Sharon Cheng

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New York, NY

Director of Patron Relations

Photo by Steve Zhao

As a founding team member of Teatro Nuovo, Cheng has been active in roles ranging from liaison with vendors and participants as Program Coordinator, through creation and design of marketing materials, to her current position as Director of Patron Relations. Throughout, she has contributed strategic insight and guided the startup company in dynamic leveraging of resources. 

Cheng worked closely with the late Shirley Young, a former Grey Advertising and General Motors executive and a devoted philanthropist, on education and performing-arts projects through the US-China Cultural Institute. Since its founder’s passing, Cheng has continued with the USCCI as Artistic Administrator and carries forward its mission of bridging international relations through arts and culture.  She has managed various business functions, conferences and special events for Catalyst Financial Partners, 7E Wellness and Bechstein-America.  Prior to relocating to New York, she initiated projects, conducted surveys and created program solutions for the intergovernmental service exchange program at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Specializing in organizational performance management, she is co-author of several Chinese articles in public-sector management journals.

As a musician, Cheng made her U.S. professional debut with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in 2009.  A winner at several vocal competitions, she has portrayed over 30 operatic roles with companies around the United States, garnering praise especially for “comedic talent and dazzling high notes.”

Cheng holds an LL.B. in Administrative Management from the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Penn State Harrisburg, a Master of Music Performance from Syracuse University, and an Artist Diploma in Voice Performance from Queens College, CUNY.  She is also a New York State licensed esthetician and makeup artist.

Email:
scheng@teatronuovo.org

Shelby Rose Marquardt

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Athens, GA

Stage Manager

Photo by Abigail Burris

Previously with Teatro Nuovo:

  • Callas: Past and Future

Previous and upcoming:

  • Production Stage Manager, Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicci, NYU Steinhardt

  • Production Stage Manager, The Yorkville Nutcracker, Dances Patrelle

  • Production Manager, The Green-Wood Cemetery

  • Production Stage Manager, The Cunning Little Vixen, Manhattan School of Music

  • Production Stage Manager, Bye Bye Birdie, Manhattan School of Music

Elisa Citterio

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Primo Violino e Capo d’Orchestra (La Sonnambula)

Photo by Nicola Dal Maso

Previously with Teatro Nuovo:

  • Anna di Resburgo (2024)

Bio:

Violinist Elisa Citterio was Tafelmusik Music Director from 2017 to 2022. She moved to Toronto from her native Italy, where she divided her artistic life between orchestral work and an intense schedule as a chamber musician. She has recorded and toured, often as leader or concertmaster, with such ensembles as Dolce & Tempesta, Europa Galante, Accademia Bizantina, Accordone, Zefiro, la Venexiana, La Risonanza, Ensemble 415, Concerto Italiano, Orquestra del Monsalvat, Il Giardino Armonico, Orchestra Academia 1750, and Balthasar-Neumann Choir & Ensemble (Thomas Hengelbrock). From 2004 to 2017 she was a member of the Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano.

Elisa’s arrival in Toronto has created much excitement. Just 18 months into her new position at Tafelmusik, she was awarded 2019 Leonardo Award for Arts, Science & Culture by the Italian Chamber of Commerce for her contribution to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada. North American orchestras have taken note, and upcoming appearances as guest director include Seattle Symphony, and Québec’s Les Violons du Roy.

In 2000, Elisa was selected as concertmaster and soloist with the orchestra of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, where she received intensive professional training in orchestral and chamber music repertoire, as well as violin technique. Soon after graduating, she began studying baroque violin, taking part in masterclasses with Enrico Onofri, and studying with Chiara Banchini at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and with Luigi Mangiocavallo in Rome. 

Elisa Citterio’s discography includes more than 35 recordings with Accademia I Filarmonici (Vivaldi), Europa Galante (Vivaldi and Bach), Zefiro (Handel), Accordone (Storie di Napoli), Brixia Musicalis (Vivaldi Four Seasons), Accademia Bizantina (Handel and Corelli), Il Giardino Armonico (Handel and Haydn), La Venexiana (Monteverdi), Joachim Quartet (Schuster), Helianthus Ensemble (C.P.E. Bach trios), and a number of opera recordings with the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala under such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Edward Gardner, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Lorin Maazel, and Riccardo Muti.

Elisa played with Stefano Montanari in Estravagante Ensemble, and from 2014–2016 worked alongside Stefano as co-chair of the baroque violin studies program at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan.

Tom Weatherly

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Director of Finance

Thomas Weatherly has been assisting Teatro Nuovo with business and financial matters since its inception in 2017.

