ABOUT US
Find out who we are, who is performing, and how to become part of our group!
Meet the Artists
for the 2024-2025 Season
CAST OF CARMEN by Georges Bizet
Kristina Cook
CARMEN
Travis Ramirez
Don José Saturday Cast
Ky Montez
Micaela
Giuseppe Annunciato
Escamillo
Matthew Marano
Don José Sunday Cast
Gigi Lin
Frasquita
Jacqueline Ledesma
Mercédès
Samuel Flores
Morales
Cade Montez
Le Remendado
Dennis Fox
Zuniga
Michael Willis
El Dancaïro
About the General Director
Dan Montez
As an acclaimed stage director, he has directed even more productions than he has performed. After completion of his degrees, he assisted in teaching and directing the Opera workshop program at San Jose State University for four years under the direction of Irene Dalis.
Montez received a BMu from Brigham Young University in Vocal Pedagogy and his M.A. in Vocal Performance from San Jose State University. While in college he simultaneously held scholarships in piano and voice. Apart from singing, he made a debut as a concert pianist, performing Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto in San Jose, California.
For fifteen years he acted as Music Supervisor for churches in Utah, California and New York, directing the programs of over thirty church congregations, and directing the training of other liturgical music directors. During this period, he conducted three 100 voice oratorio choirs. He has taught advanced voice and conducting at annual international liturgical music conventions. He conducts the annual oratorios performed by the Taconic Opera chorus.
Mr. Montez is an accomplished composer as well. He has had hundreds of his works performed for over 30 years across the United States. His eighth oratorio, Joseph, was premiered in March 2023. He has saw the premiere of his oratorios Esther in 2021, David in 2017, Job in 2016; David in 2015, Jonah in 2014, and Enoch in 2013. He conducted his first oratorio, The Condescension, in California. His first opera, In bocca al lupo, debuted in the fall of 2017 to open Taconic Opera's 20th Anniversary Season. His commissioned work "The Red Sea Trio" premiered in the fall of 2019 and his Violin sonata No.1 premiered in 2021 as did is new piano work, Resurgence, a celebration of coming out of the Covid pandemic. Recently, the premiere of his first piano concerto had its debut at Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, New York in May of 2024. His song cycle entitled "Cycle of Depression" will make its debut in 2025, sung by Kristina Cook, and his next oratorio, Moses, will premiere in spring of 2026 as will his 2nd Piano Concerto.
Montez holds a Masters minor in Portuguese and also speaks Spanish, French, Italian, and German. He is a specialist in the art song and operatic literature of the Portuguese and received a grant from the Luso-American Education Foundation to conduct research in Portugal. He presently holds the largest collection of this music in the United States and has been a guest soloist and lecturer on the subject. He has been heard throughout the country in performance and interview on National Public Radio’s Performance Today as an expert in this subject. He has performed widely as a recitalist and recently released his first art song CD, The Lost Song: Portuguese songs of Love and Longing.
Montez is also an author and has acted as editor of Positive Life, a monthly subscription periodical dedicated to positive attitudes and goal-oriented living. He has published a number of books including Don’t Believe It: How to follow your dreams in spite of those who say you can’t, Singing for your Supper: What they don't teach you in school about an opera career, and Singing in Your Sleep: The personality you will need to have a career in opera--all available on amazon.com. He was published and appeared as the cover story in the Norman Vincent Peale foundation’s international magazine, Positive Living, another periodical dedicated to self-improvement. He was also a cover story in the February 2006 Issue of Classical Singer Magazine, a magazine for which he has also written. He has also instructed at their conventions.
He and his wife, Melissa, have three children, which they have homeschooled. Their oldest child, Kessa, is a concert pianist and their two other children, Ky and Cade, are opera singers.
For details of his singing career, including photographs, reviews, and repertoire, click here.
Dan Montez is presently the General Director of Taconic Opera, in Westchester County, New York, having founded the company in 1997. As a professional tenor himself, he has appeared in principal roles in over 60 productions on stages including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and San Francisco Opera. He has also performed numerous oratorios and recitals throughout the United States.
As an acclaimed stage director, he has directed even more productions than he has performed. After completion of his degrees, he assisted in teaching and directing the Opera workshop program at San Jose State University for four years under the direction of Irene Dalis.
Montez received a BMu from Brigham Young University in Vocal Pedagogy and his M.A. in Vocal Performance from San Jose State University. While in college he simultaneously held scholarships in piano and voice. Apart from singing, he made a debut as a concert pianist, performing Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto in San Jose, California.
For fifteen years he acted as Music Supervisor for churches in Utah, California and New York, directing the programs of over thirty church congregations, and directing the training of other liturgical music directors. During this period, he conducted three 100 voice oratorio choirs. He has taught advanced voice and conducting at annual international liturgical music conventions. He conducts the annual oratorios performed by the Taconic Opera chorus.
