People

Rita Albaugh is Box Office Manager for Opera Naples where she has overseen ticket sales and provided excellent customer service for 40+ productions. She is renowned for her versatility, attention to detail, passion for opera and devotion to promoting a lifelong love for music and the arts. Rita is a founding charter member of the local chapter of the women’s group Soroptimist of Naples where she served as president, director of membership/publicity and recording secretary. She is a successful grant writer and coordinated fundraising events to benefit PACE Center for Girls, the Shelter for Abused Women and Children, the Alzheimer’s Association – Gulf Coast Chapter, the Alzheimer’s Support Network of Naples, the Neighborhood Health Clinic, and Humane Society Naples. Rita has overseen Opera Naples’ 100+ volunteer member group, arranged schedules for staff operations and assisted the executive team with financial statements and accounting reports, marketing efforts, proofreading, caterers, and valets. She was Box Office Manager and Group Sales Manager for TheatreZone, and has a background in marketing, elder care, and at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas, in college and professional staffing as well as a buyer in the research division.

Prior to joining Opera Naples, Tricia has consulted and worked with many organizations to improve operational processes and provide accurate and timely financial reporting.  She is also experienced managing contracts and implementing software to improve visibility and provide business intelligence.  Her industry experience includes banking, property management, real estate development, construction, marketing, senior living and service.

Tricia enjoys time with her family in Collier County.  Her appreciation of music and culture made this opportunity with Opera Naples an obvious choice.

Robin Shuford Frank is Chorus Master, Music Administrator, and Director of Educational Outreach for Opera Naples, for which she also serves as Musical Director for youth productions. She engages Southwest Florida’s youth through the company’s Student Apprentice Program, community outreach performances, Elementary In-School Tours, and Young Artist Program. An accomplished pianist, she serves as the rehearsal pianist for Opera Naples’ main productions as well as the pianist for community concerts and events. As chorus master, she prepares the adult and children’s choruses for all productions in which they appear. She is also the company’s orchestra personnel manager and librarian. Aside from her work with Opera Naples, Frank is the accompanist for The Festival Singers of Florida and also frequently performs with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and The Naples Players. She is a frequently sought guest accompanist for choral festivals around the country.

Prior to moving to Naples, Frank was an Adjunct Professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a rehearsal pianist for Palm Beach Opera, an Artist in Residence for Bak Middle School of the Arts, and a Pianist/Coach for Opera New Jersey. Frank has been an Adjunct Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University in the Bower School of Music since 2009. She has a Masters degree from Westminster Choir College in Accompanying and Vocal Coaching and a Bachelors degree in Music Education from The Florida State University.

Kent has dedicated himself to building arts and environmental based organizations of impact to the greater Naples community, most recently with Naples Botanical Garden, Inc. as Planned and Major Gifts Development Officer, and Gulfshore Playhouse, Inc. as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. Kent has served on local finance committees and is treasurer of a national genealogical society. He was an investment professional beginning with Prudential Securities in NYC, Fleet Enterprises in NJ, and ultimately as a Senior Trust Officer with Merchants Trust Company in Burlington, VT. He holds a Master of Science in Finance from FIU, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economics from Middlebury College, and certification from The Fund Raising School at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He is a past individual member of Greater Naples Area Planned Giving Council, Association of Fundraising Professionals, the FL Southwest Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and was organizationally active with the Central American Botanic Garden Network and the American Public Gardens Association.

Leah has appeared extensively throughout Europe and the US. She has performed leading roles at the Vienna Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Colorado, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Naples, Pittsburgh Opera, Juilliard Opera Center, Opera Orchestra of New York with Eve Queller at Carnegie Hall. A soloist with the NY Chamber Orchestra, the Ensemble Musica Sacra in Salzburg, the Tanglewood Music Festival Orchestra, the New Juilliard Ensemble, the New York Festival of Song and Music Niagara in Canada. She has recorded Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Dallas Symphony and solo songs by Stephan Volpe.

A recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria, a Herbert von Karajan grant from the Vienna Staatsoper, a William Matheus Sullivan career grant, and a finalist of the Richard Tucker Foundation Awards. She is a graduate of the University of Miami and the Juilliard School in NYC.