Val Davia

Val Davia grew up in an Italian-American household where her mom continuously played Enrico Caruso, Rise Stevens, and other opera greats. Val didn’t appreciate the art form at the time; in fact, she and her brother would parade around the house pretend-singing/screaming to mimic the artists and annoy her mother. But Val’s piano lessons as a young girl developed her love of classical music and eventually in her 30s as a voice student and avid chorister, she learned to appreciate the beauty of opera.

Val and her husband, Warren, retired to Steamboat in 2006, and she quickly got involved with Opera Steamboat (formerly Emerald City Opera) by singing in the chorus of several productions. Keri Rusthoi, founder and former Artistic Director, wanted to start a young artist program, and Val found her niche in helping to create and manage the Opera Artist Institute from 2008 to 2014. Since then she has remained a devoted fan of what Opera Steamboat brings to town and serves as an Advisor, primarily assisting with special events.

In 2014, Val took a bucket list “semester abroad” to study Italian in Florence for three months. She continues to work on her Italian and facilitates a small group of Italian learners in Steamboat. Her bucket list is all about travel—especially to Italy, and with a particular fondness for trekking in Nepal. She and Warren are board members of the Sherpa Education Project, an organization that raises funds to educate girls in remote Sherpa villages.

Music remains central to Val’s life. She picked up the piano again during COVID-19 isolation and still sings whenever possible. Her former chorus from NJ (pre-Steamboat life) goes on tour periodically, and Val always goes along, combining her passions of singing and traveling. She has visited a large portion of Europe on such choral excursions, including a performance in her grandparents’ home village in Piemonte (northwestern Italy) where the chorus amazed and delighted the crowd by singing in the local dialect of Piemontese.