ASPIRE Jennifer Aylmer Jennifer Soprano Aylmer Jennifer Aylmer Soprano Soprano
Mildred Miller Posvar Daniel Teadt Mildred Miller Teadt Mezzo-Soprano Baritone Mildred MillerPosvar Posvar Daniel Daniel Teadt Mezzo-Soprano Mezzo-Soprano
Maria Spacagna Douglas Ahlstedt Maria Spacagna Douglas Ahlstedt Soprano Tenor Maria Spacagna Douglas Ahlstedt
Soprano Soprano
Baritone Baritone
Tenor Tenor
WHERE ARTISTRY + INNOVATION SHARE CENTER STAGE WHERE ARTISTRY INNOVATION WHERE ARTISTRY++ INNOVATIONSHARE SHARECENTER CENTERSTAGE STAGE music.cmu.edu | Application Deadline: December 1 music.cmu.edu music.cmu.edu | | Application ApplicationDeadline: Deadline:December December1 1
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Welcome! It is with the greatest of pleasure that I welcome you to SummerFest 2016. We present this year our "season of divas"—not in the sense of badly-behaving singers, but rather strong women who often turn the tables on their men. From the shrewish Katherine in Kiss Me, Kate to the shrewd Cleopatra in Julius Caesar, women drive the story. Likewise, Aminta (the "silent" woman) and Carmen (the Gypsy) explode off the stage. In this, our fifth SummerFest, we also honor the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare with performances of Julius Caesar and Kiss Me, Kate. While these two works couldn't be more dissimilar, they share thrilling stories told in a rich musical language. The SummerFest model grew out of an experiment to see if Western Pennsylvania could nurture a summer opera festival. Your support as a donor and ticket buyer has enabled this festival to grow remarkably, but we're always working to improve the experience. Shakespeare writes in Hamlet, "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." On behalf of the board of directors, artists, and staff of Opera Theater SummerFest, I thank you for your past support, and encourage you to join us in a future limited only by our imagination. But now, if music be the food of love, play on.
DR. EUGENE N. MYERS
President, Board of Directors
This SummerFest season is dedicated to the memory of
Helen L. Knox
Co-founder of Opera Theater of Pittsburgh
Dear friends, elcome to our new home! After four successful SummerFest seasons, we have W outgrown our boots — and we are thrilled to be moving to larger facilities on the campus of Winchester Thurston School. WT's Falk Auditorium, beautifully renovated by Pittsburgh's premier theater architect, Al Filoni, is now perhaps the most attractive medium-sized theater in the city. We are so grateful to Winchester Thurston's Headmaster, staff and board of trustees for welcoming us to this splendid campus. At WT we can rehearse several productions simultaneously, can easily accommodate our ever more substantial Young Artist Program, and—most importantly—we feel we can serve you, our audience, better, with a variety of public and performance spaces, comfortable theater seats, velvety-cool air-conditioning, easy access to Shadyside with its dozens of restaurants and bars, and plentiful free parking! I love the SummerFest experience. It has something for everyone, with operas and musicals, concerts, cabarets, and parties. Our productions are imaginative, up-closeand-personal, and everything is sung in English. Having joined us at a performance – maybe you would like to get further involved? We are a friendly group. You might like to volunteer, put up a Young Artist, join a committee or our board, and help shape our future. Please feel free to talk to me or any of our staff if you would like to enjoy our festival as one of the team! Thanks so much for experiencing SummerFest with us! Sincerely
JONATHAN EATON
Artistic and General Director Photo: John Bauerlein
Opera Theater of Pittsburgh Mission Opera Theater of Pittsburgh presents innovative opera in English, producing American works, reinterpretations of older works, and new works, for the widest possible audience. Opera Theater focuses on diversity in programming and casting, on crossing boundaries and bringing together talents from all the arts, on encouraging new talent, and on broadening audiences through outreach and education, to create a body of work that is original, entertaining, contemporary and relevant.