Mr. Montez is an accomplished composer as well. He has had hundreds of his works performed for over 30 years across the United States. His seventh oratorio, Esther, was premiered in June 2021. He has saw the premiere of his oratorios David in 2017, Job in 2016; David in 2015, Jonah in 2014, and Enoch in 2013. He conducted his first oratorio, The Condescension, in California. His first opera, In bocca al lupo, debuted in the fall of 2017 to open Taconic Opera's 20th Anniversary Season. His commissioned work "The Red Sea Trio" premiered in the fall of 2019 and his Violin sonata No.1 premiered in 2021 as did is new piano work, Resurgence, a celebration of coming out of the Covid pandemic. His next oratorio, Joseph, will premiere in spring of 2023.
Montez holds a Masters minor in Portuguese and also speaks Spanish, French, Italian, and German. He is a specialist in the art song and operatic literature of the Portuguese and received a grant from the Luso-American Education Foundation to conduct research in Portugal. He presently holds the largest collection of this music in the United States and has been a guest soloist and lecturer on the subject. He has been heard throughout the country in performance and interview on National Public Radio’s Performance Today as an expert in this subject. He has performed widely as a recitalist and recently released his first art song CD, The Lost Song: Portuguese songs of Love and Longing.
Montez is also an author and has acted as editor of Positive Life, a monthly subscription periodical dedicated to positive attitudes and goal-oriented living. He has published a number of books including Don’t Believe It: How to follow your dreams in spite of those who say you can’t, Singing for your Supper: What they don't teach you in school about an opera career, and Singing in Your Sleep: The personality you will need to have a career in opera--all available on amazon.com. He was published and appeared as the cover story in the Norman Vincent Peale foundation’s international magazine, Positive Living, another periodical dedicated to self-improvement. He was also a cover story in the February 2006 Issue of Classical Singer Magazine, a magazine for which he has also written. He has also instructed at their conventions.
He and his wife, Melissa, have three children, which they have homeschooled. Their oldest child, Kessa, is a concert pianist and their two other children, Ky and Cade, are opera singers.
For details of his singing career, including photographs, reviews, and repertoire, click here.
As an acclaimed stage director, he has directed even more productions than he has performed. After completion of his degrees, he assisted in teaching and directing the Opera workshop program at San Jose State University for four years under the direction of Irene Dalis.
Montez received a BMu from Brigham Young University in Vocal Pedagogy and his M.A. in Vocal Performance from San Jose State University. While in college he simultaneously held scholarships in piano and voice. Apart from singing, he made a debut as a concert pianist, performing Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto in San Jose, California.
For fifteen years he acted as Music Supervisor for churches in Utah, California and New York, directing the programs of over thirty church congregations, and directing the training of other liturgical music directors. During this period, he conducted three 100 voice oratorio choirs. He has taught advanced voice and conducting at annual international liturgical music conventions. He conducts the annual oratorios performed by the Taconic Opera chorus.
Mr. Montez is an accomplished composer as well. He has had hundreds of his works performed for over 30 years across the United States. His seventh oratorio, Esther, was premiered in June 2021. He has saw the premiere of his oratorios David in 2017, Job in 2016; David in 2015, Jonah in 2014, and Enoch in 2013. He conducted his first oratorio, The Condescension, in California. His first opera, In bocca al lupo, debuted in the fall of 2017 to open Taconic Opera's 20th Anniversary Season. His commissioned work "The Red Sea Trio" premiered in the fall of 2019 and his Violin sonata No.1 premiered in 2021 as did is new piano work, Resurgence, a celebration of coming out of the Covid pandemic. His next oratorio, Joseph, will premiere in spring of 2023.
Montez holds a Masters minor in Portuguese and also speaks Spanish, French, Italian, and German. He is a specialist in the art song and operatic literature of the Portuguese and received a grant from the Luso-American Education Foundation to conduct research in Portugal. He presently holds the largest collection of this music in the United States and has been a guest soloist and lecturer on the subject. He has been heard throughout the country in performance and interview on National Public Radio’s Performance Today as an expert in this subject. He has performed widely as a recitalist and recently released his first art song CD, The Lost Song: Portuguese songs of Love and Longing.
Montez is also an author and has acted as editor of Positive Life, a monthly subscription periodical dedicated to positive attitudes and goal-oriented living. He has published a number of books including Don’t Believe It: How to follow your dreams in spite of those who say you can’t, Singing for your Supper: What they don't teach you in school about an opera career, and Singing in Your Sleep: The personality you will need to have a career in opera--all available on amazon.com. He was published and appeared as the cover story in the Norman Vincent Peale foundation’s international magazine, Positive Living, another periodical dedicated to self-improvement. He was also a cover story in the February 2006 Issue of Classical Singer Magazine, a magazine for which he has also written. He has also instructed at their conventions.
He and his wife, Melissa, have three children, which they have homeschooled. Their oldest child, Kessa, is a concert pianist and their two other children, Ky and Cade, are opera singers.
For details of his singing career, including photographs, reviews, and repertoire, click here.
