Megan Thompson Thompson, Executive Director/Artistic Director, holds a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Stetson University, with an emphasis in Vocal Performance and Psychology. In addition to her musical background, Ms. Thompson works as a Special Events Coordinator and holds an Associate of Arts degree in Drama with an emphasis in Technical Theatre. After holding many leadership positions throughout college and her early professional career, Ms. Thompson was hired to start a girls’ choir for Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood. Her teaching experience does not end there. In addition to teaching private voice lessons at Motter’s Music, she has also served as a drama instructor for the Ocala Civic Theatre and was hired to begin a drama/musical theatre program for the two of the Cleveland Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs. With her background in education, management and event coordination, Ms. Thompson was recently appointed Executive Director/Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Light Opera with the intent of developing a company focused on education and outreach in Northeast Ohio.
Rocky Encalada, Technical Director/Costume Designer, holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from Kent State University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Technical Theatre and Design. Not only does Ms. Encalada have extensive experience onstage and behind the scenes, but she also has a dozen directing credits to her name. In addition, Rocky Encalada has experience in education and workshop development for ages 6-adult.
Alejandra Martinez, Director of Community Outreach and In-School Learning, holds a Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music, a Master of Music from the University of Miami, and a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. While at Stanford she served as President and Fundraising Officer on the board of the Stanford Savoyards, a student-run light opera company dedicated to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. She has extensively studied music abroad; under the guidance of Michael Burden, Dean of New College, Oxford University, she authored a collection of musicological essays on Handel’s operas. Later, she would focus on the performance and interpretation of German Lieder at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Ms. Martinez was recently honored with the Elly Ameling Award for Excellence in Recital Performance, for a program of music from Spain and Latin America. Her latest performance credit is Nora, from Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, produced at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is also the soprano soloist at Disciples Christian Church, whose choir placed first at WCLV’s 2014 Jubiliation Choir Festival. Dedicated to furthering opera outreach, Ms. Martinez intends to get Cleveland excited about opera with smart, fun, and unique programming through GLLO.
Lyndsay Moy, Director of Development holds a Master of Music degree in Voice from The Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as a Bachelor of Music in Voice and a Bachelor of Arts in Painting from DePauw University. While at CIM, she received the Frederick B. Prentice Award for Excellence in Voice, and at DePauw, she received the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. In 2008 and 2009, Ms. Moy earned four first-place awards in the NATS Great Lakes Region competition. Her roles on the operatic stage have included Maurya (Vaughn-Williams’ Riders to the Sea), Marcellina (Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro), Fidalma (Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto), Mère Marie (Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites), Zita (Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi), L’Architecture (Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants), L’écureuil (Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges), and La Badessa (Puccini’s Suor Angelica), among others. Ms. Moy is a featured alto soloist with the Fairmount Presbyterian Church choir and has performed recently with Opera Night Cleveland. Ms. Moy also teaches voice at Celebrity School of Music, where she aims to develop the fundamentals of healthy vocal technique, focusing on breathing, alignment, and resonance in styles ranging from classical singing to Broadway. She currently studies with tenor Clifford Billions and work as CIM’s Opera Administrator.
Reid Taylor (Lecturer in Residence) is a senior studying with Clifford Billions at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Last season he sang the role of the 1st Commissioner inDialogues of the Carmelites, the Sailor in Dido and Aeneas, and the Armored Man/Priest in Die Zauberflöte. With the Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, he soloed inKodaly’s Missa Brevis. Mr. Taylor attended Carnegie Mellon’s Pre-College Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and AIMS in Graz in 2013. An accomplished pianist as well, Mr. Taylor was hired as a staff accompanist at the Tyrolean Opera Program during the summer of 2014. He has also served as assistant to the conductor for Pittsburgh Opera’s 2009/2010 season. An avid linguist as well as a musician, Mr. Taylor is completing degrees in German and French literature as well as an Italian minor from Case Western Reserve University.