The Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director
“Emmanuel Villaume’s conducting is intense, passionate, and detailed, yet always considerate of the singers…”—The Guardian (London)
French conductor Emmanuel Villaume has served The Dallas Opera (TDO) as its Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director for more than a decade. Since assuming this position in 2013, he has led dozens of performances of both beloved classics and newer works with the company at the Winspear Opera House, including the world premiere of the TDO-commissioned and critically acclaimed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in 2023, Elektra, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Hansel & Gretel, Rigoletto, Das Rheingold, The Magic Flute, The Golden Cockerel, Moby-Dick, Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin, Le nozze di Figaro, Carmen and more, as well as the company premieres of Jonathan Dove’s Flight, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Der Ring des Polykrates, and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta.
In addition, he serves on the artistic faculty for TDO’s annual Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors, and often leads the People’s Choice and other annual concert performances with The Dallas Opera Orchestra. He will conduct Orpheus and Eurydice in the 2024/25 season.
Recognized for his equally insightful and dramatic interpretations, Maestro Villaume has also served as Music Director of the PKF-Prague Philharmonia since 2015, and he regularly guest conducts with leading opera companies worldwide, such as the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Paris Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, the Mariinsky Opera, and Venice’s Teatro La Fenice in Europe, and the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and San Francisco, LA, St. Louis and Santa Fe operas in the U.S. Widely regarded as one of today’s premier interpreters of 19th- and 20th-Century French repertoire, he is also known for the Italian operas of Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, and Menotti.
In symphonic repertoire, Villaume has led some of the world’s most distinguished orchestras, including the Montreal Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in Europe, the Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Munich Radio Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Further afield, Villaume has led performances in Australia with the Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane symphony orchestras, as well as the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in Japan, China National Opera Orchestra (the latter for the 2008 Olympic Games), and the Royal Opera House Muscat. He has recorded regularly for major labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, and Warner classics.
Emmanuel Villaume is the past Music Director of Spoleto Festival USA (2001-2010) and former Chief Conductor of both the Slovenian (2008-2013) and Slovak Philharmonic (2009-2016). He studied music at the Conservatoire in his hometown of Strasbourg, France. He continued his education at the Sorbonne in Paris, receiving degrees in literature, philosophy, and musicology, before his appointment as Dramaturg of Strasbourg’s Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg at the age of 21. Maestro Villaume resides in Paris, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
Updated May 2024
Image: Kyle Flubacker
Lidiya Yankovskaya’s recent work as a symphonic and opera conductor has been hailed as “superb,” “expert,” and “coax[ing] every possible expressive note from the instrumentalists.” Currently, Ms. Yankovskaya serves as Music Director of Harvard University’s Lowell House Opera, Artistic Director of Juventas New Music Ensemble, and Music Director with Commonwealth Lyric Theater. She also works regularly with Gotham Chamber Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, and New York Lyric Opera. Last summer, Ms. Yankovskaya served as a conducting fellow under renowned conductor Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival, where she had the privilege of assisting Maestro Maazel and filled in for him regularly in rehearsal and performance. Recent productions have received multiple awards ranging from The American Prize to the National Opera Association Award. In addition to her work as a conductor, Lidiya is a pianist and coach, recently serving as Music Director for Opera Boston’s education tours. Presently, she is working as a Russian Diction Coach and occasional rehearsal conductor for Tanglewood Festival Chorus (the chorus of the Boston Symphony).
Monika Wolinska, recipient of the honorary medal “Meritorious For Polish Culture” from the Polish Government, enjoys an active conducting career around the world. After her successful performance at Carnegie Hall in 2009, the venue’s first performance by a Polish female conductor, New York critics praised her saying, “Monika has what many contemporary conductors lack – a great sensitivity and a wonderful sense of the sound of instruments”. In October 2014 she conducted a concert in the Gorzów Philharmonic Hall with the world famous baritone Thomas Hampson, and in February 2015 a concert dedicated to Marina Jaszwili with the outstanding violinist Roman Simovi?. From 2013-2017, Ms. Wolinska served as Artistic Director of Gorzów Philharmonic Orchestra, and since 2013 she has been Artistic Director of Wojciech Kilar Contemporary Music Festival.
Sara Noble is in her third year as Company and Media Manager for the Chautauqua Opera Company. Since 2013, she has curated the unconventional operatic concert series ‘Home Brewed Opera’ as Executive Producing diva for Opera on Tap’s New York City chapter. For Opera on Tap, Sara produced the world premiere of James Barry’s comedic opera SMASHED: The Carrie Nation Story and scenes from Daniel Felsenfeld’s opera-in-development The Inner Circle. She served three terms as the Executive Secretary for the New York Opera Alliance, and has collaborated with organizations including American Opera Projects, The BEAT Festival, Opera Slavica, and Fifth House Ensemble. Sara is a strong advocate for contemporary classical music as an administrator, producer, and performer based in New York City.
Stefanie Mercier is the Manager of Rehearsal Planning and Artist Services at Washington National Opera, where she oversees the creation of the overall season rehearsal and performance calendar as well as the daily rehearsal schedule. She was responsible for the rehearsal schedule for WNO’s 2016 Ring Cycle, which required three years of advance planning. Stefanie has been a lover of the performing arts since her first ballet lessons at the age of three. She danced with the School of the Richmond Ballet through high school, performing with the professional company annually in The Nutcracker. At the University of Virginia, she served in leadership roles with two student-run arts groups. After earning a bachelor’s degree, she came to WNO as an intern and has held four different staff positions in the past eleven years.