BMP: PRODUCER ACADEMYBMP: PRODUCER ACADEMY

César Abreu is a Puerto Rican artist, dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and producer whose life in the arts began in childhood. He performed in television, theater, and musicals in Puerto Rico, later becoming a member of Grammy-nominated Menudo. He holds a BFA in Dance Education from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and an MFA in Dance from NYU. His career includes twenty years with the Metropolitan Opera, performances with Santa Fe Opera, Koresh Dance Company, Seán Curran Company, and the national tour of Cats. Abreu also choreographed Osvaldo Golijov’s opera Ainadamar for the Curtis Institute of Music. In New York he produced immersive performance salons, and interdisciplinary outdoor events, including opera and fundraising galas. His filmmaking includes the award-winning dance film SELF. His film LAYERS was developed through an Artist-in-Residence

Fellowship CENTRO (Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College). LAYERS was later presented at La Maison de Beaumont in France where Abreu was the 2025 featured Artist-in-Residence.

“Choreographer Mark Bankin’s movement work is grotesque and beautiful—sometimes both at once.” — Malini Singh McDonald, Theatre Beyond Broadway, May 28 2025.
A member of the International Council of Kinetography Laban (ICKL), Mark studied at the Folkwang School with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Conservatoire de Paris; he has danced with Butoh masters Yoshito Ohno, Tetsuro Fukuhara, and Gekidan Kaitaisha. From 2018–2022 he built an award-winning archive of extinct Tibetan Gorshay dances, and has since contributed notation to projects with the New York Baroque Dance Company and Core of Culture, specializing in extinct folk forms. His choreographic work has been presented at Fondation des États-Unis (Paris), Hošek Contemporary (Berlin), Power Station of Art (Shanghai), and Holy Trinity at Lincoln Center (NYC). He is a commissioned choreographer with notAmuse Theater, Dances We Dance, ACUD Theater Berlin, The Tank, and The Why Collective. In addition to conventional proscenium settings, Mark has staged his works in abandoned churches, decommissioned warships, and soon-to-be-demolished warehouses, where architecture’s entropy mirrors the body’s.

Morganna Becker (she/her) is a Boston-area artist, producer, and arts administrator whose creative practice spans writing, directing, producing, performance, stage management, and design. She currently holds a leadership role with Exiled Theatre and works as a Booking Associate with BroadBand Collaborative, supporting artists and projects through logistics, relationship-building, and the practical structures that help creative work happen. Her artistic work is rooted in devised and interdisciplinary performance, with particular interests in absurdity, ritual, audience interaction, and the intersections of art, science, and the natural world. Across her creative and producing practice, Morganna is interested in helping build an ecosystem in which more artists have the knowledge, resources, relationships, and confidence to bring new work into being. She holds a BA in Theater and Dance from Trinity College and is originally from Pittsburgh.

Andrea Blunt is a composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, CA, and she serves as music director, accompanist, and vocalist in several Los Angeles area choral ensembles. Her work spans stage and screen as both an artist and facilitator. From creating the rehearsal score for chamber opera “The Yellow Wallpaper”’s Carnegie Hall debut to executive producing a first-time director’s debut short film, her projects have been predominantly female led. Community safety is deeply important to her creative practice and propels her neighborhood volunteer work. Upcoming screen compositions include a score for the yet-to-be-released film “Bootstrapped” and original compositions for the musical “The Remnants,” book by Carolyn Guido.

American mezzo-soprano Fredrika Brillembourg has built a three-decade international career at leading opera houses and festivals, including the Komische Oper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Semperoper Dresden, Dutch National Opera, Washington National Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the festivals of Aix-en-Provence and Bregenz. Particularly acclaimed for her work in contemporary opera, she has performed with conductors including Antonio Pappano, Daniel Harding, Ingo Metzmacher, Maxime Pascal, and Placido Domingo. The New York Times praised her performance in Toshio Hosokawa's The Raven as “vocally plush and dramatically courageous.” as “vocally plush and dramatically courageous.”

Beyond the opera stage, Brillembourg created and performed the one-woman show One Touch of Genius and hosted the radio program Leitmotifs on KCRW Berlin. She is now expanding her artistic practice into creative producing, developing War Has a Woman's Voice, an interdisciplinary music-theater work inspired by the life and reporting of war correspondent Marie Colvin, weaving together spoken text, music, and visual media.

