Kostis Protopapas is a Greek-born American symphony and opera conductor, currently serving as the Artistic Director of Opera Santa Barbara. From 2008 until 2016 he was the Artistic Director of

Tulsa Opera Tulsa Opera is an American opera company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Originally an amateur performance group named the Tulsa Opera Club (established 1948), the company was incorporated as a professional organization in 1953. Performances for the com ...

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, where he had previously served as Associate Conductor and Chorusmaster. During his 15-year tenure with the company, Protopapas conducted 30 productions of a diverse repertoire extending from popular classics like La Boheme, Carmen and Pagliacci to contemporary American works like Elmer Gantry, Of Mice and Men and A Streetcar Named Desire. About his 2011 Barber of Seville performances, Alex Ross of The New Yorker wrote "Most impressive was the fluid idiomatic playing of the orchestra… In any city, it's rare to find a conductor that sets the right tempo so consistently that you stop noticing he's there." In 2014 his contract was renewed through 2017, however he resigned his post in March 2016 Protopapas has served as Assistant Conductor for the

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera, originally called the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler P ...

the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

and

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

. During the 2002 and 2003 seasons he was the Assistant Chorusmaster at Lyric Opera of Chicago, under Donald Palumbo. Protopapas has served on the music staffs of

Opera Memphis Opera Memphis is a Memphis, Tennessee non-profit arts organization chartered in 1956 by a group of Memphians interested in producing regional opera. Charter signatories included noted Memphians Philip Belz and Walter Chandler. Early productions c ...

and

Virginia Opera Virginia Opera is an opera company based in the Commonwealth of Virginia which was first organized in 1974 by a group of Norfolk, Virginia community volunteers. In September 1974, Thomas A. Lipton was engaged to produce a fully professional pro ...

; he conducted at

Opera in the Ozarks Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

every summer from 2000 to 2004, and has conducted for Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Columbus and Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis. Born in Athens, Greece, in 1971, Protopapas studied Archaeology and History of Art at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

. He came to the United States in 1993 on an

Onassis Foundation The Alexander S. Onassis Foundation (), commonly known as Onassis Foundation () is a public benefit foundation based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. It was established by Aristotle Onassis in his will in Liechtenstein in order to honor the memory of his ...

scholarship to study piano at

The Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded o ...

and conducting at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. He is married to soprano and stage director Cathleen Dunn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Protopapas, Kostis Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Athens Greek emigrants to the United States Greek conductors (music) Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumni Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Living people 21st-century conductors (music)