Board

John Schenkel - Artistic Director

John Schenkel joined NYMVAE as the Artistic Director in 2008. He has directed and sang in venues across the United States and Germany. Directing credits: Werther, Die Fledermaus, Libiamo, A Weekend in the Country (NYMVAE), Cavalleria Rusticana, Gianni Schicchi, La Boheme, L'Elisir d'Amore and Rigoletto (Regina Opera); Le Nozze di Figaro (Modus Opera); The Medium and The Telephone (Golden Key Opera at the Hawaii State Theater in Honolulu); Cosi Fan Tutte (Opera of the Hamptons); Beckett's Not I (Real Theater); Gertrude Stein: an Evening at 27 Rue de Fleurus (Hell's Kitchen Opera); Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Fantasticks, Godspell, and Gypsy (Affton Theater Company, St. Louis, Missouri); The Telephone and Trouble in Tahiti as a double bill (Rhein Main Lyrisches Stadtsoper, Frankfurt, Germany) and the following musicals at the Kaiserslautern Performing Arts Center: The Wiz, Side by Side by Sondheim, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, Something's Afoot, Cinderella, The Lion that Roared and an adaptation of James and the Giant Peach. He garnered rave reviews in last year's Fringe Festival portraying Tim Gunn in Jeffrey Lependorf's Tim Gunn's Podcast: A Reality Chamber Opera.

Brian Holman - Music Director

Brian Holman, a New York-based opera conductor, was recently named Music Director of New York Metro Arts Ensemble. His recent credits include La Traviata (Opera Manhattan), The Old Maid and the Thief (NYMVAE), Lucia di Lammermoor and Rigoletto (Regina Opera), Hansel and Gretel (New Rochelle Opera), La Vita Nuova (Claremont Orchestra), and opera scenes at Montague Summer Space (Martha Cardona Theater). Future conducting engagements include Orpheus in the Underworld (NYMVAE) and Turandot (New Rochelle Opera). He has musically assisted several organizations, including New Rochelle Opera (La Traviata, Tosca, Rigoletto, Aida) Regina Opera (Die Fledermaus, L'Elisir d'Amore, Un Ballo in Maschera, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Tosca) Modus Opera (Le Nozze di Figaro), Opera Company of Astoria (Don Giovanni, The Impresario) Operatic Concert Artists (Los Gavilanes), Treasure Coast Opera (Oklahoma!) and the Canadian Chamber Orchestra of New York City. As a pianist, Brian recently collaborated with Ira Siff in a master class for the Metropolitan Opera Guild. He has appeared at Salle Cortot, Carnegie Hall, Neue Galerie, The Rainbow Room, and KBAQ (Phoenix) radio with the ASU Symphony. He is featured in the soundtrack for the acclaimed independent film, "White On Rice."

Brian holds degrees in piano performance from Arizona State University and Manhattan School of Music, and continued his conducting studies at L'École Normale de Musique in Paris. Honors include the Arizona State University concerto competition (winner), National Society of Arts and Letters piano competition (third prize), and European American Musical Alliance Fellowship Award for study in France. He studied piano with Robert Hamilton and Nina Svetlanova, chamber music with Ruth Laredo, and conducting with Gregory Ortega and Mark Shapiro. Brian has served as a staff accompanist for Westchester Summer Vocal Institute, Mannes College of Music, and currently sits on the music theory faculty of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

Jennifer E. Learned - Executive Director & President

Jennifer E. Learned received her BMusic Honors degree from the University of Hull (England). She has performed the roles of Monica in The Medium, Laetitia in Old Maid and the Thief, and Stasi in The Gypsy Princes. As a recitalist she has sung works by Barber, Britten and Sondheim, including the enthusiastically received Me,Myself and Sondheim concert. Equally active in backstage life, she directed Le nozze di Figaro, The Magic Flute, Christopher Columbus, and The Sorcerer. She has also worked as a costume designer, stage manager and producer for various performing organizations in NYC including HB Studios, Regina Opera, and Modus Opera Company.

Jennifer brings over five years of project and team management skills to NYMVAE. Employed at Pfizer, Inc., she has managed several process design and improvement initiatives, technology implementations, and a first in industry, global, multi-million dollar document migration project. Since taking on the roll of Executive Director of NYMVAE in March 2008, Jennifer has worked to define a solid strategic plan to ensure the company's future success.