Sam Brukhman is a conductor, composer/producer, and director creating immersive performances that bring vocal music into dialogue with theater, visual art, and emerging technology. He is the founding Artistic Director of Dallas’s Verdigris Ensemble. Praised as “transformative” by D Magazine and "impressive" by Dallas Morning News, his work has been featured by NPR, BBC Music Magazine, ClassicFM, and others. Projects include Sahba Aminikia’s SHAMS, winner of D Magazine’s 2025 Best of Big D award for Best Production, and Nicholas Reeves’s Betty’s Notebook, the first classical music NFT, which sold at auction for $375,000. He conducted Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anthracite Fields with Bang on a Can All-Stars at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s SOLUNA Festival in 2019. A member of the Y13 cohort of the New Museum’s NEW INC artist incubator and a Westminster Choir College graduate, Brukhman commissions new works and builds interdisciplinary collaborations that connect the human voice with electronics, spatial design, and storytelling.

Shiuan Chang is the Artist-in-Residence with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra (2025–2027) and an Asian Cultural Council Fellow. Described as “spiritual, light, and comforting” (Classic Agenda), his work spans orchestral compositions, interdisciplinary collaborations, and participatory music-theatre, including productions with Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and performances by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, and The Orchestra Now. With interior designer Yuanyuan Ma, Chang co-founded STUDIO F.A.C.E. (Failing At the Cutting-Edge), uniting research into acoustic motion and spatial relations. Centered on the moving body, their practice explores how individual and collective trajectories generate sound while rendering spatial boundaries visible. Their flagship production, People Concerto, commissioned by Weiwuying and co-developed with Quanta Research Institute, premiered at the Weiwuying International Music Festival featuring Ictus Ensemble, Neue Vocalsolisten, sheng artist Li-Chin Li, and choreographer I-Lin Liu. Currently supported for international touring development, it earned finalist honors for The Lumen Prize for Experiential Innovation.

Award-winning stage director Claire Choquette’s concept for Salome won OPERA America’s Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize in 2022. She is also the 2025–2026 recipient of the National Opera Association’s Joelyn Wakefield-Wright Stage Director Fellowship, awarded to an emerging director of exceptional promise. Claire has directed more than 20 productions across the United States, including Little Women with Fort Worth Opera, Pelléas et Mélisande with Opera Baltimore, Alcina at the University of North Texas, Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale at Temple University, and Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar with Verdigris Ensemble. Her work spans the traditional canon and contemporary opera, with a particular interest in new work that expands the possibilities of opera through more extensive collaboration with other artistic mediums. She was the Resident Stage Director with Merola Opera and has held resident assistant director positions with Wolf Trap Opera, The Dallas Opera Outreach, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Ilima Considine is the writer/composer of the award-winning queer musicals Waiting for the Kick, Drug Holiday, and How to Be a Cat Lady. She is a lapsed classical kid who toured internationally as the singer for the art pop experiment known as The Sexbots. She is a queer Asian mom based in Portland, OR.

Sawyer Craig’s work, in any medium, is defined by her passion for vibrant, collaborative storytelling, as well as her unique spark of madness. In demand as both a singing actor and stage director, she has been praised for her “luminous stage presence”, “particularly radiant coloratura” as well as her “keenly smart, insightful and sensitive direction” (Opera Canada). Sawyer grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. She holds a BMus in Voice Performance at UBC and an MMus from the University of Manitoba. She then completed an Artist Diploma in Stage Direction at McGill University, where she was the first student to direct a mainstage production: Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias. She is an alumna of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist program, where she was the resident Stage Director for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. An avid recitalist, Sawyer is a champion of non-standard repertoire, and feels especially called to advocate for the music of historically marginalized composers. Other notable training includes Banff’s Opera in the 20th Century Program, Highlands Opera Studio, and Music Academy of the West. Performance highlights include Phoebe in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with Grindstone Theatre, Adina with Highlands Opera, and her hometown Edmonton Opera debuts: as Frasquita in Carmen, and as a director with Aquarius.

