Opera Programs Berlin

Happy holidays from all of us at Opera Programs Berlin.
Wishing you a magical holiday season and a new year filled with glorious music and inspired artistry.
Thank you for a great 2025 - we are thankful for meeting each of you and look forward to welcoming you in 2026.

This is why this program is so important for singers in 2025.
🌟
Only 3 scholarships left and 3 days to grab them. Apply today: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducting.html

🌟SESSION TOPICS🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

JOSHUA COLLIER
(Opera Vermont, Barn Opera, Opera Brittenica, University of Vermont, Vermont State University)

Joshua brings unparalleled experience in founding and developing performing art organisations and balancing this with an ample performance career. He will be speaking about Company/Organization Founding & Development.

🌟 There are 3 scholarships left! Hurry up and email us your CV and tell us how this program will aid your career. 🌟

Program Info, Scholarships guidelines and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html

There are ONLY 4 SCHOLARSHIPS left
for
YOUR CAREER IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT: SELF-PRODUCING FOR THE MODERN SINGER ©
November 17-23, 2025 | online
(live/asynchronously/hybrid)
with a 60-day replay
***
• founding and development of an organization/company
• production process
• venue search, publicizing & marketing
• programming, business & artistic planning
• hiring & contracts
• biographies, program notes & copy for events
• funding & partnerships
• budgeting & business plans
🌟
To apply, please follow the link: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducting.html .greenstein .wyma

🌟SESSION TOPICS🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

Zenaida des Aubris (International Cultural Events, Hangzhou Grand Theater, Palau de les Arts, Neue Stimmen Competition, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Classical Singer Convention Lecturer)

Zenaida brings decades of experience in producing on numerous continents, in wide range of formats and scale of production. She will speak about how to create a blueprint of a project, from concept to wrap-up, outline all points which need to be considered, and execute these with precision, imagination and resourcefulness. No matter how you cut the cake, the organizational elements and the sequences will be applicable to everything you do.

Program Info, Scholarships guidelines and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html

🌟SESSION TOPICS🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

Rebecca Greenstein (Opera Moderne, Hot Box Girls, Vien Noir, The National Lyric Opera, Dicapo Opera Theatre, One World Symphony, JABEN USA) will present on Company/Organization Founding & Longevity as well as Tailoring your Project to Different Markets.

Rebecca has copious experience founding multiple successful and long-running organizations in multiple countries, and we can’t wait for her to share her knowledge and expertise with you!

Program Info and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html

👑 .greenstein

SCHOLARSHIPS
SCHOLARSHIPS
SCHOLARSHIPS
SCHOLARSHIPS
SCHOLARSHIPS
🌟
We are thrilled to be able to offer partial scholarships for
YOUR CAREER IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT: SELF-PRODUCING FOR THE MODERN SINGER ©
November 17-23, 2025 | online
(live/asynchronously/hybrid)
with a 60-day replay
***
• founding and development of an organization/company
• production process
• venue search, publicizing & marketing
• programming, business & artistic planning
• hiring & contracts
• biographies, program notes & copy for events
• funding & partnerships
• budgeting & business plans
🌟
To apply, please follow the link: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducting.html .greenstein .wyma

🌟SESSION TOPICS🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

Danielle Wright (Opera MODO, Detroit Institute of the Arts and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) will present on Company/Organization Founding as well as Business Plans.

Take it from someone with experience - founding a company or arts organization is no small feat! Danielle will walk us through what we need to know, the must-haves and potential pitfalls, and outline what makes a successful business plan.

Program Info and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html

🌟FACULTY SPOTLIGHT🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

The final projects for this program will be reviewed by the executive and artistic directors of :

JULIE WYMA, Executive Director & ANASTASIA INNISS, Artistic Director

They have more than 55 years of combined experience in production, company founding and arts leadership both in the United States and in Europe. Read their bios on our website.

FINAL PROJECT:
At the end of the program, each participant will be asked to create a project proposal, including:
- Name and description
- Budget and financial planning
- Personnel
- Funding/partnerships
- Production plan and schedule
- Marketing strategy

Project proposal will be evaluated and detailed written feedback provided. The goal of the successful proposal is to serve as a blueprint for future projects!

