Our Team
Board of Directors: Kenneth Kaufman (President), Steven Coit, David Laibson, Nina Zipser, Beth Terry, Edward Elwyn Jones, Noam Elkies, James C.S. Liu, Benjamin RossenJohn Shutkin, Rachel Yurman
Ethan A. chaves
artistic Director
Ethan Chaves is the Artistic Director of Lowell House Opera and the composer and librettist of its 2026 production, No Exit, based on the play of the same name by Jean-Paul Sartre. At Harvard University, he is a senior in Winthrop House pursuing an A.B. in Music and Philosophy.
As a composer, performer, and improviser, Ethan’s work explores the intersection of spectralism, folk traditions, and psychedelic rock, bridging vernacular and art-music idioms. His compositions have been performed internationally by ensembles including the MIVOS Quartet, Parker Quartet, Trio Immersio, New York Youth Symphony, and the Harvard Choruses, with premieres across Europe and the United States.
Recent projects include the hill wife for violin and cello (premiered at Avaloch Farm Institute), MIXED SIGNALS for the MIVOS Quartet (premiered in Valencia, Spain, with an American premiere by the Parker Quartet), and No Exit, a chamber opera with electronics premiering in March 2026 with Lowell House Opera. Upcoming projects include Hagios for the Harvard Choruses New Music Initiative and a commissioned work for the Apollo Ensemble.
Ethan studies composition with Chaya Czernowin, Hans Tutschku, and Michael Gandolfi, and has studied privately with John Harbison and Julian Anderson CBE. Additionally, his violin teachers have included Joel Smirnoff, Naoko Tanaka, Li Lin, and Malcolm Lowe, with masterclasses including Julia Fischer and Anne Akiko Meyers.
His numerous awards include the Robert Levin Prize in Musical Performance, the Blodgett Chamber Music Award, the Artist Development Fellowship from Harvard’s Office for the Arts, and the Bohemians Club Award for Composition. He is the winner of the Bach Society Orchestra Composition Competition, the Harvard Pops Orchestra Composition Competition, and the New Music on the Bluff Festival Composition Competition, and was recognized as a Finalist in the National YoungArts Classical Music Division. He has also received honors from the American Viola Society, Ensemble Altera, ASCAP, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra.
A dedicated collaborator and performer, Ethan has appeared as both composer and soloist, including the 2025 premiere of his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (“the broken seal—”) with the Bach Society Orchestra. His music has been featured at festivals such as Darmstadt Ferienkurse, the Valencia International Music Festival, ICEBERG New Music Festival in Vienna, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He has performed improvisation on viola and electronics at Harvard University, including his work CAN.space for amplified soda cans and live electronics, and in Germany, where he was a member of Tyshawn Sorey’s Autoschediasms at Darmstadt in 2025.
In addition to performing his own works, Ethan is a dedicated performer of new music. Notable performances include a premiere of Ryan Garvey’s writhe for viola trio, a performance of Berio and Ligeti at Harvard’s University Hall in 2025, and performances at the Goethe Institut of Boston, including Hans Tutschku’s “Einst mit dir” and Helmut Lachenmann’s Toccatina for his 90th birthday celebration.
During his time as an undergraduate at Harvard, Ethan has been a member of the Harvard Crimson as Video Executive, concertmaster of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, co-principal violist of Brattle Street Chamber Players, and a member of the Signet Society.
As a creative leader, Ethan seeks to cultivate a contemporary musical language that connects across boundaries—cultural, stylistic, and emotional—through his work with Lowell House Opera and his collaborations worldwide.
Ross Simmons
executive director
Ross is a 2021 alumnus of Harvard and Lowell House. Since graduating, he has been working as a Marketing Manager for an insurance tech company called Insurify. He is very excited to return to Harvard theater as the Business Manager of the Lowell House Opera. At Harvard, he was the President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players, a producer of their 2019 production of H.M.S. Pinafore, and a performer in several of their other shows. As a board member of the HRG&SP, he was instrumental in two of their initiatives to expand the canon and revive interest in the artform. One, the Rewrite project, was to have Harvard undergraduates write a new show to fit Sullivan's music to replace some dated G&S works. The outcome of this project was the HRG&SP's 2022 production of The Milk Made. The other, the Non-G&S Show, was meant to bring people into the organization by producing a show in the G&S style that was more familiar to modern students. The result of this was the 2020 production of Kiss Me, Kate! that was unfortunately canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also a co-chair of the Lowell House Committee and a leader in various other campus organizations. He has always loved musical theater and, since college, has harbored a love for opera. He is originally from Higginsville, Missouri.
lara tan
lho Fellow for Production
Lara Tan is a junior at Harvard College in Cabot House studying Music and Government with a secondary in European History, Politics and Societies. Originally from Singapore, Lara is a soprano and currently studies with Jayne West. She is deeply involved in the Harvard arts scene both as a performer and leader; Lara is a Ferris Choral Fellow and frequent soloist with the Harvard University Choir, as well as one of two Choir Secretaries overseeing the operations of Harvard's oldest and only professional choir. Lara has also been on the board of Harvard College Opera (HCO) since her freshman year, serving as co-masterclass coordinator, VP of Management, and now VP of Arts. Performance credits at Harvard have included concerts with the University Choir, Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff and Noemie in Massenet's Cendrillon with HCO, Edith in Pirates of Penzance with the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players (HRGSP), as well as guest appearances with the Bach Society Orchestra in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream and Bach's Coffee Cantata. Lara has also done stage directorial work with HCO for their 2025 ArtsFest performance of the Don Giovanni Act 1 Finale, HRGSP, and with Lowell House Opera in Viva La Vie Boheme. She is honoured to be LHO's Artistic Producer, and looks forward to creating impactful, relevant art in the Harvard community.
Brendon lau
lho Fellow for Marketing and Development
Brendon Lau is a senior at Harvard College in Winthrop House studying Music and Economics on the Honors Track. He is a member of the the Joyous String Ensemble and has performed all over the world in venues and television shows such as the White House for President Obama, Steve Harvey’s Little Big Shots, NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, Hunan TV/Sinovision’s Worlds Got Talent, KBS Star King, MMC’s SuperKids, and Wonderama among others. He has also appeared internationally as a soloist and chamber player in halls such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall. He has worked with nonprofits such as UNICEF for their World Children’s Day music video and has won awards from the Museum of Chinese in America for his performances in their annual fundraising efforts. He is also a member of the Joyous String Quartet and studies with the Emerson String Quartet and the Parker Quartet. He is the Vice-President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and the Finance Director of Brattle Street Chamber Players
sidney lee
lho fellow for Advancement
Sidney Lee is a senior in Leverett House studying Applied Math & Economics, as well as viola performance at the New England Conservatory as part of its dual degree program with Harvard. Sidney hails from Chicago, and has previously participated in the Perlman Music Program under Itzhak Perlman, New York String Orchestra Seminar, and more. She was a semifinalist at the Johansen and Stulberg International String Competitions, and Bronze Medalist at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. On campus, she is principal viola of the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra and board member of the Signet Society of Arts and Letters. Previously she was a Crimson Reporter covering Cambridge restaurants and Harvard’s endowment finances. Sidney is excited to bring her experiences to LHO!