Opera in the Ozarks

Jackson Warren
Jackson Warren is one of the inaugural Fellows of the James E. Rogers Institute for Orchestral and Opera Conducting at the University of Arizona (Tucson).  Under the guidance of institute director, Dr. Thomas Cockrell, and Charles Bontrager, Mr. Warren conducts both School of Music orchestras, and assists for School of Music opera productions.  He is a member of the Marion Roose Pullen Arizona Opera Studio, and in this capacity has assisted for five Arizona Opera productions during 2008-10.  Mr. Warren also frequently covers for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

For the 2007-08 season, Mr. Warren held the post of Conducting Fellow for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO).  In this capacity, he worked closely with CSO Music Director, Paavo Jarvi, and served as  Assistant Conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra.  He received his Masters of Music degree in Orchestra Conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati.  At CCM he served as Music Director for the University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and matinee conductor for CCM’s Mainstage production of Donizetti’s L’eliser d’amore.

Prior to his conducting studies, Mr. Warren received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and studied double bass in the prestigious studio of Paul Ellison.  A native of Florida, he played with the Sarasota Orchestra for seven seasons.  He has performed at summer festivals in Aspen (CO), Sarasota (FL), Bayreuth (Germany), and Lucca (Italy).  He was also a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas on their inaugural tour of North and South America.

Jackson will join the OIO staff as conductor for the 2010 season.

Sara Widzer
Sara E.Widzer, a native of Los Angeles, CA, has enjoyed success as an actress, but works primarily as a stage director and acting coach. Most recently, Ms. Widzer directed G.F. Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Charles Gounod’s Faust for Celestial Opera Company of South Pasadena, CA’s  2008-2009 season. Other Southern California directing credits include: As You Like It, Warhol style, Midnight Summer Night’s Dream, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, This is Where We Came In, The Sea Gull, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Zoo Story The Lee Strasberg Creative Center, Hollywood, CA); Shakespeare is Dead, Curse of the Golden Rose (The Actors Gang, Los Angeles, CA); Bootleggers, Kalamazoo, Dinner and a Funeral (the Actors Studio West, Los Angeles, CA). Regionally: Spring Awakening (Tansill Black Box Theatre, New London, CT). Ms. Widzer is a member of the Actors’ Studio: Playwright Director’s Unit where she workshops new plays with some of Los Angeles’ most esteemed writers. Ms. Widzer teaches acting and “voice/speech for the actor” to adults and children at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles, California. She is also on staff at the Young Actors Studio, and at other performing arts studios around the Los Angeles area. Ms. Widzer has a Bachelor of Arts from Connecticut College in Directing and Acting, and additional certificates from the British American Dramatic Academy and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Ms. Widzer will be stage director for Tosca and Don Giovanni at OIO for the 2010 season.

Alan E. Hicks
Director
In his nearly twenty-year career, stage director Alan E. Hicks’ work has run the gamut of the musical arts including instrumental performance and conducting, operatic performance, and theatrical and operatic stage direction. Described as “a pleasing baritone of great promise,” Alan performed with Minnesota Opera, Virginia
Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Lake George Opera Festival, and Opera Northeast as well as concerts and recitals across the United States. In 1998, Alan originated the title role in the Virginia Opera’s world premiere production of Seymour Barab’s The Pied Piper of Hamelin.  From 2002-2006, Alan served on the faculties of the internationally-acclaimed Actors Studio Drama School and American Academy of Dramatic Arts, both in New York City. Alan’s former students have performed on Broadway (in Gypsy with Patti LaPone), television (CBS: Three Rivers, NBC: Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and Fox: Lie to Me), and in major motion pictures (Overture Films: Traitor, 2008). 
As a director, Alan’s work has been described as “gorgeous,” “maturely-realized,” and “real magic.” A new production of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, conceived and directed by Alan for the University of Texas at Austin, won First Prize in the 2007-2008 National Opera Association’s Opera Production Competition. Alan has served on the staffs of Chautauqua Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Central City Opera. He returned to Tulsa Opera in January of 2010 to direct the touring production of The Elixir of Love and recently directed Orfeo ed Euridice for Palm Beach Opera's Resident Artist Program. Upcoming projects include Carmen, Dido and Aeneas, L’Elisir d’Amore and Trouble in Tahiti. Alan is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists and Actors Equity Association.