Meet our Musical Director
Jun Nakabayashi
Jun Nakabayashi has been active in both symphonic and operatic field for the past twenty years. Currently Music Director for Taconic Opera (Peekskill, NY), and the Riverside Orchestra (New York, NY), Nakabayashi holds a repertoire of more than 100 symphonic works and 40 operas. He has conducted Bay Shore Lyric Op- era (Capitola, CA), Livermore Valley Opera (Livermore, CA), The South Bay Chamber Ensemble (San Jose, CA), Oakland Lyric Opera (Oakland, CA), and ALEA II Con- temporary Music Ensemble (Stanford, CA).
Working since its inception, Nakabayashi contributed in ensuring the reputation of Taconic Opera as a company that can present challenging works in the highest quality. Critics and audience especially raved his productions of Aida, Manon Lescaut, and Mefistofele. Always striving to bring the best out of his performers, Nakabayashi raised the 36-year-old Riverside Orchestra to a level that it had never achieved prior to his appointment. Notable soloists including Phillip Myers, Nancy Allen, and Mindy Kaufman commended his charisma and musical instinct, and enthusiastically returned for subsequent appearances.
Born in Tokyo, Japan, he received his AB degree in Music from University of California at Berkeley. After receiving his MM degree in Orchestral Conducting from State University of New York at Stony Brook, he studied with Gabriele Bellini at Conservatorio di Musica, “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan, Italy. As assistant to Mr. Bellini, Nakabayashi traveled to Florence, Verona, and Stamford, Connecticut for his opera productions. He prepared the singers and orchestra for the CD recording of La sonnambula and Linda di Chamounix at Nationale Reisopera in the Netherlands (ARTS MUSIC label), conducted by Gabriele Bellini. He was on the Music Staff of Opera San Jose (San Jose, CA) from 1990 to 1998, and conducted Die Zauberflöte, The Merry Widow, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Tartuffe, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, La traviata, La bohème, Die Fladermaus, and Faust. His notable performances include a concert performance of Der Fliegende Holländer with the Wagner Society of Northern California in San Francisco, Il trovatore with Vox Artis Zenei Fesztivál (Hungary). He also conducted the ensemble of the San Jose State University School of Music faculty members for the Ma- rio Davidovsky Concert with the composer attending. Strongly interested in working with young musicians, Nakabayashi has enjoyed conducting at San Jose State University (1997-2001), at the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute in San Francisco (1999-2001 and 2003) and at Hoff Barthelson Music School (2001-present).
JOIN THE OPERA CHORUS
Along with the stars that appear in its productions, the Taconic Opera features an exciting chorus from the local community. This dynamic group is a wonderful family of artists from all walks of life that come together and rub shoulders with professionals in the opera field.
If you would like to sing with us, please let us know. Before contacting us, however, you should know some of the expectations that go with being a member of this dynamic group:
1. You need to know how to read music. If you are just a good memorizer from listening to music, this may not be the right fit for you. In addition to rehearsals, learning to sing in an opera chorus requires self-study in addition to good rhythm and counting skills. When everyone you work with is committed to this, it makes the experience more exciting for everyone. If you have been in choruses before, you may be ready for the next step and want to join us.
2. You will be singing in various languages. Generally this is Italian, but sometimes, it includes French, and German (or Latin-as chorus members also get the opportunity to sing in classical oratorio and concerts as well). If you are not afraid of languages then you should be fine. Translations are often passed around at rehearsals which help a great deal in your memorizing. Pronunciation help is offered at rehearsals as well as translation. Understanding the language in which you are performing makes memorizing easier since you are not just memorizing meaningless sounds and it makes performing so much more enjoyable as well.
3. Ultimately, if learning an opera, you will need to memorize the music you have learned so you can move on to the stage. In the operas, you will be expected to act. Taconic Opera is not a "park and bark" opera company. Our chorus does not just stand and sing pretty. If you have had stage experience, all the better. If you haven't, but have the other skills, you may find this an exciting next step in your growth as a performer. All good performing includes acting. Acting affects the way in which a phrase is interpreted and also colors the voice as you taste each word.
4. You will often be singing more loudly than you are used to, if you have had a choral background. You should have some background in vocal technique. If you have never had a voice teacher, nor received any kind of guidance in vocal technique you might want to look into some instruction. Power comes with training and anyone can sing well with proper training. (No, you are not born with a voice--singing is a skill like any other). You need to know how to support your voice, which can be learned. Opera doesn't use microphones unlike musical theater or plays. What you hear comes straight from the singers and isn't reproduced electronically. This is something of which we are quite proud in opera.
5. Leave your high brow at the door! Opera is NOT elitist anymore. Wear a t-shirt to rehearsal and come to have fun. You will find a great group of people ready to embrace you as a family. Taconic Opera is that way. Music is joyful. We work hard, we work meticulously, but we also have fun.
Contact Mary Corda for more information about joining the Taconic Opera chorus at divamaryc@aol.com