Participants will receive a course certificate upon successful completion of the project proposal.

Program Info and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html

.wyma

🌟FACULTY SPOTLIGHT🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

We are thrilled to welcome JOSHUA COLLIER to the faculty of our upcoming program! Joshua will be leading a session on Company/Organization Founding & Development on November 23.

American tenor, Joshua Collier, known for ”brimming with passion and sensuality” and having “delivered brilliant high notes as well as heart-wrenching tenderness” was hailed as “the quintessential Italianate tenor”  and “the real thing” for his portrayal of Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca.
A graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Bachelor in Music - Vocal Performance) and The New England Conservatory (Masters in Music - Vocal Performance), he has performed throughout New England and beyond in many of the romantic tenor roles including: Calaf (Turandot); Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly); Turiddu (Cavalleria Rusticana); Alfredo Germont (La Traviata); Cavaradossi (Tosca); Rodolfo (La Boheme); and many others (Full CV available upon request). However, performing was not the only avenue for Collier’s artistic expression. 

In 2013, he founded the Bostonian opera company “Opera Brittenica” championing the works of British composer Benjamin Britten. Over the next 4 years, he produced rarely produced works of Britten, and became deeply interested in the production element of the operatic medium. 

After honing skills as a producer for 4 years, Collier relocated to Brandon, Vermont, and subsequently founded an opera company in a renovated barn, aptly called BARN OPERA. BARN OPERA was a project under the Compass Music and Arts Foundation for 3 years, where it produced 3 seasons of 4 full operatic productions annually, all conceived and directed by Collier. [complete biography on website]

Program Info and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html

🌟FACULTY SPOTLIGHT🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

We are thrilled to welcome ADAM CIOFFARI to the faculty of our upcoming program! Adam will be leading a session on the Production and Administration Process on November 20.

Adam Cioffari was named “Outstanding Stage Director” by the Tampa Bay Theater Awards for his production of The Merry Widow for St Petersburg Opera, where he also recently directed productions of Samson et Dalila, Tosca, Amahl and the Night Visitors and Così fan tutte. Other directorial credits include Die Fledermaus with Opera in Wiliamsburg, Rigoletto and Così fan tutte at Shreveport Opera and The Magic Flute at Opera North. Later this season, he will direct Carmen for Shreveport Opera.

​Also an active bass-baritone, Cioffari has been praised for his evocative performances, from his “zesty” (Opera News) Elviro in Houston Grand Opera’s Xerxes to his “sneering” (Washington Classical Review) Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera with Maryland Lyric Opera. In 2022, he made his debut with New York City Opera in the world-premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Garden of the Finzi Continis. Recently, he played Capulet in Roméo et Juliette at Central City Opera, Fasolt in Das Rheingold with Dayton Opera and Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera in Williamsburg. In concert, he recently performed in Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and in Verdi’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Arkansas Symphony. [complete biography on website]

Program Info and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html

🌟FACULTY SPOTLIGHT🌟

Your Career in the Driver’s Seat: Self-Producing for the Modern Singer©
November 17-23, 2025 | online

We are thrilled to welcome ZENAIDA DES AUBRIS to the faculty of our upcoming program! Zenaida will be leading a session on Self-Producing: How to Develop Your Own Project on November 20.

Zenaida des Aubris is a Consultant for International Cultural Events, living in Berlin. Born in Argentina, she has over 35 years experience in management and production of opera and classical music in the United States, Europe and Asia.

After completing a Masters in Sociology, she joined the San Francisco Opera’s artistic administration department in the late 1970s. She went on to become the personal manager of the film and opera stage director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, followed by the personal management of the conductor Lorin Maazel. 1996/98 Zenaida des Aubris was General Project Director for the open-air production of Puccini’s “Turandot in the Forbidden City,” Beijing, China, with Zubin Mehta conducting and directed by Zhang Yimou (9 performances for 45,000 visitors). Other international entertainment projects in China followed, including being Director for International Relations for the Wu Promotion Company in Beijing and culminating with her becoming the General and Artistic Director of the newly built Hangzhou Grand Theater in China. Back in Europe, she joined the Artistic Administration for the first two seasons of the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain. [complete biography on website]

Program Info and Registration: https://www.operaprogramsberlin.com/selfproducing.html