Dana Sadava

Known for her elegant technique and broad expressive range, Dana Sadava enjoys a varied career as a conductor of opera and symphonic music. Ms. Sadava is the Associate Conductor of Opera at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she works with graduate and undergraduate students as a conductor, vocal coach, and pianist. She is also the Artistic Director of both Pasadena Opera and the Mill Valley Philharmonic. Recent engagements include conducting the San Diego Symphony, West Edge Opera, Opera Steamboat, Opera San Jose, University of California San Diego, Wexford Opera (Ireland), Banff Opera as Theatre, Indianapolis Opera, Pensacola Opera, Island City Opera, Cinnabar Theater, and Festival Opera. 

Ms. Sadava has a particular interest in educating audiences about Classical music. For several years she was a faculty member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Santa Clara University, where she taught courses on opera and symphonic music for non-musicians. During lockdown, she created an extensive series of free online lectures for the Mill Valley Philharmonic that were attended by several hundred people around the country.