The Mikado at Mercyhurst College. Costume Design by Louisa Jonason.
Since becoming Director of Opera Productions for the D’Angleo Department of Music at Mercyhurst University, Ms. Jonason has produced, stage directed, and co-designed (with Michael Gleason) the following fully-staged opera productions with orchestra, fully-staged theater productions, and has acted as producer for the following guest artist recitals and masterclasses.
American Singers Opera Project, Inc.
The American Singers Opera Project (ASOP) was started by Nancy Stokes-Milnes in 1995 and held in New York City as an alternative to the expensive programs, which usually take place in the summer in Europe.
These pre-professional training programs are invaluable to the young opera singer, but are often physically and financially out of reach to most American singers.
- Elected to the Board of Directors 2002
- Staff 2001, 2002, 2003
- Attended auditions, production meetings
- Stage directed Don Giovanni (Henry Street Settlement, theater)
15 scenes 2003
- Participated in panel discussion/ master classes with Nancy Stokes-Milnes
(founder), Mark Rucker, and John Miller among others.
Louisa Jonason pictured with Nancy Stokes-Milnes.
After Dinner Opera Company
Founded by Richard Flusser in 1950, the After Dinner Opera has produced hundreds of American comic operas, many of them historic debuts: in 1956 the ADO became the first American company to take American operas to Europe.
The ADO specializes in instant operatic fun, in works that are quaintly mythological, pseudo-folkish, cheerfully sexy. For all its friskiness, however, the ADO has serious musical ambitions: to provide a testing ground for young composers and help them master their art.
The ADO has produced the works of over seventy-seven composers, including Seymour Barab, Leonard Bernstein, Mark Blitzstein, Georges Bizet, Duke Ellington, Lee Hoiby, Gian-Carlo Menotti and Ned Rorem.
In 2003, Ms. Jonason directed an evening of three one acts, Maids, Mischief and Mayhem, [ Pictures ] performed at the Symphony Space in New York City. The ADO is now in residence at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA.
Festa Lirica Italiana
An intensive course for young professional singers on the beautiful island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples from June 3 to June 27, 2006.
You decide whether you’d like to stay for 2 or 3 weeks. You decide the repertoire or role you’d like to work on. We work in a very informal but intense and focused atmosphere on a daily basis. There is plenty of time for sightseeing, relaxing at the beach or for other pastimes.
This program is geared toward singers who typically have reached a graduate level of study or are at career-entry level.
Under the direction of Susan Morton [ web site ]. Ms. Jonason will be a vocal coach, and teach Character Development.