concert; The Magic Flute; Tosca

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Seattle Opera Debut: Hair and Makeup Intern, Giulio Cesare (2007)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Supplemental Wigs, Hair and Makeup Designer, Das Rheingold ('23); Alcina ('23); X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X ('24); The Barber of Seville ('24)

Ashlee Naegle made a name for herself early on in her career by mastering the dying art of wig building. She created and designed for several companies around town until the Seattle Opera created an in-house Hair and Makeup Designer position for her in 2017. During her time as the in-house Hair and Makeup Designer, she has built a sizable wig collection, built a department, and set high standards for wigs, hair and makeup. With each production, her designs are custom built for the performers and their characters to create a believable façade for the audience as well as complement the costumes and production as a whole.

Last Updated: July 2024

Chorus Master

Hometown: Muscatine, IA
Seattle Opera debut: The Elixir of Love (’22)
Michaella Calzaretta made her Seattle Opera debut in 2022 as the company’s new chorus master and head of music staff. Acclaimed for her high standards and superb preparation skills, Calzaretta oversees all musical activities at the company and prepares the chorus for main stage productions. In January, the chorus embarked on their immensely successful first-ever tour to Mt. Vernon and Vashon Island. Recent praise includes “Her chorus was one of the stars... the voices were radiant” (Bachtrack) and “... the singers are both zesty and accurate (they’re also extremely nimble)” (The Seattle Times). Calzaretta is a doctoral candidate in choral conducting at Indiana University.

Last Updated: July 2024

At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Youth Chorus Master, Pagliacci; Youth Vocal Coach, The Magic Flute; Youth Chorus Master, Tosca

Hometown: Kent, WA
Seattle Opera Debut: Pagliacci (’24)

Julia Meyering made her Seattle Opera singing debut in 2018 as a chorus member in Porgy and Bess (’18). She is thrilled to be joining Seattle Opera as Youth Chorus Master. Currently, she serves as choral director at Tillicum Middle School in Bellevue, WA, where her choirs have won numerous regional, national, and international choir competitions.

Last Updated: July 2024

At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Assistant Director, Jubilee (‘24), Tosca (‘25)

Hometown: Boston, MA
Seattle Opera Debut: Assistant Director, Salome (‘08)

Engagements: Production Stage Manager, The Marriage of Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, La traviata (Santa Fe Opera); Stage Manager, La cenerentola (Boston Lyric Opera)

Last Updated: August 2024

Production Stage Manager

Hometown: Houston, TX
Seattle Opera Mainstage Debut: Les Troyens in Concert (’25)
Jonathan Moore (he/him) is thrilled to be a part of the Seattle Opera Production Team as Production Stage Manager. He has primarily worked in opera and ballet, including, most recently, a 4-season stint at the Houston Ballet. He has also stage managed for plays, musicals, a Fringe Festival, concerts, and a drag show. Favorite projects include a tour to Tokyo, an opera in a hot spring, and several operas in barns. He has worked across the country, including in New York, San Diego, San Antonio, Steamboat Springs, and Logan, UT.

Last Updated: February 2025

Assistant Stage Manager
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Pagliacci, Jubilee, The Magic Flute, Tosca

Hometown: Coventry, RI
Seattle Opera Debut: Il trovatore ('19)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Jubilee (‘24); Pagliacci (‘24); X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X ('24); Das Rheingold ('23); A Thousand Splendid Suns ('23)
Engagements: Blithe Spirit, Sanctuary City, Selling Kabul, Teenage Dick (Seattle Repertory Theatre); A Christmas Carol (ACT Contemporary Theatre); Everything is Illuminated (Book-It Repertory Theatre)

Last Updated: January 2025

Assistant Stage Manager
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Tosca

Hometown: Overland Park, KS
Seattle Opera Debut: Blue (‘22)
Previously at Seattle Opera: La traviata (‘23)
Engagements: Production Stage Manager, The Barber of Seville (Madison Opera); Assistant Stage Manager, Jenufa, Cinderella, Rigoletto, The Listeners (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Spotlight Calling Stage Manager, In the Heights, Bring It On, Frozen, Dear Evan Hansen (The Muny)

Last Updated: March 2025

Assistant Stage Manager
At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Daphne in Concert

Hometown: San Anselmo, CA
Seattle Opera Debut: Aida ('92)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Les Troyens in Concert (‘25); An American Dream (‘15); The Ring Cycle (‘00–13, ‘95); Pelleas et Melisande (‘93)
Engagements: Acis, Galatea & Polyphemus (Orpheus PDX); Forsythe County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier) (Atlanta Opera); mindplay (Arena Stage); Freaky Friday (Alley Theatre, Cleveland Play House); Vanity Fair (Shakespeare Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre); Red Riding Hood (Seattle Children’s Theatre)

Last Updated: September 2024