Welcome to the Eklund Opera Program at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!
The Eklund Opera Program has been designated a “Program of Excellence” by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. The opera program produces five fully staged operas biennially, ranging from classic operatic favorites to musical theater repertoire and contemporary opera. Each production is backed by a full orchestra involving both students and professionals. As universal musicians, vocalists are asked to perform in a variety of venues. Performing in the historic Macky Auditorium or the welcoming music theatre, students are exposed to operatic production on both grand and intimate stages. Opera performance doesn’t end at the stage. Other performance opportunities for students include an annual student-directed opera scenes program, as well as one of the foremost academic contemporary opera workshops, CU NOW. Students also participate in audience engagement, donor relations and community outreach through our Opera Theater Singers.
Leigh Holman
Leigh Holman is an established stage director in opera and musical theatre. As director of the Opera Colorado Ensemble Artists, she has directed two touring productions per season, concerts and other presentations to promote Opera Colorado and the young artists that are contracted into the program. Holman chaired the voice and opera area at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. She directed and performed for such companies and opera institutions as Portland Opera, Nashville Opera, National Opera, Wildwood Opera, Opera Theatre of Fort Collins, University of Colorado, University of Arkansas, Eastman Opera Theatre and others. MORE
Nicholas Carthy
Professor of Opera and Opera Music Director Nicholas Carthy studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London with Mary Peppin and John York, and in 1981 won an Austrian government scholarship to study at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Hans Leygraf. Upon completing his studies, he was offered a post as Kapellmeister at the Landestheater in Salzburg where he made his operatic debut conducting Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro.” During this time, he was also an assistant at the Salzburg Festival working closely with both Bernard Haitink and Sir Georg Solti. MORE
Mutsumi Moteki
Since her college years in Tokyo, Japan, Mutsumi Moteki has been active as a vocal coach/accompanist. She received extensive training in this area from Westminster Choir College and University of Michigan, as well as prestigious summer programs such as Music Academy of the West, Steans Institute for Young Artists, Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden bei Wien and Conservatoire de musique in Genève. Here at the College of Music, she teaches singing diction and vocal repertoire. MORE
Jeremy Reger
Teaching and mentorship are Jeremy Reger’s true passions, and he’s worked with some of the top vocal performers and coaches in the country, including at the Minnesota Opera, Indiana Opera Theater, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Ann Arbor Opera. In 2014, he coached and performed at the Opera Studio de Recife in Brazil. Reger has also been on the faculty of Music Academy of the West and worked for Virginia Opera. A strong supporter of local arts organizations, he has also played with the Virginia Symphony, the Williamsburg Symphonia and the Cantabile Singers Art Song Project. MORE
In October 2014, longtime Boulder resident Paul N. Eklund made a transformative gift that, combined with additional university commitments, established a $2 million endowment for the program. “Paul’s investment is a bold statement that says, ‘The arts are important,’” says Leigh Holman. “In this crazy world we live in, when everyone is on their iPhones and not connecting as much, the arts still bring people together.” Funding from the endowment helps support the three full productions annually, an opera scenes program for students and CU NOW, a program in which students work directly with new composers. The endowment also enables the program to provide the most professional experiences possible for students.