Opera San José is dedicated to maintaining a company of Resident Artists with whom we present compelling, professional opera performances, while creating and providing cultural and educational programs that both enrich the opera-going experience and encourage future generations of artists and audiences.
To achieve this mission, Opera San José will maintain a professional, fiscally responsible opera company of artistic excellence for San José; discover, retain, and develop outstanding, emerging professional singers; provide these singers with repeated performance opportunities; and develop, entertain, and educate audiences from the extended community.
In the spring of 2019, the Opera San José Board of Directors announced the appointment of Khori Dastoor as the company’s third general director, to succeed retiring general director Larry Hancock. She assumed the position in the fall of 2019, overseeing all aspects of artistic planning and business operations, and in January 2020 announced her first season, to be staged beginning in the Spring of 2021. Among her missions are renewing Opera San José’s commitment to developing and curating emerging talent and elevating the company as a vibrant artistic incubator in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Ms. Dastoor has been affiliated with Opera San José since joining its resident ensemble of principal artists in 2007. After enjoying a vibrant opera career as a lyric soprano on stages throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, California native Ms. Dastoor returned home in 2012 to pursue a life in artistic administration. She joined the artistic staff of Opera San José in 2013 as Artistic Advisor to the General Director under founder Irene Dalis, and then as the Director of Artistic Planning under Larry Hancock. During Ms. Dastoor’s tenure with the company, she has prioritized role debuts, granting San José audiences the opportunity to hear exciting new artists, and has produced some of the biggest successes in the company’s history, including the American premiere of Alma Deutcher’s Cinderella, and the critically-acclaimed new production of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick.
Ms. Dastoor previously served as Associate Director of the Packard Humanities Institute, responsible for initiatives encompassing arts, music, and archaeology, and as Director of the San Francisco District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Ms. Dastoor received her Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory and completed doctoral studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for the School of Arts and Architecture. Ms. Dastoor lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two young daughters.
In the spring of 2019, the Opera San José Board of Directors announced the appointment of Khori Dastoor as the company’s third general director, to succeed retiring general director Larry Hancock. She assumed the position in the fall of 2019, overseeing all aspects of artistic planning and business operations, and in January 2020 announced her first season, to be staged beginning in the Spring of 2021. Among her missions are renewing Opera San José’s commitment to developing and curating emerging talent and elevating the company as a vibrant artistic incubator in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Ms. Dastoor has been affiliated with Opera San José since joining its resident ensemble of principal artists in 2007. After enjoying a vibrant opera career as a lyric soprano on stages throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, California native Ms. Dastoor returned home in 2012 to pursue a life in artistic administration. She joined the artistic staff of Opera San José in 2013 as Artistic Advisor to the General Director under founder Irene Dalis, and then as the Director of Artistic Planning under Larry Hancock. During Ms. Dastoor’s tenure with the company, she has prioritized role debuts, granting San José audiences the opportunity to hear exciting new artists, and has produced some of the biggest successes in the company’s history, including the American premiere of Alma Deutcher’s Cinderella, and the critically-acclaimed new production of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick.
Ms. Dastoor previously served as Associate Director of the Packard Humanities Institute, responsible for initiatives encompassing arts, music, and archaeology, and as Director of the San Francisco District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Ms. Dastoor received her Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory and completed doctoral studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for the School of Arts and Architecture. Ms. Dastoor lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two young daughters.
Joseph Marcheso is the Music Director and Principal Conductor of Opera San José where he has led the Company in over 25 productions. Since his appointment in 2014, Mo. Marcheso has dedicated his career to raising the Company’s artistic stature and reputation in partnership with longtime principal collaborator Khori Dastoor. Mo. Marcheso’s musical leadership has been an essential element in elevating Opera San José to a nationally recognized company by raising the orchestra to newfound prominence through a series of high-profile, critically acclaimed productions, among them the world premiere of Mark Weiser’s Where Angels Fear to Tread, the West Coast premiere of Puts’ and Campbell’s Silent Night and a new co-production of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick. This fall, Mo. Marcheso will lead the company’s return to in-person performances at the California Theatre with both a new production of Dido & Aeneas, and the long awaited return of Carmen.
Marcheso’s commitment to education and expansion of opportunity – as well as to the originating mission of Opera San José– led to his creation of the position of Resident Conductor. This initiative, which gives emerging professionals the opportunity to conduct rehearsals and performances of a full season of operas while working alongside a variety of conductors and artists, has become the most comprehensive professional opera conducting program in the United States.
Mo. Marcheso also serves on the conducting staff of the San Francisco Opera, and has collaborated with many of the world’s leading conductors and singers on works that are their specialty. He has covered and rehearsed among other operas, Der Ring, Die Meistersinger (Wagner) Elektra (Strauss), Les Troyens (Berlioz), Billy Budd (Britten), Nixon in China (Adams) and Jenufa (Janacek) as well as the world premieres of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (Adamo), Dolores Claiborne, (Picker), Dream of the Red Chamber (Sheng) and Girls of the Golden West (Adams)
Mr. Marcheso is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a resident of Berkeley, California where he lives with his beloved husband and 2 year old son. Special subjects include Winnie the Pooh and the Real Housewives of NYC, Beverly Hills and Atlanta.
