Meet our Academy Faculty

Born in Caracas, Venezuela from Italian (Abruzzo) and Spanish (Valencia) immigrants, was raised in Los Angeles, California and then in Caracas. Educated in Arts, Technology and Business. Co-founder of the new Opera Company of Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas since 2022. Promoter and Sponsor of the Academy of Lyric Vocal Master Classes for advanced Opera Singers in alliance with Camerata de Caracas since 2024. Creator and President of Opera Venezuela Foundation “La Voz de la Vida”. Board member of the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. Founder of the Sono Quattro, quartet specialized in Piazzolla tango. Founder of the Big Band Banana professional orchestra in 2019 specialized in Jazz, Pop and Latin Music. Founder of the Alliance for Music Excellence of the Venezuelan Music Conservatories. Graduated as Concert Pianist (Los Angeles and Conservatorio J.M. Olivares, Caracas) and Concert Accordionist (Conservatorio Doglio, Caracas). Has performed as a soloist and in orchestras. Jury in national and international music competitions and music teacher.

For over 25 years, Charles Letourneau has produced several of the most successful performing arts projects in the business.

Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Letourneau studied violin at the Moscow Conservatory and Yale University before moving to New York and embarking on a versatile career as an executive for Young Concert Artists, Columbia Artists and IMG. In 2015, he founded his own company.

With an international/multi-lingual toolkit that includes financial planning, technical operations, programming, fundraising, marketing, strategic partnerships, artist relations, educational programs and in-depth knowledge of classical music, Letourneau has been instrumental in creating and producing events that move the needle on a global level, including Tokyo’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Itzhak Perlman’s “Return to Russia” concerts, Thomas Hampson’s “Song of America” tour, Italy’s Tuscan Sun Festival and Florida’s Festival of the Arts Boca. The renowned Festival Napa Valley, which Letourneau co-founded in 2006, remains the artistic/commercial blueprint for regional event organizers and investors worldwide.

Svetlana Strezeva is a distinguished Russian-American soprano, hailed as the “Great Russian Nightingale.” A laureate of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow and the Glinka Vocal Competition in Minsk, she refined her artistry at La Scala in Milan under the mentorship of Giulietta Simionato. Her career highlights include leading roles at the Bolshoi Opera and Kirov Opera in St. Petersburg, the Moldova National Opera, and performances worldwide. She has collaborated with renowned conductors such as E. Svetlanov and M. Ermler. With a Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA), she champions Russian vocal works alongside her daughter, pianist Milana Strezeva, in their dynamic Duo Lana. Following U.S. residencies and teaching, Strezeva extended her influence to China, serving as an associate professor of voice at Xiamen University Tan Kah Kee College from 2018 to 2020, empowering emerging singers with her innovative approach and passion.

A worldwide-known opera singer, Marco Vinco graduated cum laude from the Mantova Conservatory and performed on the most important stages in the world, from Teatro alla Scala in Milan to the Arena in Verona, the Opéra in Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, the Staatsoper in Vienna and the San Francisco Opera. After a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s course in Management for Entertainment at the University of Bologna, Italy, he was external lecturer in Management and Legislation for Entertainment at the University of Verona. He is also a music critic and a registered journalist in Italy.
Currently serving as Director of the Salieri Theatre in Legnago (Verona).
He was Director of the Polo Nazionale Artistico di Alta Specializzazione on music theatre. This organization gathers prominent institutions within the Verona Accademia per l’Opera Italiana consortium, officially recognized by the Italian Ministry of University and Research.
He worked with distinguished opera conductors such as Daniele Gatti, Zubin Metha, Riccardo Muti and Alberto Zedda, as well as stage directors such as Mario Martone, Pierluigi Pizzi, Luca Ronconi and Franco Zeffirelli.
He is one of four designated members of the music advisory commission of the Ministry of Culture, for the years 2024-2026.
He was also appointed a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for his artistic achievements by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Tenor Bruce Ford is firmly established as one of today’s most outstanding singers. He has earned high praise for extraordinary vocal beauty and range, textual vividness, authoritative style and technical prowess.  He has recorded seventeen full-length operas for Opera Rara, including Otello, Ricciardo e Zoraide, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, Maria Regina d’Inghilterra, Pia de Tolomei, to name but a few. In addition, Opera Rara has issued a recital disc, Romantic Heroes, featuring Bruce, as well as a compilation entitled ‘Bruce Ford-Serious Rossini’.  He also appears on many of the discs in the ‘Il Salotto’ series. Born in the USA, he has spent most of his 22-year long career in the leading opera houses of Europe and America. After his highly acclaimed debut at Pesaro in 1990, he has sung at Covent Garden (Almaviva, Ferrando, Mitridate, Osiride, Tito), La Scala (Uberto in La Donna del Lago and Paolo Erisso in Maometto II), The Metropolitan Opera (Almaviva), the Paris Opera (Ferrando, Almaviva, Lindoro) and the Glyndebourne, Florence, Edinburgh and Salzburg Festivals.  He has sung under Claudio Abbado, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ricardo Muti, Ivor Bolton, Alberto Zedda, and numerous other well-known conductors.

