André Previn: (Composer - EGBDF) has enjoyed a number of successes as a composer. His first opera A Streetcar Named Desire was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque. Recent highlights include the 2007 Boston Symphony Orchestra premiere of his Double Concerto for Violin and Double Bass written for Anne-Sophie Mutter and Roman Patkoló. His Harp Concerto commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony premiered in 2008; his work Owls was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2008; his second opera Brief Encounter, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, premiered in 2009; and his Double Concerto for Violin and Viola, written for Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yuri Bashmet, received its premiere in 2009. For his 80th birthday celebration in 2009, Carnegie Hall presented four concerts which showcased the diversity of his career. Other highlights include concerts with Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, and the Czech Philharmonic at the 2010 Prague Spring Festival. Awards and honors include both the Austrian and German Cross of Merit, and the Glenn Gould Prize. He is the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Kennedy Center, the London Symphony Orchestra, Gramophone Classic FM, and in 2010 was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from The Recording Academy. He has also received several Grammy awards for recordings, including the CD of his violin concerto Anne-Sophie and Bernstein’s Serenade featuring Anne-Sophie Mutter together with the Boston and London Symphony orchestras. A regular guest with the world’s major orchestras, both in concert and on recordings, Previn frequently works with Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic. In addition, he has held chief artistic posts with Houston Symphony, London Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. In 2009, he was appointed principal guest conductor of NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo. As a pianist, Previn enjoys recording and performing song recitals, chamber music, and jazz. He has given recitals with Renée Fleming at Lincoln Center and with Barbara Bonney at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He regularly gives chamber music concerts with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lynn Harrell, as well as with members of the Boston Symphony and London Symphony orchestras, and the Vienna Philharmonic. less has enjoyed a number of successes as a composer. His first opera A Streetcar Named Desire was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque. Recent highlights include the 2007 Boston Symphony Orchestra premiere of his Double Concerto for Violin and Double Bass written for Anne-Sophie Mutter and Roman Patkoló. His Harp... more

Arvo Pärt : (Composer - Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten) was born in 1935 in Paide, Estonia. After studies with Heino Eller’s composition class in Tallinn, he worked from 1958 to 1967 as a sound engineer for Estonian Radio. In 1980 he emigrated with his family to Vienna and then, one year later, travelled on a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholarship to Berlin. As one of the most radical representatives of the so-called Soviet Avant-Garde, Pärt’s work passed through a profound evolutionary process. His first creative period began with neoclassical piano music. Then followed ten years in which he made his own individual use of the most important compositional techniques of the avant-garde: dodecaphony (12-note composition), composition with sound masses, aleatoricism (music employing the element of chance or randomness), and collage technique. Nekrolog (1960), the first piece of dodecaphonic music written in Estonia, and Perpetuum mobile (1963) gained the composer his first recognition by the West. In his collage works, “avant-garde” and “early” music confront each other boldly and irreconcilably, a confrontation which attains its most extreme expression in his last collage piece Credo (1968). But by this time all the compositional devices Pärt had employed to date had lost their former fascination. The search for his own voice drove him into a withdrawal from creative work lasting nearly eight years, during which he engaged with the study of Gregorian chant and classical vocal polyphony. In 1976, music emerged from this silence – the little piano piece Für Alina. With this work Pärt had discovered his path. The new compositional principal used here for the first time, which he called tintinnabuli (Latin for “little bells”), has defined his work right up to today. The “tintinnabuli principle” does not strive towards a progressive increase in complexity, but rather towards an extreme reduction of sound materials and a limitation to the essential. Recent compositions include Vater unser (2005/2011), In spe (2010), and Symphony no. 4 “Los Angeles” (2008). less was born in 1935 in Paide, Estonia. After studies with Heino Eller’s composition class in Tallinn, he worked from 1958 to 1967 as a sound engineer for Estonian Radio. In 1980 he emigrated with his family to Vienna and then, one year later, travelled on a DAAD (German Academic Exchange... more

Cameron Caley Michalak: (Scenic Designer) designed sets for Cleveland Play House's FusionFest 2010 production of A Soldier's Tale with Catch and Release, the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program’s The Winter’s Tale, and CPH Theatre for Children productions The Little Mermaid, Huck Finn, A Jewel of a Tale, Tuck Everlasting, and The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes. Local credits include Cinderella, Children of Eden, The Piano Lesson, The Fantasticks, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, True North Cultural Arts; The Music Man and Les Miserables, Fairmount Performing Arts Center; She Stoops to Conquer, St. Joseph's Academy; The Masked Musketeer and Beauty and the Beast, Brush High School; Ten More Minutes from Cleveland, Dobama Theatre; and The Wiz for the Music, Arts and Drama (M.A.D.) Factory in Oberlin. In addition to scenic design, Michalak is in his fifth season as CPH’s assistant technical director. less designed sets for Cleveland Play House's FusionFest 2010 production of A Soldier's Tale with Catch and Release, the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program’s The Winter’s Tale, and CPH Theatre for Children productions The Little Mermaid, Huck Finn, A Jewel of a Tale, Tuck Everlasting, and The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes. Local... more

