GOC is comprised of actors, singers, instrumentalists, designers, directors, videographers, composers, and writers who are also teachers. Helping to mentor young artists is at our core. We involve students in every aspect of our presentations and model professional practices in every step of the production process. We believe in our pedagogy and we believe in our students. Our quality is their quality, and theirs is ours.
GOC is a non-profit company through our connection to Fractured Atlas. We are located in North Adams, Massachusetts serving the Northern Berkshire community. We maintain our budget through generous gifts from our benefactors, local and national grants, and awards.
Meet the Artists
Michael Dilthey received his Doctorate in Composition at Northwestern University. He holds Master of Music degrees in composition and conducting. He held three post-doctoral fellowships at New York University, Yale University and Oxford University in England. He has composed three operas, three musicals, orchestral and choral music as well as theatrical incidental music. Recently he founded the Greylock Opera Collective and is the Artistic Director. In 2019 his opera The Weeping Woman premiered at MASS MoCA. GOC will produce his musical, My Way of Life in New York City in 2021. His areas of teaching are music theory, history and composition. Michael lives in North Adams with his wife, Ellen.
![Soprano Erin Nafziger has been celebrated for her “consistent, well-balanced, and beautiful [voice]” (Berkshire Review for the Arts) where she has dazzled audiences as Nella in Gianni Schicchi, and Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. She is…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5dbcdd3d1ece6c59d368bb85/1609723578772-0KRMMOUVDG9NAGQDGQOT/erin.jpg)
Soprano Erin Nafziger has been celebrated for her “consistent, well-balanced, and beautiful [voice]” (Berkshire Review for the Arts) where she has dazzled audiences as Nella in Gianni Schicchi, and Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. She is a frequent soloist with the Williams Chamber Players, Hubbard Hall Opera, and The New Opera of New England. Noteable roles in Ms. Nafziger’s repertoire include Mimì in La Bohème, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Soeur Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Cunegonde in Candide, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Elle in La Voix Humaine. Recent concert performances include the soprano solos in Reena Esmail’s This Love Between Us, Brahms’ Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Stravinsky's Les Noces, Adams’ Grand Pianola Music, Handel’s Messiah, Orff's Carmina Burana, and Dvorak’s Mass in D Major, among others.
American baritone Paul La Rosa continues to gain recognition on the strengths of his vocal appeal and charismatic stage presence. He has earned critical praise for "a wonderful touch for physical comedy, a strong and beautiful voice, and the dancing skills that one typically encounters on Broadway". 2018 witnesses Mr. La Rosa's return to San Diego Opera and his debut with Eugene Opera, for the respective company premieres of Piazzolla's tango-opera María de Buenos Aires, in the role of El Payador, and his Princeton Festival debut as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. Mr. La Rosa looks forward to his 2019 role and company debuts with Gulfshore Opera (Germont in La Traviata and Malatesta in Don Pasquale) as well as his Fort Worth Opera debut reprising the role of Enrique in Martinez's El pasado nunca se termina, which he created in 2015.
Jeremy Winchester is a theater maker focusing in direction, design, and project/program development. His background runs the gamut from the classics to musicals to contemporary plays, and from community-based arts to theatre for young audiences. Winchester is an Associate Professor of Theatre at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where he is responsible for education across the discipline of theatre, from Lighting and Scenic Design, to Directing and Play Analysis. Prior to his move to Massachusetts, Winchester served as the Executive Artistic Director of Flint Youth Theatre (FYT), a year-round professional theatre for youth and family audiences in Flint, MI. In that position, Winchester took a particular interest in presenting both children's theatre mainstays and classic works from the larger theater canon for audiences of all ages. Winchester is also committed to creating new work, and dedicated one slot per year in FYT’s season to new-play production.
Joshua Gurwitz is a tenor based in Albany, NY. He most recently performed as Eisenstein in the Williams Opera Workshop production of Die Fledermaus. Other recent performances include Joe Boyd in Damn Yankees and the tenor soloist for J. S. Bach’s Christ Lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4). In 2018, Mr. Gurwitz was the winner of the Advanced Division of the Joel Dolven Vocal Awards, a competition run by the Mendelssohn Club of Albany, NY.
Versatility has been key in the active career of pianist KAREN SCHWARTZ. She has performed as soloist, as well as collaborative artist for chamber musicians,
opera singers, actors and dancers alike. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School, this native New Yorker has appeared in such notable venues as Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, The Joyce Theatre, Steinway Hall, The Beacon Theater and Madison Square Garden, to name just a few. Karen’s extensive research in Paris led to her performing the U.S. premiere of Debussy’s “La Boite a Joujoux,” choreographed for marionettes at MOCA Miami. Among many musical adventures here and abroad, Ms. Schwartz taught the actor Samuel L. Jackson how to assimilate the role of concert pianist in THE CAVEMAN’S VALENTINE, a film that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Karen has served as musical director and arranger for several original children’s productions. Playing in a wide range of styles has given Karen numerous opportunities to appear at cabaret, literary and university clubs for the past four decades.
http://karenschwartzpiano.com/