Who We Are

---

Before moving to Las Vegas from New York City Ginger was a Portland Opera Resident Artist. While in NYC Ginger was well received by The New York Times and Opera News in the New York debut of An Incomplete Education, with The Bronx Opera, in which she sang the lead role of Gontron le Comte. In her professional operatic career Ginger performed with Palm Beach Opera, Dicapo Opera Theater, Pacific Opera, Opera In The Heights, Natchez Opera Festival, Portland Opera, Opera Astoria and the National Lyric Opera, singing the roles of Queen of the Night, Lucia di Lammermoor, Donna Anna, Madame Goldentrill, Constanza, Gilda, Cunegonda, Miss Wordsworth, Violetta, Musetta, Lady with a Hand Mirror, and Nella among others. Ginger also performs in concert across the country with her TechnOpera band OperaRisque’. Ginger is also a member of Actor's Equity and has performed as Irene Molloy in Hello Dolly, Madame de le Grande Bouche (The Wardrobe) in Beauty and the Beast, Ellie Mae in Showboat, Lucy in The Telephone, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel , Velma in Chicago, Rose Murrant in Street Scene, and Clara in Passion. As a member of SAG Ginger can be found on the big screen in the movie, Find Me Guilty, starring Vin Diesel and in the award winning short film Cold Dark Night Of Brilliance, in the role of the “Angel of Mercy” in which she performed and recorded the title track and is also the voice the “Laughing Opera Singer” in the Fandango commercials in theaters nationwide. After relocating to Las Vegas with her husband Christiaan, Ginger co-founded Vegas City Opera with Skip Galla Katipunan, and continues to perform with the company. Ginger feels very lucky to have found an amazing group of talented people to work with and call friends here at Vegas City Opera. 

Skip hails originally from western Pennsylvania and is living his best life pouring his art heart into Vegas City Opera. He is a countertenor & baritone who believes that performance is an essential expression of the human experience. Everyone deserves the opportunity for cultural growth and artistic communion! He studied voice at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT before embarking on his long, strange journey.  His visions have unfolded on and off myriad stages across the country and abroad in Germany and China, eventually landing him in Las Vegas, where he and the cunning Ginger Land-van Buuren brought Vegas City Opera to life.  He has many years of stage experience, none nearly as satisfying as here in Las Vegas.  During his days he challenges his mind working as a Nurse in Infection Prevention at UMC Hospital. His dedication lies in his work, his family, and bringing opera to his community in ways that will surprise them, engage them, and ultimately enrich their lives. 

Soprano Marcie Ley has received critical acclaim for her performances across the United States and Europe. Her voice has been labeled by the press as a “warm and supple sound, with ample size and superb technique, all put to exquisite phrasing”. 

Notable roles performed include Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte, Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Violetta in La Traviata, Mimi in La Bohème, Liú in Turandot,, Marguérite in Faust, and Nedda in Pagliacci, with numerous regional opera companies in the USA, and also in Europe at The Arena di Verona in Italy, Opéra National de Montpellier in France, and in Germany with Theater Dortmund, Oper Leipzig, and the Musiktheater im Revier.

She has been a competition finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Loren Zachary Foundation, the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, and the MacAllister Foundation.  Other professional credits have included Sarasota Opera’s Helen Dellera Jepson Award, and the Shoshana Foundation’s Richard F. Gold Career Grant.

Rebecca has performed operatic roles all over the country and the world. She is a graduate of Northern Arizona University, and has received certificates from the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, The Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute and The Opera Academy of California in San Francisco, CA, the Crittenden Opera Theater Institute in Washington DC, and the Flagstaff in Fidenza program in Fidenza, Italy. She has performed in numerous productions with Arizona Opera and Phoenix Opera and only recently moved to the Las Vegas area. Most recently, she performed the roles of The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, The Mother in The Consul and The Woman in Erwartung with Sin City Opera. She runs the Noteworthy Vocal Studio Las Vegas, and has 20 years of experience teaching and training young singers. She made her Opera Directing Debut with Sin City Opera’s L’Etoile in the Spring of 2017, where she took the whole production into outer space! She brings a bounty of enthusiasm and a depth of experience to the Vegas City Opera Production Team and is excited for the opportunity to help expand this great art form in the Las Vegas Valley.

Richard L. Hodges, is a native of Greensboro, N.C. Richard is a 2019 nominee for Best Lead in a Musical with the Las Vegas Valley Awards for his role in Gianni Schicchi with Vegas City Opera. His other recent roles include the Preacher in Sweet Land with The Industry L.A., Michele in Il Tabarro, , and Hamlet in the opera Hamlet to name a few. Some of his other roles include Frank in Die Fledermaus, Porgy from Porgy and Bess and Peter in Hansel and Gretel. He is an Emerging Artist in the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices program and has received several awards. Most notable he was a finalist in the American Institute of Musical Studies, Meistersinger Competition. He was also one of the 2018 UNLV Concerto Competition Winners. He has been featured in numerous orchestral and chamber concerts which include performances of various operatic arias and scenes as well as master works such as Here and Now by Christopher Theofanidis with the UNCG Orchestra and combined choirs and the Messiah by Handel. Mr. Hodges has been a featured soloist and recitalist performing with Angels Vocal Arts, The Industry LA, Vegas City Opera, Opera Las Vegas, Henderson Symphony Orchestra, the UNLV String Orchestra, the famed UNLV Wind Orchestras, Greensboro Opera Company, North Carolina Opera Company and other organizations throughout his career. Mr. Hodges continues to give masterclasses and performs with other local and regional organizations. His upcoming performances include the show Harriet Tubman with Vegas City Opera and a Recital of Black Composers sponsored by St. John’s in the Village, NYC.

Although best known as a performer, Mr. Hodges has been writing, directing and composing for quite some time. His most recent work, Women of the Black Panthers was premiered with Vegas City Opera and featured his new composition “Be Proud” in which he wrote the poem and music. This work will also be featured as part of Vegas City Opera’s 2020 Song Cycle Project.  In collaboration with Vegas City Opera, Mr. Hodges has also created the playwright book for 2 other shows, Coretta Scott King and Sojourner Truth. A new work about the life of Harriet Tubman will be premiered this summer in Las Vegas as well as other collaborative projects happening in the upcoming seasons. 

Richard received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Master of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Bachelor of Music from North Carolina Central University. He currently serves as the Assistant Professor of Voice at South Carolina State University.

Tim Warren is an active conductor and director based in Las Vegas. He currently serves as conductor of Vegas City Opera, the Las Vegas Youth Orchestra, the NEXTET new music ensemble, and the Southern Nevada Chamber Orchestra. Tim is an advocate for music education. He teaches at UNLV and CSN, and is Director of Bands and Orchestras at Palo Verde High School. As an administrator he has led PD and masterclass topics including character development, working with a conductor, acting in music, audition preparation, sensory-friendly concert development, and EL in the music/theatre classroom. Warren is an experienced stage and music director and has led over 300 productions and adjudicated for the National High School Musical Theatre awards. As a promoter of new music, he has premiered many compositions, and works closely with current composers. He has served as a conductor, director, and clinician for theatre, band, and orchestra throughout New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada and his guest conducting engagements include the Zion Youth Symphony Orchestra, Opera Las Vegas, UNLV Opera/Conservatory Theatre, UNLV bands, Hochstein School of Music, Roberts Wesleyan College, Susquehanna University and leading ensembles in France, Argentina, China, Australia, and Scandinavia. Warren holds a MM from the New England Conservatory, a BS from Roberts Wesleyan College, and is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at UNLV.