Cast and Team

The Artistic Team

Donald Crockett

United States United States

Composer of The Face and based in California, Donald Crockett is dedicated to composing music inspired by the musicians who perform it. He has received commissions from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (Composer-in-Residence 1991-97), Pasadena Chamber Orchestra (Composer-in-Residence 1984-86), Kronos Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hilliard Ensemble, Stanford String Quartet, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Charlotte Symphony, Music from Angel Fire, the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East (Senior Composer-in-Residence 2002 - ongoing), Pacific Serenades and the California EAR Unit, among many others. Recent projects include commissions from the San Francisco-based chamber choir, Volti, Composers Inc. for its 25th anniversary, and a work for viola and six instruments commissioned by the Harvard Musical Association for Firebird Ensemble.

David St. John

United States United States

Librettist of The Face has been honored, over the course of his career, with many of the most significant prizes for poets, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, both the Rome Fellowship and an Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the O.B. Hardison Prize from The Folger Shakespeare Library, and a grant from the Ingram Merrill Foundation. His work has been published in countless literary magazines, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Poetry, American Poetry Review, Harper’s, Antaeus, and The New Republic, and has been widely anthologized. He has taught creative writing at Oberlin College and The Johns Hopkins University and currently teaches at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he is Professor of English and previously Director of the Ph.D. Program in Literature and Creative Writing. David St. John is the author of ten volumes of poetry, most recently The Face: A Novella in Verse, The Auroras (both published by Harper Collins) and also a volume of essays, interviews and reviews entitled Where the Angels Come Toward Us.

Yano Iatrides

France France

Stage Director and Choreographer has an extensive performing background in Europe as a professional dancer, choreographer, director and comedian. Yano Iatrides was strongly influenced by her childhood spent in Africa and incorporates African philosophy and culture into her contemporary dance choreography. During her professional career as a dancer Yano Iatrides worked extensively with renowned choreographers Caroline Marcadé (1993, 94), François Guilbard (from 1984 until 1988), Pierre Doussaint (1994-1998), Anne-Marie Rainaud (1996-97) and Christian Bourigault (1992-1995) amongst others.  She began expanding her activities to include theatre, stage direction and comedy. In 1997 she established Groupe Ecarlate - an association of artists, comedians, dancers and musicians working together to combine dance, theatre and live music in the creation of street-theatre. In 2000 Yano Iatrides began collaborating closely with stage director

Paul Desveaux

France France

Theatrical concept and film for The Face. As a stage director and filmmaker Paul Desveaux has been very active in recent seasons, creating productions of plays and operas by Wedekind, Kerouac, Shakespeare, Schiller and Philip Glass. A new stage work involving film, ‘Maintenant, ils peuvent venir’ by the Algerian playwright, Arezki Mellal, directed by Mr.Desveaux, toured France in the 2008/09 season. Other works directed by Mr. Desveaux which have been presented on tour throughout France, (including notable Parisian theatres), are the recent productions of ‘Les Brigands’ by Friedrich Schiller (2004/05 and 2005/06) and the opera ‘Les enfants terribles’ by Philip Glass, after Cocteau (2007/08 and 2008/09). Following studies at the Cours Florent (1991-1994), Mr. Desveaux directed such stage works as Moliere’s “Don Juan’ (1994), Marivaux’s “La Fausse Suivante’ (1997) and G. de Guillerague’s ‘Lettres Portugaises’ (2000). Mr. Desveaux recently completed an opera project based on ‘string theory’ which was performed by Ensemble Intercontemporain in France and Spain. Mr. Desveaux’s recent work includes

