the artists Victoria Vargas natacha rambova
Mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas returns to Minnesota Opera for a fourth season as a Resident Artist, having appeared as Adelaide in Arabella, the Madrigal Singer in Manon Lescaut, Tisbe in Cinderella, Anna in Mary Stuart, Flora in La traviata, Nelly in Wuthering Heights, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, Fenena in Nabucco and Smeton in Anna Bolena. This season she will be seen next as the Third Lady in The Magic Flute and, in 2015, she returns as a guest artist in the title role of Carmen. Ms. Vargas has been a young artist at Sarasota Opera and Chautauqua Opera, where she covered the role of Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana. At Chautauqua, she returned for a second season as an Apprentice Artist, performing Laura in Luisa Miller and the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte. This past summer she was a Gerdine Young Artist at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, covering the role of Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance. In 2013, she was a second place Upper Midwest regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Robert Wierzel lighting designer
Mr. Wierzel has worked with artists from diverse disciplines and backgrounds in theater, dance, contemporary music, museums and opera on stages throughout the country and abroad. Recently, Robert worked on Mourning Becomes Electra, directed by Kevin Newbury at Florida Grand Opera, The Tempest, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky for a.b.t. and Luna Gale, a new play by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. Additional credits include productions with the opera companies of Paris-Garnier; Tokyo; Toronto; Bergen and Kristiansand, Norway; Folk Opera of Sweden; nyco; Glimmerglass Festival; Seattle; Boston Lyric; Minnesota; San Francisco; Houston; Virginia; Chicago Lyric; Chicago Opera Theater; Montreal; Vancouver; Portland; Wolf Trap; and San Diego, among others. Mr. Wierzel’s dance work includes 27 years with choreographer Bill T. Jones and the btj/ az Dance Company (Bessie Awards) including productions at the Lyon Opera Ballet and Berlin Opera Ballet.
Christian Zaremba Hailed by The New York Times as “a stage animal with a big bass voice” the 26-year-old basso cantante is quickly garnering praise from companies and critics alike. He made his debut this summer at Glimmerglass Opera as the bass soloist in David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion, appeared as Pistola in Falstaff with the Martina Arroyo Foundation and as Zuniga in Carmen and Colline in La bohème with Long Island Opera. Christian performed the speaking role of the Porter in Manon at the Metropolitan Opera, covered the principal acting role of Agamemnon in Iphigénie en Tauride at the Metropolitan Opera and appeared at Weill Hall as Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni. He has sung Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Zuniga in Carmen and Angelotti in Tosca with New York Lyric Opera as well as Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Capitol Heights Opera. The 2013–2014 season will see Christian make his debut with Minnesota Opera as Sarastro (The Magic Flute), Lamoral (Arabella), the Innkeeper (Manon Lescaut) and cover Banquo (Macbeth). He returns next season as Zuniga in Carmen.
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