Artistic Team

Chorus Master - Joseph Rawley

Bass-baritone Joseph Rawley enjoys an active performing career, including opera performances, recitals, and choral works.  Some of the venues where Mr. Rawley has performed include Seattle Opera, Portland (OR) Opera, Opera Idaho, and Opera in the Heights here in the Houston area.   He performs locally with various churches and other artistic outlets as a chorus member and soloist.  

He is the Christian Education Director and Children’s Choir Director at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Houston. He also serves the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston as their Artistic Director and Chorus Master, teaches music through Alvin Community College, and teaches voice privately. When not busy with work, Mr. Rawley enjoys reading, golfing, and spending time with his family.

Mr. Rawley makes his home in Pearland, TX where he lives with his wife, pianist Dr. Sarah Spencer-Rawley, and their daughter Susannah.  [photo credit: Shannon Langman]
 

Stage Director - Alyssa Weathersby

Alyssa is a dynamic and versatile director, choreographer, performer, and teacher. Based in both New York and Boston, Alyssa integrates her deep understanding of dance, classical voice, and theatre into a distinct style that has been seen in her work across the country.
Alyssa finished an apprentice directorship with Opera NEO in San Diego, California. While there, Alyssa directed several scenes in the NEO Cabaret, including the infamous Cell Block Tango from Chicago, with “aptly aggressive” choreography, and “Per piacere alla signora” from Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, which was praised for its “cleverly designed” staging. Her choreography and assistance in the “compelling” mainstage production of Eugene Onegin culminated in a show that held its own in comparison to “potent memories of Lyric Opera Chicago’s early 1980s production of Eugene Onegin with Mirella Freni as Tatyana and Nicolay Ghiaurov as Prince Gremin.”

In 2018, Alyssa was Assistant Director at the Crested Butte Music Festival for their production of Verdi’s Falstaff. As a choreographer, she has collaborated with opera companies in Texas, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Arkansas, on productions including Cendrillon, Pirates of Penzance, Rigoletto, Salsipuedes, and Il Postino. Alyssa is currently on faculty with the Brookline youth theatre Artbarn. As part of the Rafters directing team, she has choreographed productions of Newsies, Shrek, The Addams Family, and Just So, in addition to original productions.

Alyssa holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Houston and a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory of Music. While at NEC, she studied under Dr. Ian Howell and focused on issues at the intersection of women’s health and the singing voice. Alyssa’s passion for healthy singing is the foundation for her voice studio.

Music Director - Keith Chambers

Keith Chambers has conducted nearly 200 performances of almost 60 different operas for companies including The Dallas Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Shreveport Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Opera Ithaca, New Amsterdam Opera, Amarillo Opera, and First Coast Opera, among others. He has served as Cover/Assistant Conductor for over 40 different operas and has assisted noted conductors, including Emmanuel Villaume, Patrick Summers, Willie Anthony Waters, and Riccardo Frizza. He is the Founder, Artistic Director & Principal Conductor of New Amsterdam Opera.
At The Dallas Opera, Mr. Chambers has conducted The Dallas Opera Family Concerts and student performances of The Elixir of Love. He recently led performances of Un giorno di regno for the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program and has conducted for Amarillo Opera (Tosca), Asheville Lyric Opera (Roméo et Juliette), Manhattan Opera Studio (Radamisto, Hänsel & Gretel, Die Zauberflöte, and Le nozze di Figaro), Indianapolis Opera (South Pacific, Don Giovanni), Shreveport Opera (La bohème), Opera Ithaca (Song from the Uproar, Hamlet), and New Amsterdam Opera (Hérodiade, I Vespri Siciliani, La Dame Blanche, Lucrezia Borgia & La Favorita). Recent conducting performances include Hänsel & Gretel for Temple University and Manhattan Opera Studio, and L’enfant et les sortilèges, The Merry Widow, Monsieur Choufleri, Hobson’s Choice & Cosí fan tutte for Moores School of Music at the University of Houston.

Mr. Chambers is former Assistant Conductor of New York City Opera, The Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, and Toledo Opera. He has served as faculty of Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, Westchester Summer Vocal Institute, RESONANZ Festival and is previous Artistic Director of The Living Opera, Principal Conductor & Casting Consultant for New York Lyric Opera and Chorus Master of Shreveport Opera. He has adjudicated orchestras for New York Sounds of Spring Music Festival at Carnegie Hall.