Production Team
Román Ortega-Cowan
Artistic Director
Román Ortega-Cowan, Vero Beach Opera Artistic Director, is a professional economist and an operatic baritone. He was born in La Habana, Cuba migrated to the USA in 1960 following the Cuban Castro Revolution. Román studied music and trained in the operatic field both in Cuba and in Europe under maestros such as Stracciari, Bastida, Iglesias, and Hubert de-Blanc. He has performed in multiple operas and operatic concerts both in the United States and abroad; singing leading roles in La Traviata, Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville, La Serva Padrona, Manon Lescaut with Richard Tucker, Raina Kabaivanska, Romeo and Juliet with William Lewis, and Spanish Zarzuelas with the Inter-American Opera Society in Miami. Román has invited renowned artists like soprano Deborah Voigt, tenor Marcello Giordani, and basso Paul Plishka to perform for Vero Beach Opera.
Gregory Buchalter
Music Director
Gregory became Vero Beach Opera's Music Director in 2023. He has been an Assistant Conductor at the MET Opera for many years. The position of “Maestro di Banda” was created for him there, and he worked extensively with the MET Opera Chorus. At the MET, he prepared several world premieres including John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, Philip Glass’ The Voyage and John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. He served as Music Director of Opera Fairbanks and Opera Camerata of Washington. Highlights include conducting Salome at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Die Fledermaus at the Vienna Volksoper, Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail at the Spoleto Festival, Cosi fan Tutte with the Mediterranean Opera Festival in Italy, and Eugene Onegin with the New Opera World Festival in Moscow, as well as the American Premieres of Mercadante’s I due Figaro, Von Winter’s Das Labyrinth, and Donizetti’s Olivo e Pasquale in New York. He conducted a tour of Madama Butterfly with Opera Lirica d'Europa and with Varna International, where he is also Music Director.
Nicholas Muni
Opera Designer, Producer and Stage Director
Nicholas Muni has served as Professor of Opera at CCM, AVA and Bard Conservatory of Music and
as Artistic Director for several companies: More Than Musical, Ltd, a new opera company in Hong
Kong (2017-2019), Cincinnati Opera (1996-2005) and Tulsa Opera (1987-93).
He has produced and directed operas at San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Hong Kong Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company in Toronto,
Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theater of St.
Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, Manhattan School of Music, Victoria State Opera in Melbourne, Prague National Opera, the Kurt Weill International Festival, Stadttheater Giessen,
Opera Ireland, Theater Erfurt, Tirolerlandestheater in Innsbruck, Stadttheater Bern, Berlin Opera Academy, Calgary Opera, The Dallas Opera, The Academy of Vocal Arts, Tanglewood Music Center, Opera Philadelphia, San Diego Opera, Michigan Opera Theate, and Odyssey Opera in Boston. He has earned numerous awards throughout the world. For details, please visit www.nicmuni.com
Manny Perez
Artistic Consultant
An accomplished and sought-after voice teacher and artistic consultant, Manny Perez has discovered, taught and mentored some of the top vocal talents emerging today, maintaining vocal studios in Miami and New York City. His students pursue and have achieved national and international careers and have graced many of the world’s greatest stages including the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florida Grand Opera, as well the Teatro Solis in Uruguay, La Scala, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, The Royal Opera House, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Ópera de Oviedo, and Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Over the last few years, Manny’s students have been finalists and award winners in The Cardiff Singer of the World, Operalia, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Paris Opera Competition and more.
Manny earned his degree in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the University of Miami. While singing with the opera chorus of the Greater Miami Opera (now Florida Grand Opera) as a student in 1981, he performed alongside idols including Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. He later became a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Grand Opera for over 10 years.
Rachel Lebon
Stage Manager
Rachel grew up in Vero Beach. She studied at the University of Central Florida and earned her B.M.E. in Music Education, and B.S. in Psychology. She majored in voice and discovered opera in her extensive music history classes. "I fell in love with the drama and passion behind all of the music as well as the set and costume design involved in every production," she says. She was introduced to Vero Beach Opera through her husband, John LeBon, who is the VBHS Performing Arts Center director and our Assistant Stage Manager. She began working with Toni Lemoine and Paula Andreozzi in costumes. She worked backstage for our 2023 L'Elisir d'Amore and served as Stage Manager for our 2023 Rising Stars Vocal Competition. She is now our permanent Stage Manager, and our Administrative Director. Her two favorite operas are Carmen and Don Giovanni. "Carmen has such raw and powerful music and always invokes a wide spectrum of emotions," she says. "Don Giovanni was the opera that first captured my interest. I was thrilled to stage manage Vero Beach Opera's 2024 production of Don Giovanni and be a part of making it come to life."
Dr. Anthony Baron
Chorus Master
Dr. Anthony Baron currently serves as Chorus Master for Vero Beach Opera. In addition to this role, he serves as Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church and School. Previous appointments include being on the teaching faculties of Nazareth College, University of Rochester, Cranbrook Schools, and Saint Edward’s School. Previous performing credits include leading roles in Le nozze di Figaro, Dialogues of the Carmelites, La Traviata, among others. He is the 2013 Music Teacher’s National Association National Young Artist Winner in Voice. Anthony is a graduate of Westminster Choir College and the Eastman School of Music.
