Guest Artist Faculty Feature: Kirsten Blair
We are so excited to have Voice Instructor and Soprano, Dr. Kirsten Blair as Artistic Director and Faculty of the 2025 Opera & Musical Theatre Program!
Kirsten Blair, soprano, enjoys a vibrant musical lifestyle as a soloist, performer, private teacher, and classroom instructor. Kirsten appears frequently in solo and collaborative recital, having performed at Arizona State University, the Eastman School of Music in New York, San Francisco Conservatory, Loyola University in Louisiana, Lisbon, Portugal, Athens, Greece, East London, White River and Nelspruit, South Africa, and in her home states of Maine and Alaska. She has shared the orchestral stage with ensembles such as the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, the Northern Lights String Orchestra, the Uplands Festival Orchestra in South Africa, the American Institute of Musical Studies: Graz Festival Orchestra, the Arizona State University Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, the Varna International Muzika! Academy Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Gregory Buchalter of the Metropolitan Opera, and most recently with the Chamber Orchestra of Kona in Hawai’i.
Kirsten has performed as a featured soloist with the Arizona Women’s Collaborative, the UAF New Music Festival, the Hawai’i International Music Festival, the Vianden Festival in Luxembourg, and two consecutive sessions in Zimbabwe for Music Inspire Africa. She has played several principal roles with Opera Fairbanks, Anchorage Opera, University of Alaska Fairbanks Opera Workshop, and internationally with Théâtre Roger Barat in France, International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia in Mexico, and the Lowveld Chamber Music Association in South Africa. Selected roles include Micaëla (Bizet’s “Carmen”), Rose (Weill’s “Street Scene”), Lucy (Menotti's “The Telephone”), Frasquita (“Carmen”), and Roxy LaRue in the World Premiere of “The Color of Gold.”
Kirsten completed her Graduate Teaching Assistantship at the University of Alaska F
✨SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT✨ The application deadline for the 2025 Opera & Musical Theatre Intensive Program has been EXTENDED to February 17th.
Submit your Application at the following link : https://forms.gle/sgJrFtaSRjgAhTLm8 or visit our website at www.fsaf.org > Workshops > Opera & Musical Theatre Intensive.
Take your craft to the next level in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska this summer!
Join FSAF registrants at the Palace Theatre for a night of familiar songs and amazing voices as Ron Drotos leads us through a night of cabaret! Families are welcome to enjoy local singers showcasing their voices. We will also unveil this year's beautiful artwork by Cheryl Berrong. Tickets are available online (www.fsaf.org > Events) or at the door for $15. See you there!
Guest Artist Faculty Feature: David Crawford
Please join us in welcoming David Crawford to the 2025 Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival OMT Faculty. American bass-baritone David Crawford has been hailed as a "standout" by The New York Times. During the 2024-2025 season he returned to Atlanta Opera to sing Schaunard in "La bohéme" and The Metropolitan Opera to cover Don Basilio in "Il barbiere di Siviglia." He recently sang Count Monterone in "Rigoletto" with Atlanta Opera and covered Zuniga in The Metropolitan Opera's new production of "Carmen." In concert, he joined the Knoxville Symphony and gave a surprise debut with the Richmond Symphony, both as the bass soloist in Verdi's "Requiem."
Since making his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 2007 as The Warrior Apparition in "Macbeth," Mr. Crawford has taken part in over three hundred performances and covered roles in over two hundred performances with the company. His 2017 Met performance as Hermann and Schlémil in "Les Contes d'Aoffmann" was celebrated for his "thunderous bass-baritone" (The New York Classical Review). With recent seasons with the Metropolitan Opera, he has been seen in "Dialogues des Carmélites," "Turandot," "Tosca," "Don Giovanni," "Macbeth," "Wozzeck," and "Der Rosenkavalier." In the 2016-2017 season, he appeared in over 50 performances in seven different operas with the company, highlights of which included the new production of "Roméo et Juliette" wherein "Crawford... preened about as a dandyish Paris" (The New York Classical Review), as well as the Sergeant in "Manon Lescaut," Lord Walton in "I puritani," and the Captain in "Eugene Onegin." In past seasons, Mr. Crawford appeared as Rochefort in "Anna Bolena," Count Ceprano in "Rigoletto," a Mandarin in "Turandot," the Commissioner in "Madama Butterfly," Hermann/ Schlemiel in "Les Contes d'Aoffmann," Count Horn in "Un ballo in maschera," Schmidt in "Andrea Chénier," Hector's Ghost in "Les Troyens," the High Priest of Baal in "Nabucco," Happy in "La fanciulla del West," Astarotte in "Ar
We are delighted to welcome Andrew Pham to the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival 2025 OMT Faculty. A sensitive and thoughtful musician, Andrew Pham is a versatile collaborative pianist who currently resides in Oregon, although his work with opera has taken him throughout the United States. As a rehearsal pianist, he has played productions for Nashville Opera, Pensacola Opera, Opera Orlando, Opera Tampa, Indianapolis Opera, Opera Modesto, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Eugene Opera, and Cascadia Chamber Opera. As an educator, he has served as a faculty pianist for summer programs including Varna International Music Academy, Opera Modesto’s Summer Opera Institute, Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti in Lucca, Italy, and Interlochen Arts Camp. As a chamber musician and collaborative pianist, he has performed locally as part of a trio called Oasis Ensemble and as one half of Spire Duo, an art song based partnership with soprano Emma Rose Lynn. He has enjoyed collaborating at numerous venues throughout the Pacific Northwest including the Lincoln City Cultural Center and Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts in Astoria, and he has also enjoyed playing alongside other musicians in more intimate house concert settings. He has also been featured as a guest artist collaborative pianist at University of Oregon, Malone University, and Montana State University. Andrew studied at the University of Oregon (M.M. Collaborative Piano), Indiana University (M.M. Piano Performance), and James Madison University (B.M. Piano Performance and Music Composition). He resides in Eugene, Oregon where he maintains a private piano studio and serves as a freelance collaborative pianist and vocal coach. Apply online at www. fsaf.org for your chance to work with Andrew in Fairbanks this summer!
