Diana Farrell

President & Artistic Director

A recipient of the 2023 American Prize in the Women in Opera Division, the 2024 American Prize for Professional Opera, and the 2024 AIMS Vocal Competition, American lyric spinto soprano Diana Farrell has been praised for her “golden voice” and commanding stage presence. In 2025, she made her Carnegie Hall debut as Jane in The Yellow Wallpaper, following her fourth appearance in the title role of Puccini’s Tosca in 2024. In 2023, she debuted as Krystyna Zywulska in two productions of Jake Heggie’s Two Remain, and prior to that, earned critical acclaim for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth, noted for her “passionate intensity” and expressive vocal artistry.

Additional operatic credits include Magda Sorel (The Consul), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Micaëla (Carmen), Anna Maurrant (Street Scene), Berta (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Miriam in Lee Hoiby’s The Scarf, and the title role in Amelia Goes to the Ball. She has performed with companies such as San Diego Opera, Opera Western Reserve, The Crested Butte Music Festival, Pacific Symphony, and Pacific Opera Project. Offstage, Diana is a sought-after stage director known for her insightful artistic leadership. She is the Founding Artistic Director of Lyric Opera of Orange County, which was named Emerging Arts Organization of the Year by Arts OC in 2022. That same year, she was honored as the Woman Leader in Orange County Arts and recognized as an OC Visionary by the Los Angeles Times. She is the Artistic Director of the Assyrian Arts Institute and a frequent judge and panelist for national competitions, grant committees, and young artist programs. Diana serves on the IDEA/Legacy Committee for the National Opera Association, honoring minority voices of the past and present on a national stage. 

As a librettist, Diana’s original operas include Gilgamesh (premiering March 2026 in Los Angeles) and The Yellow Wallpaper (Carnegie Hall World Premiere on January 31, 2025). Her concert repertoire includes performances as soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Poway Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Messa di Requiem with the Palisades Symphony, Mozart’s Vespers with the Santa Monica Chorale, Alma Mahler’s Fünf Lieder with South Coast Symphony, Strauss’s Vier Lieder with Peninsula Symphony, and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été with Dana Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared with the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra and Centre Chorale in Mozart’s Requiem and Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël. A multi-award-winning artist, Diana holds an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has studied under opera greats such as Jane Eaglen, Jon Fredric West, and Melody Moore.

Michael O'Halloran

General Director & Board Chair

Michael O’Halloran has performed over 40 roles domestically and internationally.

Recently, he has been seen as Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème, Mizgir’ in the West Coast premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Снегурочка, Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Mercutio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Don Annibale in Donizetti’s Il Campanello, Dancaïro in Bizet’s Carmen, King Melchior in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Peter in Hansel and Gretel, and Lysander in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen. He workshopped the role of Tenorio in Armienta’s Bless Me, Ultima with Opera Southwest, and performed the role of the Policeman, as well as covered Orphée in Philip Glass’ Orphée as an Emerging Artist at Virginia Opera. Michael made his Virginia Opera debut as a Spectrum Resident Artist, singing Il Principe Yamadori and covering Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. While at Manhattan School of Music, he was seen as Pisandre in Fauré’s Pénélope, and Vernon in Summer and Smoke, having the honor of being a part of the world premiere recording, which was hailed as one of the “Top Ten New Recordings” by Opera News. He is proud to be the first American vocalist to be a junger Künstler Bayreuth at the Bayreuther Festspiele.

While an artist in residence with Virginia Opera, he brought specialized educational content to over 90 schools in the Commonwealth, and received specialized training at the Manhattan School of Music designing unique curricula and outreach concerts for hospitals, nursing homes, group homes, and schools. His knowledge and love of the history and traditions in the operatic canon has informed our outreach concerts to make opera accessible and enjoyable to everyone.

Robert Graulich

Board of Directors Chair, Emeritus

Mr. Graulich is a retired corporate and federal government executive with 40 years experience in government and private industry.  A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Graulich served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, and following his return was awarded a Congressional Fellowship. He subsequently served as Director of Congressional Relations for several government departments, and in the mid-1970s was named Country Director for Peace Corps Malaysia, the largest volunteer contingent of its time. In the 1980s, Mr. Graulich co-founded a renewable energy company, played a primary role in bringing the company public, and served as VP Corporate Communications and Administration. Over the years, Mr. Graulich served on the boards of several community and charitable organizations, including the National Peace Corps Association, the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts, and board chair of a homeowners association.

Cindy Drennan

Board Treasurer

Cindy has spent her life focusing on ways to give back to her community. She graduated with a Bachelors in Linguistics from UCLA in 1975. From there, she used her gifts with various administrative positions amongst churches and non-profit organizations. Her passion for uplifting communities has taken her across the globe in countries such as Honduras, Puerto Rico, Bolivia, Rwanda, Palestine, and many others. Outside of her charitable works, she has a passion for music, serving as a member of The Festival Singers of Orange County.

Scotland (Scotty) King

Director at Large

Ms. King is a recent transplant to Orange County. She is an active volunteer at her church and as a teacher of ceramics at her grandchildren’s school. She built her career in financial services over 27 years at Citigroup and its predecessor organizations where she held a wide range of executive positions, ultimately retiring as its head of global learning and development. Scotty has supported Lyric Opera of Orange County since its inception.