John Churchwell began serving as head of music for San Francisco Opera in August 2011.  Prior to this appointment, he served as an assistant conductor for both the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera for 14 years.  Mr. Churchwell has worked on more than 150 productions with such conductors as James Levine, Nicola Luisotti, Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi and Sir Charles Mackerras.   A champion of American music, Mr. Churchwell prepared the world premieres of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby, Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Stewart Wallace/Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Philip Glass’ Appomattox, and Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne.  More recently he led the preparation for John Adams’ world premiere The Girls of the Golden West and the West Coast Premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain.  On the recital stage, Mr. Churchwell has partnered with some of today’s most sought-after vocalists, including appearances at the Hollywood Bowl with Ellie Dehn, San Francisco Symphony with Michael Fabiano, and recitals with Renée Fleming, Sasha Cooke, Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato, Susanna Phillips, and Isabel Leonard.   Mr. Churchwell spends his summers at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, where he is Co-Director of the Lehrer Vocal Institute.   While there, in addition to chamber music performances and public masterclasses, Mr. Churchwell is instrumental in the training of young singers and apprentice coaches. Mr. Churchwell earned his doctorate from the University of Minnesota and holds a bachelor’s degree in piano from the New England Conservatory, a bachelor’s degree in French from Tufts University, and a master’s degree in accompanying from the University of Minnesota.   Mr. Churchwell attended the Merola Opera Program and is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artists Program at the Metropolitan Opera.

Jeanie Darnell is Professor of Music and Head of Vocal Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Bower School of Music.  She has been hailed by critics throughout the United States and in Europe for her “wonderfully bell-like tones” (Wertheimer Zeitung).  A regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1998, she has been in demand as soprano soloist of major concert and oratorio repertoire.  She has been a featured soloist with the Gesellschaft für Musiktheater (Vienna), Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, Southwest Florida Symphony, Opera Naples, Patronato Peruano de la Música Centenarios, Operafestival di Roma, Corsi Internazionali di Musica, Omaha Symphony, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Denver Bach Festival, Naples Bach Ensemble, Fort Myers Symphonic Master Singers, Lindsborg Messiah Festival, Colorado Music Festival, and Rocky Mountain Music Alliance.  Darnell completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2002 while already heading the voice area at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  She has lectured on the male adolescent voice at the International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT) 2009 Paris Conference, the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) 2008 National Conference, and the ICVT 2005 Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.  She has taught in summer music festivals to include Summer Music Study in Szeged, Hungary, and the Corsi Internazionali di Musica, Urbino and Perugia, Italy, among others.  As an adjudicator, she has judged at the 19th and 20th Concurso Internacional Canto de Lírico de Trujillo (Trujillo, Perú), El Concurso de Canto Lírico de la Radio Filarmonia (Lima, Peru), and the Denver Lyric Opera Competition.   She has taught master classes throughout the U.S. and abroad, to include: National Youth Chorus of Perú, Peruvian Ministry of Education, National Conservatory of Music (Lima, Perú), Universidad Catolica (Lima, Peru), Konservatorium Wien Private University (Vienna, Austria), Austin Peay State University, Baylor University, State College of Florida, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of North Florida, Reinhardt University, Youngstown State University, and the Opera Naples Gilbert and Sullivan Youth Program.

Dr.Warren Mok is world-renowned Chinese tenor, a recipient of the “Knight of the Star of Solidarity of Italy” and the “Knight of the Order of Art and Letter” by the Government of France. He one of the China’s Three Tenors. He graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with Master Degree in the United States .

Since engaged as the principal tenor with the Deutsche Opera Berlin  in 1987, he has embarked on a remarkable opera career spanning over 40 years on stages across the world, performing in prestigious venues such as the Deutsche Opera Berlin, Paris Opera, Rome Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna ,  Sydney Opera House, Paris Opéra, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opéra de Nice, Opéra de Lyon, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, The Netherlands National Opera, Leipzig Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Teatro di San Carlos Lisbon, Seattle Opera, Bolshoi Theatre, Warsaw Opera, Opera Ireland, and many others. He has portrayed over sixty operatic roles, including Cavaradossi in Tosca, Calaf in Turandot, Rodolfo in La Bohème,  Don José in Carmen    &  Radamès in Aida, etc.

Mok actively promotes opera and classical music in Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China. He founded the Opera Hong Kong, which has been a leading organization in Hong Kong’s opera scene for 22 years, staging over 80 classic operas and making significant contributions to the region’s artistic culture.

