Magnificent Melodies, Minutes Away - Gladstone, NJ
Opera Magnifico
About us
Opera Magnifico, a 501c3 non-profit organization, presents professional operatic productions in and around Gladstone, NJ, providing a niche that enriches the cultural offerings in Somerset County and the surrounding area. Striving to aid the next generation of rising opera singers, Opera Magnifico provides emerging and local operatic artists with an opportunity to perform in a professional setting, while receiving a stipend. Opera Magnifico is a platform for young and emerging artists to garner performance experience and dip their feet into the professional operatic world. We source these singers through a rigorous audition process. Our mission is to keep the bel canto tradition of opera alive and provide elegant productions that invoke the glory of golden age era of opera.
Focusing on standard operatic literature, Opera Magnifico seeks to reimagine the art form by committing to the inclusion of singers from a variety of backgrounds. The diversity we commit to standardizing in our company exemplifies our keen understanding of the crucial adjustments that must be made to classical music in order for the art form to thrive and evolve.Opera Magnifico encourages healthy, naturalistic, and expressive singing embodying the immaculate artistry of golden age singers.
Meet our Advisory Board
Artistic Director, President
Stephen Walley
Stephen Walley, founder of Opera Magnifico and a baritone, is dedicated to providing paid opportunities for aspiring operatic artists. A graduate of Indiana University and the University of Florida, he has performed roles such as Paul in Kiss Me Kate and Escamillo in Carmen, while also mentoring young singers through the Art Smart Organization in Newark, NJ.
Treasurer, Director of Operations
Cassidy Dixon
Cassidy Dixon, a soprano and Peabody Conservatory graduate with a Master of Music in Voice Performance and Pedagogy, has performed notable roles such as Adina in L'elisir d'amore and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Magnifico. Alongside her singing career, she holds an MBA and works as a Program Administrator and Budget Analyst at Johns Hopkins, while serving as treasurer and head of marketing for Opera Magnifico.
Secretary
Emily Niemeyer
Emily Niemeyer, a Mezzo-Soprano, is a graduate from Kean University with degrees in Music and Theatre. Emily has worked both onstage and off throughout New York and New Jersey, and has helped many companies achieve their best possible production. Along with her career in the arts, Emily is an educator and teaches Theatre and Music in both a school and a studio setting.
Board Member since 2023
Linda Pratt
Linda Pratt, retired president of Invision Consulting, brings her business and arts experience to Opera Magnifico as they grow into a regional opera company focused on music, education, and community outreach. With an MBA from Babson and 22 years leading a hospitality consulting firm, Linda is now enjoying retirement in New Jersey while contributing her expertise to the arts.
Bookkeeper
Joy Walley
Joy Walley, a speech-language pathologist with over 30 years of experience, currently works at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and has assisted in three Opera Magnifico productions as stage manager. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and enjoys opera, nature walks, travel, and cheering for her Big Ten basketball teams.
Board Member since 2022
Charles Levin
Charles Levin is an author of four thriller novels and a collection of short stories, as well as the Amazon #1 New Release Nougo and His Basketball, co-created with his grandsons. Founder of Munn Avenue Press, he helps authors turn manuscripts into bestsellers, drawing on his 27 years in tech and philosophy background, and is a sought-after speaker on business, online marketing, and publishing.
Board member since 2023
Charles Schneider
Baritone Charles Schneider has performed over 30 roles since his 1999 debut as the Baron in La Traviata, most recently appearing as The Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Boheme Opera NJ and as the baritone soloist in Handel’s Messiah in Florida. He specializes in Italian repertoire and teaches voice at Westminster School of the Arts and The Lawrenceville School, while also leading the music program at Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church.
Board Member since 2022
Kent R Walley
The Reverend Dr. Kent R. Walley, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Gladstone, NJ, has served as a parish priest for 23 years after 15 years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Trinity School for Ministry, and Fuller Theological Seminary, he serves on several committees and boards, and has enjoyed participating in the opera chorus for Opera Magnifico.
Board Member since 2022
Gabe del Virginia
Gabe, a Rutgers graduate and attorney with over 35 years of practice in New York and New Jersey, developed a deep appreciation for opera through his Italian heritage and family influences. He has served on various boards, volunteers at Eva’s Village, and is excited to support Opera Magnifico’s performances in Peapack-Gladstone, where he lives with his wife Linda and their dog Baci.
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Board Member since 2023
Jordan Costa
Italian-American tenor Jordan Costa, an alumnus of the Yale and Eastman Schools of Music, has performed with renowned programs like Glimmerglass, Sarasota Opera, and Virginia Opera. As a board member and committee member of Opera Magnifico, he is dedicated to fostering community connections, promoting inclusivity, and making opera accessible to diverse audiences.
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Board Member since 2024
Marlen Nahhas
Mexican-Lebanese soprano Marlen Nahhas, internationally acclaimed for her “impassioned soprano” (San Francisco Chronicle), recently debuted as Violetta in La Traviata with El Paso Opera. She has also performed leading roles with Opera Ithaca, Virginia Opera, Detroit Opera, and Washington National Opera, including Musetta in La Bohème and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.
Board Member since 2024
Jim Leda
Jim’s passion for opera began in college during a university-sponsored trip to the Pittsburgh Opera’s performance of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. Now a successful executive and board member for several non-profit organizations, he celebrated this milestone thirty years later by attending Un Ballo in Maschera at La Scala, reflecting on how the arts have inspired his leadership journey.
A Note About Bel Canto Singing and
The Golden Age of Opera
Bel Canto, in the operatic vocabulary, comes with a variety of meanings and interpretations. Literally translated from Italian, "Bel Canto" means "beautiful singing." Bel Canto refers to a genre of opera that developed in Italy in the mid 1700s and declined in the mid 1800s with the advent of Verismo opera. However, Bel Canto also refers to a technique of singing that was developed during this era. Bel Canto singers were able to project their sound to great volumes while maintaining immense beauty. As loud as the voice could get, it could also sing just as softly and sweetly. The voice could also achieve impressive agility, executing rapid passages with ease and poise, while always continuing strong enough to be heard by thousands of audience members over a full orchestra.
While the operas of the Bel Canto era fell out of fashion during the early 20th century, the style of singing remained stagnant and enabled singers of Puccini, Verdi and Wagner, composers who used even larger orchestras, to project, maintain beauty and meet the ever increasing demands from the composers. During the 1940s and 50s, highly publicized singers like Maria Callas and Montserrat Caballe, who could achieve spectacular virtuosity in bel canto repertoire, brought the repertoire back to prominence. The combination of wonderful technique and the frequent production of both Verismo and Bel Canto Operas of the 1920s-1950s, earned this era the name of "The Golden Age of Opera." Productions were also elegant and spectacular involving fire, live animals and hundreds of performers.
With the advent of microphones in our technological era, the technique of opera singing has shifted to a less visceral and dramatic form than bel canto singing. The new technique is beautiful in recording, but often creates a different effect with less vocal drama in the theater. Opera Magnifico strives to maintain the true bel canto tradition of singing and bring visceral vocal drama to all of its productions.