More information is available at https://www.josephmarcheso.com/
Board of Trustees
Member
Phyllis Bismanovsky
Member
Mimi Carlson
Member
George Crow
General Director
Khori Dastoor
Earned Income Committee Chair
Jane Decker
Member
Julie Edgcomb
Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair
Charles F. Hanes
Member
Peggy Heiman
Member
John Heineke
Secretary
Jennifer A.R. Hsu
Member
N. Eric Jorgensen
Contributed Income Committee Chair
Michael H. Kalkstein
Member
Larry Kern
Member
Cathy R. Lazarus
Member
Jeanne McCann
Member
Pravesh Mehra
President
Gillian Moran
Member
Dr. H. Andrea Neves
Member
Vijay Vaidyanathan
Audit Chair
Dr. Brian Ward
Interested in serving on Opera San José’s board? Email development@operasj.org to learn more.
Joseph Marcheso is the Music Director and Principal Conductor of Opera San José where he has led the Company in over 25 productions. Since his appointment in 2014, Mo. Marcheso has dedicated his career to raising the Company’s artistic stature and reputation in partnership with longtime principal collaborator Khori Dastoor. Mo. Marcheso’s musical leadership has been an essential element in elevating Opera San José to a nationally recognized company by raising the orchestra to newfound prominence through a series of high-profile, critically acclaimed productions, among them the world premiere of Mark Weiser’s Where Angels Fear to Tread, the West Coast premiere of Puts’ and Campbell’s Silent Night and a new co-production of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick. This fall, Mo. Marcheso will lead the company’s return to in-person performances at the California Theatre with both a new production of Dido & Aeneas, and the long awaited return of Carmen.
Marcheso’s commitment to education and expansion of opportunity – as well as to the originating mission of Opera San José– led to his creation of the position of Resident Conductor. This initiative, which gives emerging professionals the opportunity to conduct rehearsals and performances of a full season of operas while working alongside a variety of conductors and artists, has become the most comprehensive professional opera conducting program in the United States.
Mo. Marcheso also serves on the conducting staff of the San Francisco Opera, and has collaborated with many of the world’s leading conductors and singers on works that are their specialty. He has covered and rehearsed among other operas, Der Ring, Die Meistersinger (Wagner) Elektra (Strauss), Les Troyens (Berlioz), Billy Budd (Britten), Nixon in China (Adams) and Jenufa (Janacek) as well as the world premieres of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (Adamo), Dolores Claiborne, (Picker), Dream of the Red Chamber (Sheng) and Girls of the Golden West (Adams)
Mr. Marcheso is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a resident of Berkeley, California where he lives with his beloved husband and 2 year old son. Special subjects include Winnie the Pooh and the Real Housewives of NYC, Beverly Hills and Atlanta.
More information is available at https://www.josephmarcheso.com/
OSJ Team
Staff
Head of Music Staff
Veronika Agranov-Dafoe
Technical Director
John Draginoff
Artistic Projects Administrator
Andrew Elsesser
Director of Marketing, Communications & Patron Experience
Ian Fullmer
Orchestra Manager
Evan Kahn
Scene Shop Supervisor
Chris Kesel
Costume Director
Alyssa Oania
Accountant
Mike Monje
Individual Giving Manager
Noritaka Okada
IT Administrator
Bill Orrach
Managing Director of Institutional Advancement
Claire Padien-Havens
Patron Services Manager
Jordan Perlman
Properties Master
Lori Scheper-Kesel
Director of Artistic & Music Administration
Monica Thakkar
Lead Electrician
Matthew Vandercook
Managing Director, Finance & Administration
James Williams
Orchestra Members
First Violin
Concertmaster
Cynthia Baehr-Williams
Assistant Concertmaster
Rochelle Nguyen
Matthew Szemela
Valerie Tisdel
Chính Lê
Virginia Smedberg
Second Violin
Principal
Claudia Bloom
Assistant Principal
Ellen Flanagan
Susan Stein
Shin Sue-mi
Elizabeth Corner
Sergi Goldman-Hull
Viola
Principal
Chad Kaltinger
Assistant Principal
Janet Doughty
Melinda Rayne
Ivo Bokulic
Cello
Principal
Evan Kahn
Assistant Principal
Isaac Pastor-Chermak
Paul Hale
Bass
Principal
Andy Butler
Assistant Principal
William Everett
Flute
James Blanchard
Mary Hargrove
Piccolo
Mary Hargrove
Oboe
Principal
Patricia Emerson Mitchell
Pamela Hakl Economos
Clarinet
Principal
Mark Brandenburg
James Pytko
Bassoon
Principal
Debbie Kramer
Carolyn Lockhart
French Horn
Principal
Meredith Brown
Eric Achen
Caitlyn Smith Franklin
Trumpet
Principal
Bill Harvey
John Freeman
Trombone
Principal
Katie Curran
Bruce Chrisp
Bass Trombone
CL Behrens
Harp
Karen Thielen
Timpani/Percussion
VACANT
Board of Friends of OSJ
President
Bonnie Williams
Vice President
Marilyn Sefchovich
Secretary
Barbara Brosh
Treasurer
Sheryl Kelly
Recruitment and Development
Jeanne Lyons
Newsletter Editor
Meera Prahlad
Events
Linda Riebel
Membership
Suzanne Sarro
Volunteers
Joyce Scott
Cultural Outings
Jim Stauffer
Communications
Nancy Valencia
Opera at your Doorstep
Brad Wade
Interested in volunteering with the Friends of Opera San José? Email friends@operasj.org.
Emeritus Council
Member
Richard Dorsay
Member
Frank Fiscalini
Member
Glen Gould
Secretary
Rita Horiguchi
Member
Lee Rosen
Member
Don Schmidek
Member
Jerry Seelig
Member
Jan Telesky
Member
Melody Walsh
President
Laurie Warner
Member
Dick Whitney