Laurent Schneegans

France France

In 1983, after completing studies as a theatre technician in Paris, Laurent Schneegans commenced his career as a lighting director and general manager for theatrical productions in France. He has created lighting for opera, theater, dance productions and street shows. In addition Laurent Schneegans has extensive experience as a photographer and had his own photo studio from 1989 to 1993. After 1993, Schneegans devoted his career entirely to the art of lighting and live performances. Since that time he has worked with Maria Casarès, at the Comédie Française, the Pompidou Center, the Great Hall of La Villette and at the Conservatoire National de Paris, among others. Recently Laurent Schneegans created the lighting design for the opera Hypermusic Prologue (composed by Hèctor Parra, libretto by Lisa Randall and stage design by Matthew Ritchie). Since 1998, Laurent Schneegans has also run several lighting workshops and seminars for amateurs and young professionals. A hallmark of Schneegans work as a lighting designer involves close interaction with the director, so that the actors are able to express 

Amaya Lainez

France France

Assistant Director of The Face has performed as an actress in productions in Spain, France and Brazil. Ms. Lainez graduated from Paris-X University in 2004 as a Stage Director. She recently acted as Director’s assistant in Montreal, Canada for Pol Pelletier and Serge Denoncourt. In Buenos Aires in 2005, with Matías Reynoso and Paz Marenco, she co-wrote and also performed in The Eiffel Tower Lift Attendant, and was also centrally involved in the educational theatre project of Antroporteño, which took place at the Centro Cultural Adán Buenosayres in 2006. Ms. Lainez has worked closely with Paul Desveaux since 2006 as both assistant and also interpreter in productions in Brazil, France and Argentina. In addition she collaborated in 2009 

Photo courtesy of Liz Linder Photography - lizlinder.com

Gil Rose

United States United States

Gil Rose - Music Director of The Face has been recognized as an important conductor helping to shape the future of classical music. Critics all over the world have praised his dynamic performances and many recordings. In 1996, he founded the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), the foremost professional orchestra dedicated exclusively to performing and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Under his leadership, BMOP's unique programming and high performance standards have attracted critical acclaim and earned the orchestra eleven ASCAP awards for adventurous programming as well as the John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music. In 2007 Mr. Rose was awarded Columbia University's prestigious Ditson Award as well as an ASCAP Concert Music award for his exemplary commitment to new American music. From 2003-2011, Mr. Rose also served as Music Director of Opera Boston, 

Kate Vincent

Australia Australia

Producer of The Face is also the founding Artistic and Executive Director of Firebird Ensemble. Since 2001, she has created and overseen more than 50 successful concert projects, tours and educational residencies. Ms. Vincent has more than a decade of experience in the areas of development, concert production, and personnel management and also oversees the day-to-day administration needs of the organization. In addition to her administrative position she is the violist of Firebird Ensemble. Ms. Vincent divides her time between her home in Los Angeles and Boston where Firebird is based. In Boston she served as the Principal Violist of Opera Boston between 2003-2011 and is currently also Associate Principal Violist of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and an orchestral contractor. Ms. Vincent is on faculty at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA and also the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. On the West Coast she performs regularly with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and has appeared as a guest artist with Monday Evening Concerts, Dilijan Chamber Music Series and the Eclipse Quartet. 

Lester P. Grant

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis

Associate Producer of The Face was born in St. Kitts in the Eastern Caribbean and at a young age started travelling throughout the islands and later to other parts of the world.  He became a child performer in the islands and this introduced him to all areas of the entertainment industry.  He knew then that he would strive to have a career in this industry. Lester has helmed the production teams of a wide variety of  theatre companies including The Play Company in New York, Primary Stages Theater (including Terrence McNally’s Stendhal Syndrome and Dedication with Nathan Lane) and The Atlantic Theater Company (including  Spring Awakening and The Lieutenant Of Inishmore.  Both these shows moved to Broadway). As an Event Producer he has worked on events both nationally and internationally including trade shows and extended promotional tours for companies like Intertec Trade Shows and Conferences, Bank Of America and Blue Man Productions. 

Karenanna Creps

United States United States

Assistant to the Producer ( in Boston) is originally from Brighton, MI, Karenanna Creps and earned her BFA in Theatre Performance and her BA in Humanities from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  After working in intercultural education in English, cultural studies, and the arts, both in France and in the USA, Karenanna earned her Master’s degree in Theatre Education from Emerson College.  She is a certified K-12 educator in the state of Massachusetts.  She recently accepted a position as one of two assistants to the Producer on The Face and is delighted to be working on this project featuring an international cast and crew. 

