Join us for an enchanting evening at the Mission Opera’s Benefit Gala “An Evening of Elegance”, a sophisticated cocktail party that promises to showcase the exceptional talent of our Mission Opera singers. The evening will unfold as follows:

• 6:30 PM -  Doors Open
• 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Enjoy a delightful outdoor experience (weather permitting), featuring a bar, silent auction, raffle, and passed appetizers. Bistro tables with reserved seating are available for companies that purchase a table. Low music will set the ambiance as guests mingle and explore the auction items.
• 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Move indoors for dessert and a captivating performance by Mission Opera singers, with theatre-style seating arranged around a central aisle. Wine will be available at an indoor bar or table.
• 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM: The evening concludes with the announcement of silent auction and raffle winners.

Celebrate an evening of elegance, fine music, and delectable delights, all in support of Mission Opera. Don’t miss this unforgettable night!

Meet Our Singers!

Jessica Tivens Schneiderman

Jessica Tivens Schneiderman is a soprano from Los Angeles, CA. Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a singer of considerable gifts,” Ms. Schneiderman has been performing professionally since her debut on CBS’s Star Search at eight years old. Since then, she has performed as a soloist in many major venues across the United States, and internationally. In June 2024, she sang the title role in Lehar’s The Merry Widow with Mission Opera, and in October 2023, she sang the role of Olympe De Gouges in the West Coast premiere of VanSciver and Kunkle’s Girondines, also at Mission Opera. She sang the soprano solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Leonore in excerpts of Beethoven’s sole opera, Fidelio; both
works sung with the Symphony of the Vines in Paso Robles, CA in May 2022. She sang the role of Autumn in the New York City premiere performances of Service Provider in February of 2020. In the spring of 2018, she made her debut with the Bronx Opera as Agathe in a new production of Der Freischütz. In recent seasons, she has sung Santuzza in North Shore Music Festival’s production of Cavalleria Rusticana; the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors for the inaugural production of the Modern Opera Company, and also for the Passionist Hatian Missionary
Charities in New York City; Brünnhilde in excerpts of Wagner’s Ring as part of an experimental theater piece entitled “A Yiddishe Wagner” for the 14th Street Y’s LABA Live project; as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Garden State Philharmonic. She joined DiCapo Opera Theater covering the role of Abigail Williams and performing the role of Sarah Good in Robert Ward’s The Crucible and repeated her performance for the award-winning European Premiere of the work in Szeged, Hungary in November, 2008. Other engagements have included Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Metro Lyric Opera New Jersey, and 2nd Lady in The Magic Flute with the Harrisburg Opera Association.

Active on the concert stage as well as in opera, Ms. Schneiderman has been a regular soloist with her home orchestras, the Burbank Philharmonic and the New West Symphony, performing works by Mahler, Stravinsky, Orff and Mozart. She has also performed at Carnegie Hall as soprano soloist in the world premiere of Ed Lojeski’s Missa Americana. Later, she premiered the soprano solos of Mike Garson’s Symphonic Suite for Healing at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, CA.

In addition to her passion for classical music, Ms. Schneiderman has performed extensively in crossover and pop music, having performed regularly with pop legend, David Foster, at various events. During this time, she shared the stage with Michael Crawford and spent several years as duet partner to Josh Groban.

Ms. Schneiderman made her operatic debut with Festival Opera Walnut Creek as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro to much critical acclaim and went on with the company to perform Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Sophie in Werther. Ms. Schneiderman attended the San Francisco Opera Merola Program, and immediately followed this with a year as a Resident Young Artist with Seattle Opera, where she specialized in the music of Mozart and Rossini. She is is also a recipient of many awards and recognitions, including 3rd place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions - Southwest Region, 5th Place in the Loren L. Zachary Society competition, Giulio Gari Foundation Encouragement Award winner, and Violetta DuPont Competition finalist.

In addition to her stage work, Ms. Schneiderman is also the founder and Artistic Director of Modern Opera Company and is the Artistic Advisor to the Source/Filter Music Collective.

