Crystallia Spileou is the founder of the Wine and Opera Festival. She grew up on the Greek island of Crete and began her stage career as an actress at the Renaissance Festival of Rethymno.

She had an early start in the wine industry as her father was a distributor on the island. Later on, she moved to the United States to further her studies in classical singing and it was her love for wine that supported her as an immigrant in America. She has collaborated with wine companies from all over the world: Stags Leap, Antinori, Penfolds, Famille Perrin, Laurent Perrier, Pol Roger, to name a few.

Ms. Spileou has performed in different venues throughout the United States and Europe such as the Greek National Opera, Opera Massy de Paris, Shakespeare in the Park New York City, Opera Columbus, Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall and many others. She has sung roles such as: Musetta and Mimi in La Bohème, Lucia in Lucia di Lamermoor, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Violetta in La Traviata, Alice Ford in Falstaff, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro.

Her instantly recognizable color with its dark, luscious middle register and its metallic, cutting top, coupled with an impressive ability for dexterous coloratura make her vocally unforgettable in the demanding dramatic repertoire that she now specializes in: Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Abigaille in Nabucco, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, as well as Strauss’s Salome, Leonora in Beethoven’s Fidelio and the title roles in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and Turandot.

For her versatility in repertoire, quality of voice and effect on stage she has been hailed as “the Callas for this generation – not only in her rich and unique colors of her extraordinary voice, but also in her electrifying presence as a consummate actress.”

Michael Karl began his professional career after participating as a semi-finalist in the Young Division of the Chester Ludgin Memorial International Verdi Baritone Competition in New York City. Engagements followed throughout the United States in roles such as: Rigoletto in Rigoletto, Macbeth in Macbeth, Ford in Falstaff, Germont in La Traviata, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Michele in Il Tabarro, Marcello in La Bohème, Silvio in I Pagliacci and Schaunard in La Bohème.

He garnered international attention for his portrayal of Verdi’s Macbeth, prompting journalist William Albritton to report on his forceful acting style and “large, full upper register,” in the UK publication Opera.

Recently, Mr. Karl has endeavored to transition up, from being a Verdi Baritone to a Dramatic Tenor. He debuted performing in concert versions of Otello in Verdi’s Otello and Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, as well as a program of opera arias at the Kosciuszko Foundation. Additional roles in his repertoire include: Calaf in Turandot, Walther in Die Meistersinger, Andrea Chenier in Andrea Chenier, Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West, Lohengrin in Lohengrin, Radames in Aida, Don Carlo in Don Carlo, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Florestan in Fidelio, Siegmund in Die Walküre and Canio in I Pagliacci.

Pianist Edward Bak is the co-founder of the Wine and Opera Festival. He enjoys an active career as a vocal coach and collaborative pianist. The international press has hailed him as “a pianist who knows how to combine fury and restraint, elegance and lyrical effusion” and praised him for playing of “fire, excitement, and a real sense of grandeur,” as well as being a collaborator of “great sensitivity and refinement.”

He served as assistant musical staff to Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood Music Center and has performed in concert with such leading artists as Carol Wincenc, Richard Stoltzman, Vitya Vronsky, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Giuseppe Filianoti. He has been chosen as recital partner by artists from The Cleveland Orchestra, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others. Bak has performed in such venues as the Festival Lanaudière, Severance Hall, The Phillips Collection, Kolarac Hall, The Monnaie, and the National Recital Hall in Taipei.

Mr. Bak’s involvement with the opera has included appointments as coach/accompanist with The Cleveland Lyric Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera Columbus, and the Nevada Opera where he was later appointed music director. He worked in this capacity for the Wendy Taucher Dance Opera Theater for performances in Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, and Key West. He served as Artistic Administrator for Opera Project Columbus for whom he initiated the VIVA online opera academy and the video series celebrating works by African-American composers, “I, too, sing America.” Outside the US, Bak was appointed principal coach for a production at the National Theater in Taipei, and he lectured and presented a master class at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

Edward has worked with the Martina Arroyo Foundation in New York City, The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and The Sankt Goar International Music Festival Academy in Germany, as well as the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices.

Mr. Bak is currently a professor at The Ohio State University School of Music. Previous teaching appointments include the Longy School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and The Peabody Institute.