Our People

Voice Lab Host & Facilitator
She/Her • krisanneweiss.com

KrisAnne Weiss (she/her), mezzo-soprano, performs an eclectic array of music-theater and concert works, appearing with Skylark Opera Theatre, An Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of the North, Opera on the Lake, Journey North Opera, Mixed Precipitation’s Pickup Truck Opera, and Nautilus Music-Theater, among many others. She is on the voice faculty at St. Olaf College. She is interested in genre-bending collaborations, mutual aid, cutting her own hair, and physical revelry of all kinds.

KrisAnne Weiss

Founder, Executive Director & Producer
She/Her • kelly@anoperatheatre.org

It isn’t every day that newspapers mention arts administrators, but AOT Founder/Producer Kelly M Turpin was praised by the Star Tribune for having “thrown a gauntlet down to those inclined to think opera consists mainly of prima donnas, pretty tunes and preening.” 

Kelly’s career in artistic development and administration began as Company Director for Mill City Summer Opera. Since then, she has worked with The Southern Theater, Cantus, GTCYS (Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies), The Jungle Theater, and is currently the Director of Development & Communications at Women’s Advocates on top of her responsibilities at AOT. 

Originally planning on a career in opera performance, (Ithaca College BM, Arizona State MM) she quickly tired of the stale and pompous US opera culture and invested in creating a space for greater transparency and honesty in the art form. AOT was founded on this vision of social action and community inspired through opera. 

When not dreaming up new artistic ventures in Minneapolis, Kelly enjoys cooking, swimming, running, road trips, and reading all in the company of her cat kids Percy and Motley.

Kelly M Turpin

Jerrald Spencer Jr.

Design & Web Manager
Interim Social Communications Manager
He/Him • jerraldspencerjr.design

You are not the work you do, you are the person you are.

Jerrald has been designing for over a decade. His specialties include illustration, branding, typography, conceptual design, and social media strategy. Pro wrestling, comic books, and cartoons were just some of his inspirations growing up. As a lifelong cinephile and comic book lover, he draws inspiration from the likes of Jack Kirby and Jim Lee. His father was also a major source of inspiration in his life. He was once featured alongside Thomas Edison in a book of young inventors. His goal is to leave behind a meaningful legacy his kids, Mari and Zuri, can be proud of. When not doodling/designing, you can catch him writing his novel or playing Street Fighter 2.

Grant Manager
He/Him

Justin Spenner is a Minneapolis-based Baritone who realized the best way to make art is to let people pay for it. He started his grant writing career in 2015, securing himself a MN State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. Since then, he has secured funding on local, state, and national levels for various artists and arts non-profits. He works with national philanthropy research consulting firm Access Philanthropy. His local clients include Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, Ka Joog, Anne Labovitz, Opera Reading Project, STRONGmovement, and St. Paul Ballet.

Justin Spenner

Tour Production Manager
She/Her

Ruti “BC” Mejia is from the Nawat Pipil and Maya Lenca Nations in the Usulutan territory located in Kuskatan now known as El Salvador. Currently, member of the Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli, a traditional Mexican-Nahuatl danza group, and a former core member of International Indigenous Youth Council – Twins Cities Chapter. She holds a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and American Indian Studies from Augsburg University. Former Youth Music and Technology Specialist at Indigenous Peoples Task Force. Worked as a Cultural Architect at Indigenous Roots Cultural Art Center located in the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe People.  

Ruti Mejia

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Andrew Eggum, chair
Marketing Manager, Ecolab

*Chris Park
Corporate Philanthropic Consultant, Retired President of New York Life Foundation

Hurshini Lee
Director of Creative Strategy, Target

Janette Davis
Nonprofit Consultant, The FlightDeck One Group

Kelley Lindquist, director emeritus
President, Artspace

Thomas Forsythe, treasurer
Retired CCO, General Mills; Founder & Director of CCO Communications LLC

Brittany Powell
Escalations Associate Manager, Wells Fargo and Raise the Baseline Navigator, Project for Pride in Living

*William Gamble
Financial Consultant & Advisor

Yunyue Liu
Executive Director, Bach Society of MN

*former board founding member

Opera Immersion Teaching Artists

  • Carole Schultz

    Carole Schultz got her start in singing by trying to steal the mic from her mom when they sang at church services. Many years and lots of practice later, she holds a DMA in doing the thing she loves most, singing opera! Now she spends her time performing in her piano/vocal group, The Overdressed Duo, and singing with other choirs and companies around town, including AOT! When she isn’t singing, Carole likes to bake cupcakes and hang out with her cat, Penny.