Brooke Iva Lohman

Hailed as “witty, adorable, and one to watch” (Singerpreneur), soprano Brooke Iva Lohman is an active recitalist and performer throughout California. Lauded for her clear, high range, crisp, clean fioritura, and moving character portrayals, she is quickly gaining attention as an adept interpreter of some of the most demanding coloratura repertoire for soprano.  

Ms. Lohman has sung with many Southern California opera companies, including LA Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Pacific Opera Project, Glendale Opera, Orange County Opera, Mission Opera, Independent Opera, and Pacific Lyric Association. Notable performances include Alice in the world premiere of Brooke DeRosa’s Alice in Wonderland, Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Gilda (Rigoletto), Brigitta (Iolanta), Ticie (On Gold Mountain), Dew Fairy and Sandman (Hansel and Gretel), Frasquita (Carmen), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Monica (The Medium), the title role in the West Coast premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snow Maiden (Snegúrochka), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Atalanta (Serse), and Madame Goldentrill (Der Schauspieldirektor).  

In the Spring of 2022, Brooke made her debut with LA Opera in the role of Ticie Pruett in Nathan Wang's On Gold Mountain at the Huntington Library's Chinese Gardens. Upcoming performances include revisiting the Queen of the Night with Genesis Opera Theater in September 2024.  

Brooke was named a finalist in the Music International Grand Prix for 2022 and was the Cal-Western Region Winner for the 2020 NATS Artist Awards competition, receiving the Irvin Bushman Award. She is a recipient of the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust grant, the Opera Buffs grant, the Opera Guild of Southern California scholarship, the Northridge Arts Council scholarship, and is a member of AGMA and Pi Kappa Lambda.  She received a MM in Vocal Performance from California State University, Northridge, and lives in beautiful Altadena, CA with her husband and three cats (Freddie, Felix, and Lili). For more information, please visit www.BrookeIvaLohman.com 

Anna Pflieger

Anna Pflieger, dramatic mezzo-soprano, is an award-winning vocal artist recognized for her arresting vocal timbre and bold stage presence.

Ms. Pflieger’s recent engagements include: 2022 Pacific Lyric Association title role debut as Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 Alto Soloist with LAKMA Symphony at The Walt Disney Concert Hall, 2021 Opera West! debut as The Mother in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, 2020 VOPA debut as Marthe in Gounoud’s Faust, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 Alto Soloist with California State University Northridge and 2019 Landmark Opera Company debut as Flora in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Recent honors include: Semi-finalist for the 2023 International Voci Verdiane Competition, Semi-finalist for the 2021 Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition, finalist and encouragement award recipient for the 2020 Mentoris Voice Vocal Competition, Western Region semi-finalist and encouragement award recipient for the 2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, finalist in 2019 Burbank Philharmonic Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition, a recurring recipient of The Opera Buffs Inc., Artist Grant Award, and 1st place recipient of the 2019 Bell T. Ritchie Award. 

Anna Pflieger is based in Los Angeles and is available for engagements worldwide. Follow on Instagram @dramaticmezzo

Arthur Miller

Arthur “Art” Miller has sung roles with Chautauqua Opera, Opera New Jersey, and Pittsburgh Opera. Following his passion for teaching, Art is currently the Theatre Director at Canyon High School in Santa Clarita. Recent productions have included Rent, The Taming of the Shrew, Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, and played the role of Sam in Mission Opera’s ‘Susannah’ in June of 2023. Upcoming productions include Grease, Rocky: The Musical, and The Crucible. A native “Yinzer” (Pittsburgh), Art earned his BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and his MM from Manhattan School of Music. Love to his family, friends, and students for their support.
 

Joshua Wentz

Baritone Dr. Joshua R. Wentz has had the privilege of singing nationally and internationally in nine countries and many states throughout the US. He has worked with Cleveland Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Carolina, Dayton Opera (Ohio), Harrower Opera, Festival Internaccional d’Opera Americas, Rome Festival Opera, Darmstadt Festspiel, and various other venues. Recent engagements included Lindorf/Crespel in Tales of Hoffmann and Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, both in São Paolo, Brazil with the Festival Internacional de Opera Americas. 

