Co-Commissioned by Opera Parallèle and The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University
OCT 25 & 26
Creativity Theater
The opening performance of Hello, Star is dedicated to the memory of Catherine Johnson. She was a tireless advocate for children’s educational programs in math and science, which is also a focus of our story today. Cathie’s generosity, warmth, and spirit touched many lives, and her memory will continue to inspire us all.
CATHIE JOHNSON
October 23, 1929–August 30, 2025
836M RESIDENCY
Opera Parallèle is honored to have been 836M’s first opera residency. 836M’s gallery served as our rehearsal space and hosted free community programs, including a Creators’ Conversation and open rehearsals. This collaboration reflects our shared dedication to nurturing new voices in opera, fostering creativity, and inviting audiences to experience the artistic process up close. See what’s next at 836M.org
Enhance Your Experience
Visit op-sf.org/HSenhance for a deeper exploration of the historical and literary context for this opera, curated by Scholar in Residence Michael Mohammed.
Author Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic and director L. Peter Callender/Photo: Valentina Sadiul
Creativity Theater
221 Fourth Street, San Francisco
October 25, 2025 at 2 p.m.
October 25, 2025 at 4 p.m.†
October 26, 2025 at 2 p.m.
Based on the book by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic
Co-Commissioned by Opera Parallèle and The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University
Sung in English with English supertitles
Approx. 50 minutes without intermission
* Opera Parallèle Debut † Rebecca P.N. Seeman conducts
Based on the book Hello, Star, written by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic, illustrated by Vashti Harrison, and published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Please respect the audience and creative team. Photographing, videotaping, and recording this production are strictly prohibited.
CONDUCTOR
Nicole Paiement
DIRECTOR
L. Peter Callender
ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR
Rebecca P.N. Seeman*
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Brian Staufenbiel
STAGE MANAGER
Bethanie Baeyen
CAST
COMPOSER
Carla Lucero
LIBRETTIST
Jarrod Lee
SCENIC DESIGNER
Giulio Cesare Perrone*
COSTUME AND HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER
Alia Brown*
PROPS ARTISAN
Dianne Harrison*
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Kevin Myrick
PROJECTION DESIGNER
Ramiro Segura*
Christabel Nunoo ADULT CELESTE
Aniyjah Garrett* YOUNG CELESTE
Aisha Campbell MOTHER/TRAINER
Bradley Kynard BIG STAR
With the participation of the USF University Choir, Director Rebecca P.N. Seeman
VOCAL ENSEMBLE
Oliver Bargiel*
Anna Harlan*
Adellyn Geenen BILLIE
Allegra Kelly*
Alexis Landers*
Cherrie Liu
Nickie Ramey* ALEX
Rachel Rush ALEX COVER
Teddy Thomas*
* Opera Parallèle Debut
ORCHESTRA
Jessie Nucho FLUTE / PICCOLO
Kristin Lloyd* HARP
Carlos Alvarez PERCUSSIONIST
Sam Weiser
VIOLIN 1
Monika Gruber
VIOLIN 2
Daria D’Andrea VIOLA
Vanessa Ruotolo VIOLONCELLO
Michel Taddei CONTRABASS
PRODUCTION TEAM
Alijah Carter ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
Jennifer Cosper* ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Taylor Chan Yuanxin Chen* REHEARSAL PIANISTS
Martharine Jabo* COSTUME DESIGN ASSISTANT
Devin Parker Sullivan* MOVEMENT COACH
James Goode* PROJECTIONS OPERATOR
Dave Gardner SET BUILDER
Brianna Stutzman* SUPERTITLES OPERATOR
Costume concept design by Alia Brown
CREATIVE TEAM
Carla Lucero COMPOSER
Originally from Los Angeles, Bay Area composer and librettist Carla Lucero studied composition at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Her operas WUORNOS (2001 San Francisco), Juana (co-librettist Alicia Gaspar de Alba, 2019 Los Angeles, 2023 New York), Las tres mujeres de Jerusalén (The Three Women of Jerusalem) (2022, 2023 Los Angeles), The Everywhere of Her (librettist Velina Hasu Houston, 2023, 2024 Los Angeles), touch (co-librettist Marianna Mott Newirth, 2024 Birmingham), ¡Chicanísima! (2024 San Francisco, 2025, 2026 Mérida, Valladolid, and Morelia, México), Hello, Star (librettist Jarrod Lee, 2025 San Francisco, 2026 Baltimore), TEA (librettist Velina Hasu Houston, 2027 Honolulu), and Muriel & Anita (2027 Petaluma)—challenge gender, LGBTQ+, racial, cultural, and disability stereotypes. Her work has been awarded four OPERA America grants, as well as generous support from the Creative Work Fund, Horizons Foundation, InterMusic SF, Brava! for Women in the Arts, the Chicana Latina Foundation, and other distinguished foundations and individual donors.
