The Guerillas Announce Changes in Artistic Directorship

BOSTON, MA (March 1, 2021) — Guerilla Opera’s Board of Directors and Ensemble are pleased to announce Aliana de la Guardia as sole Artistic Director effective February 8, 2021. De la Guardia is a co-founding artist of Guerilla Opera, and served as General Manager since 2007 before being appointed Co-Artistic Director in 2018 with Julia Noulin-Mérat. With Guerilla Opera, de la Guardia produced over twenty-five uniquely commissioned operas, additionally spearheads the company’s accessibility initiative for audiences that are blind and visually impaired.

“As a long time member of the company, and having played various roles in its development, I have a unique understanding of it’s artists and how all the facets of this machine [Guerilla Opera] works. We are a unique part of the arts landscape in Boston and New England, and I look forward to growing and evolving our creative practice to reflect our vibrant communities.” - Aliana de la Guardia

A voracious interpreter of repertoire old and new, de la Guardia is an accomplished Cuban-American artist that enjoys a multifaceted career as a classical vocalist, actor, educator, and entrepreneur. As a soprano specializing in new music and opera, she has garnered acclaim for her “dazzling flights of virtuosity” (Gramophone) in “vocally fearless” performances that are “fizzing with theatrical commitment” (The Boston Globe). Specializing in new music and garnering skills as a theater artist make her especially fit for premiering new operas as well as genre-bending performance art, devised and ensemble-based works, intimate live performances, as well as film and digital mediums. She has guest starred on ABC’s television series “Body of Proof.”

In 2020, she was selected as a protégée for OPERA America’s Women’s Opera Network Mentorship Program for Women in Opera, paired with Lee Anne Myslewski, Vice President of Opera and Classical Programming, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, VA. This same year was the recipient of a Public Art Learning Fund grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts to pursue a custom-tailored mentorship program with Double Edge Theatre of Ashfield, MA.

De la Guardia is also the founder and owner of Dirty Paloma Voice Studio in Haverhill, MA, the treasurer of the Granite State chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and on the Haverhill Multicultural Festival 2020 planning committee.

Nathan Troup, President of Guerilla Opera’s Board of Directors adds, “I’m thrilled to congratulate Aliana on this appointment. A founding member of the company, Aliana’s vision, creativity, and talent have long been at the center of Guerilla Opera and the success of the organization. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I’m thrilled to support her in this new role and I look forward to seeing and supporting her vision for the future.”

This change comes after the announcement that their Co-Artistic Director, Julia Noulin-Mérat had been appointed as the General Director and CEO of Opera Columbus. Her years of dedication to opera design, interpretation of traditional repertoire, new work development and cultivating leadership skills have all been leading to this incredible opportunity. The Guerilla Opera family is delighted to celebrate her remarkable achievement and follow enthusiastically to see what she will bring to this new role.

Noulin-Mérat has been with Guerilla Opera since 2009, and since then she and de la Guardia have worked together to produce many hallmark Guerilla shows. As part of the Guerilla family, she is devoted to seeing the new works in development and their creators succeed, and will remain with the company as an Artistic Advisor. She remarks, “I have always been impressed by Aliana’s passion and creative ideas. Her deep knowledge of new music and opera is what makes Guerilla Opera so unique and invaluable. I look forward to the ensemble’s next chapter with her.”

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In daring performances Guerilla Opera has garnered a national reputation for innovative contemporary opera with The Boston Globe raving that “radical exploration remains the cornerstone of everything it does.” This Boston-based, artist-led ensemble’s mission is to immerse audiences in profound experiences through the creation of custom-tailored new works. The Guerillas commission and reenvision new and experimental works, and champion cutting-edge music. They provide a vehicle for diversity, equity, inclusion, and creative authenticity. They inspire, influence and amplify emerging generations of artists and arts-lovers. Their vision is to ferociously confront the status quo, eschew antiquated and stereotypical traditions of the art form, examine stories through diverse and contemporary lenses, and bring new music to new audiences. (guerillaopera.org)