advisors

Born in Mexico City in 1949, Dr. Catán is regarded as Latin America's pre-eminent living composer. A Sephardic Jew of Russian descent, he spent his first 14 years in Mexico, relocating to England to study philosophy and music. After several years at Sussex and Southampton, Mr. Catán moved to the United States, where he earned his Ph.D. at Princeton under the tutelage of Milton Babbitt, one of America's most important contemporary composers and musical educators. Having spent just as many years outside of Mexico as he had growing up there, he returned to Mexico City in 1977 to rediscover his Spanish-speaking roots, serving a term as Music Administrator at the Palace of Fine Arts. In 1994, San Diego Opera premiered his work Rappaccini's Daughter, launching an opera career in the United States that was sealed by Houston Grand Opera's premier of Florencia en el Amazonas, the most popular new work that company has produced to date. Successful debuts of the work followed at Los Angeles Opera and Seattle Opera. In 1998, Los Angeles Opera honored Dr. Catán by presenting him with the Placido Domingo Award. Now a resident of Los Angeles, the recent premier of Dr. Catán's "comic" opera Las Bodas de Salsipuedes (Caribbean Wedding) was met with critical acclaim in Houston and was staged concurrently with a revival of Florencia en el Amazonas in Seattle.

Dr. Catán frequently derives the subject matter of his operas from "magical realism" and fantastical literature. Some of his sources have included Nathaniel Hawthorne, Octavio Paz, and Gabriel García Márquez. He is a master at setting words to music while simultaneously highlighting the inherent drama of a given story. His work is highly accessible, overtly emotional, and neo-romantic.

Dr. Catán is presently a faculty member at the College of the Canyons—a Los Angeles Community College in Santa Clarita.

Dr. Hughes' highly noted advanced research in computational analysis and graph theory (a field of study related to everything from networks to microchip architecture) is augmented by musicological interests that include Bluegrass and other genres of American folk music. Born and raised in Texas, he is an accomplished, self-taught banjo player, and an expert in folk music performance practice. Dr. Hughes has catalogued an extensive repertoire of music during explorations and excursions all across America—from Washinton D.C.'s Library of Congress to the backwoods of Appalachia. A former U.S. Army Expert Infantryman, Dr. Hughes' mathematical research includes work for a high-profile Department of Defense think tank in the Washington, D.C. area. He has managed technology-intensive projects ranging from large-scale contract goverment work to the authorship of prototype computerized music applications.

Ms. Selan was the principal stage director of Los Angeles Opera's community outreach programs, including that company's services to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from 1995 through 1999. In 2000, she produced L.A. Opera's Junior Opera Project. Ms. Selan's other credits as director or assistant director include productions at New York City Opera, National Grand Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Pacific Repertory Opera, and the state opera theaters of Freiburg and Hamburg, Germany, as well as several productions in Latin America. From 1996 to 1999, she was a guest lecturer at U.S.C.'s Thorton School of Music Vocal Arts Program on the subjects of "Acting for Singers" and "Directing Opera", and, as a Fulbright Scholar in 2000, she was an American Voices Program lecturer at the University of Turku, Finland. She received her undergraduate degree in music from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, a Master of Fine Arts degree from U.C.L.A.'s School of Theater, Film, and Television, and her degree in law from Loyola Marymount University. She is conversant in Spanish, German, Italian, and French. Ms. Selan is a former board member of the Opera Guild of Southern California, and is a current member of the Directors Guild of America.

Mrs. Greene is a National Board Certified master teacher and Language Development Specialist with more than 15 years of direct teaching experience within public school classrooms. She is regularly responsible for all aspects of aligning diverse, differentiated, and multi-cultural student and teacher needs with the California State Standards. She presently works for the Glendale Unified School District where she teaches Introducation to Art, Advanced Art, and Design. Concurrently, with her classroom experience, she has served as Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Department Chair, and Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum Study Committee Chair. She is a member of the National Art Education Association as well as the District Arts Team and Arts Council. Mrs. Greene holds a Masters Degree in Art Education.

Mrs. Greene's own work specializes in bringing the seeds of imagination to life and giving them visual form. Working with a variety of mixed media and materials, and using an array of different techniques, her original designs range from whimsical to serious, appeal to art lovers of all ages, and can be found in found in private collections across the United States, Canada and Europe. Her award-winning sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and art shows throughout Southern California, and can presently be seen at Accolades Gallery in Ventura County.

Ms. McMillin is a classroom teacher and administrator with over 10 years of experience. She holds a Masters Degree in Teaching from Occidental College and a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from California State University Northridge. She has served as an Assistant Principal, Teacher of the Year, and member of the Curriculum Study Committee for the Glendale Unified School District. Having taught Biology for many years, Ms. McMillin is presently the Project Coordinator of a state-funded Community Oriented Policing Program and has numerous experiences with professional staff development as well as school-wide program design and integration.