Bonnie Koestner has served as pianist, vocal coach, chorus master and assistant conductor in over two hundred productions for opera companies throughout the United States. Most recently she was Chorus Master and Head of Music Staff for Florida Grand Opera in Miami. For the San Francisco Opera she prepared the American premieres of Tippett's King Priam and Reimann's Ghost Sonata, along with more traditional repertoire. Other companies include Baltimore, Atlanta, Palm Beach, Utah, Lake George, Sacramento, Sarasota, Des Moines Metro, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Shreveport. While at Nevada Opera she developed the Nevada Opera Studio, a highly successful education and outreach program that brings opera to approximately 20,000 students per year. Ms. Koestner was also the head opera coach for sixteen years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. This will be her eleventh summer as Chorus Master and coach for Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, New York.
Ms. Koestner is a graduate of Lawrence University and holds an M. M. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has also studied at L'University per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy.
Contact by e-mail: bonnie.koestner@lawrence.edu