Daniel Isengart

Resident Stage Director & Performance Coach

A trained dancer, entertainer, director, and performance coach who helps singers to analyze, shape and master the physical aspects of their on-stage expressivity.

Born in Germany and raised in France and Germany, Daniel moved to New York City to become an entertainer. A noted specialist in the Franco-German Chanson repertoire of the early 20th Century, he has brought his multi-lingual one-man shows to Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, the BAM Café at the Brooklyn Academy of Arts, Café Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie Museum, the Neuberger Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Berlin’s Spiegeltent Bar Jeder Vernunft, and SF MOMA. He has hosted and directed numerous cabaret-style variety shows at venues around New York City and beyond, including The Museum of Modern Art, the Gershwin Hotel, the Playboy Casino in Cancun, and the Night Hotel in Times Square, where his weekly, multinational Foreign Affairs cabaret ran for over a year. Working with conductor Edwin Outwater, he has been featured as a solo artist with the concert:nova ensemble, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and the Sun Valley Music Festival. More recently, Daniel has staged operas with the KWS, directed the 2020 winter concert series at Sun Valley Music Festival, and taught a Masterclass on the art of the Master of Ceremonies at the En Piste Circus School in Montreal. He has taught a course on the history of vaudeville and the cabaret art form at NYU and given Masterclasses at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Bard College, and Wilfrid Laurier University. His ultimate aim is to vitalize the classic recital art form as he coaches singers and performers in stage craft, interpretative skills, body language and mime.

Daniel serves on the advisory board of the award-winning series Living the Classical Life, hosted by Zsolt Bognár.

Donata D’Annunzio Lombardi

Guest Teaching Artist

One of today’s leading interpreters of Italian opera, as well as a unique and passionate teacher of bel canto technique.

Her roles include Mimì (La Bohème), Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), Desdemona (Otello), Violetta (La Traviata), Liù (Turandot), Magda (La Rondine), Micaela (Carmen), Adalgisa (Norma), Thérèse (Les mamelles de Tirésias), and the title roles in Maria Stuarda, Belisario, Adriana Lecouvreur and Suor Angelica.

She has performed at prestigious theaters throughout Italy and France such as La Scala (Milan), Arena di Verona, San Carlo (Naples), Teatro Comunale (Florence), Teatro Regio (Parma), Théâtre Royal (Versailles), Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris), as well as Zurich Opera, the Staatstheater of Stuttgart and Michigan Opera Theater (US debut), working with directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Johathan Miller, and Francesca Zambello, and conductors such as Eve Queler, Daniel Oren, Jeffrey Tate, Roberto Abbado, Lorin Maazel and Placido Domingo.

Ms. D'Annunzio Lombardi has been awarded the prestigious Premio Puccini from the Fondazione Puccini of Torre del Lago, the Victoire de la Musique from the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, and the first prize from the Francesco Paolo Tosti International Competion. She is considered one of the leading interpreters worldwide of the music of Tosti.

She is also committed to working with emerging young artists, teaching bel canto technique and interpretation at Daltro Canto (Rome), L’Istituto Tostiano (Tokyo and Ortona), and has coached students at the Manhattan School of Music and Mannes College (New York), and with Classic Lyric Arts, Italy.

Ilaria Ciccioni

Language Coach

A language teacher whose method involves comparative studies of grammar, culture and history.

A native Italian speaker, Ilaria Ciccioni has developed an interest in foreign cultures and languages.

She graduated in 2004 from the University of Bologna with a master’s degree in translation and conference interpreting. Since 2002, she has worked as a teacher of Italian for international students in various private schools, where she has combined her interest in language with her love for culture, art and history. Her teaching method involves comparative studies of grammar rules between Italian and other languages, as well as speaking and listening activities.

Ms. Ciccioni also offers field trips to many artistic and historical sites, especially in the Montefeltro and Valmarecchia regions. She is currently a freelance translator and interpreter, having received post-graduate training in translations of law related documents, and is a member of the Italian Translators and Interpreter’s Association–AITI.

She is a permanent faculty member of Voci nel Montefeltro, and in 2008 received the DITALS ll certificate for teachers of Italian as a second language, from the University of Siena.

Ubaldo Fabbri

Co-Director, Vocal Coach

An expert in bel canto style who has collaborate with some of the major singers of our time, inclduing Luciano Pavarotti.

Maestro Ubaldo Fabbri served as musical collaborator and coach at the Rossini Opera Festival from 1986 through 2001. A member of the faculties at The Rossini Conservatory and the Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro, Italy, he has collaborated with some of the major singers of our time, including Luciano Pavarotti, appearing in a documentary on the tenor’s career. He was also the official accompanist/coach for the Maria Callas International Competition. His master classes on the art of bel canto have been presented in the US at the Curtis Institute of Music, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music and Mannes College. Additionally he is in demand internationally, offering classes in Japan, England, Belgium and Poland. He has served as the primary coach for the Italian operatic repertoire for Voci nel Montefeltro for fifteen seasons.

