Lucia Neare

From an early age Lucia Neare has dedicated herself to channeling the creative force through various art forms. She is a classical singer, theater designer, sculptor, performer, producer, and teacher.

A Manhattan native and the daughter of a gay fashion designer and a misguided heiress, Lucia grew up in Carmel, California surrounded by the pervasive influence of the arts. As a vocal artist Ms. Neare is unique in that she has trained extensively and performed both in western classical music and the south Indian Karnatic classical vocal tradition. She is artistic director of Lucia Neare's Theatrical Wonders,  a company that creates free large-scale site specific theatrical works. 

Her Wonders include Ooo La La: A May Day Spectacular, which transformed  downtown Seattle into a grand corridor of whimsy on May 1, 2008, drawing  thousands into a world of sweet elegance. Ooo La La was created and  designed by Lucia Neare, with theatrical direction by Cathy Madden,  music direction by Matt Goodrich, choreography by Jessica Jobaris, and  technical direction by David Verkade. The work was commissioned by 4Culture's  Site Specific Performance Network and GGLO, and was supported by SAFECO.   Other work includes Lullaby Carriage, a free outdoor mobile interdisciplinary performance celebrating the night. Inspired by the mythology of the night sky, this Wonder offers audience members passage in giant horse-drawn canopy beds through an illuminated land of dreams.

Her work has been commissioned and supported by 4Culture, Seattle Art Museum,  the Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, On the Boards, the Duvall Arts  Commission, Vashon Allied Arts, and The Nature Consortium. Lucia is a joyful recipient of the Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission 2008 Fellowship, Seattle Magazine's 2008 Spotlight Award, and the Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs 2007 CityArtist Award.

A specialist in sacred performance,  Ms. Neare has served as a soloist for many Northwest choirs, sung for Orca whales  (via underwater speakers), performed in temples throughout south India and  atop the Pyramids of Teotihuacán, Mexico. Her design work has been seen at The University of Washington PATP, Seattle Novyi, On the Boards, The Square Room, Velocity, R.E.D, 911 Media Arts, and the Fremont Arts Council's 2005 Summer Solstice Pageant. Ms. Neare maintains a private voice studio,  teaches at Freehold Theater and The Moon Paper Tent, and serves as a frequent artist-in-residence at Summit School. She studied theater/ contemporary performance at Naropa University, and holds a degree from Mount Holyoke College.

David Thomas Verkade

David is a Seattle artist who takes a multimedia approach to his work incorporating light, image projection, and sound. His credits include concert lighting (Juice Newton, Critters Buggin, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Maktub), theater productions (Turf, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and other major events including the creation of lighting environments for the grand opening of McCaw Hall. David completed the lighting design for a new Capitol Hill Nightclub, NueMos.

In addition to his freelance work, David is employed as the technical director and event designer for AV-PRO Inc. He has designed events for Microsoft, Expedia, Holland America Line, and Corbis. David's performance work includes collaborations with Lucia Neare (How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land? at On the Boards) and numerous collaborations with Vanessa DeWolf, including The Vulgar Librarian and Secretary's Handbook.

Cathy Madden

Cathy Madden, Assistant Professor of Drama for the University of Washington's Professional Actor Training Program and Director of the Alexander Technique Training and Performance Studio is internationally recognized for her ability to use the Alexander Technique to help performers create scintillating performances. She regularly teaches in the U.S., England, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Australia. She is also a director. In collaboration with singer, sculptor and performance artist, Lucia Neare, she has directed Lullaby Carriage, and How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land? Her most recent productions at the University have been The Mill on the Floss , The Portrait The Wind The Chair, The Mischiefmakers, Mother Teresa is Dead, Far Away, Bold Girls, and Two Sisters and a Piano. Madden has published many articles on the Alexander Technique and performance/communication, is completing a book on the topic, and is a past Chair of Alexander Technique International.

She has a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Penn State, and M.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in Drama and Literature, and did additional graduate study at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her Alexander Technique teacher, with whom she worked for nearly 20 years, was Marjorie Barstow, the first graduate of F.M. Alexander's training school. While studying with Marjorie Barstow in Lincoln, Nebraska, Madden was Founder and Artistic Director of Washington Street Players Place, a theatre company that devised new work, and explored the application of the Alexander Technique to acting training and performance. She moved to Seattle to help found The Performance School, a center for the study of the Alexander Technique and ultimately created her own studio, The Alexander Technique Training and Performance Studio. She has been on the faculty of the Professional Actor Training Program for 20 years, continuing her research on the application of the Alexander Technique to every aspect of performance training and performance.

Matt Goodrich

Matt has been an extremely active musician for the 19 years he has lived in Seattle. He has music directed and played keyboards for scores of musicals, from summer stock theater to community shows to professional local productions to national touring shows at the Paramount and 5th Avenue theaters.

As a classical pianist, Matt has been a frequent competition winner and was one of six national finalists in the collegiate division of Music Teachers National Association. He has been concerto soloist with the Syracuse Symphony, Victoria Festival Orchestra, Seattle Thalia Symphony, University of Washington Symphony, and others; and has performed solo recitals and at festivals throughout the United States and Canada.

He has enjoyed a long collaboration with diverse performing groups such as the Northwest Boychoir, chamber ensembles, and large orchestras and choirs, as well as with a consortium of Washington State composers, who commissioned him to perform a extensive series of acclaimed concerts and recordings featuring their works. More recently, he was featured in the inaugural concert of the Auburn Symphony Chamber Series, and served as music director for Lucia Neare's works How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land? and Lullaby Carriage.

A graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory and the University of Washington School of Music, Matt is also a trainee at the Alexander Technique Training and Performance Studio in Seattle. He spends his days as Emissary of Excellence for the Seattle game company Cranium. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling the world and wrestling with Skooter the Ragdoll and Otis the Maine Coon.