Reimagining Opera - Ben Robinson & Dennis Arashiro

Ben Robinson is the General Director of Anchorage Opera, the Artistic Director of Raylynmor Opera (New Hampshire), and the Managing Director of Lyric Fest (Philadelphia). He works as a director, librettist, educator, and arts administrator. As a stage director, he is best known for his inspired and engaging storytelling in diverse works ranging from Baroque to modern. He directed the internationally acclaimed film Gianni Schicchi for Opera Ithaca in 2020, which Opera Magazine heralded as the "deftest use... of Covid-era technology as part of modern operatic reality." He was announced as a 2021 recipient of the Ewing Arts Award, which celebrates the diversity and excellence of artists in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. In February 2023, his 2022 "moving, visually daring" (Opera News) Julia Child-inspired Hansel and Gretel film joined the Opera Philadelphia Channel and was subsequently streamed at a series of outdoor events for the company in September 2023.

Dennis AraShiro is a current member of the Fellowship and Executive Board President of the Japanese American Citizens League. His father served in the US Army during the American Occupation of Japan after World War II, where he met Dennis's mother. Because that time and place are the setting for the new Anchorage Opera production of Madama Butterfly, he advises the production.

Slideshow - https://www.dropbox.com/s/y0hv4nosct5tx40/February%202%20UU%20Presentation.m4v?dl=0