Our Creative Team
The Composer
Niccolo Seligmann Brings together old instruments and new practices, uniting gut strings with lines of code. He performs on over 20 historical and traditional instruments in the world, and designs his own software instruments. You can hear him perform on his 2020 solo album Kinship and on the soundtracks of the PC game Civilization VI and the 2017 feature film Papillon. Niccolo was an Artist-in-Residence at Strathmore Music Center in 2020 And is a member of ensembles Alkemie, The Broken Consort, Hesperus, Wherligig, and others. Minerva: Times Change, an opera Nicolo co-composed with George Frideric Handel, premiered in 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. Niccolo coached the UCLA early music Ensemble from 2016- 2018, and continues a bicoastal private teaching Studio. He holds a degree in viola da gamba performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He is currently an apprentice to master luthier Ken Koons.
The Librettist
Dr. Raphael Seligmann is a writer, scholar, musician, translator, banker, and non-profit leader. He holds a PhD in English literature from Brandeis University, a master's degree from Johns Hopkins, and a bachelor's degree from Cornell. He has numerous publication credits in peer-reviewed books and journals. His reflections on Shakespeare, Machiavelli and Donald Trump are forthcoming in April in the book William Shakespeare and 21st-Century Culture. He has held editorial positions with the U.S. Military Academy and Cornell University Press, plus several faculty positions in the humanities in the United States and Germany. A baroque violinist, he is a founding member and artistic director of RVA Baroque. In 2019, he wrote the libretto for the original opera Minerva: Times Change. Raphael is Vice President of the Latin Ballet of Virginia. He also teaches music to underserved schoolchildren to the FRIENDS Association for Children.
The Director
PJ Freebourn (He/Him) has spent the last 15 years as a director, actor, and singer creating theatre throughout the country. He has directed numerous plays, musicals, and operas including the first national tour of the renowned Filipino opera NOLI ME TANGERE, GODSPELL, TRUTH TAKES A HOLIDAY (The Human Experience Play Festival), THAT MIDNIGHT RODEO, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (Virginia Symphony Orchestra), and NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY. He also directed and starred in the national tour of the one man show APOLLO TO THE MOON. He has been assistant director on numerous other productions for both Lyric Opera of Virginia and Virginia Opera, working with such great directors as Lillian Groag and Dottie Danner on productions of THE KING AND I, LA TRAVIATA, THE VALKYRIE, COSI FAN TUTTE, and DON GIOVANNI. PJ was the recipient of the 2018 RTCC Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rach in Firehouse Theatre's award winning production of Dave Malloy’s PRELUDES.
The Producer
Victoria Nochiaski Kinney is president of RVA Baroque. She has performed with Capitol Opera Richmond as Musetta in La Bohème and First Witch in Dido and Aeneas. With Into the Woods Productions and RVA Baroque, she was in the premiere of Minerva: Times Change. She finished her Bachelor of Arts in Music at Virginia Commonwealth University in December of 2015, where she played several roles including first lady in Die Zauberflöte, Inez in The Gondoliers, Sister Anne de la Crois in Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She is soprano section leader and soloist at Ginter Park United Methodist Church in Richmond, and has sung with several area choral groups as soloist and chorister. She is band program assistant for Cumberland County Public Schools. She is also a private voice and beginning piano teacher at Powhatan Music & Sound in Powhatan, and works with the Longwood Center for Community Music in Farmville, Virginia.