Staff

Hailed as “one of the most interesting and accomplished conductors of his generation,” Julien Benichou is noted for his blend of flexibility and control, inspiring musicality and incredibly infectious energy.  Benichou currently serves as Music Director for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (MSO), and was recently appointed Principal Conductor of the Washington Opera Society. He is also the Music Director of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO) and the Southern Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra (SMYOC). This past December, he made his debut with the New York City Ballet, in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, and returned to Carnegie Hall, in a concert that featured Robert Redford and Vice-President Al Gore.

As Music Director of the MSO for the last 12 seasons, Benichou has greatly raised the profile of the ensemble, attracting premier artists, as well as expanding the orchestra’s season. This year, he collaborates with Stefan Jackiw, Virgil Boutellis-Taft, Kurt Nikkanen, Brandie Sutton and Leon Fleisher. Previous seasons have included concerts with such noted artists as Kevin Short, Lester Lynch, Arnaud Sussmann and Tine Thing Helseth.

Served by a keen attention to detail and an ability to bring forth a wealth of expression from singers, Benichou has also found success conducting operatic productions. Most recently, as principal conductor of Washington Opera Society, he conducted La Cenerentola at the French Embassy, and L’elisir d’amore at the Residence of the Ambassador to Colombia. This June, he will conduct their production of Carmen with Jonathan Tetelman as Don José. He has conducted, to great critical acclaim, fully staged performances of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with the Morgan State University Choir and Opera Workshop. In September of 2016 he conducted the premiere performance of James Lee’s Mother’s Lament with the Morgan State University Choir.

Benichou has also garnered acclaim as guest conductor at the Annapolis Symphony, Newark Symphony, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Baltimore Concert Opera, Baltimore Symphony/Mobtown Modern Synchronicity projects, Orquestra Sinfonica do Parana in Curitaba, Brazil, the St. Petersburg State Symphony in Russia, the Maison Symphonique de Montreal in Canada, and the Siberian State Symphony in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, where he will return next season. Other return engagements will include a collaboration with Tim Janis at Carnegie Hall.

An avid supporter of new music, Benichou collaborated with many composers and was the Principal Conductor of the Towson New Music Ensemble for ten seasons. He also served as principal conductor for the Mobtown Modern Ensemble. Also a composer, Benichou has received commissions for theater, film and concert music; most recently from the Siberian State Symphony Orchestra.

Benichou has taken the Chesapeake Youth Orchestra on six different European tours, performing side-by-side concerts with the Orchestre des Jeunes de Montréal and the St. Petersburg State Symphony. He also brought the orchestra to prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall. The orchestra has been invited by several festivals in France, with an upcoming tour where they will premiere Lalo Schifrin’s Mandolin Concerto with Vincent Beer-Demander.

Julien Benichou also enjoys crossover and pops concerts, and has worked with The US Army Blues Big Band, the Army Strings, the Irish band Lunasa, and such artists as Warren Wolf, Mairead Nesbitt, Loreena McKennitt, Sarah McLachlan, and Matthew Morrison.

Benichou received a Graduate Performance Diploma from The Peabody Institute and earned a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University. He also pursued graduate studies at Yale University. In master classes he has worked with Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas and JoAnn Falletta. His main teachers have been Victor Yampolsky, Gustav Meier and Jorma Panula.

Before coming to the United States, he trained in France, with Roland Hayrabedian and Pol Mule at the Marseille Conservatory and Jean Sébastien Bereau at the RueilMalmaison Conservatory, as well as privately with Yves Cohen. He also studied harmony and counterpoint with Pierre Doury at the Schola Cantorum in Paris.

