Christopher Piatt (moderator) is the theater editor for Time Out Chicago, and has written for the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Reader, the Sondheim Review, Performink and Chicago Public Radio. He has performed spoken word in the Hideout's Dollar Store series, the Partly Dave Show, Homolatte and the Chicago Poetry Center's No Love for Love (with Ira Glass). His words have appeared in The Week, as well as in liner-note form in the original cast recording of the off-Broadway musical Adding Machine.

 

Al Gini is a professor at Loyola University's school of business. He is the co-founder and associate editor of Business Ethics Quarterly, the Journal of the Society for Business Ethics. Besides lecturing to community and professional organizations he does consuling on corporate ethics, and can be regularly heard on National Public Radio's Chicago affiliate, WBEZ-FM.

 

Roger Pines is dramaturg at Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he also serves as lecturer and consultant to the Ryan Opera Center (the company’s young-artist program). He came to Chicago having previously held positions at San Diego Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera. Mr. Pines’s writing includes numerous articles and reviews for leading American and European publications, including The Times (London), Opera News, Opera, and International Record Review, as well as programs of major opera companies. His program notes have appeared in CD booklets for the Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Erato, and RCA/BMG labels. As a lecturer, Mr. Pines has been associated with major arts organizations in Chicago, Cleveland, and San Diego, as well as numerous opera-related conferences and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Courses on Verdi operas and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville prepared by Mr. Pines have been presented online by OPERA America, to whose publications he has long been a regular contributor.

 

Jessica Reaves is a staff writer and reporter for the Chicago Tribune, where she has worked since 2004. She writes feature stories for the Tribune Sunday magazine, and also reviews books and movies. Before joining the Tribune, she was a reporter for Time.com in New York. She has also written for Ms. Magazine and various other news outlets. She graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in English and a minor in Women's Studies.