Sarah Gibson

United States United States

Assistant to the Producer (in Los Angeles) has been dubbed “a serious talent to watch” by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Pianist-composer Sarah Gibson debuted with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2005 and after receiving a Bachelor of Music with High Honors in piano and composition at Indiana University she went on to receive her masters in composition at the University of Southern California. She was Outstanding Masters Student of the Year in 2010 and is now pursuing her D.M.A. in composition with minors in Keyboard Collaborative Arts, Conducting, and Theory. Sarah has been a Teaching Assistant in Theory/Aural Skills at USC and is now in her third year serving as the Teaching Assistant for the USC Contemporary Music Ensemble, in which she also performs. 

L’Heliotrope

France France

is a theater production company, established in 1997 by Emmanuelle De Varax and Paul Desveaux in Paris, France. Since 1997 Paul Desveaux has directed all productions created by the company, including works written by traditional playwrights such as Marivaux, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Wedekind, Schiller and Ostrovsky, as well as more contemporary works by Sarraute, Kerouac, Mellal, De Vos, Melquiot and Koltès. Recent productions created by L’Heliotrope have been presented by some of the most prestigious theatres in Paris including Théâtre de la Ville, Theatre de l’Athénée, Theatre de l’Aquarium, Theatre 71 - Malakoff and also in other parts of the country in theatres such as Comédie de Reims, Maison de la Culture of Bourges, Centre Dramatique National of Besançon, Centre Dramatique Régional of Rouen and at the Autumn Festival of Normandy. 

Starling Entertainment and Anton Nadler

United States United States

Founded by Executive Producer Anton Nadler in 2009, Starling Entertainment is a bi-coastal production company with offices in Los Angeles and New York City.  Starling specializes in the development of film, television, digital media and commercial properties for several prominent studios, networks and production companies.  Starling looks forward to the opportunity of collaborating with the cast and creative team of The Face and extending its signature approach towards the medium of live performance.

The Cast and Musicians

Daniel Norman

United Kingdom United Kingdom

Tenor (RAPHAEL) was a choral scholar at New College Oxford, and went on to study in the US and Canada and at the Royal Academy of Music. His concert repertoire ranges from Handel Messiah and Mozart Requiem, to Delius Mass of Life, Britten Les Illuminations, Tippett A Child of Our Time, Stravinsky Les Noces and Maxwell Davies Taverner, with performances alongside major orchestras at venues such as the Concertgebouw, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Royal Festival Hall. His recordings include Beethoven 9th Symphony (Vänsä/Minnesota Orchestra), and a solo CD of Britten Winter Words.
Opera roles include Peter Quint The Turn of the Screw (Glyndebourne on Tour), Borsa Rigoletto (Covent Garden), Mao Nixon in China (Opera Boston and Verona), White Minister Le Grand Macabre (English National Opera), and the Electrician in the film of Adès’s Powder Her Face (Almeida/Aldeburgh).  He also performed Britten Canticles in Westminster Abbey with Streetwise Opera, and Nuno Corte Real’s The Bronze Boy, in Porto and Lisbon. 

Thomas Meglioranza

United States United States

Baritone (MEMPHIS). Thomas Meglioranza's recent engagements include Copland's Old American Songs with the National Symphony, Harbison's Symphony No. 5 with the Boston Symphony, Eight Songs for a Mad King with the LA Philharmonic, Messiah with the Minnesota Orchestra, Bach cantatas with Les Violons du Roy, Schoenberg's Ode to Napoleon with Peter Serkin and the Brentano Quartet and a recording of Virgil Thomson songs with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. His recital of WWI songs at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society made the Philadelphia Inquirer's list of "Top Ten Classical Music Events of 2009". Meglioranza made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2008 with a program of American songs, and he regularly appears on the cabaret series at the Café Sabarsky in New York City.  His opera roles include Prior Walter in Eötvös' Angels in America and Chou En-lai in Nixon in China