Paula Andreozzi
Costumes
Paula works endless hours as Costumes Co-Manager for our productions, and is our Vero Beach Opera Bookkeeper.
Toni Lemoine
Costumes
Toni serves on the Board of Directors, works endless hours as Costumes Co-Manager for our productions, and serves as Chair for A CLASS ACT: Opera in the Classroom. She brings her teaching experience, her joy for life, her love of students, her talent for costuming, AND even her extensive costume collection to the classrooms as well!
John LeBon
Assistant Stage Manager
John was raised in Port Saint Lucie. He earned his Bachelor of Art in History from The Florida State University, with a minor in Business. He first discovered opera when I found a VHS tape of Amadeus that belonged to his father. "I was instantly hooked because, though I had heard opera before, I didn't understand the human element to it," he says. "After learning more about Mozart's life, as historically accurate or inaccurate as the movie was, I felt a real connection to the music. Luckily, that connection has developed into a full love for opera," he says. "The Vero Beach Opera is one of my best and most valued clients," he says. "It's a joy to bring these operas and concerts to life with them." His favorite opera is Don Giovanni by Mozart. "Watching the Commendatore scene as a kid was intense and really stuck with me for all of these years," he says. "Imagine my surprise and delight when I was told we were performing Don Giovanni last year! That whole tech week and performance was absolutely amazing."
Carol Palowich
Competition Registrar
Carol started her musical life at 4 years of age, taking piano lessons from a lady who had been a student of Arthur Rubenstein. Music was a large part of her early years – piano, clarinet and the pipe organ which she loved. Her parents spent many summers in Cooperstown attending the classics and Operas where she heard Deborah Voight. After graduating from college Carol taught music in the schools, gave piano lessons and played at various local churches. Her love of music always stayed with her, but she branched out into new work areas building out offices in the US and Canada as a Facilities Manager for a couple of IT companies and a large Philly law firm. At the same, time she belonged to the Philadelphia Symphony and Opera Companies, enjoying many conductors and operatic singers including Luciano Pavarotti who she met at her friend’s Italian Restaurant for his pre-concert dinners. After moving from the Northeast, she and Joseph moved to Vero Beach in 2006 and the first thing they found was a newspaper article about the beginnings of the Vero Beach Opera Company which they both joined and became the first organizers/coordinators of the Community Development group. For several summers, in Rhode Island, Carol and Joe attended great memorial concerts given by Eva Franchi in honor of her deceased, and loved husband, Sergio Franchi. 19 years later, Carol is pleased to continue to be involved with such a great organization as the Vero Beach Opera.
Joseph Palowich
Competition Registrar
Joe says, "I began life born and raised in a small NY upstate city, Little Falls. I had a great childhood with many good friends and school activities, mostly sports. I performed well which led to college life at the University of Buffalo, fraternity membership and engineering studies then went to General Electric Company which had a large power generation production facility in Schenectady, NY. My seniority there extended for 40 years. While in Schenectady, I became highly involved with the activities of Proctors Theatre which produced and staged many exceptional shows of all types, featuring the finest musicians, singers and dancers. I became the Chairperson of our Hospitality Room welcoming our members and performers. It was here that I developed an exceptional appreciation of stage productions, including Opera presentations, of course. Our graduating class at Little Falls held class reunions on a regular basis so my present wife, Carol, and I reunited as our spouses had deceased, and we had been together in high school and were on the then planning committee for reunions. Carol and I connected in a wonderful way, agreed to marry and relocate to Florida. We have been in Vero Beach for 19 years, living a life we did not expect but are truly grateful for all the time we have had together. Our Romance is a gift. After arriving in Florida, I became the President of The Vero Beach Rotary Club, then the Exalted Ruler of the Vero Beach Elks Lodge. Of course, a large part of our lives here in Florida has been spent in endeavors with Vero Beach Opera which has been very rewarding meeting with VBO members, great people who give their best efforts. Carol and I look to the future with anticipation as our great time here in Florida continues."
Bob Webster
Competition Secretary-Audit
Bob Webster grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Sparta, New Jersey. He earned his BS in Mathematics from Virginia Tech. He and his wife Joanne joined Vero Beach Opera in 2009 through the Silvertones choral group under direction of our marketing director Tania Ortega-Cowan. "We were comped seats and the rest is history," he says. "Our Silvertones experience inspired us to join Vero Beach Opera, and we soon learned about the efforts Vero Beach Opera members put into the season's opera, concerts, and competitions, and so we volunteered to help." His favorite operas are (comedy) Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and (tragedy) Puccini's La bohème. Bob is responsible for overseeing our Rising Stars Competition scoring system and auditing of competition scoring. "And whatever else I can do to help," he says.