Staff Bios
JACOB G. ALLEN, artistic director, is director of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance, and the Benjamin W. Rawlins, Jr. Professor of Musical Theatre at the University of Memphis. In this role, he also serves as executive director of the Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center where he oversees the center’s operations and professional performance season. During his tenure at Memphis, Allen founded the BFA program in musical theatre, led significant academic and enrollment initiatives, including the first BFA in Dance Science, and helped establish interdisciplinary programs connecting the performing arts with health sciences, STEM, and other fields.
Allen assumed artistic leadership of Ohio Light Opera in September 2026 after more than two decades with the company. His appointment continued a longstanding artistic partnership with OLO’s previous artistic director, Steven Daigle, who mentored Allen in stage direction at the Eastman School of Music and throughout his career with OLO. Before becoming artistic director, Allen served OLO as a performer, stage director, and associate artistic director, contributing extensively to season planning, casting, and company administration. His OLO directing credits span operetta, classic musical theater, and early American musical comedy and include My Fair Lady, The Boys from Syracuse, Brigadoon, Tip-Toes, Guys and Dolls, Me and My Girl, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Arizona Lady, Hello, Dolly!, South Pacific, The Student Prince, and The Pajama Game. He has also appeared with OLO in 28 principal roles and can be heard or seen on numerous company recordings.
Allen’s other stage-directing credits include productions for Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Kent State University, the College Light Opera Company, the University of Memphis, and the Northern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, among others. As a stage director and music director, he has led more than 80 productions across opera, operetta, and musical theater. His honors include five Ostrander Awards for musical direction, the University of Memphis’ Thomas W. Briggs Excellence in Teaching Award, and Lawrence University’s Nathan M. Pusey Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.
A native of Oxford, Maine, Allen holds a DMA from the University of Memphis, an MM in opera stage direction from the Eastman School of Music, and honors degrees in theatre arts and voice performance from Lawrence University. His work as an artist and educator centers on uniting authentic acting with dynamic singing and preparing emerging artists for collaborative careers in lyric theater.
LAURA NEILL executive director/company manager, has been the executive director of Ohio Light Opera (OLO) since 1998. As OLO is a part of the College of Wooster, Ms. Neill works full time with overall responsibility of the company’s budget, marketing, fundraising, and personnel. As a graduate of Wooster, with decades of experience with the company, Laura has championed the college’s nearly 50 years of support of OLO. Since becoming Executive Director/Company Manager, Ms. Neill’s role has expanded, particularly in the area of guiding and supporting multiple leaders and departments at Wooster. Ms. Neill received her Bachelor of Arts from the College of Wooster with a major in English and has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in Scandinavian Studies/Language and Literature. She is active on several non-profit boards in Wooster/Wayne County. In addition to her executive role with OLO, Laura lends support to the college in other areas, including business development, student engagement, and strategic planning.
MICHAEL BOROWITZ, music director, is currently in his 15th year as associate professor and music director of the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera at LSU, where this season he conducted performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Brandt and Beber’s Kassandra, Menotti’s The Medium, Françaix’ Paris, à nos deux! and Candey and Svich’s La Casa de Bernarda Alba. Next season he will lead performances of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and Chabrier’s L’Étoile. As artistic director with Opéra Louisiane, he led performances of Saint-Saëns’ Hell’s Bell, Borzoni and de los Santos’ The Christmas Spider, and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. His recordings include Offenbach’s Bluebeard, Kern’s The Cabaret Girl, Herbert’s Mlle. Modiste (also released on DVD), Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore and Patience, a DVD of Kálmán’s The Duchess of Chicago, and with soprano Lisette Oropesa, a recital entitled Aux filles du désert.
WILSON SOUTHERLAND, associate music director, is in demand throughout the United States, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. He made his conducting debut to high acclaim with Philip Glass’ Les enfants terribles at North Carolina Opera in 2012 and was the principal conductor for Eastman Opera Theatre’s production of She Loves Me in 2013. Wilson recently made his Kodak Hall debut (Rochester, NY) conducting Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas. After first appearing as rehearsal pianist at OLO from 2006–08, Wilson has since traveled the world: he served as pianist, coach, assistant conductor, and recitalist at Opera Africa in Pretoria, South Africa, the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Les Azuriales Opera in France, AIMS Graz in Austria, Si parla, Si canta in Italy, and The Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman. He was one of 24 singer/pianist duos worldwide chosen to compete in the Wigmore Hall International Art Song Competition in London. Stateside, Wilson was a principal coach for Seattle Opera’s Young Artist Program, as well as an associate conductor/pianist at Opera Omaha, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Birmingham, Opera Memphis, Spoleto USA, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. For six years Wilson was the senior coach and primary pianist under Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival, and he went on to accompany the esteemed conductor-violinist in recital at the Kennedy Center. A former faculty member of Vanderbilt University, Wilson was chosen to perform on Juilliard’s Vocal Arts Honors Recital in Alice Tully Hall. He ushered in the 2014–15 season as associate conductor, head coach, and language specialist for La Rondine at The New Israeli Opera, featuring Angela Gheorghiu. In the fall of 2015 he joined the faculty of the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, where among his coaching and performing duties he conducted Sondheim’s A Little Night Music for the UA Opera Theatre. In 2016 Wilson joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music as assistant professor of opera, where he conducted the revised world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Out of Darkness in 2017 under the composer’s guidance. He has given masterclasses at Vanderbilt University (TN) and Roberts Wesleyan University (NY). He holds degrees in piano from Vanderbilt University and The Juilliard School.
