Kirsten Chavez

Albuquerque-born Kirsten Chavez received a Bachelor of Music degree with honors from New Mexico State University and a Master of Music and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Ms. Chavez travels internationally to perform in operas and concerts, frequently performing her signature roles of Carmen, Rosins (The Barber Of Seville), and Cherubino (The Marriage Of Figaro), among many others. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City in 2005.

Virgina Herrera

Virginia Herrera (soprano) has earned a reputation of a complete artist combining effortless vocal technique with sensitive affecting interpretation. She has appeared in opera, zarzuela and concert form in the US, Latin america and Europe. Her powerful sweet voice gives meaning to the Mexican Short Film "Under the rubble" (2005) nominated for best short fil at the 5th Tribeca Film Festival'06 in NYC.

Mabel Ledo

Mabel studied at the New World School of the Arts in Miami and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Since completing her studies, she has appeared with the Connecticut Lyric Opera in Rigoletto, the Sarasota Opera in Suor Angelica, the Gold Coast Opera in Carmen and Romeo and Juliet, the Regina Opera in Hansel and Gretel and Madame Butterfly, and Pro-Arte Grateli in Doña Francisquita and La Revoltosa.

Mabel's website can be seen here.

Armando Mora

Armando graduated in Vocal Performance from the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he was granted a full scholarship to complete his studies. He also studied in Germany, Israel, and Mexico. He is a versatile performer of repertoire including classical, Latin pop, zarzuela, and mariachi, as well as musical theatre. Mora's vocal and musical gifts and commanding stage presence have taken him to many venues around the world, including major opera houses, theatres, stadiums, concert halls, and musical festivals. He has performed throughout his native Mexico; in Dallas, San Antonio, Cleveland, Miami, New York, Oregon, Kentucky, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Arizona, Connecticut and of course New Mexico in the United States; and in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, and South Africa.

Armando's website can be seen here.

Carlos Morton

Carlos Morton has over one hundred theatrical productions, both in the U.S. and abroad. His professional credits include the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Denver Center Theatre, La Compania Nacional de Mexico, the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, and the Arizona Theatre Company. He has also written for Columbia Pictures Television, Fox Television as well as three radioplays in Spanish for the SRE (Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores) and the IMER (Instituto Mexicano de la Radio) in Mexico City. He is the author of The Many Deaths of Danny Rosales and Other Plays (1983) and Johnny Tenorio and Other Plays (1992) both published by Arte Publico Press. The Fickle Finger of Lady Death (1996, Peter Lang Press) are English language translations of four plays by contemporary Mexican playwrights. Rancho Hollywood y otras obras del teatro chicano, (1999, Arte Publico Press & Ediciones EL Milagro) is a Spanish language collection of his plays. A former Mina Shaughnessy Scholar and Fulbright Lecturer to Mexico, Morton holds a M.F.A. in Drama from the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1999 he was inducted into the "Writers of the Pass," in El Paso, Texas. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Morton has lived on the border between Mexico and the United States since 1970. He has taught playwriting and courses in dramatic art in various universities in Texas, California and Mexico. His association with the University of California goes back 25 years as a graduate student at UCSD (1976-79), part-lecturer at UC Berkeley (1980-81), and tenured Professor of Theatre at UC Riverside (1990-2002). Morton is Director of the Center for Chicano Studies and Professor of Dramatic Arts at UCSB where he teaches classes in playwriting, U.S. Latino Theatre, and Latin American Theatre.

Carlos' website can be seen here.

David Robinson

A Fulbright Scholarship recipient, David recently performed in the zarzuela Luisa Fernanda with the Washington National Opera next to the Legendary Plácido Domingo. Born in Mexico, he began his career at an early age as a finalist for two consecutive years in the National Voice Competition "Carlo Morelli." He has sung as soloist at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the United Nations in New York. He recently performed a recital at the Mexican Cultural Institute as part of the Embassy Series, and sang the role of Gerontius in The Dream of Gerontius with the North of England Festival Choir. Upcoming engagements include Mozart's Coronation Mass and Solemn Vespers to celebrate that composer's 250th anniversary; a series of recitals and oratorios in South America and Europe; and his debut with the Los Angeles Opera this fall. Robinson also recently auditioned successfully for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

David's website can be seen here.

Pablo Zinger

Born in Uruguay and living in New York City since 1976, Pablo Zinger is widely known as a conductor, pianist, writer and expert on Spanish and Latin-American Music. His critically acclaimed CD's include Tango Apasionado with Astor Piazzolla, Las Puertas de la Mañana (songs of Carlos Guastavino), two volumes of music by Carlos Suriñach; with Paquito D'Rivera, Chamber Music from the South and the Grammy nominated The clarinetist . His latest is Cuando se quiere de veras , a compilation of Latin songs with tenor Francisco Casanova. As a member of the trio Triángulo , he has toured the U.S., Brasil, South Africa, Germany, Puerto Rico, Norway and Slovenia and arranged the music for the CD Tango Dreams , featuring the music of Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Gardel. He has also created and conducted the show Tiempo de Tango with NYC's Teatro Círculo. In January ‘05 he conducted the closing segment of Paquito D'Rivera's 50th. Anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Zinger is considered the pre-eminent conductor of zarzuela in the U.S. As Musical Director of The Sunday Afternoon Opera Series at New York's Town Hall, he conducted Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires and the U.S. premiere of Pueblo Joven , as well as Lecuona's María la O , Roig's Cecilia Valdés and Barbieri's El Barberillo de Lavapiés. In October ‘04 he conducted Luisa Fernanda for the opening season of the National Hispanic Cultural Center's Roy E. Disney Auditorium in Albuquerque, NM. He has also conducted zarzuela with the Spanish Repertory Theatre (1980-1994), Orlando Opera, the Zarzuela Company Domingo-Embil (Mexico) the International Zarzuela Festival (El Paso), the Jarvis Conservatory (Napa), and Santa Barbara Grand Opera. His La Verbena de la Paloma (El Paso,‘96) was seen nationally on PBS and his Luisa Fernanda (Napa, ‘97) is available on video, DVD and CD.

Other conducting credits include the Costa Rica National Symphony, the Simón Bolívar Orchestra (Venezuela), the Maribor Philharmonic (Slovenia), the Cosmopolitan Symphony Orchestra (NYC), the Montevideo Philharmonic and Montevideo Pro Opera (Uruguay) and the Bronx Arts Ensemble with Jazz greats Tito Puente, Dave Valentin, Néstor Torres and John Faddis. As Musical Director of New York's Polish Theatre Institute, Mr. Zinger has conducted numerous Polish operas, concerts and cabaret presentations throughout the U.S. and in three tours of Poland. He has written for The New York Times, Opera News, Guitar Review and Classical Singer, and has lectured for The New York Philharmonic. Mr. Zinger holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Degrees from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied piano with Zenon Fishbein.

Pablo's website can be seen here.