BRUCE STASYNA
BRUCE STASYNA
With extensive opera house experience and fluency in English, French and Italian, Bruce approaches each project with musical authority, stylistic expertise and a deep understanding of all facets of operatic production.
Fellow Travelers, Balboa Theatre, July 2026.
Bruce Stasyna, Andy Acosta, Joseph Lattanzi, Amber Monroe, Marcus DeLoach, Kyle Pfortmiller, Vanessa Becerra, Randell McGee, Elisa Sunshine, Jeremy Weiss, Photo by Jill Steinberg
Fellow Travelers
Conductor Bruce Stasyna led the musicians of the San Diego Symphony in an evocative, assured performance of this sophisticated score.
Paul Bodine - Classical Voice
Like John Adams’ orchestra scores, Spears’ instrumental style is an offshoot of Minimalism that has aced upper division counterpoint, and the twenty-member orchestra under the baton of Bruce Stasyna in the modest Balboa pit consistently provided rich, polished support to the singers.
Ken Herman - San Diego Story
The San Diego Symphony, led by resident conductor Bruce Stasyna, gave Spears’ score exactly what it needed and nothing more. It found warmth in the propulsive minimalism without ever pushing the sentiment past what a scene earned. The Balboa Theatre’s mid-sized house suited the chamber-scaled writing well. Voices carried without strain, and the orchestra never buried a lyric under its own momentum. It’s a smaller house than this opera sometimes plays, much to its benefit.
Michael M. Landman-Karny - Stageandcinema.com
Conductor Buzz. What they’re saying…
Joseph Lattanzi and Andy Acosta in Fellow Travelers. Photo: Karli Cadel
J’Nai Bridges and Latonia Moore in Grammy Greats. Photo: Karli Cadel
Grammy Greats
Stasyna has been on the conducting rosters of the New York City and Boston Lyric Operas. He conducts with vigorous authority. The orchestra opened the concert with a fleet reading of the bubbly overture from The Marriage of Figaro and later returned for a regal-sounding "Polonaise" from Eugene Onegin.
Ron Bierman - Broadway World
Multitalented conductor Stasyna, who is San Diego Opera’s resident conductor and chorus master, led the symphony with vigor and style, then moved to the piano to serve as solo accompanist for several songs.
Pam Kragen - San Diego Tribune
In the more highly charged emotional second act scene from Verdi’s Aïda, Bridges’ Egyptian princess Amneris craftily exalted her station over the enslaved Aïda. Yet even in Moore’s desperate pleas for mercy from Bridges, the power of her voice easily leveled the playing field. This brilliant Verdi duet proved the high point of the program, especially supported by the San Diego Symphony’s robust accompaniment under conductor Bruce Stasyna.
Ken Herman - San Diego Story
Emily Fons in Ghosts. Photo: Karli Cadel
Ghosts - World Premiere
Under the astute direction of San Diego Opera’s Bruce Stasyna, members of the San Diego Symphony gave a winning account of Reveles’ subtly crafted score.
Ken Herman - San Diego Story
Conductor Bruce Stasyna skillfully led a nine-piece ensemble of San Diego Symphony musicians through the strings- and percussion-driven score, leaving plenty of space for the singers’ unamplified voices to shine in the 1,338-seat Balboa Theatre.
Pam Kragen - San Diego Tribune
Led by conductor Bruce Stasyna, San Diego Symphony musicians were at their own eerie best.
Ron Bierman - Broadway World
Unmasking the Music of Notorious Pandemics
As a prelude to its parking lot production of “Barber of Seville” last spring, conductor Bruce Stasyna curated and conducted this fascinating, eclectic and not-at-all-depressing concert of songs inspired by pandemics, including Bach’s Cantata No. 25, written after a leprosy outbreak, songs from “The Secret Garden,” which begins with a cholera epidemic, the 1930s-era protest song “The 1919 Influenza Blues” and “Seasons of Love” from the AIDS-themed musical “Rent.”
Pam Kragen San Diego Tribune
A stage and an open-air orchestra tent for members of the San Diego Symphony and conductor Bruce Stasyna have been constructed in the area behind Pechanga Sports Arena and the best thing about Sunday evening for me was the pleasure of listening.
Bill Eadie San Diego Story
Cosí Fan Tutte - Conductor (SDO)
“Conductor Bruce Stasyna artfully leads San Diego Symphony musicians through the sublime score…”
- Pam Kragen San Diego Tribune
“Conductor Bruce Stasyna led a large contingent of musicians from the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, bringing out the beauty and excitement of Mozart’s score while providing nimble and tasteful support for the singers. “
- Ron Bierman Broadway World
Barber of Seville - Conductor (SDO)
“Under conductor Bruce Stasyna, the San Diego Symphony’s orchestral accompaniment is gorgeous and bright,
and the performers are absolutely flawless. and stunning.”
- Julia Dixon Evans KPBS
“Bruce Stasyna conducted San Diego Symphony musicians with aplomb.”
- Ron Bierman Broadway World
Maria de Buenos Aires - Conductor & Pianist
Conductor Bruce Stasyna led an assured reading, full of color and undulating fire. He not only coaxed beautifully authentic ensemble playing from his accomplished ensemble, but also allowed the skilled bandoneon, piano, and guitar soloists all the room they needed to perfume the instrumentation with a heady individuality. James Sohre Opera Today
Conducting from the grand piano, Bruce Stasyna drew polished and rhythmically well-defined performances from the San Diego Symphony. Kudos to crystalline vocal solo accompaniments from Stasyna and from guitarist Fred Benedetti. Ken Herman San Diego Story
As One - Conductor
“Conductor Bruce Stasyna wrought a demonstrative performance from his small band of mighty performers. The Hausmann String Quartet played superbly under Maestro Stasyna’s assured baton, and their ensemble with the singers was musically and dramatically flawless. The conductor and two of the players were even called upon to play cameo roles in the action, which they accomplished with aplomb.”
- James Sohre, Opera Today
Chorusmaster Buzz. What they’re saying…
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Chorusmaster Buzz. What they’re saying… *
Pagliacci - San Diego Opera
Chorus Master Bruce Stasyna’s work with the San Diego Opera Chorus is exceptional, particularly in the first act’s lovely “Bell Chorus"”
- Pam Kragen San Diego Tribune
The SDO Chorus, led by Bruce Stasyna, proved to be valuable assets in this production. Not only did they sound cohesive and wonderful, but they also provided significant blocking that advanced the story.
- Michael Anthonio - Parterre Box
Anna Nicole - New York City Opera
“The NYCO chorus under Bruce Stasyna perform superbly as the media voyeurs who feed on and help craft the sorry spectacle that is Anna Nicole’s life.”
- Marion Lignana Rosenberg, The Classical Review
“Elsewhere, the cast often had needed Broadway pizzazz, right down to the diction-perfect chorus.”
- Operavore, David Patrick Stearns
La Favorite - Washington Concert Opera
Prepared by Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master Bruce Stasyna, the ladies and gentlemen of the Washington Concert Opera Chorus sang with potency and impressive balance. In both the Act Three finale and the first scene of Act Four, the dramatic force of the choral singing was gripping. Choral music plays a very important part in La favorite, and the success of this performance was considerably influenced by the choristers’ skillful contributions.
- Joseph Newsome, Voix-des-Arts
“Bruce Stasyna’s chorus, a major character in this opera, was excellent.”
Turandot, San Diego Opera
— Opera West, David Gregson