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Company Info for Lyrical Opera Theater


Mission Statement

To enrichen Utah communities by providing innovative professional family operas and classical concerts ensuring arts education and performance excellence.

Mission Expanded

  1. Provide opera education and awareness by:
    • Increasing accessibility to the finest operas bringing affordable operatic productions into Utah's ethnically diverse, underserved, low-income communities.
    • Providing educational outreach assemblies for elementary students and opportunities for junior and senior high school students to attend LOT's dress rehearsals and performances where they can view our educational series, "An Insider's Guide," teaching them about opera. LOT provides "Behind the Scenes" educational videos for all ages.
    • Fostering the talents of local inexperienced and seasoned artists by providing training that culminates in performance opportunities where they can hone their skills by participating and performing in operatic productions and concerts while remaining close to home.
  2. Promote the operatic voice demonstrating its virtuosity, emotional capacity and rich beauty by producing opera in intimate settings that give audiences close-up and personal operatic experiences.
  3. We introduce this old art form to new audiences using innovative technology including full orchestral accompaniment tracks integrated with projection scenery containing supertitle translations and fun facts.

Vision Statement

Lyrical Opera Theater enrichens, educates and entertains Utah communities through participation in and enjoyment of opera.

Core Values. Our guiding principals are:

  • Professionalism
  • Integrity
  • Reliability
  • Responsibility
  • Discipline
  • Accountability
  • Kindness
  • Creativity
  • Innovativeness
  • Progressiveness
  • Resouceful fiscal management
  • Respect
  • Appreciation
  • Volunteerism
  • Family values

Board of Directors

Deborah Siddoway, President

Deborah Siddoway, Soprano

Deborah Siddoway: Certifications: SPHR, SHRM-SCP, ACA, Veterans at Work

V.P. of the HR solutions division of HR Service Inc, Directly manages the HR solutions staff and assists clients with human resource strategy, management and employment law needs such as employee, leader, and safety handbooks, compliance audits, training, performance management, compensation theory, hiring, termination, conflict resolution and more.

Over 20 years professional compliance and human resources management and consulting experience in the public and private sectors. Earned certificate in Human Resource Management from Westminster College, a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), SHRM Senior Certified Profession (SHRM-SCP) through the Society for Human Resources Management, ACA Certified through the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and Veterans ad work Certified through SHRM.

Sarah Seamons, Vice President

Sarah Seamons, Soprano

Sarah Seamons has always been surrounded by music and the arts. She has taken both piano and voice lessons and enjoys being part of musical productions. Sarah has been part of many community and school musical productions and choirs. She has been affiliated with Lyrical Opera Theater for three years and has very much enjoyed being part of their productions during that time.

Sarah has worked as a childcare director for a retirement facility leading teachers and children. She was in charge of the day-to-day operation of this business. Sarah is currently a Data Management Specialist for a company in Park City Utah, where she works with many computer applications, and systems. She has also served as a president and a secretary in some of her church organizations, where she learned organizational skills and how to run meetings. Sarah believes in the mission on Lyrical Opera Theater and is proud to be part of an organization that brings music to so many.



Kenn Crandall, Secretary

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Kenn Crandall owns and operates the Tinder Box, a franchise business in Murray that is synonymous with quality products and was winner of the prestigious Tinder Box Store of the year award. He brings to the table experience and a commitment to exemplary customer service.

Treasurer: Lynnette Owens

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Lynnette Owens, Treasurer

With a rich blend of business and performing arts expertise, Lynnette brings invaluable experience to Lyrical Opera Theater. Over 43 years, she's successfully managed her own sole proprietor business while pursuing a thriving classical singing career and instructing 45 students in voice and piano weekly. For six years, she excelled in professional bookkeeping and provided financial and business coaching.

In 2012, Lynnette established Lyrical Opera Products, Inc., a global provider of full orchestral accompaniment tracks for complete operas, supporting opera companies and singers worldwide. In 2013, she introduced Lyrical Opera Theater, her visionary contribution to the world of opera. Lynnette's dedication is enhancing the global opera landscape, making high-quality, affordable opera productions more accessible, and nurturing the prosperity and endurance of this art form.

