Our Story
Lowbrow Opera Collective was born out of the desire to push the envelope of opera. In the summer of 2018, co-founders Kate Kelley, Christine Oshiki, and Nic Varela met at a pub to gripe over the difficulties of being a young opera performer. Freshly graduated from the University of Washington’s School of Music, their opportunities to perform on mainstages were few and far between. They also asked themselves how many productions of the Magic Flute they would have to endure singing. (No offense, Wolfie.)
So, they said “to hell with it” by creating opportunities for themselves and other young singers to tell stories that resonate with modern audiences. As one supporter phrased it, they decided to “remove the monocle from classical music’s…” ahem, rear end.
Their beer-soaked dreams became a reality when they organized a ragtag group of musicians into a moldy basement with an out-of-tune piano and began working on their inaugural production, a Brooks/Elder/Melnyk/Nuckols creation called #adulting. With the support of a generous community of artists and supporters, LOC presented the West Coast premiere of #adulting at Seattle’s black box theater 18th & Union in May of 2019. And the rest, as they say, is her-story.
Meet the Board of Directors
Christine Oshiki
Founder | President
Praised for her transcendent vocals (NWTheatre) and excellent soprano voice (Drama in the Hood), Christine Oshiki (she/they) is a well-rounded performer and early childhood educator in the Seattle area. A preschool teacher by day and a vocalist by night, she holds a BM in Vocal Performance from the University of Washington and a MEd in Early Childhood Education from Eastern Washington University. Christine is serving their third year as President on the Lowbrow Board of Directors and most recently performed in Lowbrow's more than friends: a triptych on queer love through the ages as well as Ruth in Lowbrow's #adulting and #adulting2: here we go again. In addition to Lowbrow's endeavors, Christine can be found singing with Choral Arts Northwest, Let's All Drink and Do Broadway, MUSING, the St. Clement's Episcopal Church choir, and as a freelance soloist in the Seattle area. She enjoys spending her free time with her partner, Alex, and their dog, Ollie (who has been deemed Lowbrow's unofficial mascot), trying new things, cooking, and enjoying a good IPA.
Nic Varela
Founder | Secretary
Nic is a Seattle-based tenor and studies with Dr. Kari Ragan. He received his BM in Vocal Performance and BA in Music History from the University of Washington. He has served as chorus member for Pacific MusicWork’s productions of Semele, Die Zauberflöte, and Orphée et Eurydice, as well as Bellevue City Opera’s production of Le nozze di Figaro. He is the co-founder of Lowbrow Opera Collective and has felt endless fulfillment in bringing new opera to the PNW and to have helped build such a cool community of artists. In his spare time, he likes to snuggle with his cats, bake tweats for his fwiends, and smash the patriarchy.
Kate Kelley
Founder | Vice-President
Kate Kelley (she / they) is a Seattle-based arts administrator, theater producer, and operatic stage director with a passion for increasing community access to the arts. Kate holds a BM in Applied Voice (Baylor University, 2015) and an MM in Voice Performance (University of Washington, 2017), is the Operations and Administrative Associate at Seattle Pro Musica, and serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for Lowbrow Opera Collective, a non-profit arts organization that she co-founded in 2018 with the goal of bringing modern works from diverse perspectives to the forefront of opera. Notable performance credits include the titular role of La Calisto (UW, 2015), Orphée in Orphée et Eurydice (UW and Pacific MusicWorks, 2016), Judith in Red Lake (Deseret Experimental Opera Company, 2016), Genovieffa in Suor Angelica (Seattle Modern Opera Company, 2019), Siri in #adulting, a new opera (LOC, 2019 & 2020), and Gretta in Breakfast (LOC, 2020). Notable stage directing credits include #adulting, a new opera (LOC, 2019 & 2020), WINDOWS (LOC 2021), MARThA (LOC 2022), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Music on Site, Inc., 2022) and #adulting2, here we go again (LOC 2022), a commissioned work proudly billed as ‘the gayest opera in existence’. This season at Lowbrow, Kate served as the panel moderator at Indelible: reflections on queerness in the performing arts, and has been hard at work on all things More Than Friends - Kate is the assistant director of Thirst and Emily and Sue and is Stage Director of Achilles & Patroclus.
Alice Carli
Treasurer
Alice Carli is a transplant to Seattle, hailing from Italy and California. She is a lifelong choral singer and lover of opera. Alice has sung with various choral groups including Choral Arts Northwest, St. Clements Church of Rome, Wellspring Ensemble, and the University of Washington Chamber Singers. Alice has a B.A in Public Health and was the owner of Seattle Cucina Cooking School, which offered comprehensive, practical food education for people of all ages. She is currently pursuing a Juris Doctor with a specialization in environmental law at the UCLA School of Law. When she isn’t cooking or singing, she is usually traveling or spending time in the sun! She is thrilled to be supporting Lowbrow in creating a new future for opera.
Jared White
Board Member
Jared White is a Seattle-native baritone, actor, and private teacher who is known for his powerful voice and commanding stage presence. Jared is an advocate for opera as a living, dynamic, and relatable artform. As a Board Member for Lowbrow, he enjoys all elements of opera production: from reading through new work submissions to designing and building sets.
Jared has had the pleasure of singing for many local performance companies and in concert recitals. This last season, his credits include the Sergeant of Police in The Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production of The Pirates of Penzance; Mr Brownlow in Bellevue Opera’s production of Oliver!; Schlendrian in a staged production of the Coffee Cantata for the Ladies’ Musical Club’s birthday concert for Bach; Papageno and Sarastro in the touring production of The Magic Flute for NOISE (Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc.); and Sheriff Byrd in the world-premiere performance of Tacoma Method at Tacoma Opera; and a return to Bellevue Opera as Morales in their production of Carmen; as well as in choral groups such as the Byrd Ensemble, Radiance, Bellingham Chamber Chorale, and the Seattle Symphony Chorale.
His love of opera is matched only by his love of dogs, gardening, reading, and the Oxford comma.
Trevor Ainge
Development Director
Trevor Ainge, tenor, is a Seattle-based tenor specializing in Scandinavian romanser and character roles. He currently serves as Director of Development at Lowbrow Opera Collective, overseeing company financing, community engagement and communications strategy. He holds degrees in both Speech and Hearing Sciences and Voice Performance from the University of Washington, where notable roles included Linfea in Cavalli’s La Calisto, Secrecy in extracts from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Le Petit Vieillard in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortilèges, and the Narrator in Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox. In the spring of 2018, Trevor made his Pacific Northwest Opera debut as Emperor Altoum in Puccini's Turandot. On the recital stage, Trevor adds PNW flair to Swedish romanser, including Alfven’s Sju Dikter av Ernst Thiel, Milveden’s Tre Sånger, and Nystroem’s På Reveln.