Stephen Anthony

Artistic Director/Stage Director/Coach

Stephen Anthony is a musicologist, conductor, director and author. He has directed operas including, Carmen, Tosca, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, Cosi fan Tutte as well operetta's such as The Merry Widow and Die Fledermaus. He has also directed American Musical Theater pieces such as Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods and Bernstein’s Candide. In the dramatic theater, Stephen has directed Garcia Lorca’s La Casa del Bernarda Alba, Oscar Wilde’s Salome and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Stephen studied Operatic and Symphonic conducting under the tutelage of the late Vincent La Selva. Among the works he has conducted are Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 in D minor, Handel’s Messiah, Puccini’s Tosca, and Mozart's Don Giovanni.  His symphonic concerts have included works of Bach, Handel and Mozart.

During his years at Arizona State University,  he taught classes on the Baroque Style, Stravinsky, Opera, American Musical Theater, and Stephen Sondheim.
Mr. Anthony has also published a treatise on Puccini's Il Trittico and the end of Italian Opera

Thomas Ramos

Program Coordinator

Thomas Ramos hails from Phoeniz Arizona and has a varied career in the Profit and Non-Proft world. He has worked for companies such as Salvation Army and the Arizona Opera as an bookeeper, telemarketer, and assistant Box Office Manager. In his capacity with SAS Performing Arts Company, Tom is responsible for the day to day operations as well as the implementation of the program and liaison with the artists and studios participants.

P J Macmahon

Asst Director

Biography to follow

Rosa D'Imperio

International Soprano and Teacher

The SAS Performing Arts Studios is fortunate to have international acclaimed Soprano Rosa D’Imperio as part of our Opera Studio. Rosa has emerged as an exciting and versatile soprano in the spinto and dramatic repertoire possessing a “beautifully dark and sensual voice”, “of incisive volume and expressive colors”, combining an innate musicality and intense theatrical gifts with masterful interpretations.  She has received a myriad of glowing reviews by the international press such as ”singing with agile and gleaming tone” in Opera News for her Leonora, “a big, red-blooded, Italianate voice, with soaring high notes, and a beautifully tender Vissi d'arte" in the Tampa Bay Times for her Tosca, and, as having “rich purity of tone, fluid range and impressive dramatic communication" in New York Newsday for Aida. ”.  Rosa sang the title role of Aida for Maestro Anton Coppola’s farewell performances as Music Director of Opera Tampa. 

 Ms. D’Imperio’s concert career has taken her around the world singing with notable orchestras among them the Hamburger Symphoniker, Philharmonie Baden-Baden, Orchestre Nationale Ile de France, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Krakow Symphony Orchestra, and, in halls such as Theatre An der Wien, Dvorak Hall and Carnegie Hall

Maria Giorgio

Song Intrepretation

Maria Giorgio singing style has been called passionate, enthusiastic, and incomparable as she embodies the gems of the Great American Songbook. As the lead singer of MG & the Orbs, she entertains you with much enthusiasm and flair for entertainment! Maria has ten (10) yrs. of Bel Canto training, matched with a voice the encompasses a 3 1/2 octave range.  Her song repertory includes music of  Classic R&B, Blues, Disco, R&R, and Jazz standards.

Jon Audric Nelson

Music Director/Coach/Accompanist

Jon Audric Nelson is a New York City–based musical director and voice coach. He attended the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and received additional training in conducting with Mark Gibson at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Jon splits his time between musical theatre and operatic repertoire, with recent credits include: The Boys from Syracuse, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Don Giovanni, Il Trovatore, and L’elisir d’amore. He also recently completed a residency with Creede Repertory Theatre in a season that included Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Noel Coward’s Private Lives (for which he provided arrangements and incidental music) and the annual Colorado Theatre Guild Awards (where Beth Malone was nominated for her performance in The Unsinkable Molly Brown). Jon is passionate about the work he does with the students in his coaching studio and dedicated to his beloved French bulldog, appropriatly named La Divina.

Jonathan R. Parks

Coach/Accompanist

Jonathan K. Parks is a Manhattan-based music director, vocal coach and pianist, equally versed in musical theatre and opera. Broadway: Chicago. National Tours: Chicago, Young Frankenstein. Regional: Barrington Stage Company, Ogunquit Playhouse, Gateway Playhouse, Northern Stage, New London Barn Playhouse, Lake Dillon Theatre Company, Amarillo Opera. Favorite past shows include: West Side Story (New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Musical), Hair (Denver Post Ovation Award for Best Musical), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Colorado Theatre Guild Nomination for Best Music Direction), Mary Poppins, 42nd Street, Gypsy, and Street Scene. He is a proud graduate of Florida State University and is currently on the faculty of Marymount Manhattan College.

Nick Stamatakis

Music Director/Coach/Accompanist

Nick Stamatakis is a pianist, music director and composer who has worked with professional, educational and community organizations, striving to create collaborative environments that foster the exploration, interpretation and execution of music in theater. Credits include work with Pittsburgh CLO, City Theatre, Quantum Theatre, Pittsburgh Musical Theater, Carnegie Stage, Musical Theatre Artists of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Arcade Comedy Theater and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Matthew Stephens

Music Director/Coach/Accompanist

With diverse repertoire ranging from Rossini to Guettel, Matthew’s music direction credits include productions and workshops with the Abingdon Theatre Company, York Theatre Company, Seagle Music Colony, Light Opera of New York, American Lyric Theater, College Light Opera Company, Fort Worth Opera and Kentucky Opera. Recent projects include The Mikado (New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players), Kurt Weill On Broadway (at Feinstein’s/54 Below, featuring Tony nominee Mary Testa) and Paris Through the Window (Abingdon Theatre Co).

An advocate for new works, Matthew has worked on many new opera and musical theatre workshops, facilitating the development process. He is currently the resident musical director for the composer/librettist duo, Hurley & Osborne whose theatre/opera work The Body Politic headlined at NYMF in 2017. Other notable workshops include Voir Dire (Fort Worth Opera) and The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing (American Lyric Theatre).

A passionate educator, Matthew has served on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Division as well as Montclair State University, where he works as a vocal coach and pianist. Matthew was selected for the prestigious William R. Kenan Jr. Teaching Artist Fellowship with Lincoln Center Education where he developed his skills as a teaching artist. He made his Lincoln Center debut creating an art/music/song concert featuring visual projections and featuring the music of Aaron Copland, Ken Frazelle and Adam Guettel.

A Staunton, Virginia native, Matthew was raised on a steady diet of NPR classical, Billy Joel, and Karen Carpenter. He earned his B.M. in piano performance from James Madison University and his M.M. in collaborative piano from the NC School for the Arts.