As classical soprano Sangeetha Ekambaram continues her career in the world of opera and concert, she also continues to produce and perform in her own projects, a natural extension of her love for community building through the arts and deep multi-cultural exchange. Recent independent projects have ranged from traditional concerts with other classical musicians, her own original vocal-choreography composition, and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaborations, including jazz, flamenco, Iranian, Indian, and Senegalese music, and variety of percussion and dance disciplines to name a few. Sangeetha is as interested in the “what” of these projects as she is in the “how”. As she moves forward in her life as a producer, she is eager to forge new spaces for such collaborations to thrive. Furthermore, she is interested in how various processes of artistic collaboration create viscerally meaningful performances that organically connect to the wider community, and in turn, contribute to the thriving life of the artists themselves.

Siobhán Foley convenes collaborative explorations of performance and place. She is currently producing two new works: O SPARTAN DOGS, KEEP THE HOUSE!, an American jazz opera adaptation of Othello set in post-Katrina New Orleans by Stephanie Nilles; and TO BUTTE, AMERICA, a long-form multidisciplinary project exploring labor, capital, gender, and the systems that shape societies across generations. Siobhán has previously worked with LAByrinth Theater Company, Southern Rep, and The Radical Buffoon(s). Alongside her artistic practice, she leads commercialization and partnerships in the climate technology sector, bringing a systems-oriented approach to complex projects. Her work is driven by curiosity about people, power and purpose, asking how deeply local encounters can open onto larger questions about the ways we live, work, belong, and make meaning together.

Anne Hege is a composer, conductor, instrument builder, vocalist, and scholar whose work explores the roots of musicality at the intersection of ensemble interaction, technology, embodiment, and expression. Hege is the founder and artistic director of Laptopera Productions, artistic director of the award-winning Peninsula Women’s Chorus, and Scholar in Residence with the San Francisco Opera. Her compositions have been performed nationally and internationally by ensembles including Ensemble Klang, So Percussion, Princeton Laptop Orchestra, loadbang, and Volti SF.

As a performer, Hege appears regularly on her analog live-looping instrument, The Tape Machine, and with the laptop ensemble Sideband. Through Laptopera Productions, she produces operas for laptop orchestra and live voices that center electronic instrument design. Her first full-length laptopera, The Furies (2022), premiered at Stanford’s CCRMA. Her second, The Glance (2026), a co-production with 836M, premiered at ODC Theater in San Francisco, supported by a Dresher Ensemble and Artist Residency and funding from InterMusic SF and New Music USA.

Carolina Heredia (b. 1981) is a composer and interdisciplinary artist whose music treats sound as inseparable from gesture, space, body, and memory, spanning acoustic chamber and large ensemble works, electronics, and multimedia. Shaped by her path from conservatory training, folk music, improvisation, and tango in Argentina into electroacoustic and multimedia composition in the United States, her practice inhabits the space between languages, cultures, and ways of knowing. She has received commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, and the Sphinx Organization, as well as the John Corigliano International Prize, among other honors. She holds a D.M.A. in Music Composition from the University of Michigan and a Licenciatura in Music Composition from the National University of Villa María, Argentina. She previously served as Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Associate Director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative at the University of Missouri, and as Director of Programs at the American Composers Forum.

Manna K. Jones is an American soprano, creative, and people experience strategist whose work explores the possibilities of humanity through the classical voice. Hailed in the Boston Observer as “elegant and supple-voiced” in Heartbeat Opera’s Salome, she has performed Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at Carnegie Hall, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte internationally, and made her Broadway debut in Rocktopia. She is featured in the Naxos documentary Global Wagner – From Bayreuth to the World for her Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung. Manna’s contemporary repertoire centers Black luminaries including Josephine Baker in Tom Cipullo’s Josephine, Essie Robeson in Adolphus Hailstork’s Robeson, and Elizabeth Eckford in Tania León’s Little Rock Nine. In 2025, she released MANNAfesto Vol. 1, an autobiographical visual album and live performance experience. Beyond the stage, Manna has built a 15+ year Social Impact career designing programs, learning experiences, cultural strategy, and human-centered systems across education reform, national nonprofits, and Fortune 500 corporations. Across her work, she creates experiences that connect artistry, storytelling, culture, and human possibility to expand how people encounter themselves and one another.

