ANN BALTZ
MASTER TEACHER
BIOGRAPHY
Throughout her extensive career as a creator, educator, director, and pianist, Ann Baltz has been led by the principle that success is a direct result of how well a person’s whole being has been informed, nurtured, and cultivated. It is this principle that has inspired her lifelong passion for empowering performers to combine technical prowess with courage, authenticity, and freedom. Ann’s desire to create a holistic, all-encompassing approach to performance training culminated in the curriculum that became the foundation of OperaWorks™, a nonprofit organization providing innovative training that has changed the landscape of performance education for over 30 years. As artistic director of the organization, Ann was the first to incorporate yoga, improvisation, business classes, conducting, and pastiche performances with contemporary themes into singer training, inspiring other programs to incorporate similar curricula over the years.
Participants have often credited OperaWorks™ as being one of the most transformative events in their life and work, and for many it was a catalytic experience that propelled them toward international careers. Rising opera stars including Jeni Houser, Duke Kim, Rainelle Krause, Vanessa Becerra, Felicia Moore, Amber Braid, and Nicholas Newton, established pros including Michael Chioldi and Randall Scotting, and prominent industry leaders including Kamala Sankaram, Beth Morrison, Priti Gandhi, and Adam Cavagnaro are among the over 2000 singers, voice teachers, coaches, directors, and conductors counted as alumni, with over 70% of all alumni reporting as active professional performers, educators, and/or arts administrators.
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As an independent guest presenter, coach, and director, Ann provides classes, workshops, and residencies that address the musical, dramatic, vocal, physical, psychological, and entrepreneurial aspects of performers. She has been engaged by institutions including San Francisco Conservatory, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, New England Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Rice University, and Boston University, University of Michigan, and University of North Texas, among many others.
Ann is frequently sought after for her thought leadership and mentorship. She has been a presenter, panelist, and publication contributor for organizations including Opera America, National Opera Association, and NATS national conventions, and as a charter member on Opera America’s steering committee for the National Singer Training Forum. Professional opera companies have also recognized the value of Ann’s methods. She has worked with singers in the Merola Opera Program and as a guest master teacher for artist development programs at Fort Worth Opera, Orlando Opera, and Portland Opera, among others.
Ann’s work became recognized by corporate and media entities due to crossover of former students and alumni into other industries. Encouraged to apply her methods beyond the musical realm, Ann accepted a position with Alongi Media as lead talent coach, working with news anchors, television hosts, and media personalities. Her methods were successfully adopted and have benefitted media outlets including Al Jazeera, A&E, and NJ PBS.
Passionate about social awareness and change, Ann felt inspired to create original pastiche opera productions on social issues. For OperaWorks™ she created the “Arts for Social Awareness Project” (ASAP) and was recognized with a nomination for Best Music Director by the NAACP Theatre Awards for the inaugural production, The Discord Altar. She has created groundbreaking performances/pastiche opera projects on issues such as immigration, homelessness, and disinformation as a guest director for educational institutions including Peabody Conservatory, Bowling Green State University, Ithaca College, and University of the Pacific.
The impact of Ann’s methods was the subject of a 2016 study published in the International Journal of Music Education, where results demonstrated that singers in her programs increased their ability to achieve optimal performance, emotional regulation, and self-esteem, and decreased internalized shame, trait perfectionism, and trait anxiety with as little as two weeks of intensive training.
Ann served on the opera faculty at California State University-Northridge for 14 years and was guest director for Opera Workshops at Carnegie-Mellon University and Chapman University. In addition to education, performance, and presentation, Ann is equally adept in supporting leadership and administrative roles. Before her position as Founder and Artistic Director of OperaWorks, Ann previously served as Director of Apprentice Programs for Orlando Opera and Opera Pacific, and Music Director for the Wesley Balk Summer Institute. She has also served as assistant conductor, coach, and chorus master in over 40 productions, working with some of the opera industry’s most celebrated performers and conductors including Dame Joan Sutherland, James McCracken, and Ruth Ann Swenson, Richard Bonynge, Anton Coppola, and Stewart Robertson.
A highly accomplished collaborative pianist, Ann has performed thousands of concerts, recitals, and improvised works. Early in her career, she played extensively on tour with Columbia Artist Concerts, Western Opera Theater, and Minnesota Opera. Some of her most influential study occurred in the Merola Program at the San Francisco Opera, where she first worked with Wesley Balk and received the Otto Guth Award for outstanding coach. Ann is also well-known for her unparalleled ability to create improvisatory, multi-genre piano collaborations for both educational experiences and public performances.
In every aspect, Ann leads an inspiring life through service. When not working with performers, presenters, and educators, she is a disaster volunteer with the American Red Cross.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"... but Ann’s warmth and encouragement are hard to resist…” – Dan Hunter-Holly, Associate Dean, College of Fine Arts, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
“In her teaching, Ann releases singers from the mindset of “you don’t do this well enough” through a variety of improvisation-based tools and activities. Generally, this is scary for singers who have never been asked to make their own choices or to do anything beyond what is in the score, but Ann’s warmth and encouragement are hard to resist - most singers take the leap of faith in following her down the path. Of course, in improvisation, it’s not really following but becoming an equal partner in the creation of something new. And in recognizing this ability to create, singers learn that their authenticity as performers is there, waiting for permission to take over. The “you don’t do this well enough” thoughts are negated by the desire to create and communicate as an artist."
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"... a tremendous impact on the students, empowering them to be their own individual artists.” – Jim Haffner is the opera director at University of the Pacific in CA
“I think what strikes me the most about Ann’s work with the students is the safe space that she creates for them. So that they are free to be loud and wrong. The exercises that she has created to nurture their improvisatory talents, resonate strongly with them. As recently as last week, they were still quoting improvised lines from that work last August. As we get deeper into the rehearsal process for this year’s main stage work, we are still referring back to the work that we did last semester. Ultimately, and has a talent for coaching a student without telling them what to do. Rather, coaxing the work from their own creative talent. This has a tremendous impact on the students, empowering them to be their own individual artists. And again the effects are quite clear in our rehearsals. In addition, the improv work that we did online in spring of 2021 has become a blueprint for the students. How to effectively prepare a performance and create a character prior to the first meeting with the director, voice teacher and coach. Our voice faculty in particular saw the change in the students. And they will often comment on the difference between students' work pre-AB and post-AB. Pre- and post-Ann!"
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REPRESENTATIVES
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