Wayne Davis
Board President, Boston Lyric Opera

Wayne Davis, a managing director of wealth management at UBS Financial Services in Boston, was appointed board president of Boston Lyric Opera in 2023 after serving on the board for many years. Wayne achieved a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He is both a senior portfolio manager and a private wealth advisor.

Jason Hardy
General Director and CEO, Knoxville Opera

Jason Hardy leads Knoxville Opera after serving as chief advancement officer at Opera Memphis and managing director at OperaDelaware. Before that, he spent 18 years on the road as an opera singer. Hardy is a proven action-oriented leader and relationship builder with a passion for fulfilling a company’s mission. He has expertise working within artistic, educational, and corporate structures to achieve artistic vibrancy and organizational efficiency while engaging key stakeholders to undertake strategic initiatives.

Jessica Jahn
Costume Designer

A graduate of Rutgers University with degrees in both dance and psychology, Jessica Jahn danced professionally in New York City before beginning a career in design. Jahn’s knowledge of movement is an underlying current in her design work. Along with this, her understanding and respect for the rehearsal process allows Jahn to work with each cast member as an individual with needs specific to themselves and their character. Known for her work in the traditional repertoire, she is also dedicated to innovative work within her field. Her dedication to racial and social justice is based on her lived experience as a Black woman, and she approaches her work through the lens of equity. Currently, she is a chair of OPERA America’s Women’s Opera Network Steering Committee, and she serves on OA’s Racial Justice Opera Network Steering Committee and the OA board’s Membership Council. Jahn was the inaugural chair of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at The Glimmerglass Festival, as well as the lead coordinator for the company’s equity initiatives.

Timothy Long
Artistic and Music Director of Opera, Eastman School of Music

Timothy Long is a pianist, conductor, and composer who is artistic and music director of Opera at the Eastman School of Music. He is a Muscogee Nation citizen from the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town and is one-half Choctaw on his mother’s side. Long’s work on Thomas Adès and Philip Hensher’s operatic tour de force Powder Her Face at the Aspen Music Festival led to his appointment as assistant conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and he was subsequently named an associate conductor at the New York City Opera for two seasons. This season, he joined the conducting staff of the Metropolitan Opera for X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, by Anthony Davis and Thulani Davis. Long is passionate about his work with the Plimpton Foundation, which promotes the works of Native American and underrepresented performing artists through scholarships, grants, and commissions.

Shawna Lucey
General Director and CEO, Opera San José

Shawna Lucey is an acclaimed theater and opera director whose work has been seen at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and other major houses around the world. Her legacy production of Tosca launched San Francisco Opera’s 99^th season in 2021. It was followed in 2022 by her groundbreaking legacy production of La traviata, hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a beautiful new Traviata meant to last for decades. Magnificent.” Lucey holds B.A.s in theater and Italian from the University of Texas at Austin and received her M.F.A. in directing and movement from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute of the Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow. She received her Master of Science in nonprofit management from Columbia University in 2023.

Karen Molleson
Vice President of the Board, Long Beach Opera; President of the Board, Wild Up

Timothy O’Leary
General Director, Washington National Opera

Timothy O’Leary began his tenure as general director of Washington National Opera in July 2018. In his role, O’Leary is responsible for leading the WNO staff and collaborating with WNO’s acclaimed artistic director, Francesca Zambello, and the company’s Board of Trustees to achieve Washington National Opera’s goals for artistic excellence, community impact, and financial strength. Before joining WNO, O’Leary served for 10 years as general director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Under his direction, OTSL earned acclaim for innovative programming, sustained growth in new and diverse audiences, wide-ranging community engagement projects, and financial growth.

Karen Tiller
Stage Director; Former Executive Director, Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre

Karen Tiller has directed several critically acclaimed Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre (HOT) productions, including Susannah, Jun Kaneko’s Madama Butterfly, The Pearl Fishers, and the 2013 production of Turandot. Other notable productions in her career include Sweeney Todd at HOT, The Turn of the Screw at Opera Memphis, and Orfeo ed Euridice at New Jersey Opera Festival. Before directing, Tiller served as HOT’s executive director for almost 10 years, leaving that role in 2013 to take on the challenging position of mother to Sophia, adding Eli in 2016. In addition to directing for HOT, Tiller serves as treasurer for the national board of the Joyful Heart Foundation and sits on the board of the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific. She also serves as an Oahu commissioner for the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Anthony Freud
General Director, President, and CEO, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Anthony Freud became general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago in October 2011. In addition to directing the company’s artistic and business operations, he has led in-depth strategic planning and business remodeling processes with the Board of Directors, conceived of and developed the Lyric Unlimited initiative, and is forging important new relationships with a variety of other cultural and community organizations. A native of the United Kingdom, Freud is recognized internationally for his achievements as general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, and previously of both Houston Grand Opera (2006–2011) and Welsh National Opera (1994–2005). In all three positions, he has been hailed for spearheading important artistic initiatives, impressively reconceiving and strengthening the companies’ business models, and developing visionary and groundbreaking community engagement and learning programs to reach diverse new audiences.

Carleen Graham
Dean of the Vocal Arts Division, Manhattan School of Music

Carleen Graham is the inaugural dean of the vocal arts division at Manhattan School of Music, where she oversees classical voice and related studies, opera theater, and choral departments. Previously, she was director of HGOco, Houston Grand Opera’s celebrated initiative that connects the company to the community through numerous learning and community programs serving over 80,000 Houstonians annually. During her tenure at HGO, she led the commissioning of new works for the Song of Houston and Opera to Go! touring programs as well as innovative programming for Seeking the Human Spirit, a six-year multi-disciplinary initiative that develops partnerships with community and service organizations reflective of the universal themes derived from opera. Deeply committed to equity, inclusion, and justice in the arts, she was a member of the artEquity Houston anti-racist facilitator training cohort and the Houston Coalition Against Hate, and she served on the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at HGO.

Andrew Gaines
Administrative Director, Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School

Andrew Gaines is a performing arts professional with experience in both nonprofit and for-profit arts administration, including artist management, booking, fundraising, marketing, public relations, audience development, educational programming, community engagement, and tour management. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College with a B.A. in English and minors in economics and education. Before his work at Juilliard, Gaines was an associate artist manager in the opera/vocal division at IMG Artists. He has also held positions at Columbia Artists Management, The Glimmerglass Festival, and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Gaines resides in Astoria, Queens.