Michael Francis - Candide
Michael Francis has developed an international reputation for sharing the power of music through his conducting and engaging speaking. Music director of The Florida Orchestra since 2015, he is now entering his ninth season with a contract extension through the 2024-25 season. Music director of the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego since 2014, Francis and Mainly Mozart have recently completed an ambitious multi-year exploration of Mozart’s life. Entering his fifth season, Francis continues as chief conductor of Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz.
This past season Francis returned to the Cincinnati Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Philharmonia and the Minnesota Orchestra. Previous highlights include North American performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, San Diego, Houston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Montreal and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In Europe, he has conducted the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, MDR Leipzig, the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE Madrid and the Mariinsky Orchestra, amongst others. He has worked with the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.
Francis is passionate about sharing the hidden truths in music with audiences worldwide through his acclaimed podium talks. His “Inside the Music” series and pre-concert talks in Florida have greatly helped develop new audiences. An exciting new series of “Keynote” presentations (explaining the music, alongside performances) with Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz has just been released on Naxos.
Robin Andrew Stamper - Don Pasquale
The artistic director and chorus master for Opera Tampa, Robin Andrew Stamper continues a versatile career as a coach-accompanist, chorus master and opera conductor. Credits include director of music for the Kentucky Opera where he made his conducting debut for The Mikado. For Opera Tampa, he has conducted The Pirates of Penzance and La Traviata.
Subsequently, he became artistic director for the Nevada Opera where he conducted the mainstage productions of The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Suor Angelica and Pagliacci. Following his tenure at Nevada Opera, Stamper became the music director for the Orlando Opera where he conducted L’elisir d’armore, The Pirates of Penzance, The Marriage of Figaro and Die Fledermaus. Also notable during his tenure at Orlando Opera was the growth of the Orlando Opera Chorus, which culminated in highly acclaimed performances of Turandot, Il Trovatore and Cavalleria Rusticana.
In addition, he conducted La Traviata and Camelot for the Augusta Opera and, as artistic director for the Florida Opera Theatre, Cosi fan tutte and The Barber of Seville. Having received his degrees in piano performance at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School, Stamper is a frequent performer as recital pianist and accompanist.
Anthony Barese - La Bohème
Anthony Barrese, hailed by South Florida Classical Review as conducting “with passion and idiomatic fluency,” has earned accolades as both a composer and a conductor. He is the recipient of the 2007 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. His original works have won numerous awards, and he is regularly engaged by opera companies in North America and Italy.
Currently serving as artistic director and principal conductor of Opera Southwest, Barrese lead company productions of L’occasione fa il ladro and Bluebeard’s Castle during the past season. Barrese also serves as music director of Opera Delaware, a role he assumed in 2017. Additional conducting engagements for the 2023-2024 season included L’infedeltà delusa at Sarasota Opera and Zorro at Opera Santa Barbara. That season, he conducted Zorro, Le comte Ory and Turandot with Opera Southwest, as well as Florida Grand Opera’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia.