Carol
Castel has traveled through the theater world from American
musical comedy to opera; from actress and singer to
singing actress; from arts administrator to opera stage
director. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in vocal
music performance and a master of music degree in opera.
Organizational and administrative skills brought her
into the employ of E. Randolph Mickelson as production
assistant for Carnegie Hall concerts, Renata Scotto
as personal secretary and assistant, and Joan Dornemann
as program coordinator for the International Vocal Arts
Institute. For nine years she held the position of Artistic
Director for the Delaware Valley Opera Company in Narrowsburg,
New York, where she supervised season planning, casting,
lighting and costume design, fund raising, and budget
administration in addition to stage direction. Currently
she is general manager of the newly established New
York Opera Studio, an "open conservatory" dedicated
to helping artists move from conventional voice education
to the professional operatic stage.
Her
directing career has included over 50 productions with
such companies as the Finnish National Opera; Aspen
Opera Theater; Opera Saskatchewan; National Opera Company
in Raleigh, North Carolina; International Vocal Arts
Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel; Pocket Opera in Bayreuth,
Germany; Opera NUOVA in Edmonton, Canada; Opera Southwest
in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Mannes College of Music
in New York, Operafest in New Hampshire and Waco Lyric
Opera in Waco, Texas. The summers of 2000 and 2001 she
directed the "Opera Aegean" tour and summer
program for young singers, and in 2002 and 2003 went
to China with IVAI and Joan Dornemann to teach at the
Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
In
addition to a small studio of private voice students,
Ms. Castel coaches and teaches classes in acting and
performance practices. She has authored several opera
education programs for young children including a "Meet
the Artist" program for Lincoln Center for the
Performing Arts. In New York and San Francisco, she
co-teaches a series of master classes called "Making
It Professional" with her husband, Nico Castel.
She is currently working on her first book, Acting,
Artistry and the Creative Process for Singers, to be
published by Leyerle Publications.
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