Austin Opera 40th Anniversary Season

The curtain rises on Austin Opera's 40th season in November.  Two members of the Opera staff will join us to preview the upcoming productions and take us behind the scenes for a look at what it takes to stage these wonderful performances.

About our Speakers:

Andréa Ochoa is a Mexican American arts administrator and soprano based in Austin, TX. She serves as Director of Education & Community Impact at Austin Opera, where she leads strategy and facilitates the company’s robust educational offerings and community partnership initiatives that strengthen both the organization and the unique Austin community. Her work is grounded in creating opportunities for singers and community members to engage with and enjoy the operatic art form. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she founded Building Voices of the Future and the Apple Tree Art Song Initiative, organizations dedicated to advancing classical music and vocal studies in New York City. Ms. Ochoa earned her Master of Music degree in Classical Voice Performance and an Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy from New York University in 2020, where she also served as an Adjunct Instructor of Voice. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree with a concentration in Vocal Studies from Oklahoma Christian University (2017)

Claudia Chapa is an award-winning performer, curator, and Latine cultural advocate. She is the Associate Director of Artistic Administration and the Curator of Hispanic and Latinx Programming at Austin Opera. As a mezzo-soprano, she has performed with the Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Virginia Opera, San Diego Opera, and many other companies. Recent highlights include recording Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Philharmonic at the famed Abbey Roads Studios. In 2017, Chapa made her Carnegie Hall debut as the mezzo soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Distinguished Concert International New York (DCINY). She received the prestigious Silverman Award, the Monica & Roger McNeill Award and is a grant recipient from the Olga Forrai Foundation. In 2015, she participated in the Young Artist Program at The Glimmerglass Festival and studied vocal performance at the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2022, Austin Opera appointed her as their inaugural Curator of Hispanic and Latinx programming. In this role, she spearheads programming in Spanish and develops initiatives to increase Latine communities’ access to opera. Her dedication to cultural representation in opera continues as the founder of the Latine Opera Alliance, a diverse group of Latine-identifying opera singers, creatives, and administrators striving to uplift and advocate for equity and representation in opera.