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Eiki Isomura -
Artistic Director/Principal Conductor, Opera in the Heights
Japanese-American conductor Eiki Isomura is in his fourth season as artistic director and principal conductor of Opera in the Heights (OH), where he has led over a hundred performances of twenty-five operas, drawing consistent praise for elevating the company’s performance standard.
He has served on the music staff of Opera in the Ozarks, as well as HGOco, preparing and performing numerous world premieres of chamber operas for Houston Grand Opera. A passionate advocate for new music, Eiki launched OH’s’ first-ever new works festival. He previously served as director of orchestral activities at Lone Star College-Montgomery and held a residency as guest music director of opera at Temple University.
Eiki holds a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler, also his mentor in the conductors program at the National Arts Centre in Canada, where Eiki conducted the NAC Orchestra
Sarah Mesko -
Mezzo-soprano
Praised by The Washington Post for her “consistently beautiful sound,” American mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko is rapidly gaining attention for her “rich mezzo soprano” voice and musicality.
In the 2019-2020 season, Ms. Mesko sang the title role in Carmen for her debut with Tulsa Opera. She also returned to the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover the title role in Handel’s Agrippina.
In the 2018-2019 season Sarah returned to the Metropolitan Opera — following her successful performance of Arsace in Semiramide — to sing Mercédès in Carmen. Additional engagements included her Canadian debut as Isolier in Le comte Ory with Edmonton Opera, and a debut at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Ottavia in The Coronation of Poppea.
Sarah Mesko made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Second Lady in The Magic Flute in the 2016-2017 season. She has also toured across the United States with the Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars concert tour. She recently made her role debut as Carmen with Washington National Opera in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performance; other roles with WNO include Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte. Ms. Mesko debuted at the Glimmerglass Festival in Vivaldi’s Catone in Utica to great acclaim, and made her debut at Houston Grand Opera as Mrs. Segstrom in A Little Night Music. She made her European debut in Paris as La Sagesse and Sidonie in Lully’s Armide with Mercury Baroque and the Théatre de Gennevilliers.
A native of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Ms. Mesko holds a master of music degree in vocal performance from Rice University and a bachelor of music degree in vocal and flute performance from the University of Arkansas.
Stephen W. Jones -
Musical director at Theater Under the Stars, A.D. Players, and more
Touring credits include:West Side Story (International Tour), Beauty and the Beast (International Tour), A Christmas Carol (National Tour),
Regional credits include:
Rocky Horror, Guys and Dolls, Beauty And The Beast, Mamma Mia, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Godspell, Sweeney Todd, Les Misérables, Bye Bye Birdie, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Into the Woods, CATS, Jekyll and Hyde, Fiddler on the Roof, Hairspray, Pirates of Penzance, Violet, The Music Man, Seussical the Musical, Smokey Joe’s Café, Always Patsy Cline, Dream Girls, Kissless (Off Broadway Premiere), The Adams Family, Legally Blonde, and Chicago, and A Man of No Importance.