Appointment of Curtis Serafin, Associate Music Director
Con Brio is delighted to announce the appointment of Curtis Serafin, as Associate Music Director, commencing July 2025.
Mr. Serafin has recently concluded his fifth season as assistant conductor with the Sarasota Opera, where he played productions of Le Nozze di Figaro, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Tosca, Attila, La scala di seta, and Dido & Aeneas.
Last season, he completed a two-year collaborative piano fellowship with Yale Opera, made his Merkin Hall debut with Berkshire Opera Festival (The Reef by Anthony Davis), and joined the Opera Company of Middlebury for its fall productions. Mr. Serafin will soon return to the podium with Chicago Summer Opera for his fifth production. Other summer seasons have included fellowships at the Tanglewood Institute, Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, Manchester Music Festival, and Hawaii Performing Arts Festival.
Curtis Serafin is a graduate of Warren Jones’s studio at the Manhattan School of Music; this was preceded by the completion of his undergraduate studies in piano performance at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.
Con Brio warmly welcomes Curtis Serafin.
Retirement of Ms. Susan Saltus, Associate Music Director
Con Brio’s Associate Music Director Susan Saltus has announced her retirement in June 2025. Ms. Saltus has served in that role since 2009 with great distinction and has played many key roles in Con Brio’s success. Con Brio thanks Susan Saltus for her extraordinary service.
Ms. Susan Saltus was appointed Associate Music Director and Accompanist and of Con Brio in June 2009. Ms. Saltus received her B.A. in Music from Smith College, where she majored in organ performance and musicology. As a student, she also played bassoon, viola and glockenspiel.
She has held organist positions in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. As a choral singer, she has performed with the Berkshire Choral Festival and Harmonium Choral Society.
Since moving to Essex in 2000, Ms. Saltus has served on the boards of the Community Music School, Bach with Verse and Con Brio, and on the committee for the Collomore Music Series in Chester. She is a home care volunteer for Middlesex Hospice and Palliative Care. Also in 2000, she retired from American Re Asset Management as Managing Director – Equities.