Jarrod Lee LIBRETTIST
Librettist Jarrod Lee hails from Alabama and presently resides in Maryland. Lee’s collaborations include: Hello, Star with composer Carla Lucero; Delta King’s Blues with composer Damien Geter; What Is Love? An AI Story, Kandake, Spirit Moves, and the song cycle Journey to You with composer Timothy Amukele; Oshun, Two Corners, and the choral song “Beyond What I See” with composer B.E. Boykin; and Voices of Zion and the art song “See Your Equal” with composer Ronald Walton. Developing operas include Promised Land with composer Glenn McClure and Split-Second/LIFE with composer Jasmine Barnes. Lee has received commissions from the Alliance for New Music Theater, The Atlanta Opera, IN Series, Finger Lakes Opera, Opera Parallèle, Peabody Institute, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Washington National Opera. When creating stories, Lee draws from his experience as an opera singer, being Black, Gay, and American, adding to stories for opera by Black Writers.
Nicole Paiement CONDUCTOR
OP Founder, Artistic Director, and acclaimed conductor Nicole Paiement has performed with companies across the US and internationally, including the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Palermo, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Atlanta Opera, and The Dallas Opera. Highlights include George Benjamin’s Written on Skin and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar for L’Opéra de Montréal, Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life for English National Opera, Joby Talbot’s Everest with the BBC Symphony at the Barbican Center, and John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary for the Volksoper Vienna. In summer 2025 she conducted the world premiere of Derek Bermel’s The House on Mango Street at The Glimmerglass Festival, as well as concerts with the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. In 2025–26, Mo. Paiement returns to Montréal to conduct Jenůfa, followed by debuts with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania and Pacific Opera Victoria.
CREATIVE TEAM
L. Peter Callender STAGE DIRECTOR
L. Peter Callender returns to Opera Parallèle having directed 2021’s Harriet’s Spirit. His award-winning directing credits include: Skeleton Crew, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and Jitney at American Stage, Florida. Other directing credits: Safe House, Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley; Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Pipeline, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, A Streetcar Named Desire, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, and several more at African-American Shakespeare Company. Callender is also a multi-award-winning actor. As a writer, his plays include: Regards to Miss Sally: My Conversations in the Blue Room and 24 Notes. More on Callender at lpetercallender.com
Rebecca P.N. Seeman ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR
Rebecca Petra Naomi Seeman is the Artistic Executive Director of Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus and Adjunct Faculty of Music at the University of San Francisco. A Bay Area native, she has held conducting and academic positions at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz and is a sought-after guest conductor and choral clinician. She holds a BA in Vocal Performance and an MA in Performance Practice and Conducting from UC Santa Cruz and a DMA in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, in addition to an MNA from the University of San Francisco’s Masters of Nonprofit Administration program, with a focus on ADEI in the Performing Arts. Additional credentials include certificates in Estill Voice Training. An advocate of new music, she has commissioned works from composers such as Karin Rehnqvist, Trevor Weston, and Zanaida Robles, with upcoming commissions from Carla Lucero and Gabriela Lena Frank.
Visit op-sf.org/hellostar for more information about the Cast & Creatives for Hello, Star
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Emi Wang & Aaron Hoffer
“ As a woman who gazed at the stars as a kid and grew up to study astrophysics, I wish there had been an opera like Hello, Star when I was younger. I’m excited to support Opera Parallèle as they bring this poignant and beautiful opera to life. I hope that one day, everyone will have a chance to see themselves in an opera, and know that their story is worth telling.”
— EMI WANG
Costume concept design by Alia Brown
ABOUT OPERA PARALLÈLE
MISSION STATEMENT
Opera Parallèle merges tradition with innovation to re-invent opera for our modern world. We are committed to the highest artistic standards in our productions. We foster an inclusive and creative environment that values curiosity and innovation. We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of our work. We embrace communication and respect and are accountable for our actions.
