The Santa Fe Opera has announced the 84 members of its 2026 Apprentice Program for Theater Technicians.

Each season, technical apprentices perform essential backstage functions within one of eight distinct crews: Audio/Visual, Costumes, Electrics, Production/Music Services, Properties, Scenic Art, Stage Operations, and Wigs and Makeup. The crews carry out daily changeovers to maintain the season’s repertory schedule and fill positions crucial to the live running of productions.

The 2026 Audio/Visual crew consists of Zachary Dukeminier (New Mexico), Mia Elias (Texas), Jacob Gers (North Carolina), and Lily Weigand (New Hampshire).

The Costumes crew includes Erin Allen (Virginia), Aiden Berchtold (California), Shoshi Brustin (Colorado), Justin Buontempo (New York), Donna Cantu (California), Shay Conley (Illinois), Ella Doyle (California), Amanda Geyer (Virginia), Räyya Gracy (Georgia), Ollie Gretok (North Carolina), Edward Webb Hodges (South Carolina), Jordan Lynn Howe (New Mexico), Lauren Kensley (Colorado), Bethany Lawrence (Minnesota), Linda Litchy-Cervantes (Nevada), Auden Mucher (New York), Kalyn Paradis (Pennsylvania), Alexandra Riascos (New Jersey), Angelese Sanchez (New Mexico), Madeline Schatzke (Texas), Kendall Swartz (Florida), Moira Swinford (New York), Jackson Underwood (Kansas), and Summer Wasung (Michigan).

The Electrics crew is made up of Jenna Agredano (California), Li Downey (New York), Ella Fletcher (New York), Campbell Hicks (Colorado), Yi-Chen Lu (Taiwan), Kinsey Moore (Arizona), Matty D. Peterson (Texas), Gil Rogerson (North Carolina), Jay Sexton (New Jersey), and Lumi Shalaev (Illinois).

The Production/Music Services crew consists of Cruz Afonso (Florida), Mariah Braun (New Mexico), Elli Caunitis (Delaware), Jackson Tressel (Minnesota), and Alice Wilson (Texas).

The Properties crew includes Yassiar Brown (South Carolina), Ally Doederlein (Michigan), Marisa Figueras (Florida), Michelle Guerrero (Texas), Ngan Ho-Lemoine (Vietnam), Olivia Houseman (Minnesota), Jordan Kerr (Ohio), Ren Kosiorowski (Michigan), Theo Kuehn (Colorado), Sydney Liotta (New Mexico), Katie Mayers (New Mexico), Tony Nordyke (Texas), Lexie Scott (South Dakota), and Callie Server (Iowa).

The Scenic Art crew consists of Michaela Meyer (Florida), Ellie Vice (Colorado), and Mac Weaver (Massachusetts).

The Stage Crew includes Sebastian Alarcon (Texas), Logan Alvarez (Georgia), Christopher Blazer (Florida), Roe Burmester (Ohio), Leah Cobleigh (California), Sophie Coudert (Virginia), Lauren Custer (New Mexico), Delaney Dwyer (New Mexico), Sam Feng (Colorado), Leta Jordá-Talevich (Michigan), AR Martin (Illinois), Linden Martin (Tennessee), Kent Mascheck (Texas), Jisselle Muñoz (Illinois), Rafael Payne (Texas), Anthony Sloterdijk (Texas), Ava Stipe (Texas), Beka Underhill (Tennessee), Matthew Welch (Florida), and Owen Wyatt (Texas).

Finally, the Wigs and Makeup crew consists of Faith Gilbert (North Carolina), Araceli Sias (New Mexico), Jade Soto (North Carolina), and Marcelina Villarreal (Texas).

Throughout the summer, apprentices will work alongside the company’s production staff, comprising designers, technicians, and craftspeople from around the globe. In addition to mainstage productions, the technical and singing apprentices will present two evenings of public programming: Apprentice Scenes on August 16 at 8 p.m., featuring staged scenes from the operatic repertoire, and the Apprentice Concert on August 23 at 8 p.m., with apprentice singers performing alongside the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra conducted by James Gaffigan.

Established in 1965, the Apprentice Program for Theater Technicians has provided intermediate and advanced instruction to young technicians in elements of stage operations. More than 4,100 aspiring technicians have participated in the internationally recognized program to date.

Read Related Stories

• Santa Fe Opera to Present ‘Lili Elbe’ with Lucia Lucas

• Santa Fe Opera Announces Extension of Music Director & New Principal Conductor