Jessie Pugmire, Board of Directors

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Jessie Pugmire, President

Jessica is uniquely qualified as the Board of Directors' President, a job that spans a wide range of knowledge from sales and marketing to stage make-up to designing and creating costumes to language translation. She has several years of experience with working on the board of a non-profit with 3 years each as the treasurer and Vice President of Lyrical Opera Theater. The role of Vice President included overseeing productions, acquiring skills in costuming, foreign language, networking, and sound design, as well as a myriad of assorted necessities of the trade. As Treasurer she oversaw the finances and bookkeeping, along with advising the board of directors on which additional needs were most beneficial for their cost. She grew up training as a musician taking voice, guitar, and violin lessons and singing in choirs. She was a Girl Scout for 13 years and cites it as the best business training a young girl could ever ask for. She volunteers every year for the Utah Pride Festival assisting participating companies with their sales and marketing. She is gifted with languages, continuously studying Italian, Korean, French and a host of other languages. She now owns and operates a sole proprietorship as a professional singer.

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Carly Schaub, Board of Directors

Carly Schaub, Dancer & Choreographer

Carly Schaub lives in SLC, where she also completed her M.F.A. at the University of Utah in Modern Dance. Before SLC, she lived in ND, dancing and serving as Outreach Coordinator for Northern Plains Dance. She also has a B.F.A. in Theatre/Dance from the University of Wyoming. Carly is an adjunct for Salt Lake Community College, and Westminster College, and teaches Modern and Ballet at Wasatch Arts Center. She teaches Dance for Parkinson's for UofU's Skagg's Wellness Center and RDT. She has choreographed for Deseret Experimental Opera, Snow College, and Cache Valley Civic Ballet, Northern Plains Dance and teaches Baroque and Renaissance dance. Carly directs Dance Balletti, an early Ballet reconstruction ensemble and she also dances with Municipal Ballet.

Marc Navez, Board of Directors



Marc Navez, Board of Directors

Marc Navez has been a theatre aficionado since the sixth grade. He found a love of performing in childrens choirs, musicals, as well as the corny center-of attention child at all community gatherings. He continued his journey in the performing arts through intense study, gaining his degree in musical theatre from Utah Valley University. Most of his talent was developed was achieved by gaining a plethora of knowledge from practical experience (working at several venues scattered throughout Utah); directing multiple productions, building scenery, choreographing, and… well… pretty much if it's something that is done in a performance venue, Marc can do it. He is considered a Renaissance Man of sorts. He is delighted to join Utah Lyrical Opera and get into a different aspect of the performing world all whilst gaining new expertise. One might recognize his work for Lyrical Opera Theatre when he performed in 2021's Madama Butterfly and built scenery for 2023's Pagliacci.

Sydney Leavitt, Board of Directors



Sydney Leavitt, Board of Directors

Sydney started her career in the arts at the age of 12 and entered the world of opera when she was 18. She has done a multitude of jobs throughout her years of theater which makes her uniquely qualified to sit on this extremely diverse board. She has done everything from Costume Design, to Sound and Lighting operation, but her favorite role will always be Stage Managing. Despite her dedication to Lyrical Opera Theater's success, she has volunteered her time to help other theaters in the Salt Lake Area. Sydney looks forward to growing her relationships with the board as they embark on this journey together.

Staff (volunteer)

Executive Director/Artistic Administrator: Lynnette Owens

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Lynnette Owens, Executive Director & Founder of Lyrical Opera Theater

