Emily thebaut

Lyric Soprano, Emily Thebaut is an avid performer, music instructor, and arts entrepreneur.  Emily is currently a doctoral student in vocal arts at the University of Southern California where she teaches non-music majors, works in the marketing department, heads her own student organization, New Opera Works, and serves on the board for the Student National Association of Teachers of Singing.  Prior to USC, Emily ran her own private voice and piano studio in San Francisco for 6 years, and created and ran a non-profit “pop-up” opera troupe, Opera on the Spot, which focused on innovative productions in unconventional spaces. 

Mark Weiser

Described as “brilliantly expressive” by the Washington Post, composer Mark Lanz Weiser explores his passion for the combination of music and drama through his operas, art songs and concert music. The Place Where You Started, Mark’s fifth musical dramatic work, received its Los Angeles premiere in May of 2018 after its debut in Portland and Shanghai in 2016. James Bash of Northwest Reverb described it as “a remarkable opera” while Brett Campbell praised the opera for showing “there’s more to immigrants thank any stereotype about occupation and ethnicity can encompass.”

Amy is a screenwriter, essayist and freelance journalist. Her writings have been featured in Salon and The Weeklings, and she has appeared as a commentator on MSNBC. Originally from Chicago, Punt began her career writing and directing original plays for The Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Bailiwick Repertory, and Strawdog Ensemble. After receiving her Master of Directing for Cinema/ TV and Communication at Regent University, she moved to Los Angeles and began working at The Writers Boot Camp where she had the opportunity to develop scripts with Warner Brothers Animation and teach screenwriters professional development of their screenplays. Punt teaches creative writing at Rosemont College and privately coaches professional screenwriters. She lives in Los Angeles.