Christabel Nunoo is a first-generation Nigerian/Ghanaian-American soprano and Oakland creative. She first discovered her love for music in her youth as a member of the Young Musicians Program. After discovering the opera world, Christabel went on to study at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance. She made her solo debut in 2012 with the Oakland Symphony under the baton of late maestro Michael Morgan & throughout her career she has been invited to perform on several occasions with mezzo-soprano, Frederica von Stade. In 2018, she debuted the lead role of Modesty with Opera Parallèle in a world premiere of the children’s opera Harriet’s Spirit by Marcus Shelby and librettist Roma Olvera, resurrecting the role again with the San Francisco Girl’s Chorus in 2021. As a young artist with the Vocal Academy of Orvieto, Christabel sang the role of Donna Anna in their 2021 production of Don Giovanni at the academy’s Summer Festival in Bodrum, Turkey. She has made appearances with Quadre Horn Quartet, Volti SF and premiered Michael Abels’ work “At War With Ourselves – 100 Years Of You” under the baton of Valerie Saint Agathe alongside Kronos Quartet. In 2023, Christabel sang the role of Mrs. Grady and covered Wendy Torranc in Opera Parallèle’s west coast premiere of The Shining by Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell. She most recently appeared in Opera Parallèle’s west coast premiere of Harvey Milk Reimagined by Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie.Christabel is currently exploring the intersections of healing, sound and creative storytelling through the classical and operatic canon in hopes to facilitate healing within her own community. She owes her dedicated passion for the arts to her late mother, who always pushed her to find her niche.

Aniyjah Garrett is a mezzo-soprano whose artistry blends classical technique with the soulful roots of R&B and pop. A senior at  Ruth Asawa School of the Arts with a vocal focus, she has developed a versatile voice capable of moving between genres with ease. Over the past four years, she has immersed herself in the study of classical music while continuing to honor her contemporary influences.

Aniyjah’s stage credits include performing the iconic “Flower Duet” from Lakmé and portraying Amy in Little Women. Beyond the opera stage, she has collaborated with Musical Theater Works to help produce shows for young student performers, sharing her skills and passion with the next generation of artists.

Her musical journey is deeply shaped by inspirations such as Aaliyah—an R&B icon who, like Aniyjah, trained in classical music as a child. She strives to follow a similar path, pursuing excellence across multiple genres while incorporating her love of dance into her performances.

 Originally from Los Angeles, Bay Area Composer and Librettist, Carla Lucero, studied
composition at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Her operas, WUORNOS (Yerba
Buena Center for the Arts – 2001 San Francisco); Juana (with Co-Librettist, Alicia
Gaspar de Alba, Opera UCLA – 2019 Los Angeles and dell’ Arte Opera Ensemble –
2023 New York); Las tres mujeres de Jerusalén (The Three Women of Jerusalem)
(LA Opera – 2022, 2023 Los Angeles); The Everywhere of Her (with Librettist, Velina
Hasu Houston, The Ebell of Los Angeles – 2023, 2024), Touch (with Co-Librettist,
Marianna Mott Newirth, Opera Birmingham – 2024); ¡Chicanísima! (Quinteto Latino –
2024 San Francisco; Escenia Ensamble – (tour – 2025, 2026 Mérida, Valladolid and
Morelia, México); and Hello, Star (with Librettist, Jarrod Lee, Opera Parallèle and
Peabody Conservatory – 2025 San Francisco and 2026 Baltimore); as well as three in
development, Tower of Babel (LA Opera 2026), TEA (with Librettist, Velina Hasu
Houston, Hawai’i Opera Theatre – 2027 Honolulu) and Muriel &; Anita (Mercury
Theater – 2027 Petaluma, CA), challenge gender, racial, cultural, LGBTQ+ and
disability stereotypes. Lucero and her work have been awarded four OPERA America
grants for the commissioning and presentation of her operas, as well as support for various other projects from Creative Work Fund, Horizons Foundation, Meet the Composer, InterMusic SF, New York Community Trust, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation,California Arts Council, American Chamber Music Society and other distinguished institutions and foundations. Her music is performed frequently throughout the US and internationally, (México, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Germany, Canada), and was honored with the distinction of becoming the 2020 Inaugural Composer of the Leni
Alexander Festival in Santiago, Chile. She regularly creates music and/or text for song
cycles, art songs, dance productions and film. Selected works can be found on Navona
Records, including solo piano arrangements from WUORNOS, interpreted by Anna
Kislitsyna; a soprano aria from Juana, “Sin vos”, interpreted by Michelle Allie Drever
and chamber ensemble including traditional Aztec instruments and instruments of
antiquity; and an upcoming song cycle, Love in Times of War, commissioned and
interpreted by soprano, Katherine Jolly.

Writer/Librettist Jarrod Lee hails from Alabama, and presently resides in Maryland. Lee’s collaborations include: Hello, Star with composer Carla Lucero, The Delta King’s Blues with composer Damien Geter, What is Love? An AI Story, which was awarded Crowd Favorite and Runner-up with the ATL 96hr Opera Festival/Competition, Kandake, a community opera called Spirit Moves and an art song cycle called Journey to You with composer Timothy Amukele, Oshun, Two Corners, and the choral song Beyond What I See with composer B.E. Boykin, Voices of Zion, the art song See your Equal, which placed third in the composition category of the George Shirley Vocal Competition, with composer Ronald “Trey” Walton.