We believe in the power of music, the importance of storytelling, and the ability of art to ignite awareness. Opera is for everyone.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We acknowledge that the Creativity Theater sits on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone, who are the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. We recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland, and we affirm their sovereign rights as first peoples. ramaytush.org
OP STAFF
Nicole Paiement
FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Daniel Harvey
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Brian Staufenbiel
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Eman Isadiar
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Calvin Eng
FINANCE DIRECTOR
Phil Lowery DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION
Pamela Sevilla
MARKETING DIRECTOR
Jacques Desjardins
ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATOR
Katrina Finder
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Brett Metzger
FINANCE MANAGER
Jay Cruz
MARKETING ASSOCIATE
Owen Klein
ARTISTIC & ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE & ASSISTANT TO THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Elizabeth Brodersen GRANT WRITER
Jon Finck
PUBLICIST
Muskan Parashar BOARD ADMIN ASSISTANT
Michael Mohammed
SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE
Keisuke Nakagoshi
RESIDENT PIANIST
HONORARY BOARD
Terence Blanchard
Ruth A. Felt
Philip Glass
Jake Heggie
John Holiday
Frederica von Stade
Scott Wiener
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Joseph Chan
Steve Kesten
Carmelita Mitchell
Alan Olejniczak
Robert Ripps
Lawrence Siegel, JD
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Peggy Otum CHAIR
Jo Giessler VICE CHAIR
Lisa Lindelef SECRETARY
Jeff Mattlin
TREASURER
Malekeh Amini
Larry Corash
Kip Cranna
Marylene Delbourg-Delphis
Louise Fox
Jane Hartley
Teresa Johnson
Marcia Lazer
Steven Lei
Simin Naaseh
John D. Roevekamp
Tony Shayne
Jee Young You
OUR SUPPORTERS
This production of Hello, Star received funding from and was made possible, in part, by Lead Sponsor Gordon Getty, The Future Fund, Norby Anderson, ForWords Fund, Amelia Kaymen & Eric Yopes, Bernice Lindstrom, Emi Wang & Aaron Hoffer, the Residency program of 836M, Dillonwood Productions, the Sam Mazza Foundation, and OPERA America’s Opera Fund.
Mount Davidson Season Sponsors ($25,000+)
836M, Norby Anderson, Michèle & Larry Corash, Lawrence Dillon & Rudy Guerrero, Dagmar Dolby, Donna Dubinsky & Len Shustek, Bob Ellis, Gordon Getty, Marcia Barinaga & Corey Goodman, Philip Goward & Theodore Ueki, Amy Graham & Jamie Lantz, Jane Hartley, Stephen & Diane Heiman, Franklin & Catherine Johnson, Amelia Kaymen & Eric Yopes, Lisa Lindelef, Bernice Lindstrom, Scott Lord, Elizabeth McMillan & George Varian, OPERA America, Peggy Otum & Andrew Price, Dina Kuntz & Sherry Parker, Nicole Paiement & Brian Staufenbiel, Robert Ripps & Steven Spector, Martha Peak Rochelle, Jerry Roth & Ray Jenks, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Jack & Betty Schafer, The Future Fund, The Shenson Foundation, Diane B. Wilsey
For a complete list of our generous donors, visit op-sf.org/supporters
Cal Performances & Opera Parallèle present
An opera by Philip Glass Based on the film by Jean Cocteau
March 13 & 14, 2026
Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley op-sf.org/labelle
Presidio Theatre & Opera Parallèle present
May 29–31, 2026
Presidio Theatre, San Francisco op-sf.org/doubt
Fellow Travelers
at Pittsburgh Opera
OP PRODUCTION
DIRECTED BY BRIAN STAUFENBIEL
November 14–16 Jenůfa at L’Opéra de Montréal
CONDUCTED BY NICOLE PAIEMENT
November 22, 27, 30
Everest:
An Immersive Experience at Portland Opera
OP PRODUCTION
DIRECTED BY BRIAN STAUFENBIEL
December 12–29
Learn more at op-sf.org/move
Music by Douglas J. Cuomo Libretto by John Patrick Shanley after his play and film
