F. Paul Driscoll,
Editor in Chief, Opera News

F. Paul Driscoll has been Editor in Chief of Opera News since 2003. He began contributing to the magazine in 1990 and joined the editorial staff as managing editor in 1998. His writing on opera and music has also been published in PLAYBILL, STAGEBILL, CHAMBER MUSIC and LINCOLN CENTER INK, and he has served as a lecturer and interviewer for Radisson Cruises and InSight Cruises; at Cooper Union; at Hunter College’s Kaye Playhouse; at the Dahesh Museum; at the Museum of the City of New York; at CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan; at the 2008 Art Song Festival at Baldwin-Wallace College; and as part of the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Education Department lecture series.

For two seasons, Mr. Driscoll was the host of OPERA NY, a weekly program for WNYE-TV, and was executive producer of the 2004 WNYE television special Vignettes: an Evening with Stephanie Blythe and Warren Jones, now in the permanent collection of the Paley Center for Media. He is co-author, with John Martinez, of FANTASTIC OPERA, published by Harry N. Abrams.

Brian Hunter
Tenor, President of Joseph H. Conlin Travel Mgmt

Tenor Brian Hunter performs one of the most extensive international repertoires, including American, German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Latin and Irish.

On the operatic stage, Brian has performed Rodolfo (La Bohême), Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) Tamino ((The Magic Flute), Alfredo (La Traviata), Luka in the New York premiere of Donald Grantham’s The Boor, as well as a variety of musical and light operatic roles from Billy Crocker (Anything Goes) to Valentine White (Babes in Arms) to Mr. Box (Cox and Box). For two seasons, Brian appeared with the Palm Beach Opera, in productions of La fanciulla del West, Die Fliegender Holländer, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Un ballo in mascara, Rigoletto, Luisa Miller, and Otello, as well as Ernesto in their education production of Don Pasquale. As a regular classical performer, he has entertained numerous German and English speaking audiences on the Danube, Rhine, Main and Moselle Rivers. Recent New York performances have included Viennese-themed concerts at Christie’s Auction Gallery and the Dahesh Museum. Brian’s other New York solo concerts include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Club, the Kosciusko Foundation and Steinway Hall. He has also appeared on the prestigious Warfield Concert Series in Helena, Arkansas, and was a winner of the 2001 MacAllister American Traditions Vocal Competition in Savannah.

Brian gave his Dublin debut at the National Concert Recital Hall to critical acclaim and recently gave his Lincoln Center Debut at Alice Tully Hall in an all-Irish Celebration of Celtic Song, Music and Dance with the famed Irish Folk Group, Cherish The Ladies. He made his solo TV debut as the Irish Tenor for the NBC broadcast of the 2002 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. On March 17, 2001, he performed with the West Virginia Symphony as their Irish Tenor, receiving high critical and popular acclaim, and a prompt reengagement for their summer outdoor festival. His own orchestrations at these concerts were also well received. His recording, The Same Great Love Song, is dominated by his Irish tenor repertoire, and is thematically summed by his original lyrics and music in the title track. Recent performances have also included collaboration with the Alaria Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Recital Hall, performing six Beethoven settings of traditional Irish and Scottish Songs to critical acclaim, as well as numerous guest appearances with The Paddy Noonan Band.

As a composer, he has just completed his first choral symphony with tenor and piano soloists. Brian makes his home in Manhattan.

In addition to his performance career, Brian is the President of the Musicians Club of New York, which promotes the winners of two annual competitions, the Koussevitzky Young Artists Awards and the Koussevitzky International Recording Award, and runs a classical concert series in Manhattan for its members. He is also the President of Joseph H. Conlin Travel Mgt., LLC, a travel supplier and agency that specializes in classical music cruises and tours.

Robert H. Browning,
Executive and Artistic Director, World Music Institute

Robert Browning founded the World Music Institute in 1985 to continue the programming that he had begun at the Alternative Museum, a downtown arts space which he co-founded in 1975. He was a pioneer in presenting world music in New York and over the past 33 years has presented more than 1,900 concerts in New York and has organized tours by visiting musicians and dancers from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. In addition he has co-produced radio programs and recordings and has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, NY State Council on the Arts and many other agencies.