In 2013, Wentz debuted the role of Sam in the world premiere of Bambino by Richard Maltz. He performed Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Pistola in Falstaff with the Rome Festival Orchestra in Rome, Italy, and Papageno in Die Zauberflote in Darmstadt, Germany. Favorite roles include Giovanni, Figaro, Top in Copland’s The Tender Land, and Pangloss in Bernstein’s Candide.

Dr. Wentz serves as Artistic Director and President of Mission Opera. Launched in 2019, Mission Opera strives to produce high-quality, accessible opera and musical theater, to provide members of the community the opportunity to participate at all levels of these productions, and to afford both participants and audiences enjoyment and a deeper appreciation of opera and musical theater. Additionally, he serves as the Director of Music at Santa Clarita United Methodist Church and Consultant for Landmark Opera.

In addition to opera, Wentz has sung many oratorio and musical theater roles at various levels throughout the United States. He began his orchestra conducting career with the SBOCES Orchestra in Wyoming, debuting large-scale works such as Handel’s Messiah. As a musicologist, Wentz’s published research on American Opera, and in particular, Carlisle Floyd, is becoming one of the leading sources in the world on Floyd’s works of the 1960s. “Dr. J” is an Associate Professor of Music at Los Angeles Mission College, where he oversees the choral and vocal area. Wentz holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of South Carolina, and Master's of Music from Winthrop University, and a Master's of Science in College Student Affairs from Nova Southeastern University, where he specialized in Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

Patrick Blackwell

Patrick Blackwell made his LA Opera debut in 2014 as Lieutenant Ratcliffe in Billy Budd. He has returned as a member of the Ghost Quartet in The Ghosts of Versailles (2015); the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly (2016); Aye in Akhnaten (2016); the Second Soldier in Salome (2017); Noah in Noah's Flood (2017) and Lord Krishna in Satyagraha (2018). In the spring of 2019, he will perform Zuniga in Carmen with San Diego Opera.

Most recently, he made his debut with the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France, in Kurt Weill's Mahagonny Songspiel and The Seven Deadly Sins. He also performed Porgy in Porgy and Bess in Bari, Italy. His most recent appearances include Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro with Utah Opera, Ferrando in Il Trovatore at Knoxville Opera and Scarpia in Tosca with Pacific Opera Project. 

He continues to expand his impressive repertoire in opera, oratorio and musical theater. During the summer of 2011 he made two important concert debuts as Porgy in Porgy and Bess, under the baton of Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival and under Simon Rattle with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. He recently portrayed Porgy in a full-scale production in St. Louis and also on tour in Europe. Other recent appearances includes Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera with New Orleans Opera and Joe in Show Boat with Fresno Grand Opera and with Rockwell Productions in Vancouver. He also made an important international debut with the Munich Philharmonic with Maestro Maazel. He made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in Anthony Davis' Amistad creating the role of Burnah in this highly acclaimed world premiere. With the New York City Opera, he appeared as Leporello in Don Giovanni, Colline in La Boheme, Zuniga and Morales in Carmen and Dr. Grenvil and Baron Douphol in La Traviata.

Lindsay Aldana - Pianist

Ms. Aldana has participated in several musical theater productions in the Los Angeles County. From 2012 to 2018 she performed as a keyboard programmer under director David Aks at Cal State Northridge in musicals ranging from Avenue Q to Sweeney Todd. In 2022 she joined Mission Opera and has been principal coach and Assistant Choir Master in productions such as Romeo et Juliette, Susannah and 13 Clocks.  Also comfortable in musical theatre, she has served as Musical Director for various productions such as West Side Story, Music Man, Little Shop of Horrors and Godspell. She now performs opera productions in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. She is currently on staff as collaborative pianist at CSUN as well as maintaining a private studio. She has an undergraduate degree in piano pedagogy from Cal State University Northridge (CSUN), and a Graduate Certificate from the University of Southern California (USC) in Keyboard Collaborative Arts.

When not performing she spends her free time with her dog Gary, and her husband Alexander.

Meet Our Musicians!