Works in development include: Promised Land with composer Glenn McClure and Split-Second/LIFE with composer Jasmine Barnes. Lee has received commissions from the Alliance for New Music Theater, the Atlanta Opera, IN Series, Finger Lakes Opera, Opera Parallèle, The Peabody Institute, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the Washington National Opera. In addition to original stories, Jarrod translated a deconstruction of Die Zauberflӧte called Black Flute. Jarrod draws from his performance experiences when creating stories. In concert with writing and performing, Lee works in Performing Arts Administration and Consulting as the Director of New Voices for Maryland Opera and as the Projects Director for the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA). Lee’s work is influenced by his experience of being Black, Gay, and American, adding to the canon of stories written by Black Americans for the operatic stage and beyond.

Hometown: Montreal, Québec, Canada

OP Founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement is an internationally acclaimed conductor renowned for contemporary opera. Mo. Paiement has performed with companies across the US and internationally, including the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana Palermo, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Atlanta Opera, and The Dallas Opera. In 2020, Paiement made her Canadian debut at L’Opéra de Montréal with Benjamin’s Written on Skin, returning in 2023 to conduct Golijov’s Ainadamar. In 2022, Paiement debuted with the English National Opera conducting Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life, returning to the UK in 2023 to conduct Talbot’s Everest with the BBC Symphony at the Barbican Center. In 23/24, Paiement debuted with the Volksoper Vienna conducting John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary. This summer included a return to The Glimmerglass Festival for the world premiere of The House on Mango Street by Derek Bermel and concerts with the Grant Park Music Festival Chicago. In 25/26, Paiement returns to Montréal to conduct Jenůfa, followed by her debut with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania and Pacific Opera Victoria.

Photo credit Cory Weaver

A native of Trinidad in the West Indies, L. Peter Callender has worked professionally as an actor for over thirty years, and more recently as a director and writer. He received his formal training in the theater at the Juilliard School in New York City; Webber/Douglas Academy in London, England; Mask Technique with Julie Taymor; and The Suzuki Technique with The Tadashi Suzuki Company in Toga-mura, Japan. He has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional theaters across the US, and has performed internationally in Japan, England, and France. 

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His New York credits include: Tom/Jamaican Waiter in Prelude to a Kiss (Circle Rep. and at the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway, directed by Norman René); Off-Broadway: Roscoe in The Caucasian Chalk Circle (at the Public Theater, directed by George C. Wolfe); Caliban in The Tempest (at Classic Stage Company, directed by Julie Taymor); Curio/Ensemble in Twelfth Night (at the Delacorte Theater, directed by Harold Guskin).

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Mr. Callender was an Associate Artist at the California Shakespeare Theater for nearly 20 years. Some favorites roles at CalShakes include: the title roles in Julius Caesar and Cymbeline; Oberon in Midsummer Night’s Dream; Capulet in Romeo and Juliet; Orsino in Twelfth Night; Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing; Polixenes and Leontes in Winter’s Tale; Navarre in Love’s Labor’s Lost; Bolingbroke in Richard II; Duke Solinus in Comedy of Errors; Laertes in Hamlet; Dukes Frederick and Senior in As You Like It; La Feu in All’s Well That Ends Well; Dr Chasuable in The Importance of Being Earnest; Vincent Crummels in Nicholas Nickleby; Roebuck Ramsden in Man and Superman; and Colonel Pickering in Pygmalion.

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Since 2009, Mr. Callender has served as Artistic Director of the African-American Theater Company–proud recipient of the Paine Knickerbocker Paine Award for continued contribution to Bay Area Theater. 

Mr. Callender has been a visiting professor at Stanford University teaching Acting Shakespeare.

Alia Davis Brown‘s passion for costume design and fashion began at a young age when her mother taught her to create and alter clothes for her dolls. She finds joy in helping people feel confident and express their unique stories through their clothing. Alia is also captivated by the way history is brought to life through curation. Originally from Maryland, she moved to the Bay Area after enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard. She holds a Master’s in Costume Design from the Academy of Art University and looks forward to further expanding her knowledge at UC Berkeley. Alia is grateful for the support of her loving family, including her imaginative son and her husband, who is also her creative partner.

Kevin Myrick is an Artist and Technologist. Kevin was Technical Director and resident designer for 20 years at the African American Arts & Culture Complex, working with resident companies (AfroSolo, Cultural Odyssey, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, The African-American Shakespeare Company, Push Dance). Myrick has been nominated multiple times for Excellence in Lighting Design by SFBATCC and
TBA. Myrick designed Lighting for Opera Parallèle (two productions of Harriets Spirit and Amazing Grace) and has designed Lighting, Sound and/or Projections for The African-American Shakespeare Company (Pipeline, Taming of the Shrew), TheatreFirst (A Marriage), Youth Musical Theatre Company (Batboy, Rent), Throckmorton Theatre (The Sound of Music, Footloose), Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (In
The Evening, By The Moonlight), San Francisco Playhouse (Twelfth Night the Musical, Nollywood Dreams), Altarena Theatre (Doubt, Grease), Center Repertory Company (Sweat), Aurora Theatre Company (Cyrano, Crumbs From The Table Of Joy), and Oakland Theatre Project (Cost of Living, Angels In America).

Giulio Cesare Perrone (Playwright, Director, Set and Costume Designer)  Giulio’s approach to theater, informed by his experience and training in the U.S. and Europe, emphasizes the physical aspects of movement and dance, and the central role of the actors/performers/creators in the creative process. The artistic importance of scenery always incorporates live music, and often video as well. As a writer, designer, and director, Giulio has been recognized with two prestigious Pew Grants and several industry awards. His commitment to making and supporting progressive, traditional, and non-traditional forms of theater and programs gives voice to the many urgent cultural narratives that have been historically excluded from theater throughout his lifetime. He moved from his native Italy to the United States in 1995. Now a U.S. resident, Giulio has over 300 theater and opera productions to his credit. He is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Inferno Theatre.