Protégé
Jennifer Gordon

Jennifer Gordon is a passionate arts administrator with a B.M. in vocal performance and an M.S. in performing arts leadership and management from Shenandoah Conservatory. Since May 2022, she has served as the organizational membership manager at OPERA America, overseeing a portfolio of over 500 opera companies, businesses, libraries, and educational institutions. In addition to her administrative role, Gordon is an accomplished soprano, performing regularly in and around New York City. Her dedication to both the operational and artistic sides of the performing arts community showcases her commitment to fostering the growth of opera and enriching the cultural landscape.

Mentor
Julia Cooke 

Julia Cooke serves as president and general director of Opera Baltimore (formerly Baltimore Concert Opera). Under her leadership, the company has grown its budget by 366%, increased total revenue by 229% since 2020, added four staff positions, increased the number of annual events from 10 to 103, and added fully staged opera productions to its already successful concert programming. Guiding the company from its grassroots beginnings, Cooke has led the creation and launch of Opera Baltimore’s successful programming both on and beyond the traditional opera stage, innovating in the areas of new audience development, nationally recognized civic practice work, and vibrant education programs for all ages. Before her career as an arts executive, Cooke maintained an active dual career in performing and teaching. She spent 25 years teaching in many capacities, including as a professor of classical voice at Morgan State University, Towson University, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, conductor for the Chicago Children’s Choir and Maryland State Boychoir, and private voice teacher to dozens of rising singers. She is also a sought-after guest judge at voice competitions, guest lecturer, and master class facilitator. Cooke holds a Master of Music degree in opera performance from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and psychology from the University of Rochester. She has participated in competitive training programs such as Michael Kaiser’s DeVos Institute, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Innovation and Management program, and OPERA America’s Leadership Intensive.

Protégé
Joanna Latini

Joanna Latini, a passionate advocate for young artist development, dedicates her career to musical excellence and the sustainment of the operatic art form. Latini is the director of resident artist programs at Palm Beach Opera. Before this position, she was the Butler Studio administrator at Houston Grand Opera and company manager for the AOTVA program at the Aspen Music Festival. Her past operatic performance experience includes Musetta in La bohème, Rosina in The Ghosts of Versailles at the Château de Versailles Spectacles (streaming on Medici.tv), and the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen. She was a 2018 national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Latini holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Rice University. Outside of the opera world, she is a group fitness instructor, triathlete, and sponsored disc golfer.

Mentor
Maggey Oplinger

Maggey Oplinger, general director and CEO of the Florentine Opera, champions opera “with a twist.” Successes include Milwaukee’s Bronzeville Bohème and María de Buenos Aires in an old-world ballroom. She serves on the OPERA America Board of Directors as the Communications Council co-chair. Oplinger has judged for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont, the inaugural Duncan-Williams, and the Cooper-Bing competitions. Directing the Milwaukee Symphony’s community partnerships and shared experiences, she handled fundraising and corporate and community relationships, and she created Secret Symphonies and a neighborhood residency. Oplinger holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees (voice performance) from McGill University and a graduate diploma in nonprofit business administration from Molson School of Business. She worked at Johnson Controls as an innovation catalyst and sales proposal team lead.

Protégé
Mariel O’Connell

Mariel O’Connell is currently the assistant director of opera activities at The Juilliard School, where she serves as the managing producer for the Juilliard Opera season and all opera-related performance activities. Prior to Juilliard, she served as director of marketing and sales at Boston Lyric Opera, shaping marketing and audience development strategies as the company reopened from the pandemic. O’Connell has also worked as associate producer for Beth Morrison Projects, working on award-winning touring operas and the PROTOTYPE Festival, and as executive assistant to Renée Fleming. During her time with BMP, O’Connell participated in the 2019 OPERA America Leadership Intensive. She sits on the board of the Zenith Opera Competition and is a graduate of Barnard College and the NYU Stern School of Business.

Mentor
Melissa Wegner

Melissa Wegner is the executive director of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the Laffont Competition. She is responsible for identifying, awarding, and developing the world’s most promising operatic talent. A member of the Met’s artistic staff since 2011, she hears artists in stage and screening auditions at the Met and is additionally responsible for casting the Met’s New Opera Commissions workshops. In addition to the District, Regional, and National rounds of the Laffont Competition, Wegner has adjudicated competitions in eight countries, including the Ades Vocal Competition, the Belvedere Competition, the McCammon Voice Competition, and the Schmidt Vocal Arts Competition. A faculty member of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Wegner has also been visiting faculty for Bard College’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program and the Queen Sonja Opera Academy in Norway and is a frequent guest speaker and clinician internationally at top conservatories, universities, and summer festivals. Recognized for her leadership in the industry, Wegner was an official ambassador for OPERA America’s 50^th anniversary, one of Musical America's Top 30 Professionals of the Year, a recipient of the Maria Callas Prize of New York from Melos International, and the 2023 commencement speaker for Manhattan School of Music. She has served as a trustee, advisor, mentor, and board member of organizations including Turn the Spotlight, Bard College, Manhattan School of Music, and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

Protégé
Diana Wu

Diana Wu is an individual giving officer with Seattle Opera, where she serves as a friendly face of the company to its community. She is passionate about building and maintaining deep relationships with donors on the company’s behalf and in curating and hosting experiences that bring audience members closer to the art and work of a thriving opera company. Diana joined Seattle Opera in 2022 after completing a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Western Ontario, where she published research works that explored 20^th-century opera, disability on the operatic stage, and Japanese American musical theater. During her academic career, she also served as a dedicated officer of her university’s graduate student society, which built community through regularly organized social events and academic conferences. Her academic and professional careers are both marked by a deep passion for the complex and fascinating art form of opera and a belief in the life- and work-sustaining power of community.

Mentor
Susan Miller

Susan Miller has served as the general director of Opera Montana since January 2022. Under her leadership, the company has deepened its commitment to community partnerships and has added a school tour sharing Indigenous music and culture, a Veterans Chorus, and a free ticket program called Opera for All to its traditional three-production season. Miller serves on the board of directors for the Shane Lalani Center for the Arts and as a grant reviewer for the Montana Arts Council, and she volunteers with a local child mentoring program. She lives in Bozeman with her three kids and husband, performs in local productions, and sings in a funk band on the side.