About

Our mission ... to bring the beauty & passion of opera by offering low priced & free tickets and many opportunities for performers throughout the New York community. We will provide opera productions, concerts for professionals & emerging professionals and competitions to reward excellence in opera. Our educational series includes giving educational performances in public, private & inner city schools, hospitals, & nursing homes, and giving master classes to young and emerging singers. All master classes will be open to the public to educate the community not only about the music but also the history of the composers, what was happening in history, various languages performed, dramatic intention, & the subtle nuances of the music.

Music Director, John Yaffé

John Yaffé brings his vast experience to NYLO, having served for many years as Music Director of Encompass New Opera Theatre in New York City, ten years as conductor in the German opera houses of Hagen, Münster, Osnabrück and Stuttgart, and with orchestras in Remscheid, Konstanz, Munich, and Stuttgart. Maestro Yaffé is currently Orchestra Music Director of NYC's prestigious 92nd street Y. He recently returned from leading the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra on their U.S. tour. As well, he has guest conducted in opera houses throughout the U.S. and, as Resident Conductor, led the Florida Philharmonic in over 175 performances. He has also led numerous performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and at The Kitchen (NYC's cutting-edge new music venue). He trained in Los Angeles with Lawrence Christianson, went to Florence, Italy, to study the Italian opera repertoire as a musical assistant in the master classes of the great baritone Tito Gobbi, then served as and apprentice conductor at New York City Opera. Engagements in Maryland, Connecticut, Michigan, California, Washington, D.C., and at the Wolf Trap Festival, followed. In recent seasons, he has led the Colorado Springs Symphony, the Staten Island Symphony, the Brooklyn Symphony, the Warsaw Philharmonic (at the Warsaw Autumn Contemporary Music Festival), the State Opera houses of Turkey and Albania, and served as Director of the Orchestral and Chamber Music program of the Tanglewood Institute. This summer, he will be leading performances of the Merry Widow and La Bohème for the Delaware Valley Opera. He has also performed widely in recitals with his wife, soprano Juliana Janes-Yaffé, with whom he has recorded 20th Century German, Italian, and American art song literature.