Lotfi Mansouri, world acclaimed opera stage director and general director for the San Francisco Opera, will join the Opera Academy of California to lead select Emerging Singers in a Master Class performance for the entertainment and enlightenment of audiences. Brilliant singers from around the country will present some of the best known works from the opera repertoire and receive performance technique and presentation guidance from one of the worlds foremost experts on stage craft in opera. In 1988, Lotfi Mansouri was named general director of San Francisco Opera. He has directed over 60 productions for the Company. Mr. Mansouri has worked as guest director at various houses in Italy, including Milan’s La Scala. He has also worked at major opera houses in cities throughout North America, including Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Tulsa, San Diego, Dallas and in New York at both Metropolitan Opera and City Opera. He also directed for seven consecutive seasons at Santa Fe Opera. In 1971, he was appointed artistic adviser to the Minister of Culture of Iran where he helped to organize Tehran Opera and staged productions through 1975.