Meet Our Team
Founder, Artistic Director
Jennifer Allor is a Chicago-based conductor, vocal coach, and pianist. She is on faculty of both the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and Wheaton College. Recently, she was Assistant Conductor for Aïda with Anchorage Opera as well as Tosca with Chicago Nova Opera. She began conducting from the piano for undergraduate opera rehearsals at Roosevelt, then assisted as chorus master. During the summers, she is the Assistant Conductor and Head Coach at the Bay View Music Festival. Locally, she has also collaborated with Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Summer Opera, ECHO (Evanston Chamber Opera), Jupiter Opera Development, the Valkyrie Ensemble, and Chicago Nova Opera.
Co-Founder, Technical Director
Caleb Goodwin, baritone, is a Chicago-based singer, director, and costume designer whose work reflects a passion for collaborative storytelling through opera, musical theater, and straight plays. Whether performing, directing productions, or designing costumes, he is committed to creating artistic experiences that speak to all audiences regardless of background or experience. Recent roles include Belcore and Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore, Falstaff in Otto Nicoli’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Jack in Into the Woods, Slendrian in Bach's Coffee Cantata, and Major Paul Petkoff in George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man. He also devised and directed an interdisciplinary performance, Lullabies for a Broken World, that used lullabies to foster conversations about social divides, combining visual art, dance, music, and poetry.
Grant Allor
Co-Founder, Treasurer
Grant's passion for music is matched by his enthusiasm for thoughtful problem-solving and creative collaboration. Holding a degree in music with a background in clarinet, piano, and composition, he brings both artistic insight and professional expertise in finance and technology to Opera DuPage.
As a software engineer in the financial industry, Grant enjoys finding practical solutions that help creative organizations flourish. Outside of work, he pursues a variety of creative interests, including cooking and woodworking, believing that craftsmanship and artistry share the same attention to detail, curiosity, and care.
Board Member
Twice GRAMMY®-nominated composer Shawn E. Okpebholo doesn’t just write music—he engages history, culture, and community through sound. Named the 2024 Chicagoan of the Year in Classical Music by the Chicago Tribune and one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of 2023, the Nigerian American artist sees himself as a storyteller, educator, and bridge-builder—creating music that resonates globally while remaining rooted in the individual stories that shape our shared humanity.
His music has been praised as “devastatingly beautiful” (The Washington Post), “lyrical, complex, singular” (The Guardian), “dreamy, sensual” (The Boston Globe), and “affecting” (The New York Times). Rooted in tradition yet unmistakably contemporary, his work embodies what The Washington Post has called a voice that is “fresh and new and fearless.”
Board Member
Described as “luminous” (The Guardian) and “radiant” (London Telegraph), soprano Emily Birsan is known to Chicago audiences for her “mesmerizing” (Splash Magazine) performance as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Previous performances include leading roles at Lyric Opera, Welsh National Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Madison Opera and concert performances at Carnegie Hall, BBC Symphony, Ravinia Festival, Grant Park Symphony, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Philharmonic. With the Chandos Record Label, Birsan has recorded Elgar's oratorio, The Saga of St. Olaf, with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis.