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Creative Team​

ROK's creative team designs, directs, and produces our customized shows and curriculum guides each year.
​To learn more about this season's cast, click here.
For more about ROK's mission and leadership, click here.

​rory willats, stage director
A member of the UCSC’s Future Stages Research Lab since 2021, Rory Willats is a stage director and new media artist whose works have been seen in opera houses, galleries, and theaters around the US and the UK. This is Rory’s second season directing for Reimagining Opera for Kids. 

ELIANA BARWINSKI, PRODUCTION MANAGER
Isaac Terceros, Conductor 
Isaac Terceros is the Founder and Music Director of the Santa Cruz Philharmonic in Bolivia and also serves as Assistant Conductor in symphonic and operatic productions at the prestigious Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in the United States, where he is working towards his Doctor Degree in orchestral conducting under the mentorship of Maestros Arthur Fagen and Thomas Wilkins. At Indiana University, he has also benefited from additional studies with David Neely, Walter Huff, Carl St. Clair, Patrick Summers, Nicolas Pasquet, Markand Thakar, Angel Gil-Ordoñez, Marzio Conti and Sir Roger Norrington, among many other renowned conductors. Mr. Terceros has enriched his career by performing as a guest conductor in Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. In Bolivia, he is founder and music director of several ensembles, including the Santa Cruz Symphonic Band and the vocal ensemble Entrecantos (a two-time winner of the Santa Cruz Choir Competition). As a continuous strong advocate of music education to all ages, communities, and backgrounds, he has also served as a faculty member and choir conductor for the Music Department of Universidad Evangélica Boliviana (UEB). He was elected to the Council of Arts of Santa Cruz in 2014, won the Youth Peace Prize in the Arts Category in 2017 and received the Outstanding Young Person of Bolivia award from the Junior Chamber International in 2019. He currently serves as the elected Secretary of Culture of Partners of America in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. His work with the Santa Cruz Philharmonic has won praise and recognition from audience and press alike. Since its establishment in 2016, the Philharmonic has fast become an artistic pillar of the city and country, building strong relationships with civic institutions, businesses, and the public. The concerts have had a strong educational and historical impact on the city as many programs include premiere performances from the symphonic canon, such as, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana; pieces from the Latin American symphonic repertoire; and diverse popular productions such as, A Gospel Celebration, A tribute to John Williams, and the musical Les Misérables. Mr. Terceros’s adventurous projects have harnessed the storytelling power, rich variety, and universal relevance of music to engage new audiences. He completed his Master Degree in Instrumental Conducting at the University of Central Arkansas under the mentorship of Maestro Israel Getzov, where he was awarded with a Graduate Assistantship and the Music Certificate Scholarship. Previously, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Orchestra and Choir Conducting at the University of Sao Paulo through the Exchange Program for Undergraduate Students (PEC-G), sponsored by the Ministry of External Relations (MRE) of Brazil, under the instruction of Maestro Aylton Escobar and other prestigious professors. Mr. Terceros received numerous awards during his academic studies, including a research grant from the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and ten Academic Excellence Awards from the Division of Educational Matters (DCE) of Brazil. He was also a member of various research teams on musical analysis, music technology, and choir conducting publishing his findings in scientific journals and conferences.  ​
Kimberly Carballo, Executive Director
Founder and director of Reimagining Opera for Kids (ROK), Kimberly is Coordinating Opera Coach for Indiana University’s (IU) Opera and Ballet Theater, and an active international performer and educator.  She has previously worked as the mainstage and young artists’ program coach for the Compañía Lírica Nacional de Costa Rica, and music theory instructor and vocal coach at the Conservatorio Musical de Alajuela, the Escuela de Artes Musicales de la Universidad de Costa Rica, and the Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica.  In addition to her duties at IU, she maintains a private studio as a freelance coach, collaborator, and piano teacher.  Kimberly also forms part of the inaugural and ongoing team for Tunaweza Kimuziki (Through Music All is Possible), a project promoting exchange among music educators, scholars, and performers in Kenya and the USA.

​Actualmente Kimberly Carballo es pianista de ópera en la Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater de Indiana University, profesora en el departamento de Música de Cámera y Piano Colaborativo, ejecutante, y educadora con trayectoria internacional.  Ha trabajado como pianista y coach para la Compañía Lírica Nacional de Costa Rica, profesora de teoría y pianista en la Universidad de Costa Rica, el Conservatorio Musical de Alajuela, y la Universidad Nacional.  Además de estas actividades profesionales, en el taller Tunaweza Kimuziki forma parte del equipo inaugural que ha seguido hasta hoy en día; el taller, cuyo nombre significa “A través de la música, todo se puede hacer,” provee oportunidades de interacción e intercambio cultural para músicos y educadores de música, con bases en los EEUU y en Kenya.

​kimcarballo.com
ashley killam, consultant
Ashley Killam (she/her) is a passionate entrepreneur, non-profit director, freelancer, trumpet player, advocate, and researcher. Killam is the founder of AK Artist Management and is on a lifelong mission to create a more inclusive artistic space.

She is also an Associate Director of Diversify the Stand, a Colorado-based non-profit focusing on commissioning accessible educational works by marginalized composers. She is on the Board of Directors for Diversify the Stand, Future in Music, and the National Concert Band of America. Past appointments include previously working as a Trumpet Teaching Artist for MusicFit Academy, being the General Manager for Rising Tide Music Press, and drill writing.

www.ashleykillam.com


Copyright © 2020 Reimagining Opera for Kids
Black lives matter. 

As an organization, ROK is striving to know better and do better. 

As artists, we hear, see, and lift up our siblings of color. 

And as human beings, we sing out that we must reimagine not only what our art form can be, but much more; what our society must be, locally, nationally, and globally.
This project was made possible in part by support from The Puffin Foundation West.
Activities are made possible in part by the Brown County Community Arts Foundation, and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.