Soon to be published in English is Maestro Fabbri’s A Practical Study of Italian Diction and Phonetics for Opera Singers.

www.vocinelmontefeltro.org

Raphael Fusco

Vocal Coach, Music Staff Coordinator

An award winning keyboardist, conductor, and composer throughout the US and Europe.

He has led productions with New Opera NYC, Morning Side Opera, Amato Opera, Boston University, and Company XIV and has appeared as guest conductor at Teatro Grattacielo, Harlem Opera Theater, Oregon Bach Festival, and Siena Summer Music Festival.

Since 2010 Mr. Fusco has been music director for ¡Figaro 90210!, the critically-acclaimed, modern adaptation of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro by Vid Guerrerio.

The New York Times hailed, “Raphael Fusco led with verve and precision,” while Plácido Domingo raved, “Figaro 90210 is hands-down the best opera update I’ve seen.”

He has performed as harpsichordist and pianist in Carnegie Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, The Kimmel Center, Tuscia Opera Festival, Teatro degli Astrusi and other renowned venues. Praised “a lively player and fine improviser” by the Los Angeles Times, he has worked with world class artists and ensembles including Branford Marsalis, Daniel Rowland, American Ballet Theatre, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras.

He has received awards from the Alienor Harpsichord Competition, American Prize for Music, Bohuslav Martinu Composition Competition, and two artist residencies at the Piccola Academia di Montisi. Mr. Fusco holds degrees in composition and piano from the Mannes College of Music and completed studies at the Conservatorio G. Verdi di Torino, Vienna Konservatorium, and Paris Schola Cantorum.

www.raphaelfusco.com.

Glenn Morton

Artistic Director

Glenn Morton, a faculty member at New York’s three music conservatories, is proud to serve as the Artistic Director of all three Classic Lyric Arts Programs.

One of New York City’s most sought-after vocal coaches, he is honored to coach and mentor every singer and pianist attending Classic Lyric Arts workshops.

Mr. Morton currently serves on the faculties of Mannes College the New School for Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School, teaching courses in Italian Diction, French Vocal Literature, and Song Interpretation.

He received a Bachelors degree in piano performance from the Hartt School of Music and a Master of Music degree in collaborative piano from the Manhattan School of Music.

His work includes a wide variety of collaborations with companies such as the Opera Company of Boston, Tulsa Opera, New Orleans Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Santa Fe Opera, and Glimmerglass.

Mr. Morton serves as the founding Artistic Director of Classic Lyric Arts, Inc., a non-profit organization encompassing CLA Italy in Novafeltria, Italy, founded in 2009, and CLA France in the Périgord region of France, founded in 2012, providing advanced training in the techniques and traditions of French and Italian lyric music to emerging opera singers.

Michelle Rofrano

Conductor

Michelle Rofrano is an Italian American conductor with a keen interest in the intersection of art and social activism.

An avid opera conductor, she is the Music Director of City Lyric Opera, a women-led company in NYC.  She has led productions of The Queen of Spades and Trouble in Tahiti with The Glimmerglass Festival; Telemann's comic opera Don Quichotte at Camacho's Wedding with Opera Saratoga; the New York premiere of Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon with City Lyric Opera; Le nozze di Figaro with the Crane School of Music; Trouble in Tahiti, Service Provider, Avow, and A Flourish of Green with Westminster Choir College; Così fan tutte and The Turn of the Screw with DC Public Opera; Così fan tutte with the Oberlin in Italy opera festival; and Suor Angelica with New Jersey Opera Project. She has served as assistant conductor for productions of La bohème and Le nozze di Figaro with Florida Grand Opera; The Cunning Little Vixen, La Traviata, Blue, and Silent Night with The Glimmerglass Festival; Eugene Onegin and Salome with Spoleto Festival USA; The Merry Wives of Windsor and L'elisir d'amore with Juilliard Opera; Man of La Mancha with Opera Saratoga; and La bohème with Opera Birmingham. 

Recent and upcoming projects include conducting Glass’s The Fall of the House of Usher with Orpheus PDX, covering Dream of the Red Chamber with San Francisco Opera, the world premiere of Proximity with Lyric Opera of Chicago, leading Menotti’s Amelia al Ballo with Juilliard Opera, leading The Turn of the Screw at Curtis Institute of Music, conducting No One is Forgotten: An Operatic Radio Play by composers Paola Prestini and Sxip Shirey, and conducting La Traviata with City Lyric Opera. Previous engagements include leading The Queen of Spades and Trouble in Tahiti with The Glimmerglass Festival; Telemann’s Don Quichotte at Comacho’s Wedding with Opera Saratoga; the New York premiere of Viardot’s Cendrillon with City Lyric Opera; and Così fan tutte and The Turn of the Screw with DC Public Opera. 2024 brings an exciting company debut with Madison Opera. 

