"Noel's range as a director is extraordinary and he is obviously the master of many styles. In his staging of Cosi fan tutte (a notoriously difficult piece to get right) he achieved a beautiful balance between genuine, not forced, comedy and profound humanity. Noel's production of La buona figliuola was a lovely evocation of period style without ever becoming precious or didactic. As for The Threepenny Opera, I was completely overwhelmed by what Noel achieved. Over the years I have seen several productions of this almost impossible piece (including the famous off-Broadway revival with Lotta Lenya and the Broadway production by John Dexter with Sting) and none of them came even close to Noel's vision. I simply couldn't believe that I was watching students and not professional singing actors with years of experience dealing with the ambiguities of Brecht and Weill. Noel had transformed them all into strikingly focused performers of professional quality."

Fabrizio Melano, Stage Director (retired), The Metropolitan Opera

"I have known Noel for several years and always look forward to collaborating with him as his creative vision and ability to create a wonderfully charged atmosphere encourage work of the highest artistic level, especially in a university environment. In the spring of 2004, Noel invited me to Northwestern to conduct the School of Music production of Mark Adamo's Little Women, which was a Chicago premiere. I had previously worked on a professional production of this same work at Glimmerglass Opera, and I can say confidently that Noel's sophisticated, yet emotionally honest approach as a director produced an evening of music drama that equaled, if not surpassed, the Glimmerglass production. His dramatic instinct combined with his deep understanding of the music created a beautifully atmospheric production that never succumbed to mawkishness or easy sentimentality. His direction achieved that very difficult balance between the intent of the music and the necessities of the libretto, something I greatly appreciated as the conductor."

Andrew Bisantz, Resident Conductor, Florida Grand Opera; Conductor, Glimmerglass Opera

"His teaching is unique. He is vitally interested in each student. He is aware of everyone's shortcomings, and he goes right to the heart of dealing with them, but without ever making the student feel bad about what they yet have to learn. He gives each student specific tools to be able to grow in his or her area of weakness, and these skills are practiced in class in front of the other students. As a singer, he has the ability himself to hear and to analyze scores, so that he is constantly asking each student, "what is the music saying here?" and "what feeling does this music evoke now?" He is then able to help each student translate this understanding into emotional and physical action on stage."

Richard Boldrey, Senior Lecturer and Vocal Coach, Northwestern University

"Noel's ability to deal with the overall vision for an educational program and still pay close attention to the details is an unusual combination of talents. He has meticulously overseen the incremental, steady growth of every aspect of the opera program at Northwestern University School of Music so that for the first time in several years it finally has solid roots. Many people comment on what a gentleman he is to work with and I concur. He is an excellent colleague and is well-respected for the growth of the opera program at Northwestern University."

Karen Brunssen, Associate Professor of Voice, Co-Chair of Performance Studies, Northwestern University