Katherine Baltrush Little
Associate Operations Director, San Francisco Opera

Protégé

Katherine Baltrush Little is a trained performer and musicologist and an experienced opera producer, administrator, and educator who has worked with both world-renowned and emerging artists for over a decade. She currently serves as the associate operations director at San Francisco Opera, where she manages the daily operations of the organization’s orchestra, chorus, and corps de ballet, and participates in managing relations with the American Guild of Musical Artists and the American Federation of Musicians. She is also a member of the teams responsible for planning mainstage and auxiliary programming. Little previously held posts at The Juilliard School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she served as the lead producer of operas, orchestral concerts, and masterclasses, among other programming. She also held posts at OPERA America, where she participated in the production of Opera America Magazine, conducted the Professional Opera Survey, and assisted with programming for the annual Opera Conference.

Anh Le
Director of Marketing and PR, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Mentor

Anh Le is the director of marketing and PR at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, overseeing all sales campaigns, audience development initiatives, and media relations while providing strategic support for community engagement efforts. Le is also deeply involved with OPERA America, where she serves as a member of the Board of Directors, co-chair of the Marketing Network, and member of the Racial Justice Opera Network’s Steering Committee. Le has previously served as a member of the American delegation to the inaugural World Opera Forum, spoken about issues of diversity and inclusion at several conferences, and participated in the inaugural administrative class of The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors and Administrators. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 2012 with a B.A. in history and literature. In 2015, Le completed an M.F.A. in theater management at the Yale School of Drama, where she also served as the associate director of marketing for Yale Repertory Theatre.

Mary Birnbaum
Associate Director, Artist Diploma Program, The Juilliard School

Protégé

Mary Birnbaum is an opera and theater director and the associate director of Juilliard’s artist diploma in opera studies program. Her directing credits include La bohème at the Santa Fe Opera; Dido and Aeneas at Opera Holland Park in London and the Royal Opera at Versailles; The Rape of Lucretia, The Magic Flute, and Eugene Onegin at Juilliard; and The Classical Style at Carnegie Hall. Her work has also appeared at companies like Opera Philadelphia, Houston Chamber Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Columbus, and Boston Baroque. As a writer and translator, Birnbaum created the English translation for Opera Columbus’ 2020 Barber of Seville. She also has written and directed filmed adaptations of classical pieces. Most recently, she directed a film of Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate featuring mezzo-soprano Julia Dawson and interpolated music by composer Iman Habibi, which is scheduled for release later this year. A graduate of Harvard College, Mary trained professionally in physical theater at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

Andrea Puente-Catán
Director of Major Gifts and Hispanic Initiatives, San Diego Opera

Mentor

Andrea Puente-Catán has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a professional harpist, accomplished fundraiser, classical music producer, and promoter and advocate of Hispanic culture and opera in Spanish. As director of major gifts and Hispanic affairs at San Diego Opera, she oversees the Opera en Español initiative, plans and executes strategies to build relationships with donors and media partners, and produces Ópera en tu sofa, a series of virtual programs. She actively promotes and lectures on Spanish opera and the work of her late husband, renowned opera composer Daniel Catán, at opera houses around the world. Prior to her fundraising career, Puente-Catán served as the principal harpist of several orchestras in Mexico and the U.S. She holds an M.S. from New York University’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and an M.M. from California State University, Los Angeles, among other degrees. She is an alumna of OPERA America’s Leadership Intensive and the American Express Women Leadership Academy.

Alison F. Turner
Trustee and Treasurer, Opera Memphis

Protégé

Alison F. Turner, treasurer of Opera Memphis’ board of trustees, is a native Memphian who enjoys a multifaceted life as a chorister, musician, community leader, and entrepreneur. Turner joined Opera Memphis in 2019 as a member of the chorus for The Falling and The Rising, and she has sung with many community-based choruses, including the Tennessee Mass Choir, Memphis Symphony Chorus, and Dallas Symphony Chorus. She is a graduate of Leadership Memphis (Grassroots 2017), where she has led many campaigns in her aptly named neighborhood, called Soulsville, USA. Turner serves as vice-president of Harmonic South String Orchestra, which puts violins, violas, cellos, and basses in the hands of young musicians, particularly students in South Memphis. Turner has owned an insurance agency, a mortgage brokerage company, and currently a tax preparation service.  She graduated with honors from LeMoyne-Owen College with a B.A. in music, B.B.A. in business administration, and A.A. in general studies. 

Francesca Zambello
Artistic and General Director, The Glimmerglass Festival; Artistic Director, Washington National Opera

Mentor

An internationally recognized director of opera and theater, Francesca Zambello serves as artistic and general director of The Glimmerglass Festival and artistic director of Washington National Opera. She began major commissioning programs for new works at both companies, resulting in productions of many large and small-scale new works. She was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contributions to French Culture and was conferred the Knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy for her contribution to the promotion of the Italian musical and operatic heritage. Other honors for her work include three Olivier Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, and the French Grand Prix des Critiques, awarded twice for her work at the Paris Opera. Zambello has been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Juilliard, and Yale. An American who grew up in Europe, she speaks French, Italian, German, and Russian. She is a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.