EXecutive director

Kristin Sampson

Praised by the New York Times for her “bright, sizable and expressive voice,” Mexican-born, American soprano Kristin Sampson’s 2020-2022 engagements include a guest artist appearance and debut with the Kauno Filharmonijain in Lithuania under the baton of Maestro Constantine Orbelian, a company debut with Opera Grand Rapids as Liù in Turandot, role debuts as Marguerite in Faust and Musetta in La bohème with the Washington Opera Society, featured soloist with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, and summer concert performances with New York City Opera, and Festival of Nature at Lake Tizsa in Hungary. 2019-2020 calendar opened with a featured soloist appearance on the 75th Anniversary Concert for New York City Opera followed by additional performances as Mimì in La bohème with MidAtlantic Opera, a guest soloist appearance with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra as well as several additional concert appearances with New York City Opera. 2018-19 performances included concerts featuring the music of composer Jeremy Gill, Mimì in La bohème, guest soloist in the New York City Opera Pride Concert, as well as being a featured artist at the 2019 Festival of Nature at Lake Tizsa in Hungary. Upcoming seasons include the roles of Tosca and Mimì, as well as concert appearances throughout the United States. The 2017-18 season included performances as Minnie in La fanciulla del West with New York City Opera, and at Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, and Teatro Verdi in Pisa, Italy. Her engagements in the 2016-17 season included her Carnegie Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, Magda in Respighi's La campana sommersa with New York City Opera, Minnie in La fanciulla del West with Opera Carolina, and her debut at the Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago as Tosca. Her 2015-16 season included debuts at Potenza’s Teatro Francesco Stabile as Mimi in La bohème and at the New York City Opera as Tosca in the celebratory production that re-opened the company. Ms. Sampson is a two-time recipient of a grant from the Olga Forrai Foundation. She has performed in the U.S. with the New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, Opera Carolina, Dicapo Opera Theatre, Augusta Opera, El Paso Opera, and the National Lyric Opera among others, and internationally with the Opera Society of Hong Kong, Armel Opera Festival, National Theater of Szeged, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

Artistic Administrator

Adam Cioffari

Upcoming bio.

Founder and Executive Director Emeritus

&

Director of DevelopmenT

Michael J. Reilly

Mr. Reilly is the founder and currently serves as director emeritus of the Washington Opera Society, a 501(C)(3) non-for-profit arts organization in the Nation’s Capital.  He brings some 30 years experience in arts management after also founding and directing the Opera Camerata of Washington.  Mr. Reilly received his undergraduate degree from American University in Washington, DC in technology and management of the arts.  He formerly worked as a licensed stock and bond broker and branch manager with Quantum Financial Advisors.  Mr. Reilly had a long career in the Federal Government in technology and with the Organization of American States as business manager of the international magazine Americas.  Mr. Reilly enjoyed some 5 years at the Washington National Opera (formerly The Washington Opera), on fundraising activities. 

Spare time activities include spending part of the year living and working in Mexico at his home in Acapulco, as a former chorister with his church choir and with the opera, spending time with his 4 grandchildren, gardening and gourmet cooking and the study of piano and opera.  He also has a large interest in immigration and poverty issues relating to the third world.  Mr. Reilly is semi-fluent in the Spanish language.

IN MEMORIAM

Associate Artistic Director: Scott Beard PhD.

In honor of Dr. Beard, whose invaluable contributions benefited the Washington Opera Society from it inception until his untimely passing, we maintain his biography on this page so that all may see a brief summary of what he accomplished during his lifetime.  R.I.P.

Scott Beard has over twenty years experience in higher education, both in the field of music and in administration. He has overseen Shepherd University’s music department, graduate programs and all facets of accreditation in his various academic and administrative rolesHe currently serves as Provost of the University. Recognized for his outstanding teaching abilities, Dr. Beard was named 2006 West Virginia Music Teacher of the Year and was runner-up for West Virginia Professor of the Year in 2009. His students have won prizes in state, regional, national and international competitions, and have gone on to study music at conservatories and schools of music. Concerts as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist have taken him throughout the United States and seven other countries. Recital appearances include Weill Recital Hall, the Tenri Cultural Institute (NYC), as well as numerous embassies and universities. His concerts have been praised for their poetry, passion and innovative programming. Dr. Beard is an active member of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and is a former national board member, having served as Director of the Eastern Division of MTNA. He has also published four volumes of keyboard anthologies with co-author Lucy Mauro with Alfred Publishing, and has a forthcoming textbook on keyboard proficiency to be publishes by Oxford University Press.