Ever since he descended the 125 steps under the Saqqara pyramids in Egypt at the age of 5, Maximilian Kempf became fascinated with unearthing the past. Like an archaeologist, he immersed himself with archival documents that fuel the mythology of his dramatic projects. Fascinated by history, he strives to educate audiences about the parallels between the past and present in his narrative work. Even as a songwriter, he unites people through his activist anthems, allowing us to see our commonalities rather than differences. A native New Yorker who has graced the stage as a choral singer at Carnegie Hall, Maximilian brings his rhythmic sensibilities to his directing work as well, focusing on the tempo of scenes in the plays he writes. Although early in his career, he aims to expand his artistic network globally by partnering with organizations dear to his heart.

James Kennedy makes plays and musicals and things in-between to explore questions that cannot be solved by algorithms. Most recently, his new musical Prodigy enjoyed a sold-out extended run at University Settlement’s Speyer Hall in New York City. When not self-producing his work in bespoke performance, concert, and development events, his writing has been produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays, The Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Upstart Creatures, Emerson College, and Superhero Clubhouse, and he has performed sold out concerts at National Sawdust and the Green Room 42. Past residencies include the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Everwood Farmstead, and The Orchard Project, and he is the recipient of the Rod Parker Playwrighting Fellowship and the Betsy Carpenter Playwrighting Award, as well as a finalist for the Princess Grace award.

Praised by Opera News for her “comedic timing and clear resonant tone,” Lebanese-American soprano and creative producer Liz Lang is an artist whose work moves fluidly between opera, musical theater, jazz, and projects that require saying “yes, and.” In the 2026/27 season, Liz creates, co-produces, and performs in the world premiere of This Silent Music, an interdisciplinary experience inside Philadelphia’s James Turrell Skyspace. Additional highlights include concerts with Savannah Voice Festival, Brick Church Music Series, and Modus Operandi Orchestra, a solo recital with Concerts in the Heights, and new opera workshops with Opera America and National Sawdust. Increasingly, Liz develops original performance projects exploring identity, social consciousness, and new ways of experiencing music. A winner of the Sherrill Milnes American Opera Award, she has appeared with MasterVoices, Voices of Ascension, and New York Choral Society and is featured on the 2026 Grammy-nominated album Requiem of Light with Clarion Society.

Sharrell D. Luckett, PhD, is Executive Director of the Black Acting Methods® Studio and Director of the Helen Weinberger Center for Drama and Playwriting at the University of Cincinnati (UC). At UC, she is also a Charles P. Taft Distinguished Professor of Drama and Performance Studies and collaborates with the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). A sought-after artist and speaker, Luckett has held residencies at renowned institutions, such as the Lincoln Center, Harvard University and 92Y. She is lead editor of Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches, a groundbreaking book that highlights diverse performance methods rooted in Black American culture. @BlackActingMethods @sdluckett

Pete McCabe: a life-long theater rat has worked as an actor, writer, dramaturg, acrobat and producer. Trained at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, worked at Lincoln Center, The Public, regional theaters and every venue in Downtown NYC. He began writing violent neoclassical punk rock comedies on the Lower East Side and now writes plays, musicals, “radio” plays, and libretti. He prefers plays short, fun and shocking. The resident Dramaturg at the HERE Art Center for many years, as well as working for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus at BAM and multiple independent projects. A tightrope walker, he performed in Europe and New York. He was the developmental producer for LIZZIE, the rock & roll musical about the double bludgeoness Lizzie Borden. He wrote and produced STREET MACBETH; produced the NYC Summer Workshop Series; SHAKEN NOT STIRRED performed in NYC and at the palace of an oil-rich playboy in the Seychelles.

