Jane Bakken Klaviter is prompter and assistant conductor with the Metropolitan Opera. She previously held this position with such opera companies as the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Dallas Opera, where she was head of music staff for eight years. She was the prompter for the historic 1982 production of Falstaff with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carlo Giulini conducting, recorded by Deutsche Grammophon, and has also served as assistant to James Levine on numerous recordings for Decca, Sony and Deutsche Grammophon. She has served as a faculty member of the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music. In addition to her duties with the Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Klaviter coaches privately and is an active recital accompanist. She is considered a leading coach of Italian opera repertoire, due in part to her long association with the late Maestro Luigi Ricci. She is also the founder of Bel Canto Institute, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization whose purpose is to perpetuate, teach, and keep alive style and tradition in 19th and 20th century Italian opera and to maintain an annual summer program for opera singers, students, and coaches to learn the ingredients of style and tradition.
