Stephanie Rhodes Russell, a renowned opera collaborator, is a Conducting Fellow with the Fort Worth Symphony and Associate Conductor for the Grand Teton Music Festival. She is a 2019 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award recipient and this season makes her European debut with Staatsoper Stuttgart. A former participant in The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors, Ms. Rhodes Russell is also a Fulbright award recipient and specializes in Russian repertoire and pronunciation at the Bolshoi Theatre. She has served on music staff at The Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Washington National Opera, amongst others. She is also the founder of Women’s Artistic Leadership Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to educating young women in leadership skills and business acumen.

Paolo Petrocelli serves as the Cultural and Music Diplomacy Officer for the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. He has become a leading member of some of the most prestigious international organizations, including the United Nations, UNESCO, and the World Economic Forum. He is also the Co-Founder and President of the Youth Committee of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO. As a Music Diplomacy Ambassador, he serves in institutional roles to forge bonds through music in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the US. Mr. Petrocelli is the founder and President of EMMA for Peace (Euro-Mediterranean Music Academy for Peace). He is also a Board member and International advisor at Opera di Roma, Opera Lebanon, and Royal Opera House Muscat.

Nicole Paiement, is an internationally recognized conductor of contemporary music and opera. She is the Artistic Director of Opera Parallèle in San Francisco and the Principal Guest Conductor at The Dallas Opera. Also an active guest conductor, Paiement recently appeared with Seattle Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Chicago Lyric Opera and the Washington National Opera. Recently, Paiement conducted Benjamin’s Written on Skin at L’Opéra de Montréal and the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s latest work, If I Were You, with San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program. In May, Opera Parallèle will present a new version of Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk in San Francisco with Paiement at the helm. Other upcoming engagements include a debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Talbot’s Everest at the Barbican Center, London.

Carlo Montanaro, Music Director at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw 2011-2014, has performed a wide repertoire on the most important stages worldwide. These include Bayerische Staatsoper (La traviata, Aida, Tosca, L’elisir d’amore, Carmen), Paris Opera (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Seattle Opera (Don Quichotte, Attila, La Bohème, Maria Stuarda, Nabucco), Hamburgische Staatsoper (Aida, Manon Lescaut, Turandot, Macbeth, Falstaff, La fanciulla del West), Oper Frankfurt (Mefistofele, Adriana Lecouvreur, Don Carlo, Simon Boccanegra), San Francisco Opera (Carmen), La Scala (La traviata), La Fenice (Roméo et Juliette), Graz Musikverein (Giovanna d’Arco), Dresden Semperoper (Carmen, Un ballo in maschera), Maggio Fiorentino and Sydney Opera House (La bohème), Tokyo NNT (Madama Butterfly, Il barbiere di Siviglia), Bilbao Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor). He conducted symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, WDR Köln,and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra.

Thomas Maddrey is the founding partner and lead attorney for Maddrey PLLC, a boutique firm dedicated to art and entertainment law, with a specific emphasis on visual and performing arts. His clients include artists, performing arts organizations, collectors, galleries, museums, and other creative individuals and groups. Additionally, Thomas regularly briefs the US Supreme Court and other courts around the country on issues affecting creatives, with a focus on copyright and licensing issues.