Conductor/Pianist William Noll is a performance veteran of the major concert halls of the United States and Europe. In the spring of 2000, he made his conducting debut in Beijing, for an outstanding sold-out performance of an all-Tchaikovsky program.

From Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York to festivals and tours in Italy, Belgium, and now China, Mr. Noll has established excellence in performance standards for almost three decades. He has held positions with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera, the Choral Guild of Atlanta, Providence Opera Theatre; and the summer festivals of Aspen, Spoleto and Brevard.
Mr. Noll has also conducted for the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall, the New Mexico Symphony, the Savannah Symphony, and the Opera Orchestra of New York for summer concerts.

Recently, Mr. Noll re-established his classical piano career by appearing in New York City, as guest soloist, with the Jupiter Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jens Nygaard in performances of the virtuoso work, Concerto #2, by Xaver Scharwenka.

In addition, his catalog of commercial recordings which include classical symphonic and jazz repertoire continues to grow on labels such as Newport Classic, Intersound, Pro-Jazz, Time-Life, and Sony.
Mr. Noll will also be conducting Opera Naples' production of Rigoletto, March 13 & 15, 2009.

Marian Hixson-Birsa is a native of California who lived in Italy for 23 years, graduating from the Conservatory of Music of Trieste, Italy, in both cello and vocal performance. She also studied at Salzburg’s Mozarteum regularly for summer courses. She has coached with some of the great voices of the late 1900s, including: Carlo Cossuta, Tito Gobbi, Luciano Pavarotti and Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. She was a full-time professional musician abroad, working for several years at the Teatro Communale “G. Verdi” of Trieste, and performed in a vast selection of leading roles, including: Ulrica in Ballo in Maschera, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Eboli in Don Carlos and Cherubino in Nozze de Figaro. She also performed frequently as a soloist in oratorios and concerts in Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Since moving to Naples, she has performed as a soloist with various local groups, and serves as section leader at Trinity-by-the-Cove Episcopal Church and Temple Shalom. She is also a freelance music critic. Ms. Birsa was Annina in Opera Naples' La Traviata, January 2008.

Canadian tenor Kurt Lehmann's growing international reputation is well deserved. This year Mr. Lehmann was seen as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Pacific Opera Victoria and London Symphony Orchestra , and as Alfredo in La Traviata for Opera Lyra Ottawa and Manitoba Opera. He also made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Verdi's Requiem.

Mr. Lehmann’s leading roles include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Pacific Opera Victoria, Mississauga Opera, Opera Saskatchewan), Lensky in Eugene Onegin (Pacific Opera Victoria), (Montreal Opera) and the Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites (Calgary Opera) Of particular note is his premiere engagement at Glimmerglass Opera as the violin playing Orpheus in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. Mr. Lehmann was selected for this role after a continent-wide search for lyric tenors who were also virtuoso violinists.

Dan Bielinski is a senior at Ave Maria University and currently the head of the university’s drama program. Dan starred as the Wolf in Opera Naples’ in-school opera, Little Red
Riding Hood, performed in Collier County schools last season. He has participated in several of Opera Naples productions as a chorus member. He plans to enroll in full-time theatre training after graduation.