James Feddeck: (Music Director/Conductor) holds the Elizabeth Ring William Gwin Mather Endowed Conducting Chair at The Cleveland Orchestra, where he is in his third season as assistant conductor. He also serves as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra; in June 2012, he leads the Youth Orchestra in its first international tour, with concert performances in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Recent or upcoming guest conducting engagements include appearances at the Aspen Music Festival and with the orch­estras of Atlanta, Charlotte, Grand Rapids, Omaha, St. Louis, and Toledo. Before coming to Cleveland, Feddeck served as assistant conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2009, he was assistant conductor at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He earlier completed three summers at Aspen as a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting. He was the unanimous winner of the Sixth Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition and recently received a Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., a new prize for talented young American conductors. He was admitted to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in four areas: piano, oboe, organ and conducting. In 2010 he was recognized by Oberlin as the first recipient of its Outstanding Young Alumni Award. less holds the Elizabeth Ring William Gwin Mather Endowed Conducting Chair at The Cleveland Orchestra, where he is in his third season as assistant conductor. He also serves as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra; in June 2012, he leads the Youth Orchestra in its first international tour, with... more

James C. Swonger: (Sound Designer) is resident sound designer at Cleveland Play House where he has designed sound for over 40 productions including the world premiere of Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot, The Trip to Bountiful, Present Laughter (Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program), A Soldier’s Tale with Catch and Release, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, the world premiere of Heaven’s My Destination, Crime and Punishment, Noises Off!, Gee’s Bend, Man of La Mancha, and I Am My Own Wife. For Cleveland State University Summer Stages 2009 he designed Chekhov in Yalta, The Shadowbox and Return to the Forbidden Planet. Additional credits include Cleveland’s Lyric Opera Company, The Utah Festival Opera Company, Pioneer Theatre Company, Baltimore Centerstage, George Street Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theatre, and premiere productions of The Tragic Demise of the Whaleship Essex, Swinging on a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Johnny Burke, Tangents, and The Count of Monte Cristo. He has also designed sound systems for restaurants, theatres and churches. less is resident sound designer at Cleveland Play House where he has designed sound for over 40 productions including the world premiere of Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot, The Trip to Bountiful, Present Laughter (Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program), A Soldier’s Tale with Catch and Release, Bill W. and... more

John Godbout: (Stage Manager) recently finished working on Red, Ten Chimneys, Daddy Long Legs and The Life of Galileo for Cleveland Play House, where he returns after having been CPH’s resident stage manager for eight seasons. Last season he worked at Capital Repertory Theatre and North Shore Music Theatre, where he stage managed a new adaptation of Disney's Tarzan. He has also stage managed for The Weston Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Northern Stage, and Seaside Music Theatre. less recently finished working on Red, Ten Chimneys, Daddy Long Legs and The Life of Galileo for Cleveland Play House, where he returns after having been CPH’s resident stage manager for eight seasons. Last season he worked at Capital Repertory Theatre and North Shore Music Theatre, where he stage managed a... more

Michael Boll: (Lighting Designer) is Cleveland Play House's production electrician. For CPH, Boll has designed lighting for In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; many Fusionfest productions including Stew and the Negro Problem; and for the Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program, The Winter's Tale, In Arabia We'd all be Kings, An Orchard, Cloud 9, and Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. In Cleveland he has designed at Cain Park, Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland Museum of Art, Karamu, Dobama, and Beck Center. Off-Broadway credits include The Moliere Cycle, Classic Stage Company; Songs for a New World, George Street Playhouse; Dog Sees God, SoHo Playhouse; and as associate lighting designer, The Moonlight Room, Beckett Theatre. Boll designed N.Y. Fringe Festival's award-winning productions of Ellen Craft and Valiant. His work has also been seen at La Mama E.T.C., HERE Arts Center, Blue Heron Theatre, and Center Stage New York. He designed many Yale Cabaret shows including Say You Love Satan and Fake. less is Cleveland Play House's production electrician. For CPH, Boll has designed lighting for In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; many Fusionfest productions including Stew and the Negro Problem; and for the Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program, The Winter's Tale, In Arabia We'd all be Kings, An... more