Happy New Year from everyone at Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival! 2025 is the year to Awaken Your Inner Artist!
We are counting down the days! 2025 Winter Edition kicks off in one week with Sing Your Song Cabaret. Start off this year strong under Ron Drotos' mentorship. Register online at www.fsaf.org > Workshops to secure your spot!
We are thrilled to welcome Eve Summer to the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival 2025 OMT Faculty. Hailed “a rising star of stage directing [whose] approach to directing refreshes hope for the future of opera,” Eve Summer is a director, producer, and choreographer. She has been described as having “a gift for translating classic symbolism into familiar detail with just enough flippancy to bring out the fun of the opera without skewing the emotional equation." This season Eve returns to Opera Grand Rapids and debuts at Boston Baroque, Annapolis Opera, and Amelia Island Opera with new productions of L’elisir d’amore, Ariodante, La traviata, and Hansel and Gretel. This summer she debuts at The Princeton Festival.
Selected directing credits include Trouble in Tahiti at the Glimmerglass Festival; Cosi fan tutte, Les Mamelles de Tirésias, The Seven Deadly Sins and Albert Herring at Curtis Opera Theatre; Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince at Tulsa Opera; Don Giovanni at Opera Carolina; Rigoletto, Tosca, and Don Giovanni at Opera Columbus; The Barber of Seville at Opera Saratoga; The Tales of Hoffmann and Thomas Albert and Linde Herman’s Lizbeth an opera about alleged murderer Lizzie Borden at Opera Orlando; Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Don Giovanni, The Pirates of Penzance, Così fan tutte, Le Docteur Miracle, and The Mikado at Opera Grand Rapids; John Musto and Mark Campbell’s Volpone at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at UNCSA; The Pearl Fishers at Opera Tampa; Le nozze di Figaro at Knoxville Opera, dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Mobile Opera, Kaliope Opera, and Varna International Music Festival, La donna del lago at Resonance Works; Bluebeard’s Castle at Mid Ohio Opera; Xerxes for Connecticut Early Music Festival, La clemenza di Tito, Mark Adamo’s Little Women and John Musto and Mark Campbell’s Later The Same Evening at the Opera Institute at Boston University; Carmen for MassOpera; Aida and Lucia di Lammermoor at Boheme Opera New Jersey; Suor Ange
✨ GUEST ARTIST FEATURE ✨ Winter Edition: Sing Your Song Cabaret's instructor, Ron Drotos, began improvising on the piano as a child, creating the dinosaur sounds he heard in his imagination. He spent his teenage years playing in jazz and rock bands, and in 1985 received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition from The University of Connecticut, where he studied with Hale Smith. During this time, Ron studied jazz piano with Dr. Billy Taylor, Walter Bishop, Jr., Harold Danko, and Ellen Rowe. From 1987-88, Ron worked as assistant to the baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, and then began to pursue a music career of his own.
After moving to New York City in 1989, Ron served as Associate Music Director and created orchestrations for the Broadway musical Swinging On A Star, which received a Tony Award® nomination for Best Musical in 1995. Additional Broadway credits include Smokey Joe’s Café, The Life, and Fosse. Ron has orchestrated for the New York Pops Orchestra, with whom he has appeared several times at Carnegie Hall. He has been featured as Music Director on the 92nd St. Y’s famed “Lyrics and Lyricists” series, and has performed with vocalists Julius LaRosa, Judy Collins, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Nell Carter, and Giacomo Gates. In addition, Ron has taught at the Fairbanks (Alaska) Summer Arts Festival since 1999, where he has been inducted into the festival’s Hall of Fame.
Register today at www.fsaf.org > Workshops for your chance to learn from Ron this January!
Ready to take your Opera & Musical Theatre artisty to the next level? Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival's Opera & Musical Theatre Intensive Program is accepting applications now until January 15, 2025! Use the QR code to submit your application or visit the website www.fsaf.org > Workshops > Opera & Musical Theatre > Application Form https://forms.gle/dGkZHMZ7qPqx36aU7. Questions about the program or applications process? Contact us at [email protected].
FSAF OMT Applications open!
Ready to take your Opera & Musical Theatre artisty to the next level? Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival's Opera & Musical Theatre Intensive Program is accepting applications now until January 15, 2025! Use the QR code to submit your application or visit the website www.fsaf.org > Workshops > Opera & Musical Theatre > Application Form. Questions about the program or applications process? Contact us at [email protected].
Offering workshops and events to “Awaken your inner artist!” Visit www.fsaf.org for more information!
