Lara Berich

Lara Berich (they/them) joined WVU in 2024 as Service Assistant Professor of Costume Technology. They previously were teaching in the same capacity for Niagara University in New York and previously, University of Montana.  

From 2012-2017, Berich worked as a draper/tailor with the costume shop of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival during the year and with Santa Fe Opera in the summer - every summer since 2006.  From 2013-2023 Berich also provided technical supervision of costume apprentices at Santa Fe as they design and build scenes once the mainstage operas have opened. 

As an active professional, Berich frequently does freelance patterning and construction work for designers and companies they have worked with throughout their career, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Huntington Theatre Company, and more.

Before working with Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berich was honored to generate the foundation courses for Indiana University's Costume Technology program while working there as Costume Technology Instructor and Draper.  

As a colleague and professor, Berich is dedicated to the pursuit of accuracy, a friendly, functioning team environment, and to the idea that there is no "wrong way," just ways that work better than others depending on the situation - and that you should always choose the best way for that situation.