Michael Bloom: (Director ) is the eighth artistic director of Cleveland Play House. Recently for CPH he adapted Emma (published by Samuel French) and directed Lost in Yonkers, Heaven’s My Destination, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Lincolnesque, Rabbit Hole and Well. He has directed at many of the country’s other major theatres including American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Old Globe Theatre, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre and the Sundance Playwrights’ Institute. His productions have also been seen throughout Japan and in Tokyo at the Aoyama Theatre and Theatre Cocoon. His off-Broadway production of Sight Unseen garnered three Obie Awards, and he received a Drama Desk nomination for direction. Other productions include the American premiere of A Young Lady from Rwanda; Gross Indecency, Elliott Norton Award for Best Directing, 1998; the world premiere of Dinner with Friends at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Los Angeles premieres of The Cryptogram and The Old Neighborhood at Geffen Playhouse; Major Barbara and The Philadelphia Story at Kansas City Rep; and the world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ Spring Storm. Among the many playwrights he’s worked with are John Robin Baitz, Anthony Clarvoe, Don DeLillo, John Guare, David Hare, William Hauptman, Arthur Kopit, Neil Labute, David Lodge, Donald Margulies, David Mamet and Wallace Shawn. Bloom has been associate artistic director at Hartman Theatre Company and associate director at American Repertory Theatre. He has taught at New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas and Scripps College. His articles have appeared in American Theatre Magazine and The New York Times; and his book Thinking Like a Director was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2001. less is the eighth artistic director of Cleveland Play House. Recently for CPH he adapted Emma (published by Samuel French) and directed Lost in Yonkers, Heaven’s My Destination, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Lincolnesque, Rabbit Hole and Well. He has directed at many of the country’s other major theatres including American Repertory... more

Nathan Motta: (Assistant Director) acted as assistant director to Michael Donald Edwards on Cleveland Play House’s inaugural production in the Allen Theatre, Brecht’s The Life of Galilieo. Motta has worked with Opera Cleveland, Dobama Theatre, Ohio Light Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mercury Opera Rochester, and Civic Light Opera (Pittsburgh). He was assistant conductor to Robert Page and Marvin Hamlisch for Pittsburgh Symphony Pops’ A Tribute to Richard Rodgers, and his recording of Der Vogelhändler with The Ohio Light Opera was released by Albany Records in 2008. Motta is founding artistic director of Dobama Theatre’s Emerging Actors’ Program (DEAP) and has composed two original musicals – Little White Gloves and Midsummer. Directing credits include Antigone; Blood Wedding; Our Town; Pippin; Into the Woods; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Chicago; Fiddler on the Roof; and Almost, Maine. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon and a master’s degree, Eastman School of Music. less acted as assistant director to Michael Donald Edwards on Cleveland Play House’s inaugural production in the Allen Theatre, Brecht’s The Life of Galilieo. Motta has worked with Opera Cleveland, Dobama Theatre, Ohio Light Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mercury Opera Rochester, and Civic Light Opera (Pittsburgh). He was assistant conductor to... more

Tom Stoppard: (Playwright ) grew up in Singapore and India during the Second World War and moved to England in 1946 with his mother and stepfather, his father having been killed in Singapore during the Japanese invasion. Educated in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, he became theatre critic for Scene magazine from 1962 to 1963. He began writing plays for radio and television, including The Dissolution of Dominic Boot (1964); A Walk on the Water, televised in 1963; and The Stand-Ins, later revised as The Real Inspector Hound (1968). Albert's Bridge was first broadcast by BBC Radio in 1967. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead premiered at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966. The play came to the attention of Kenneth Tynan, then working for National Theatre, and it was produced at the National and on Broadway in 1967, winning a Tony Award for Best Play in 1968. The Real Inspector Hound was first staged in 1968, followed by productions of Albert's Bridge and If You're Glad I'll Be Frank, both in 1969. His play Jumpers was staged at National Theatre in 1972 and his adaptation of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba was first performed that same year. Travesties was first staged by Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974, transferring to New York in 1975 where it won a Tony Award, Best Play. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1976) was inspired by his friendship with Victor Fainberg, who had been imprisoned by the Soviets in Czechoslovakia. Professional Foul was written for Amnesty International's Prisoner of Conscience Year in 1977. On the Razzle, adapted from Johann Nestroy's Einen Jux will er sich machen, was staged at National Theatre in 1981, followed by The Real Thing in 1982. His trilogy of plays set in 19th century Russia The Coast of Utopia was first staged at National Theatre in 2002. Stoppard was knighted in 1997. He lives in London. His latest plays are Heroes (2005), and Rock n Roll (2006). He wrote the screenplay for The Bourne Ultimatum and a new English version of Chekov's Ivanov (2008). less grew up in Singapore and India during the Second World War and moved to England in 1946 with his mother and stepfather, his father having been killed in Singapore during the Japanese invasion. Educated in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, he became theatre critic for Scene magazine from 1962 to 1963. He... more