Opera Omnia
Wesley Chinn and Crystal Manich, Artistic Directors
Wesley Chinn, General Manager
Opera Omnia is a new company devoted to performing musical works of the baroque. We aim to combine a deep knowledge of historical performance practice with a modern theatrical aesthetic to produce performances that are musically and dramatically satisfying to both the veteran classical concertgoer and to those new to the genre. We initially concentrate on musical-dramatic works of the early 17th century, performing them in English translation and modern staging. Our approach seeks to bring new audiences to these early opera masterworks while shedding new light on the works for those already familiar with them.
Avi Stein (Music Director) is the music director at St. Matthew & St. Timothy Episcopal Church in New York and coach for baroque vocal repertoire at the Institute of Sacred Music of Yale University. He is an active continuo accompanist who has played with many ensembles such as the Clarion Music Society, the Baroque Orchestras of Los Angeles, Seattle and Indianapolis and the Warsaw, Toulouse and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras as well as his own chamber groups La Monica and X579. Avi is currently finishing his doctoral studies in organ and harpsichord at Indiana University and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Southern California, and was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship for study in Toulouse. He has performed throughout the United States, in Europe, Canada, and Central America, and the New York Times described him as “a brilliant organ soloist” in his Carnegie Hall debut. Avi was previously the assistant organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo, New York. He has also conducted a variety of ensembles including a recent series called the 4x4 festival, during which he directed many of New York’s finest baroque musicians in four programs of 17th century music from four different countries over the span of four days.
Stage Director Crystal M. Manich is making her fully staged directorial debut with The Coronation of Poppea. Her next directing endeavor will be Puccini’s La bohème for Pittsburgh Opera in 2009. This coming season she will also assist at Virginia Opera. For the past three years, her work as an assistant director has included Pagliacci, Romeo et Juliette, L’Ormindo, Die Zauberflöte, Billy Budd, Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore, Aida, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, The Ring (Long Beach Opera and Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh), and the world premiere of Darkling with American Opera Projects in New York and Berlin. Other directing credits: Darkling in Concert at the German Consulate in New York City; Harold Pinter’s Betrayal; and Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat. Education: Carnegie Mellon University. Crystal is a proud Friend of the Michael Chekhov Association. http://www.DirectorsConcept.com.
Producer Wesley Chinn has been involved with early music since taking up baroque violin in high school, and has been an arts administrator of one sort or another for nearly as long. As founder of the Harvard Early Music Society, he produced several early baroque operas in English translation; the Boston Globe said of that group “this group bears watching: it is serious, funny, and smart.” He also worked at the Boston Early Music Festival in a variety of capacities, including serving as Stage Manager for Ercole Amante in 2001. Wesley moved to New York to be Operations Manager and Artistic Coordinator of The New York Collegium, spent seven years at Carnegie Hall in the Marketing/Creative Services and Artistic Programming departments, and is currently Artistic Administrator of The Little Orchestra Society. Wesley also maintains an active career as a performer; he has been a regular member of the Trinity Choir for the past 5 years (where he also sits on the Music and Arts Hub of Trinity Church), and has performed around New York in a variety of genres as a violinist (baroque and modern), baritone, countertenor, and jowza (Iraqi spike fiddle) player.
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