In 2024, he was conferred the Award for Outstanding Contribution in Arts by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. Additionally, he was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and conferred an Honorary Doctorate by The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2021,Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy by the Government of Italy in 2018, Medal of Honour by the HKSAR Government in 2011, and World Outstanding Chinese Award in 2010.In 2012, as a number of the China’s Three Tenors,Warren Mok toured the world to promote Chinese culture.

Today, Mok is gradually shifting his focus to Asia. In addition to frequently performing largescale operas in Europe and America, he is also active on stages in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia. He is a regular guest on CCTV, having performed multiple times during the Spring Festival Gala and other major cultural events.

In the world of opera today, alongside legends like Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, there shines a name that makes Chinese people proud—Warren Mok. His artistic achievements and contributions will forever be recorded in the honor roll of global Chinese artists.

Nicoletta Mantovani graduated in Natural Sciences from the University of Bologna. She has been the artistic director of the charity concert “Pavarotti & Friends” from 1995 to 2003; as theatre and cinema entrepreneur, in 2000s she produced the Italian version of the Broadway musical “Rent”, then a short movie and an art movie, award winning at the Rome Film Festival. She also produced important Italian music festivals, hosting some of the most famous international artists. She managed the celebrities participating in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and, since 2008, she has organized many important events worldwide dedicated to the memory of Maestro Pavarotti. Nicoletta was appointed in 2009 Councillor for Cultural Promotion and Youth Policy in the Municipality of Bologna, while in 2014 she worked as Deputy Mayor for International Relations in the city of Florence. Nicoletta is the founder and president of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation.

Dr. Krzysztof Biernacki is the newly appointed Director of Bower School of Music & the Arts.  Prior to FGCU, he has held the position of Professor of Voice and Director of Opera at the University of North Florida where he distinguished himself as an award-winning professor, international performer, opera stage director and academic administrator.  He is a frequent recitalist performing a wide range of art song repertoire in numerous European languages.  His recent engagements include solo recitals at international music festivals in Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, France, Norway and Canada.  He is a researcher of vocal works by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski and his recording of Szymanowski’s art songs titled “In the Mists” is available on MSR Classic label.  As an opera singer he appeared in principal roles with Vancouver Opera, Manitoba Opera, Calgary Opera, Orchestra London Canada and Banff Center for Performing Arts. His concert appearances include Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique du Nouveau Monde in Montreal and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. As an opera stage director, he directed over 30 opera productions at UNF, University of British Columbia, Jacksonville Symphony and European Music Academy in the Czech Republic.  In 2007 he established a highly successful UNF Opera Ensemble and UNF Opera Study Abroad Program in Europe where he directed full opera productions in professional opera theaters every summer.  Dr. Biernacki is a graduate of University of Manitoba, University of Western Ontario and University of British Columbia.  Since 2012 he has served as the Assistant director of UNF School of Music, Director of Graduate Studies and Artistic Director of Cummer Family Foundation Chamber Music Series.

Spanish Conductor Ramón Tebar is currently Principal Conductor in Association with the Orquesta de Valencia, as well as Artistic and Music Director of Opera Naples. He was previously Artistic Director of the Florida Grand Opera and Principal Guest Conductor of Valencia’s Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia. Alongside his work in Valencia, the 2022/23 season will see Ramón Tebar make his debuts with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Norrlandsoperans Syfoniorkester, the Würth Philharmoniker, and at the Frankfurt Opera with a new production of Saverio Mercadante’s Francesca da Rimini. This season he will also return to the Teatro Colón to conduct Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles, and to the Szczecin Philharmonic and the Basque National Orchestra in Bilbao for concerts. Ramón Tebar will also direct Opera Naples third annual Festival Under the Stars. Ramón Tebar is considered one of the leading Spanish conductors of his generation. Acclaimed for his musical versatility, compelling interpretations and orchestra building skills, conductor Ramón Tebar’s international reputation in both the opera and orchestral arenas continues to expand. Among the orchestras and opera companies he has conducted and will conduct are: Philharmonia Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Petersburg Symphony, Moscow State Symphony, Malasyan Philharmonic, Orchestre de Rouen, Het Gelders Orkest, Bulgarian National Radio Symphony, Munich Radio Symphony, Prague Philharmonia, Spanish National Orchestra (OCNE), Spanish Radio Television Orchestra (ORTVE), Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC), Galicia Symphony Orchestra (OSG), Valencia Orchestra,…Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Regio di Parma, Cincinnati Opera, Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Gran Teatre del Liceu, Kremlin Palace, Royal Festival Hall, Kölner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Staatsoper,… Ramón Tebar has been recognized with various honors and awards, including the Henry C. Clark Conductor of the Year Award by Florida Grand Opera in 2010 and 2013, The Miami Herald as “Top 20 under 40” and “100 españoles by Marca España”. In 2014, he was bestowed the Cross of Officer of the Order of Mérito Civil in recognition of his cultural accomplishments by His Majesty, the King of Spain Felipe VI. Tebar has recorded for UNIVERSAL MUSIC, UNITEL CLASSICA and DECCA.