Janna Baty

United States United States

Mezzo Soprano (INFANTA). Praised by the London Financial Times for her “eloquent dignity and vibrant tone”, and by the Boston Herald for possessing “a voice brimming with richness and confidence”, soprano Janna Baty has garnered accolades both nationally and internationally. Recent engagements include appearances with the Hamburgische Staatsoper, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá (Colombia), Eugene Opera, Opera North, and Boston Lyric Opera. Equally at home in standard repertoire and new music, she appears regularly with such noted contemporary ensembles as Collage New Music, Auros Group for New Music, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She has sung under Seiji Ozawa, Michel Plasson, Carl Davis, Robert Spano, Steuart Bedford, Christopher Lyndon Gee, among others. She has appeared with the Aldeburgh and Britten Festivals in England, the “Semanas Musicales de Frutillar” Festival in Chile, and the Tanglewood and Norfolk festivals

Jane Sheldon

Australia Australia

 Soprano (CYBELE) has been praised for her “impressive musicality, soaring beauty and great skill” (Opera, Opera) and described as “superb, with a voice of penetrating beauty, precision and variegated colours” (Sydney Morning Herald), Australian soprano Jane Sheldon has sung under the direction of Charles Dutoit, Reinbert de Leeuw, Antony Walker, Paul Dyer, and Ola Rudner, amongst others. Specialising in early music, and active in the commission, creation and performance of new works, she has performed with ensembles such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Pinchgut Opera, Boston Camerata, Halcyon, Firebird Ensemble, Synergy Percussion, and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Her first solo album, Song of the Angel, was released by ABC Classics. She is a guest artist on a number of other ABC discs, including Teddy Tahu Rhodes’ award-winning album The Voice, and the recent release Songs for the Shadowland, recorded with Ironwood string quartet. Jane’s recording of Elena Kats-Chernin’s Wild Swans, made with the Tasmanian Symphony

Linda Osborn-Blaschke

United States United States

Award winning pianist, Linda Osborn-Blaschke has performed extensively across the United States and in Europe as a chamber musician and vocal accompanist. Her partnership has been recognized as “thoroughly satisfying, colorful and supportive” by the Los Angeles Times, with “an impressive ability to speak powerfully in both the softest and the loudest extremes of the piano's dynamic spectrum” by the Washington Post.  Performance highlights include recital appearances at the Rose Studio, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, St. John’s College in Cambridge, England, the Grand Place a Ath and the Stadsschouwburg a Brugges in Belgium, the University of Hawaii in Hilo, and Music Festivals in both Santiago

Brian Head

United States United States

Guitarist Brian Head has performed in the past year with many ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Jacaranda, and the DaPonte String Quartet, and has appeared recently as soloist on the stages of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Disney Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl.  Born in Washington D.C., Brian studied music and mathematics at the University of Maryland and did graduate work in composition and classical guitar at the University of Southern California where he was honored as the Outstanding Graduate in 1991.  He has recorded for Doberman-Yppan, Albany Records, and Summit Records.  A renowned composer, his works are published by Alfred Music and Guitar Solo Publications and have been recorded on Delos, Denon, Digital Revolution, GSP Recordings, Massax Productions and TelArc.  One of his recent pieces, an homage to John McLaughlin called We Know You Know, was included in the 2005 Grammy

Firebird Ensemble

United States United States

Firebird Ensemble directed by violist Kate Vincent, has been described as “ambitious and eclectic” by the New York Times and has earned a reputation as being one of the premier new music ensembles in the United States. Known for its highly varied contemporary repertoire, virtuosic performances and wide audience appeal, Firebird Ensemble’s repertoire spans a time period from the mid 20th century to the present day and includes music originating from diverse sources and genres. Firebird Ensemble has undertaken numerous projects featuring interdisciplinary collaborations, microtonal music, contemporary/rock crossover, improvisation and also many programs featuring the cornerstones of contemporary music literature.   Firebird Ensemble’s contribution to contemporary music has been recognized with support from notable