Executive Director/Artistic Administrator, Lynnette Owens: Lynnette brings a lifetime of business and performing artist experience to the leadership helm of Lyrical Opera Theater. She received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance when she was 22 years old, but her music education began when she started taking piano lessons at the young age of five. She was playing advanced piano songs by age 12. She was a Carnegie Hall soloist with the New England Symphony and a 300-voice chorus in Mozart's Requiem and Vesperae solennes de confessore. She has thrilled audiences and critics alike with her operatic performances. Her roles have included Madama Butterfly in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Minnie in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème, and Tosca in Puccini's Tosca amongst numerous others. She has performed with Lyrical Opera Theater, Rome Festival Opera, Utah Symphony & Opera, Amici Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Sarasota Opera, Bleeker Street Opera in NYC, MidAmerica Productions, the American West Symphony and the Da Camera Choir and Symphony of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Business-wise…Lynnette has 42 years of experience running various businesses. Her sole proprietorship included managing her classical singing career and teaching private piano and voice lessons regularly maintaining 35 students in her studio. She also did professional bookkeeping for other small businesses and financial coaching for a financial company. She founded Lyrical Opera Products, Inc in 2012 which provides opera products such as full orchestral opera accompaniments for entire operas world-wide and projection scenery, costumes and props to local opera companies. Lyrical Opera Theater is her brainchild and how she is making the world a better place. She is enabling opera companies world-wide to produce higher quality more affordable operas promoting the prosperity and longevity of opera.

Accountants: DIGITs

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Accounting, DIGITs

Accountants - DIGITs: We are dedicated to providing our clients with accurate and dependable high-quality bookkeeping services. We hold ourselves to the Code of Ethics Standards set forth by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers and adhere to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We promise and are committed to the confidentiality of our clients' and their business. David Barker is Founder of Business Bookkeeping, LLC. He was educated at Southern Utah State University and over the past 12 years has worked as a bookkeeper, accounting analyst and a subject matter expert for small and large companies. One of our specialties is helping start-up business owners set up their books. We also provide training, easy analysis along with other business tools necessary to be successful. For businesses with established bookkeeping we provide rescue services (such as catch-up), audits, regular bookkeeping maintenance and more. We are dedicated to helping small and medium-size business owners grow and improve their business by providing highly skilled professional services, analysis and reporting.

HR & Compliance Coach: Deborah Siddoway:

Deborah Siddoway, Soprano

Certifications: SPHR, SHRM-SCP, ACA

Manages the HR solutions team, and directly assists clients with human resource strategy, management and employment law needs such as employee, leader, and safety handbooks, compliance audits, training, performance management, compensation theory, hiring, termination, conflict resolution and more.

Over 15 years professional compliance and human resources management and consulting experience in the public and private sectors. Earned certificate in Human Resource Management from Westminster College, a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), SHRM Senior Certified Profession (SHRM-SCP) through the Society for Human Resources Management and ACA Certified through the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU).

Coordination Officer: Jessie Pugmire

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Jessie Pugmire, President

Jessica has 6 years of experience acting as coordinator officer of Lyrical Opera Theater. In her time in this position she has slowly taken on jobs including scheduling auditions, rehearsals, performances, coachings, and meetings while also coordinating lines of communication, informing artists of casting decisions, scouting and approaching new artists, and more. She began learning the necessary skills for this position from a young age while participating in various leadership, communication, administrative, and logistics classes through the Girl Scouts of America. She sites this as the best business training any young woman could ask for. Possessing no formal education in any field tied to this title she is constantly surprising people and surpassing expectations of skill and consistency in her work.

Christopher Arbizu, Marketing consultant

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Christopher Arbizu, Board of Directors

Christopher's business acumen lies in identifying emotional triggers in various demographics and working out how to use those triggers in marketing. What do young people like? What do old people like? What do businesspeople like? What do skaters like? What do people into rock and roll like? For example, he bets people who like songs like Bohemian Rhapsody (a tragic song if you look at the lyrics) and the final countdown (a soaring and epic power ballad about space travel if you look at the lyrics) might enjoy opera, because they're similar in a sense of soaring grandiose virtuosity.

But he is also skilled in imagery. Take, for example, the image of a woman in a flowing dress in the middle of a field surrounded by a forest, singing loudly enough to send vibrations through the grass and trees. That could make a great advertisement, right? And not even just for opera, like, you could market skin care or chewing gum like that. (This gum will make you feel like this!) He has spent most of his life marinating in pop culture imagery and TV advertising, examining which ads worked for him and which didn't, reading various books, watching various TV shows and movies, and the result of that is the ability to weave an epic tapestry of words that resonate across the ages. That is why he was chosen to consult on advertising for this company.

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Upcoming Performances