Courtney Miller is a versatile performer known for her captivating stage presence and comedic timing. Opera News aptly praised Courtney’s “fluent musicality,” and most recently, San Francisco Classical Voice lauded her “vocally resplendent Ruggiero” in Alcina, a collaboration with Festival Opera and San Francisco Early Music Society. In 2026-27 she returns to Opera San José, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, and Pocket Opera for a variety of projects.
Based in the Bay Area, Courtney frequents local stages. Favorite performances include her critically acclaimed debut as Despina with Livermore Valley Opera in Così fan tutte in 2026; Elmire in Tartuffe with Pocket Opera, which was named one the Bay Area’s Best Performances of 2025 by San Francisco Classical Voice; Warren's Wife in The Handmaid’s Tale with San Francisco Opera, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro with Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera; and Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera San José.
Additional opera highlights include Olga in Eugene Onegin and Mercédès in Carmen with Florida Grand Opera; Hannah in The Passenger with Detroit Opera; Meg in Little Women with Madison Opera; Mrs. Ford in Sir John in Love with Odyssey Opera; and performing the title role in Carmen aboard Azamara Club Cruises.An award-winning recitalist and champion of new works, Courtney is known for curating programs that tell compelling stories, highlighting works by female and queer composers and poets. The Chautauquan Daily described her performances as “possessing a delicacy and diction very appealing, and the strength to bring it home.” Her interactive children’s recital, “How’s it bee?” tours the Bay Area and her first solo show, “Tell me the truth about love,” is soon to make a return.

Shambhavi Mishra is a multimedia artist, composer, producer, and co-founder of Ted & Togo Productions, a women-led creative company developing original work across music, theatre, film, and interdisciplinary performance. Through Ted & Togo, she has brought projects including Angels of the House, Dreams, Queens & Everything in Between, and the Forget Me Not series to audiences across Pittsburgh, Boston, Los Angeles, and New York City. Her work creates opportunities for emerging artists while connecting each project to a broader community impact, supporting organizations including WomenHeart, Women’s Lunch Place, and NO MORE. At NBCUniversal, her experience spans programming and major entertainment events including Sundance, SXSW, the Paris Olympics, and Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary. A Hedy Lamarr Achievement Award recipient, Shambhavi earned both her Bachelor’s in Humanities & Arts and Master of Entertainment Industry Management from Carnegie Mellon University. As a 2026 BMP Producer Academy participant, she aspires to grow as an artist-producer who originates ambitious new work, champions other artists, and transforms bold creative ideas into unforgettable live experiences.

International comedian Carter Morgan is here to have a good time! His charismatic, in-the-moment comedy has entertained audiences worldwide, including NYC, Paris, London, Edinburgh Fringe and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Looking to laugh while the world burns? Check him out.

Allison Rodman is a musician and executive support professional based in Boston, Massachusetts. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Berklee College of Music, a Masters in Music Performance from the Boston Conservatory, and she currently works as an executive assistant at Matrix, a venture capital firm where she has been for the last six and a half years. In the arts sector, Allison works alongside percussionist and composer Maria Finkelmeier at her creative production company, MF Dynamics, supporting multidisciplinary performances and public art installations that combine music, digital art, light, and emerging technologies. Recent projects include an immersive percussion experience that utilizes performers’ real-time biodata to generate sound and visual art, as well as a multimedia satirical chamber opera exploring cults, fanaticism, and the internet’s influence on human emotion, premiered by Third Angle New Music in 2026. Through her work with MF Dynamics, Allison is currently expanding her creative practice and developing her path toward producing.

Sarah Scofield is a French-American mezzo-soprano, producer, and teaching artist whose work centers on connecting people through art. Her projects span performance, education, science, and new works, often bringing together people and perspectives that might not otherwise meet. As a performer, Sarah has appeared with Opera Philadelphia, Utah Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and at Carnegie Hall. As a teaching artist, she has developed and performed music curricula in schools and communities across the country, and created participatory arts experiences in settings ranging from classrooms to correctional facilities. Her independent projects have included an art song theatre program exploring autistic perspectives and collaborations with non-speaking autistic poets through the LYNX Project. Her background in science communication now informs her work producing a new chamber opera about the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, developed with composer Sheila Silver and librettist Rob Lewis developed in conversation with the Center for Whale Research.