For the bulk of his career, he worked in the classical music recording business as Vice President of Finance for the CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical record label.  During his 12-year period there he worked with legendary executives including Joseph Dash and Guenther Breest and was involved in negotiations for recordings made by artists including Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson Thomas, Yo-Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Placido Domingo, The New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera among others. After his tenure there he became VP of Global Financial Reporting at Sony Music Entertainment’s corporate unit and played an integral part in the merger of BMG Music and Sony Music. 

Thomas studied accounting and finance at St. Peter’s College (NJ) and afterward obtained an MBA in Finance & Economics from St. John’s University (NY).

Email:
tweatherly@teatronuovo.org

Will Crutchfield

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Raleigh, NC

General and Artistic Director

Maestro al cembalo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi)

Photo by Gabe Palacio

Will Crutchfield has divided his opera career between conducting, musicology, and education. As Director of Opera for the Caramoor International Music Festival from 1997 to 2017, he has conducted over 30 titles by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Verdi with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and soloists including Lawrence Brownlee, Angela Meade, Vivica Genaux, Hao Jiang Tian, Ewa Podleś, Sumi Jo, Jennifer Larmore, Georgia Jarman, John Osborn, Michael Spyres, and Hei-Kyung Hong. He has also held posts as Music Director with the Opera de Colombia (Bogota) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Polish National Opera (Warsaw), and has made guest appearances with many theaters, including the Rossini Opera Festival (Pesaro), the Canadian Opera Company, the Washington National Opera, and the Minnesota Opera among others.

For Ricordi and the Fondazione Rossini he prepared the critical edition of Aureliano in Palmira, also conducting the production at Pesaro that won first place as “Best Rediscovered Work” in the 2015 International Opera Awards. In the same year he was named a Fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation in recognition of his operatic work, and in 2017 he was named as one of Musical America’s thirty “Movers and Shapers” for his leadership in innovative training and performance. In 2020 he was featured in The New York Times for his first-ever reconstruction of Beethoven’s sketches for the lost tenor aria from the 1805 opera Leonore. His other reconstructions include Donizetti’s unfinished Symphony in E Minor, the only known full-scale concert symphony by a major Italian composer of the 19th century.

He has contributed articles on historical performance practice to the New Grove Dictionaries of Music and numerous scholarly journals, and is currently completing a book on the same subject for Oxford University Press.

Email:
wcrutchfield@teatronuovo.org

Brenna Skinnon

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Charlotte, NC

Stage Manager

Previously with Teatro Nuovo:

  • Poliuto

  • Crispino e la Comare

Bio:

Brenna Skinnon is a Stage Manager who hails from Charlotte, NC. She began her entertainment career first onstage dancing at a young age. She eventually made her way backstage where she fell in love with the role of Stage Managing. Brenna received her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2017. After graduating from UNCSA she spent some time freelance stage managing a variety of different performances. From 2018 to 2021 Brenna was the stage manager for Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. There she helped create works for young audiences and set the standards for working with young artist. In 2022 she was asked to join Piedmont Opera for their production of Ragtime as the Deck SM. There she discovered her new passion for opera. Since 2022 Brenna has been the Production Stage Manager for Piedmont Opera. She has worked with other opera companies, such as, North Carolina Opera and Opera Carolina. This past fall she took on a new role as the Assistant Production Manager/Stage Manager for the Novant Thanksgiving Eve parade in Charlotte. The biggest Thanksgiving parade in the South East. In this role she organized and coordinated floats, balloons, marching bands, and other acts so that they flowed seamlessly into the parade route. Brenna has a passion for the arts and is looking forward to sharing it with the next generation. 

Brandon Shaw McKnight

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Baltimore, MD

Stage Manager

Photo by Eleanora Hyde

Previously with Teatro Nuovo:

  • Maometto Secondo

  • La Sonnambula

Recent and upcoming:

  • Assistant Director (Crane Directing Fellow), Carmen, Eugene Onegin, A Magic Flute Experience: The Temple, Opera Columbus, 2023~24

  • Assistant Director, Carousel, Opera North, 2023

  • Assistant Director/Chorus, Le Nozze di Figaro, Annapolis Opera, 2023

  • Director, Handel’s Messiah, BShawMcKnight Productions, 2022

Website:
bshawmcknight.com

Julius Abrahams

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Kansas City, Missouri

Coach

Previously with Teatro Nuovo:
2023~24

Bio:

