Mezzo-soprano Crystal Lau in Ravel's Opera l'Enfant et les Sortilèges
Baritone Joshua Cook is the Viceroi Don Andres de Ribeira in Offenbach's Opera La Périchole
Baritone Christopher Truong is L'Horloge in Ravel's Opera L'Enfant et les Sortilèges
Mezzo-soprano Crystal Lau in Ravel's Opera l'Enfant et les Sortilèges
FAVA 2026 in France
June 1 to July 6 (subject to change by a few days)
Faculty TBA
Stage Direction
Tamara Hardesty
Tamara Hardesty has sung lead roles with such opera companies as Connecticut Grand Opera, Western Opera Theater Tours, Sarasota Opera, L’Opera Francais de New York, and Peach State Summer Theatre. Her concert appearances as soloist include performing at The Kennedy Center, The National Opera Center, and as a frequent guest of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Hardesty is an Associate Professor of Voice and the Director of VSU Opera at Valdosta State University in Georgia, where she has produced and directed many operas including Suor Angelica, Cosi fan tutte, Die Fledermaus, Hansel and Gretel, and Carmen.
Voice and Interpretation
Hubert Weller, Bass-baritone
Born in Montreal, Canada, the French-German Bass-baritone studied voice at the Conservatoire d’Aix en Provence, then at the CNIPAL in Marseille, and acting at the Cours Florent in Paris.He made his debut in the French capital in 1988 at the Comédie Française as an actor-singer in Esther by Racine and also in La Cagnotte, a vaudeville by Labiche. Other appearances in various operas and operettas followed during six years with the Company Opéra Eclaté, touring in France and Spain.He has sung more than a numerous different roles in many Offenbach’s operettas in Paris with the Philipppe Ermelier Company. For 25 years, he is also a successful singing teacher, working with singers from various horizons: opera, baroque music,operettas, melody, musicals, but also from the Moulin Rouge and the Lido.
Voice and Stage Direction
Raluca Vallois, Mezzo-soprano
Raluca Vallois is a Parisian mezzo-soprano and actress. She holds a Master degree in French Literature and Theatre and an Artist Diploma as an opera singer. A versatile artist, she has worked in theatres such as Théâtre National de la Colline, Théâtre de la Bastille, Théâtre de la Cité Internationale (Paris), Théâtre Vidy (Lausanne). She created roles for contemporary operas, and performed Bradamante (Alcina), and Hélène (La Belle Hélène).
Master Class Guest
Isabelle Cals, Soprano
Isabelle Cals studied at the Centre de Formation Lyrique of the Opera National de Paris. She has sung in many of Europe's major opera houses and concert halls, including: Opéra National de Paris, La Scala, Salzburg Festival, Amsterdam Opera, the Barbican Center, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Monnaie de Bruxelles, Chorégies d'Orange, Il Teatro Regio di Torino, Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Châtelet.
She began her career as a high mezzo-soprano, singing such roles as Giulietta (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Béatrice (Béatrice et Benedict), Ascanio (Benvenuto Cellini), Marguerite (La Damnation de Faust), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Hélène (La Belle Hélène), Concepción (L'Heure espagnole), Carmen (title role). She then changed to the soprano repertoire with Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), La Voix humaine, Tatiana (Eugen Onegin), Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des Carmélites), Armide (title role), the Governess (The Turn of the screw), La Chute de Fukuyama world creation), Alice Ford (Falstaff).
TBA
Pianists
Dario Martin, Pianist coach
A native of Havana, Cuba, Dario Martin is a versatile pianist with an international career in solo performance, chamber music, and collaborative piano. He has won first prizes in international piano competitions in Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States. Dr. Martin’s active performance career has brought him to concert halls in Austria, Costa Rica, Cuba, England, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Spain, and the United States. Dr. Martin currently works as a Collaborative Pianist at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
TBA