Stefano Sarzani

Vocal Coach

An internationally recognized conductor who is a part of the music staff of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and regularly conducts at the top conservatories in the United States.

Stefano Sarzani has cultivated an impressive  international career across North America and Europe, specializing in Symphonic as well as Operatic repertoire. Since 2018 he has been part of the musical staff of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he has conducted Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Puccini’s La Bohème.

Mr. Sarzani’s recent conducting engagements include La Bohème at Opera Idaho, I due Figaro (Mercadante) at Manhattan School of Music, Maria de Buenos Aires at Des Moines Metro Opera;  concerts with the orchestra Symphony NH as part of their music director search, and concerts in Italy with Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana. Additionally Mr. Sarzani was an associate conductor and chorus master of Central City Opera (Colorado) preparing and assisting on Billy Budd and Madama Butterfly where he conducted several performances.

Sarzani has conducted and collaborated with symphonic and operatic institutions such as Boise Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, Lucerne Strings Orchestra (Switzerland), National Repertory Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Orchestra Bulgaria Classic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo (Italy), Den Jyske Opera (Denmark), Opéra National de Lorraine (France), Opera Maine, Atlanta Opera and Sarasota Opera.

As an active educator as a conductor, pianist and coach, Mr. Sarzani’s commitment to young musicians and singers brought him to collaborate and conduct the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, as well as Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi at the University of Memphis.

Mr. Sarzani is recipient of several Career Assistance Awards (2016, 2018-2021) of the Solti Foundation U.S., that also selected him for the “Elizabeth Buccheri Opera Residency Programs” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago working on Turandot with Sir Andrew Davis and at Michigan Opera Theater working on Hänsel und Gretel with Stephen Lord. Stefano has also  been awarded the 2nd prize of “The American Prize 2012” and he was a finalist for the conducting fellow position of the New World Symphony. He has also been recognized by important competitions, such as the “Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition”, “1st Memphis Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition” and “L. Capuana International Conducting Competition” (the competition of Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto).

Mr. Sarzani’s extensive education includes a variety of both American and European institutions including Indiana University, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Monteux School, and in Italy, Conservatorio G. Rossini (Pesaro), Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena), and Accademia Musicale Pescarese (Pescara). In addition, he holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Bologna

John Viscardi

Alumni Advisor

John Viscardi, alumnus of CLA Italy 2009 and CLA France 2014, lives in Philadelphia with his wife Molly and two children, Jack and Noa. Throughout his operatic career, Mr. Viscardi has performed with Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, New York City Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Opera Carolina. After a few years performing the tenor repertoire, Mr. Viscardi realized that his voice possessed a lower range, and he moved into the baritone repertoire, where his credits include the title roles in David DiChiera’s Cyrano at Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Carolina, Erich in Dear Erich at the New York City Opera, and a forthcoming Pelléas in Pelléas and Mélisande at Opera Southwest. In addition, he has sung Valentin in Faust at Michigan Opera Theatre, and Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Toledo Opera. It was his work as a high baritone that enabled him to free the upper part of his voice, and he is now a Lyric Tenor, studying a variety of roles, among them Don José in Carmen and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

Mr. Viscardi is featured in collaboration with Glenn Morton on Brilliant Classics’ complete recording of the works of F.P. Tosti – available on Spotify and Apple Music. Mr. Viscardi’s performances with orchestra and in recital includes Carmina Burana with Opera Philadelphia, the Duruflé and Fauré Requiems, and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs (the latter three in Carnegie Hall), Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center, and a recital of Tosti songs in Tokyo. Mr. Viscardi has appeared in both recital and concert at venues that include Carnegie Hall (New York), Geffen Hall (New York), Tokyo Opera City (Tokyo), Verizon Hall (Philadelphia) and Avery Fisher Hall (New York). Winner of both the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and Concorso Internazionale F.P. Tosti, Mr. Viscardi is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts and New York University.

A multi-faceted artist, Mr. Viscardi is incredibly experienced in running and growing a variety of organizations. He is the co-founder of ArtSmart, a national arts mentoring organization that empowers students in underserved communities to find their path through mentorship with paid professional artists. Additionally Mr. Viscardi is the creator of Heartbridge, an app that explores the dimensions of sight, sound, and touch, and how they coalesce within Live Streamed performances. The app uses the vibrating motor in a cellphone to make it vibrate in time with the artists’ heartbeat so that the audience can feel what the artist is experiencing. Mr. Viscardi also serves as a board member of The Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (PVLA).