Artistic Team
Brent Douglas
Artistic Director and Conductor
Brent Douglas celebrates his second season as Artistic Director and Conductor of The Venice Chorale, an award-winning 90-voice ensemble renowned for its dynamic performances. This year, he will conduct Beethoven’s iconic 5th Symphony with the Vidin Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria and return to Sicily to collaborate with the Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival. As Chorus Master for Gulfshore Opera, Brent is preparing singers for productions of Rusalka and Lucia di Lammermoor. He will also appear as a keyboardist for prominent Florida ensembles, including The Florida Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, The Naples Philharmonic, and St. Pete Baroque.
Honored as “Classical Musician of the Year” by Creative Loafing Magazine Tampa Bay in 2016, Brent’s career spans symphonic, operatic, and choral music. His leadership has brought him to stages across the U.S. and internationally, with collaborations including the London Classical Players, Berlin Sinfonietta, and the National Women’s Chorus of Cuba. Previously, Brent served as Director of Orchestra and Chorus at Eckerd College for nine years and Assistant Conductor of the Tampa Bay Symphony for two seasons. He has conducted at renowned festivals such as the Vienna Summer Music Festival and the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina. A career highlight was his groundbreaking “blacklight” production of The Magic Flute with the Düsseldorf Lyric Opera in Germany.
Beyond conducting, Brent is an accomplished vocal coach and opera pianist, he has partnered with St. Petersburg Opera, Opera Tampa, and the Savannah Voice Festival. His unique improv-opera “The Carnival of the Animals” was premiered at the Vienna Summer Music Festival in 2019 and he founded an annual opera recital series in Sicily where he spends his summers.
Brent’s dedication to arts education and leadership is evident through his tenure at Eckerd College, where he founded a new choral music commissioning initiative and led international concert tours. He has adjudicated competitions such as the St. Petersburg Opera Guild and Florida Vocal Association and, as Managing Director of the Palladium Theater, secured key grants for educational initiatives and established the Encore Chamber Music Series.
A graduate of Missouri State University and the University of South Florida, Brent holds degrees in Piano Performance and Conducting. He has studied with esteemed mentors, Gerard Schwarz (Frost School of Music), Dr. James Bass (UCLA), Kenneth Kiesler (U. of Michigan), and Leonardo Catalanotto (Scarlatti Conservatory, Sicily).
Alyssa Adamson
Youth Chorus Director
Alyssa Adamson joined The Venice Chorale in 2023 as its new Youth Chorus Director. Alyssa is currently an elementary music teacher at Pine View School for the Gifted. She has served as a music teacher for other local schools over the past eight years and is an experienced leader of Musicals, Modern Band and Social Emotional Learning. She has a Master’s in Music Therapy from Florida State University and Bachelor’s in Music-Voice Performance from Florida Southern College.
NATALIA VAN GENDEREN
Principal Choral Accompanist
Joining our Artistic Team for the 2023-24 concert season is Natalia Van Genderen. She is a graduate of the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory in Russia, specializing in Music Performance in Forte Piano and a secondary Major in Music Education. Natalia has 15 years of experience teaching music, held the position of Concert Master for the Yaroslavl Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Principal Accompanist for the Philharmonic’s Concert Chorale and solo singers, in addition to performing widely as a solo pianist. In 2021, Natalia moved to the United States, where she has successfully continued her professional career as a Concert Master, accompanist, piano instructor and performer. Inspiration, artistry, color, emotion, depth of interpretation and the highest level of virtuosity form the foundation of Natalia’s creative credo.
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