After meeting in 2019, Lena, Lisl, and Ben developed a collaborative relationship that would lead to Park City Opera. Lena, based in Park City, interned with the Park City Arts Council and worked for the Professional Development Department. She also served as the Director of the Hot Air Music Festival at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, while earning a master’s degree in voice. Ben has served on the music staff (as conductor and pianist) at Sarasota Opera, Pacific Opera Project, Chicago Summer Opera, Opera Company of Middlebury, and will manage the USC Thornton Edge while pursuing a master’s degree in composition. Lisl served as the Development Assistant for Apollo’s Fire, the Grammy-winning baroque orchestra, and worked as the Residence Director for the Cleveland Institute of Music while earning a master’s degree in voice. 

Our professional paths were shaped by our time together at Yale University, where we directed the Opera Theatre of Yale College. During this time, we worked on more than twenty productions, serving as singers, directors, stage managers, producers, composers, and conductors. We cultivated a community of artists, built an audience of first-time opera attendees, and learned the recipe for how to create engaging opera!

Park City is Lena’s home and a home-away-from-home for Lisl and Ben. We’ve experienced the joys of Park City’s already-thriving musical scene and seen how the community values a diverse array of artistic mediums.