  • Claudia Errickson

    she/her

    Lighting Designer

  • Emily Jaques

    Emily Jaques (she/her) is a Minneapolis based technical theater artist and has served as Technical Director at Mounds Park Academy in Maplewood for the last seven years. Emily was the Scenic Designer/Carpenter for AOT's Rape of Lucretia. Over the span of fifteen years working in theater professionally, Emily has worked at many theater companies and museums across the United States including the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and the Field Museum of Natural History.

  • Franco Holder

    Franco Holder (he/him) is a freelance pianist in the Twin Cities. He has performed and led workshops at the Guthrie and Ordway Theaters and is a past winner of the Artistic Ambassador Competition for the state of Minnesota, bringing classical music to rural and underserved communities across the state. In 2020 he was a featured recording artist for the Schubert Club Museum's exhibit on women composers. Franco maintains an active teaching studio and enjoys collaborating with artists across many styles and genres.

  • Justin Anthony Spenner

    A wild and anxious ride” (Star Tribune), Justin Anthony Spenner’s (he/him) appearances run the gamut from recital and oratorio staples to world premieres of experimental music. Recent stage credits include Tarquinius (The Rape of Lucretia) with An Opera Theatre; Schaunard (La Bohème) with Theater Latte Da; and Father (The Golden Ass/World Premiere) with 113 Collective. Soloist credits include Das Fliegenpapier and Strange Autumn (Steven Takasugi) and Maulwerke (Dietrich Schnebel) with 113 Collective; Coffee Cantata and Apollo e Dafne with Le Grande Bande; and Niccolai Messe/Coronation Mass/The Messiah with St. John's Lutheran Music Series. His self-produced work focuses on destigmatizing mental illness/trauma (I Enter As A Stranger; A Winter’s Journey). He is the host of Is This Music?!?!, a podcast featuring conversations with composers and performers of experimental music. He spends almost too much time snuggling with cats and listening to metal.

  • Lizz Windnagel

    Lizz Windnagel (they/them) is a director, performer, and educator based on Indigenous land often referred to as the Twin Cities. Much of their work bounces between music, puppetry, and experimental theater. They have premiered original work at Open Eye Figure Theater, with WeAreMarried theater company, as well as in Canada at the Calgary Animated Objects Festival. Lizz holds an MFA from the University of Calgary as well as a BM in vocal music from the University of Minnesota. Much of their focus as a teaching artist aims to center and uplift people with disabilities. They founded and currently run the theater programming at the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota. They also teach with Upstream Arts and Interact Center for Visual and Performing Arts. As a teaching artist with AOT, they act as stage director and hope to empower students to make brave and collaborative decisions as creators.

  • Marco Real-d’Arbelles

    Conductor and violinist, Marco Real-d’Arbelles, is gaining a reputation for service and community building through music garnering multiple awards including the Conducting Prize for his work with the Chamber Philharmonic of Catalunya (Spain), Special Recognition by the City of Doral (Florida) for contributions to the arts and his work with youth, and is a grant recipient of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board.

    Marco is currently Music Director of Opera on the Lake and Bold North Baroque Opera. He is also Associate Artistic Director of the Bach Society of Minnesota. Previous conducting positions include Winter Opera St. Louis, Chicago Summer Opera, Miami Classical Music Festival, Oberlin in Italy, and The Miami Symphony Orchestra.

    Born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, Marco began studying violin at the age of 11. He is currently based in Minneapolis.

  • Samantha Haddow

    she/her

    Costume Designer