Lara Secord-Haid is a Canadian soprano and creative producer whose work explores the possibilities of opera and vocal performance across disciplines, languages, and communities. A founding member of Musik für Musik, a Berlin-based artist collective, she helped create and produce projects that brought opera and contemporary music into new contexts and connected international artists with audiences across Berlin and Brandenburg. As an independent producer and lead artist, she has conceived, commissioned, curated, and performed interdisciplinary projects spanning opera, new music, dance, and multilingual vocal repertoire. Her projects have included new works in Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish, and English, reflecting her interest in bringing diverse cultural and artistic perspectives into contemporary performance. She has developed projects from initial concept through premiere, building creative teams, partnerships, budgets, and funding along the way, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, and Winnipeg Arts Council. She holds degrees from Juilliard and New England Conservatory.

Elena Stabile is a collaborative music-theater performer and writer, multi-media artist, and educator based in the Twin Cities, MN. She is an active advocate of and in-demand soloist for modern classical music and opera. Her self-produced work features new compositions as much as it does masterworks of the classical canon. Elena’s work as a dramaturg, librettist, and producer centers on helping artists transform ambitious ideas into compelling theatrical experiences, combining rigorous dramaturgical analysis with a collaborative process that centers curiosity, compassion, and open communication. Active projects include Blood Money, a new opera in collaboration with composer Jocelyn Hagan, and The Carmen Files, an adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen developed with composer Gary Ruschman and in partnership with Mixed Precipitation. She serves as the Director of Operations for Opera Reading Project and is a resident artist with precept.concept.percept XVI.

Los Angeles native, Teila Theisen, has worked in community-based art and culture advocacy for over a decade. She obtained a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts cum Laude from Northern Illinois University, with an emphasis in Theater, Voice, and Dance, under the Lila Dole Talent Scholarship. Her performance credits include solo work with DanszLoop Chicago, a revival of work choreographed by James Truitte, and several multidisciplinary vocal performances throughout the westcoast. Teila has performed locally with Selah Gospel Choir, The DC6 Collective, and Open Fist Theater company.

With a passion for producing art in historically underserved communities, Teila has choreographed and directed dance and music performances and festivals through collaborations with The Arroyo Stomp Festival, DanceWorks, Central City Opera, Pacific Opera Project, and the Pueblo de Cochiti. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who led projects with traditional West African music and dance to increase gender-equity and Female Genital Mutilation prevention in The Gambia.

Teila Theisen has a passion for creating accessible, equitable, and inclusive live theater experiences for every adult and child, believing that art is a basic human need that deserves preservation.

Cambell Thibo creates conceptual art and performs as a dancer and vocalist. He believes that built environments are intrinsically musical—and that the desire to perform in a specific place is a motivating factor toward spatial restoration. He recognizes potential in neglected spaces: poetic sites with theatrical qualities, particularly in and around Seattle and New York. Through performance, he brings these areas to life. In Germany, where he now lives, he nurtures landscapes and presents forward-leaning music in the region's oldest workers' colony—an experiment in performative renaissance.

Samantha Villarroel is a SoFlo multihyphenate creative who has explored storytelling across multiple creative disciplines. From directing artists that performed at iii Points, to writing for late night, to producing her own work. Along the way, she discovered that producing is where her passions intersect—giving her the opportunity to invest in the artists, stories, and projects she wants to see flourish. Her work has earned recognition as a 2022 NBC Monologue Slam Writer Finalist and a 2024 Art Prevails Project Writer Finalist and Play Winner. Her play, 26th Street, returned to the Broward Center in 2026, and she is currently in post-production on her grant winning short film, We Are All Mad Here, which she wrote, directed, and produced. Samantha is excited to continue growing as a producer and is happy to be part of this year’s Producer’s Academy!

The Producer Academy offers educational development, mentorship, and networking opportunities designed to support emerging producers in the performing arts. This 8.5-week all-virtual program provides participants with direct access to leading artists, producers, and industry professionals through interactive sessions focused on creative and tour producing. The Producer Academy combines practical training, cohort-based learning, and mentorship while supporting the next generation of creative producers and arts administrators.

Since its founding, The Producer Academy has served over 1,200 participants across 17 countries and remains deeply committed to creating an accessible and inclusive experience. We welcome and encourage applicants of all gender identities, racial and ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, and mental and physical abilities to apply. The Producer Academy can provide accessibility accommodations and additional support as needed at the participant’s request.