Jacob Sustaita

Director at Large

Since 2020, Dr. Jacob Sustaita has served as the assistant conductor for Pacific Symphony and music director, Carl St. Clair.  Dr. Sustaita also serves as music director and conductor for Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO), the premier training orchestra of Orange County, recognized as one of the most outstanding youth orchestras in the country. Dr. Sustaita’s passion for conducting Family, Education, and Youth Concerts is evident in his work with Pacific Symphony where he recently partnered with acclaimed puppeteer, Victor Yerrid, to design, program, and conduct a new series of Family Concerts at PSO that brings the world of puppets to the concert hall for an unbelievable concert experience for families and children of all ages. Jake is an enthusiastic conductor known for creating strong bonds with audiences and musicians alike. His personal and unique approach to storytelling through music and audience engagement are highly in demand, and he is quickly becoming one of the most in demand conductors for training the brightest young musicians. In January 2025, Jake joined the incredible team of Teaching Artists at Disney’s Imagination Campus, a select group of conductors and music educators selected by Disney to teach, clinic, and conduct recording sessions at Disneyland in Orange County. Dr. Sustaita also serves as the Symphony Orchestra Director at the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA), and he is the newest member to join the instrumental conducting faculty at USC’s Thornton School of Music. In the fall of 2021 and 2022, Jake also served as Acting Director of Orchestras at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University Long Beach (CSULB). Dr. Sustaita is a frequent guest conductor and clinician across the country, and in 2015, he was selected by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Institute to serve as assistant conductor to Charles Dutoit and the National Youth Orchestra of America (NYO). Sustaita regularly conducted and coached the orchestra during its New York residency and throughout their seven-city tour of China and Hong Kong. A native of Texas, Sustaita completed his Doctorate and Bachelor of Music degrees at the University of Houston, where he served as assistant conductor for the Moores Opera Center for three seasons. He also earned a Master of Music degree from both Penn State University and Rice University. His honors include: Schissler Conducting Fellowship, Rice University Prize and Provost Fellowship and American Prize semi- finalist and finalist. His teachers and mentors include Carl St.Clair, Charles Dutoit, Franz Krager, Brett Mitchell, Gerardo Edelstein, and Paavo Järvi.

Cynthia Stokes

Director at Large

American stage and opera director Cynthia Stokes is dedicated to fostering community through the transformative power of live performance in unexpected locations and innovative media. Her work includes site-specific opera installations such as: Joan of Arc; The Trial at Rouen: An immersive opera for Piedmont Opera; La hija de Rappaccini, staged in the public slot canyon lobby at ENR2 on the University of Arizona campus; Queen of Carthage, an adaptation of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, set overlooking Southern California’s last undeveloped Pacific coastline for The Without Walls Festival; The Andrée Expedition, Dominic Argento’s opera, premiered in an abandoned marble quarry in Vermont, featuring baritone Michael Chioldi.

During the pandemic, Stokes reimagined The Andrée Expedition as a virtual reality experience. The Andrée Expedition 360 VR placed the audience, performer, and pianist together on a floating ice pack, suspended in air and time. This innovative project premiered at SXSW in March 2022. Her latest project, Hearing the Invisible, is a collaboration between science and art, launched at the University of Arizona. This installation explores the diagnostic potential of audio EEG brain activity to distinguish between individuals with diseased brains and healthy subjects. By combining interactive art, music composed by UA School of Music students, and groundbreaking research, it highlights the complexities of invisible diseases and the importance of early diagnosis through audio brainwave analysis.

Ms. Stokes has directed productions for esteemed companies, including Los Angeles Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, San Diego Opera, Opera San José, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Carolina, Glimmerglass Opera, Piedmont Opera and Opera Philadelphia. She has also served on the directing staff for The Dallas Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, The Florentine Opera, Opera Pacific, and Glimmerglass Opera. As the Amelia T. Rieman Endowed Chair for Opera at the University of Arizona, Ms. Stokes leads the opera program and spearheads innovative initiatives. In 2025 she received the Charles Nelson Reilly Directing Award for her production of Thumbprint. Her recent grants include funding from the Arizona Arts Commission, the University of Arizona Provost Initiative Grant for her Digital and Performing Arts Lab, the Qualcomm Ideas Grant, and The UA Research and Leadership Institute. She is a board member of the National Opera Association and has served as a panelist for Opera America and the Arizona Arts Commission.

Maggie Thompson

Board Secretary

Maggie Currently serves as the Vice President of Advancement for the Austin Symphony Orchestra, but comes from opera roots. As a mezzo-soprano Maggie Thompson has performed countless credits on both the recital and operatic stage. Her most recent roles included Puck in Lyric Opera of Orange County’s The Fairy Queen and Hansel in the company’s Hansel and Gretel. Maggie was born in Tustin and attended the Orange County High School of the Arts. After receiving a Vocal Degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she returned to Orange County and has dedicated her time to preserving the musical arts in the area. Maggie served as the Director of Special Events at Pacific Symphony and is responsible for raising over $2 million each year for their educational and artistic programs. Her role with Lyric Opera of Orange County, although a smaller budget, is similar and a natural fit for Maggie. While serving on the Board of LOOC, Maggie produced our first ever fundraising event which surpassed its goal and paved the way for future successes.