Alessandra Cattani

Alessandra Cattani is a linguist and a theatre practitioner. She has been Italian diction coach at San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Opera Center since 1999. As a faculty member of the Merola and the Adler Fellowship programs, she focuses on cognitive strategies for the acquisition of native-like pronunciation proficiency and advanced performing skills, such as the idiomatic delivery of recitativo secco. Centered on the interdependence of good diction and healthy vocal technique, her teaching methodology aims to provide singers with a wide range of options to express the nuances of dramatic interpretation. An integral part of her approach is in-depth study of libretti, including analysis of structure and poetic meter, character analysis, and the study of literary sources and historical background. She is passionate about training the next generation of Italian diction coaches and works closely with collaborative pianists in the residency program.

Alessandra has worked on over 140 opera productions and has been guest diction coach with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Chanticleer, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Opera Arts Training Program, Opera San Jose, and other educational programs and vocal ensembles. She has been a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley Summer Italian-Language Program, and at College of Notre Dame, Belmont. Her numerous collaborations as dramaturg, translator, and editor include: a working translation of Donizetti’s Rita for Christopher Alden’s 2005 production and dramaturgy for Roy Rallo’s 2011 Il barbiere di Siviglia for the San Francisco Opera Center; dramaturgy for Tracy Ward’s 2011 production of Beaumarchais’ The Barber of Seville at SFSU Little Theatre; libretto revisions for the performing edition of Alessandro Scarlatti’s La Gloria di Primavera (2015 Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra recording); and co-editing of Martha Gehrart’s Italian Song Texts from the 17th through the 20th Centuries, vol. 2. She also collaborated on Dianne Hales’ La Bella Lingua and provided Italian translation and text setting for the sound track of Sony’s Gran Turismo.

Alessandra was born and educated in Rome, where she studied Italian Language and Literature at “La Sapienza” University of Rome and privately pursued her studies in piano and music theory. She also holds an M.A. in Drama from SFSU, and from 2012 to 2014 she was a lecturer in Theatre History at SFSU Theatre Arts Department. She is the co-author of a series of instructional aids for learners of Italian as a second language, including L'italiano e i dialetti, Le coniugazioni chiave, and La ricerca dell'infinito, published by Centro Studi Italiani, San Francisco.