The Producer Academy brings together a dynamic cohort of artists and creative professionals across disciplines—including music, opera, theater, dance, film, interdisciplinary performance, and beyond. Whether you are an artist looking to self-produce your own work, strengthen your ability to pitch projects and collaborate with presenters and producers, an aspiring creative or touring producer, or an arts administrator seeking to expand your producing toolkit, The Producer Academy is designed to support your next step.

BMP: Producer Academy is an intensive, all-virtual 8.5-week program that dissects the phases of a production life cycle and supports early-career producers in honing their skills in new performance work development, touring, and production.

At BMP: Producer Academy, we understand that the journey to becoming a successful producer can be challenging. That’s why we’ve designed a ‘nuts-and-bolts’ training program that provides aspiring and early-career producers with the support and guidance necessary to forge a new-work producing career. The Producer Academy builds a diverse community of producing talent for the performing arts through an inclusive learning environment and cohort structure. Note that “early-career producers” does not necessarily mean “young,” but rather early in a journey as a producer. Some experience in the performing arts, whether as an artist, administrator, or technician, is important to succeed in the program.

THE PRODUCER ACADEMY OFFERINGS INCLUDE:

• Curriculum Modules: The Developmental Process, Budgeting & Fundraising, Touring, Production Design and Technical Theater, Organizational and Administrative Structure, DEIA and the Production Process, and more

• One-on-one mentorship with BMP creative producers, administrative, and production staff members

• Networking opportunities with professional producers, presenters, and industry leaders

• Feedback on pitch materials and projects by high-level industry presenters

• Cohort-style learning in a group of no larger than 30 participants

THE PRODUCER ACADEMY IS A SIGNIFICANT TIME COMMITMENT AND REQUIRES THE FOLLOWING OF PARTICIPANTS:

• Attendance at all scheduled program sessions (2–3 sessions per week, up to 3 hours each)

• Additional early evening networking sessions during the 8.5-week Academy period

• 5 homework assignments (2–3 hours each) submitted according to The Producer Academy’s scheduled due dates

• Additional mentorship sessions after the 8.5-week program (optional)

THE 2026 PRODUCER ACADEMY SESSIONS DATES ARE:

Week 1

• Monday 9/28: 6:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Tuesday 9/29: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 10/1: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 2

• Monday 10/5: 6:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Tuesday 10/6: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 10/8: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 3

• Tuesday 10/13: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 10/15: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 4

• Tuesday 10/20: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 10/22: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 5

• Tuesday 10/27: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 10/29: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 6

• Monday 11/2: 6:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 11/5: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 7

• Monday 11/9: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Tuesday 11/10: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 11/12: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 8

• Monday 11/16: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Tuesday 11/17: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

• Thursday 11/19: 5:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Week 9

• Monday 11/23: 6:30 — 8:30 PM ET

Priority will be given to candidates who are available for all session dates.

For questions about BMP: Producer Academy, please contact us at academy@bethmorrisonprojects.org.

Learn from the best in the business.

The Producer Academy faculty includes Beth Morrison and leading members of the BMP creative producing, administrative, and production teams, alongside guest speakers from across the opera, theater, and live performance industries.

Participants learn directly from working producers, presenters, artists, administrators, and cultural leaders, gaining insight into the real-world processes behind developing, producing, touring, and sustaining new performance work. Previous faculty members and guest speakers have included Christopher Koelsch (President & CEO, LA Opera), Khori Dastoor (General Director & CEO, Houston Grand Opera), Amy Cassello (Artistic Director, BAM), Naomi Grabel (Executive Director of Development and Planning, Lincoln Center), Mark Russell (Director, Under the Radar Festival), Sarah Williams (Director of New Works & Creative Producer, Opera Philadelphia), and acclaimed composers David T. Little, Huang Ruo, and Paola Prestini, among many others.

Beth Morrison Projects is one of the foremost creators and producers of new opera-theatre and music-theatre, with a fierce commitment to leading the industry into the future, cultivating a new generation of talent, and telling the stories of our time.

Founded by “contemporary opera mastermind” (LA Times) Beth Morrison, who was honored as one of Musical America’s Artists of the Year/Agents of Change, BMP has grown into “a driving force behind America’s thriving opera scene” (Financial Times), with Opera News declaring that the company, “more than any other… has helped propel the art form into the twenty-first century.”