After finishing graduate studies at The Juilliard School in 2012, Julius Abrahams continues to work as staff pianist within the legendary school’s Vocal Arts Institute, Orchestral Department, and Pre-College Division. He premiered new instrumental works commissioned by the Pre-College Department with faculty musicians in November, 2022. He has worked as vocal coach with Classical Singing in New York; Teatro Nuovo’s predecessor, Bel Canto at Caramoor; and the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory, where he also served as music director of Don Giovanni, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hänsel und Gretel, Serse, The Student Prince, The Fantasticks, 110 in the Shade, and The Secret Garden. This August, Mr. Abrahams will music direct Kurt Weill’s Lady in the Dark at Chautauqua. He has also been on faculty at Binghamton University, SUNY, and has led chamber orchestra performances there of Die Zauberflöte, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, and L’Incoronazione di Poppea. In addition, he has served as Score Consultant for the Met Opera “Live in HD” broadcasts since 2023.

Doug Han

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Piscataway, NJ

Coach

Photo by Ken Alswang

Previously with Teatro Nuovo:

2023

Bio:

A specialist of the Italian repertoire, operatic musician and linguist Doug Han first joined Teatro Nuovo as rehearsal pianist for its 2022 Lincoln Center production of Maometto Secondo. Recent European highlights include his stint as rehearsal prompter for Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Staatsoper Hamburg and his international conducting debut conducting excerpts from Carmen in the Giardino Pubblico of Caltagirone, Sicily. Mr. Han’s international operatic coaching career began with residencies with Opera Africa, where he had the privilege of playing for the late heldentenor Johan Botha, and the Festival Bel Canto, a groundbreaking partnership between the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Rome's historic Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. At the Festival Bel Canto, he worked beside Grammy Award-winning artists June Anderson, Jennifer Larmore, and Sumi Jo, and esteemed Rossini scholar Bruno Cagli.

Jakob Lehmann

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Berlin, Germany

Associate Artistic Director
Maestro Concertatore e Direttore (Macbeth)

Photo by Sercan Sevindik

Previously with Teatro Nuovo:

Primo violino e capo d’orchestra 2018~2024

Bio:

Jakob Lehmann is a conductor for whom stylistic awareness and historically informed performance are the pillars of emotionally sincere and energetic interpretations. His dual aims of fidelity to the composer’s intentions with their direct conveyance to his modern audiences guide his diverse musical activities. He regards as one of his main objectives the collaborative convergence of historically informed performance styles with more traditional approaches.

Jakob Lehmann works both with orchestras such as Wiener Symphoniker, Tonkünstler Orchester, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Bochumer Symphoniker, and Brandenburger Symphoniker, as well as period instrument groups such as Concerto Köln, Orchestra of the 18th Century, {OH!} - Orkiestra Historyczna, La Banda Storica Bern, and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra.

He is the Artistic Director of Eroica Berlin, a chamber orchestra he founded in 2015 and which performed at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie for the first time in 2020. The group consists of young musicians from Berlin and focuses on translating the impulses and inspirations from period performance to modern instruments.

The music of Gioachino Rossini and the Belcanto period is a field in which Jakob Lehmann is particularly active, both as a passionate opera conductor as well as in his research, and he has served as Associate Artistic Director of New York based Belcanto festival Teatro Nuovo since 2019. His conducting in this repertoire has been described by the press as “a revelation,” “extraordinary,” and “striking”. Recent opera productions include Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for North Carolina Opera (directed by Francesca Zambello), Donizetti’s Poliuto and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Teatro Nuovo, and Mozart’s Idomeneo for Opéra National de Lorraine.

As a presenter, lecturer, and coach for the topics of Romantic performance practice and the Belcanto style, he is working with institutions such as the Juilliard School New York, the Dutch National Opera Studio, the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Hochschule der Künste Bern, the Conservatorio Guido Cantelli in Novara, as well as his Alma Mater, the University of Arts Berlin. In 2023, he was elected as the President of the German Rossini Society and further is a member of the American Rossini Society.

Jakob Lehmann’s discography encompasses a wide range of repertoire on various labels. His two most recent albums, “Mozart 1791” with Concerto Köln (Warner Classics) and Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri with Eroica Berlin (Pan Classics), have been met with great critical acclaim.

In the 2024/2025 season, he makes his debuts with Brucknerorchester Linz, Les Siècles, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, Orchestra La Scintilla, Collegium Novum Zürich, Wiener Concert-Verein, and Juilliard415. He returns for three different projects to Vienna’s Tonkünstler Orchester (amongst them three concerts at Vienna’s Musikverein), and further works again with Concerto Köln, the Orchestra of the 18th Century, La Banda Storica Bern, and Eroica Berlin. He conducts Verdi’s Ernani in his second collaboration with North Carolina Opera and Verdi’s Macbeth in his seventh season with Teatro Nuovo.