Our Team
Rebecca Sacks
Co-Executive Director
Mezzo Rebecca Sacks is known for her dynamic stage presence, smart musicality, and stylistic versatility. With a voice described as “powerful” and “extraordinary” (Operawire), she has recently been heard as The Witch in Opera On Tap Philadelphia’s production of Hansel and Gretel and Santuzza in Delaware Valley Opera Company’s Cavalleria Rusticana.
Also an up-and-coming stage director and administrator, Sacks’s 2023-2024 season included designing and directing a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro set in the summer of 1969 after the Stonewall Riots.
Sacks holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Georgia, and she has received awards from the American Prize in Opera, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Orpheus Competition, Opera Connecticut, and NATSAA. She currently resides in Ardmore with her partner and beloved cat.
Alexandra Gilliam
Co-Executive Director
Philadelphia native and coloratura soprano Alexandra Gilliam is a recognized performer, administrator, and leader in the operatic sphere. Recent performance engagements include appearances as Susanna in her co-executive director’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro with Delaware Valley Opera Company, and as Baroness von Krakenfeldt in The Grand Duke with The Savoy Company. She will also cover the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Wilmington Concert Opera in September, 2024.
A passionate recitalist and orchestral soloist, she recently co-produced a recital with acclaimed concert pianist Clipper Erickson, presented by Music for the Soul as a celebration of Black and female composers.
Formerly a Co-Managing Diva of the Philadelphia chapter of Opera On Tap, Gilliam is a mover and shaker in the nonprofit arts space and dedicates her time outside of performance to web design, videography, graphic design, technology coordination, and social media management.
Renee Macdonald
Artistic Director
Soprano Renee Macdonald is thrilled to make her operatic administrative debut with Art City Opera. After her studies at Western Michigan University and Wichita State University, she was appointed to a faculty position at her alma mater, Wichita State, where she taught for three years alongside renowned artists Samuel Ramey, Alan Held, and Michael Sylvester.
Passionate about bringing quality music to an accessible level, Renee actively seeks opportunities to highlight the local talent that Philadelphia hs to offer. She is currently the Community Manager for local music school, New Groove, where she helps to organize events and community relations with local businesses and recreation centers. She has also been a fixture in the costume shop at Curtis Institute of Music and at Operativo Houston in Texas.
Named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition for the Tulsa district in 2018, she has studied with some of opera’s finest, including Christine Goerke, Bradley Moore, and her colleagues Samuel Ramey and Alan Held. Past roles include Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), the eponymous Suor Angelica and Alcina, Dying Juana in Crozier’s With Blood, With Ink, Silvia in Mascagni’s Il Zanetto, Nella (Gianni Schicchi), the Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), among others.
Elizabeth Clarkin-Breslin
Director of Marketing and Development
Elizabeth Clarkin-Breslin is a Philadelphia-based actor, writer, and singer. Although she is relatively new to the opera world, she draws upon her experience as a performer, director, and creator of original comedy to inform her unique perspective on the operatic genre.