Operating across the U.S. and internationally, BMP’s unique model offers artists the support, guidance, and freedom to experiment, allowing them to create singularly innovative and impactful projects. Since forming in 2006, the company has commissioned, developed, produced, and toured over 65 groundbreaking works around the world, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning chamber operas Angel’s Bone and p ri s m and Grammy-nominated works Black Lodge, Adoration, and TRADE/Mary Motorhead.

2026 FACULTY

Abby McLoughlin — Managing Director, CauseLab
Alexis Peart — Director of Administration, Producer Academy & Associate Creative Producer, Beth Morrison Projects
Alisa E. Regas — Founding Principal & Executive and Creative Producer, Pomegranate Arts
Ampersand Paris — Founder, FAILSPACE & Design Partner, FAILSPACE Design Services
Ann Hamada-McLaughlin — Freelance Grantwriter & Performing Arts Management Consultant; Grant Manager, Page 73
Bellisant Corcoran-Mathe — Program Manager, Producer Academy
Beth Morrison — President & Creative Producer, Beth Morrison Projects
Beverly Greenfield — Director of Public Relations, Kirshbaum Associates
Brian Freeland — Production Manager, Producer & Experimental Theater Maker
Christopher Koelsch — President & CEO, LA Opera
Eric Simpson — Managing Director, Beth Morrison Projects
Geoff Sobelle — Actor, Director & Creator of Original Performance Works
Huang Ruo — Composer & Conductor; Artistic Director, Ensemble FIRE
Jecca Barry — Founder & Producer, Fin Productions
Julia Mendes — PROTOTYPE Festival Producer, Beth Morrison Projects
Kim Whitener — Founder & Creative Producer, KiWi Productions
Kristin Marting — Director, Writer & Creative Producer; Founding Artistic Director Emeritus, HERE
Maria Manuela Goyanes — Artistic Director, LCT3 & Producer, Lincoln Center Theater
Matthew Ozawa — Chief Artistic Officer, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Niegel Smith — Artistic Director, The Flea
Noel Holloway — Chief Development Officer, Beth Morrison Projects
Roderick Murray — Director of Production, Beth Morrison Projects
Sam Linden — Director of Finance, Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Shirley Kirshbaum — Founder & President, Kirshbaum Associates
Susan Feder — Arts Funder & Advocate; Former Program Officer, Arts and Culture, Mellon Foundation

Tuition for the 2026 BMP: Producer Academy is $2,500. A $500 deposit is required upon acceptance to secure your spot in the cohort.

The Producer Academy is committed to reducing financial barriers and expanding access to professional development opportunities in the performing arts. Payment plans are available, allowing participants to pay their remaining tuition balance in installments leading up to and/or during The Producer Academy.

Need-based financial aid (scholarship support) is available through the application process. Applicants requesting financial aid will complete an additional section within the application, which includes:

• Requested level of scholarship support

• Household income range and size

• Whether you would be able to participate with reduced or no financial aid

• Space to share any additional financial context

• Optional documentation upload

Financial aid requests will not impact application evaluation.

Application to the BMP: Producer Academy program is now closed.

APPLICATION TIMELINE:

• Applications Open: July 1, 2026
• Applications Close: August 7, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET
• Applicant Notifications: September 7, 2026
• Program Dates: September 28 – November 23, 2026

TUITION:

• Tuition: $2,500

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

• Contact Information

• Short responses to the following prompts:

— Where are you in your journey as a producer? Given that, why is BMP: Producer Academy the right training program for you at this point in your career? (200–250 words)

— What kind of change do you want to create in the performing arts? (200–250 words)

— Describe your artistic aesthetic. What kind of art speaks to you? What is a specific performance you’ve seen or been a part of that exemplifies this aesthetic? (200–250 words)

— How would participating in The Producer Academy advance your career and your ability to build a life in the arts? (200–250 words)

— How would you define yourself as a producer? Are you an artist who seeks to produce your own work? Someone who wants to produce the work of others? Some middle ground between the two? Something else entirely? (100–150 words)

• Diversity Demographic Survey

• Financial Aid Request Information (optional)

APPLICATION PERIOD HAS BEEN CLOSED.