Atomic Brass Quintet

Formed in 2023, the Atomic Brass quintet is a dynamic ensemble that brings a fresh and vibrant sound to the world of brass music. Comprised of five talented musicians, the quintet features two trumpets (Jordyn Brown and Crista Guerrero Donovan), a french horn (Daniel Gallardo), a trombone (Omar Morga Pintle), and a tuba (Shane Willey). Known for their versatility, Atomic Brass performs an extensive repertoire ranging from classical pieces to contemporary works, jazz standards, and popular music arrangements. Atomic Brass captivates listeners with their artistry, energy, and enthusiasm. Their commitment to excellence make them a standout ensemble in the brass music community.

Sarah Melnick - Harp

Sarah Melnick née Van Sciver (Composer; Music Director; Technical Director; Pianist-Conductor; Graphic, Projection, Prop, Sound, and Supertitle Designer; Supertitle Translator) is thrilled to be returning to Mission Opera after Girondines. In addition to performing as a vocalist, pianist, harpist, and ukulele player, Sarah composes and produces songs, scores, sound, video, graphics, and designs for film, stage, and studio productions. Past credits include producing, music and technical directing, performing, designing, and writing music and lyrics for hundreds of concert, album, cinema, and theater productions. Past projects include composing for theater and opera productions Shadow House (Philadelphia Opera Collective), People That Love Move Mountains and RUBBISH (CalArts New Works Festival), the Magnus Effect and Fifty Days at Iliam (Greenfield Collective), Pay2Play (VoiceMakeDown Productions) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (Stimulus Childrens Theater); arranging choir music for Anna (EgoPo) and dozens of a cappella, glee club, choral, and band ensembles around the world; and music directing The Many Delays of Charlie Greene (CalArts New Works Festival), Little Shop of Horrors (Quadramics), and Schoolhouse Rock Live and A Year with Frog and Toad (Stimulus Childrens Theater). Sarah received her B.A. in Music from the University of Pennsylvania, her Professional Certificate in General Music Studies from the Berklee College of Music, and her Performer-Composer M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Sarah proudly serves CalArts on its staff as Career Advisor in the Patty Disney Center for Life and Work helping performing, visual, literary, digital, and multimedia artists discover and design professional paths to success. Her most recent recording was with Wilmington Concert Opera for the 'in-concert' world premiere of Girondines, a collaboration with librettist Kirsten C. Kunkle. The Girondines Wilmington Concert Opera Original Cast Recording album and Sarah's prior solo releases (EPs Ophelia's Song, Overture to an Adventure, and Puzzle Pieces and single Canon in D - Harp Trio) are available on all streaming services. Upcoming projects by Sarah include a song cycle, a rock-popera, and an LP of new songs. With love and thanks to my friends, my teachers, and my family, especially to my leading men, Jeffrey and Bruce. www.sarahvansciver.com

Dr. Joshua Wentz moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to take a position as a music professor at Los Angeles Mission College, a Hispanic-serving institution of higher learning, in Sylmar. Almost immediately, he realized that the students coming into his music classes from the NE San Fernando Valley were seriously lacking in musical background, experience, and education. He wondered why students over the years were coming to college less prepared and struggling to do well academically. After some research, he realized that most of the feeder schools in and around Sylmar didn't have strong music programs — many had no music programs at ALL!

This was a major factor that helped Wentz realize the need for music education in the SFV and led to the creation of Mission Opera. This lack of music education, paired with the absence of performance opportunities and hands-on training for community college students, helped the realization that Mission Opera could target and help multiple disadvantaged communities. Mission Opera is a performing arts education nonprofit who produces 3-4 full, mainstage operas each year. Also, our Boxtop Opera Educational Outreach program serves part of our mission to go into low-funded schools in and around LA to teach children about opera and classical music, through live performances with three singers, a pianist and a sound tech with a "box" of props and costume pieces. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had various types of instrumental and vocal music online programs and went into over a dozen local schools to assist teachers in teaching music - a hard-to-covert discipline - during the pandemic.

Mission Opera strives to produce high-quality, accessible opera and musical theater, to provide members of the community the opportunity to participate at all levels of these productions, and to afford both participants and audiences enjoyment and a deeper appreciation of opera and musical theater.