Anthony Davis
Composer and Teacher

Anthony Davis is an internationally recognized composer of operatic, symphonic, choral, and chamber works who has been on the cutting edge of improvised music and jazz for over four decades. Davis, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has written eight operas, including X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1986), Under the Double Moon (1989), Amistad (1997), and Wakonda’s Dream (2007). His most recent opera, The Central Park Five, which premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019, received the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Davis is a distinguished professor of music at the University of California, San Diego, and a board member of OPERA America.

Sherrill Milnes
Baritone and Teacher

Sherrill Milnes is one of the leading baritones of his generation. From the 1960s through 1990s, he appeared more than 650 times at the Metropolitan Opera, where he was honored with 16 new productions, 7 opening nights, and 10 national telecasts. Famous for his Verdi roles, he was one of the most recorded American singers of his time, and he performed and recorded with many of the 20th century’s greatest singers. In 2001, with his wife, Maria Zouves, Milnes co-founded the Sherrill Milnes VOICE Programs, which provide training for aspiring young artists while fostering new audiences for the arts. Milnes has won three Grammy Awards and was honored with a 2008 Opera News Award.

Frederica von Stade
Mezzo-Soprano and Humanitarian

Stade, “Flicka” to her fans, has enriched the world of classical music for four and a half decades. A noted bel canto specialist, she excelled as the heroines of Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Il barbiere di Siviglia and Bellini’s La sonnambula, while also garnering acclaim for her interpretations of Mozart and French repertoire. Beginning with her debut in 1970, she appeared more than 300 times at the Metropolitan Opera. She has created roles in numerous new works, including Dead Man Walking (2000), Three Decembers (2008), A Coffin in Egypt (2014), and Sky on Swings (2018). Von Stade retired from full-time performing in 2010 but has continued to make special appearances in concert and opera.

Michael Bronson
Arts Administrator and Producer

Six-time Emmy winner Michael Bronson has over 60 years of experience as an arts administrator, consultant, and producer of cultural television and radio programs. In addition to serving as the technical and business administrator for the Metropolitan Opera, he produced the first 10 years of the Live from the Met television series. He has also produced more than 50 television programs for American opera companies and symphony orchestras. Bronson is currently a consultant to the Electronic Media Association, which represents over 120 opera companies and symphony orchestras in the negotiation and administration of the Integrated Media Agreement — the national agreement with the American Federation of Musicians covering media activity.

Wayne S. Brown
Arts Leader and Administrator

Wayne S. Brown has served as president and CEO of Detroit Opera since 2014 and will conclude his tenure in the 2023–2024 season. He was previously director of music and opera for the National Endowment for the Arts, where he managed the NEA grants for music and opera projects and directed the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships and the NEA Opera Honors (2008–2011). Before that, Brown managed music events associated with the 1996 Olympic Games. He is a founding member of the Magic in Music Advisory Committee for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and an emeritus board member of OPERA America.

Susan Feder
Arts Funder and Advocate

For the past 15 years, Susan Feder served as program officer in the Arts and Culture program at the Mellon Foundation. Among the many initiatives she launched were the Musician Pathways programs, the National Alliance for Audition Support, the Regional Arts Resilience Fund, The Black Seed, and the National Latinx Theater Initiative. Her grantmaking in opera supported the development and production of numerous new operas across the U.S., as well as training programs for composers and librettists, the PROTOTYE Festival, and OPERA America’s New Works Forum, New Works Exploration Grants, and Co-Production Loan Fund. She previously served as vice president of the music publisher G. Schirmer, editorial coordinator of The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, and program editor at the San Francisco Symphony.

Frayda B. Lindemann
Trustee and Philanthropist

Frayda B. Lindemann is president emerita of the Metropolitan Opera Association and a member of the Executive Committee, and has been a managing director of the board since 1991. She is also a board member of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and in 2012, she was elected chair of OPERA America. For many years, Dr. Lindemann has given time and support to the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, which provides training for exceptionally gifted young singers. Lindemann holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Columbia University and was an associate professor in the Music Department of Hunter College for 12 years. She is an emeritus board member of OPERA America.