History The company was founded in 1978 by Mildred Miller Posvar and Helen Knox. Opera Theater of Pittsburgh has been imaginatively led by Artistic and General Director Jonathan Eaton since 1999. In its 38-year history, Opera Theater has presented more than 50 Pittsburgh premieres, many of them American operas that would not have been produced by other regional companies.
Board of Directors Chairman
Dr. Jerry Clack
Founder
Mildred Miller Posvar
Retired Professor, Department of Classics, Duquesne University
Retired Opera Singer
President
Retired Special Assistant to the Chancellor, University of Pittsburgh
Eugene N. Myers, M.D. Distinguished Professor, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Vice President
Phyllis J. Sidwell Educator and Social Service Consultant Secretary
Carole L. Kamin
Retired Manager-Buyer, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Treasurer
Thomas McCaffrey
Vice President, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services
Co-FounderÂ
Helen L. Knox*
Joseph Bielecki Attorney
Dr. Margaretha Casselbrant Physician, Children’s Hospital
Demareus N. Cooper Educator and Singer
Anthony M. Figurelli Financial Advisor
Peter Geissler
Author and Business Consultant
Clement George
Senior Associate, Commodities and Risk PwC
Joyce Candi Grove Retired Educator
Dr. Etsuro K. Motoyama Retired Physician
Lana Neumeyer
Vice President, Neumeyer Environmental Srvs. Inc.
Dr. Keith Richmond Dentist and Educator
Dr. James Sahovey Physician
Carolyn Smith
Executive Coach and Educator
Sidney Stark
Music Programmer *deceased
Administrative Staff Jonathan Eaton
Yvonne Hudson
Scott Timm
Robert Frankenberry
Artistic and General Director General Manager
Joel Goodloe
Artistic Administrator
Marketing Director Music Director
Lynne Squilla
Production and Patron Support Director
Christina Farrell
Education Coordinator
Bravo! More SummerFest Recitals! Liam Bonner in Concert Arias, Art songs and Cole Porter Thursday, July 7 - 7:30 pm
The Three (Counter) Tenors Recital Music of the famed Castrati Host: Jim Cunningham WQED-FM Andrey Nemzer, Min Sang Kim, Zachary Wood Sunday, July 10 - 6:30 pm
Daphne Alderson as Piaf Edith Piaf's 1956 concert at Carnegie Hall Thursday, July 14 - 7:30 pm
Young Artist Schumann Recital Members of the Young Artist Program Sunday, July 17 - 6:30 pm McClintic Hall, Calvary Episcopal Church 315 Shady Ave (15206) Free Admission
La Divina Cornetti Recital Marianne Cornetti with ‘her’ Divos and Divas, the Cornetti Scholars of our Young Artists Program Wednesday, July 20 - 7:30 pm
All recitals take place in the Falk Auditorium except July 17.
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SummerFest Sponsors Opera Theater’s season is made possible by support from the following sponsors: Alan C. & Barbara B. Ackerman Foundation
Give Local America!
Jack Buncher Foundation
Allegheny Financial Group
GlaxoSmithKline
The Pittsburgh Foundation
Grable Foundation
PNC Foundation
Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation
Grambrindi Davies Foundation
Ryan Memorial Fund Trust
Highmark
Anonymous
Hilda M. Willis Foundation
Sidney K. and Thekla R. Wolfson Fund
Amazon Smile Foundation
Hillman Foundation
Bessie F. Anathan Charitable Trust
Howard and Nell E. Miller Foundation
First Commonwealth Bank
James and Idamae Rich Fund
Thomas T. Phillips, Jr Foundation
Henry C. Frick Education Fund of the Buhl Foundation
J. Christopher & Ann Donahue Charitable Fund
UPMC
Sylvia and Martin Snow Charitable Foundation Fund The Heinz Endowments
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Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter Book by Sam and Bella Spewack Directed by Mark Lamanna Conducted by Douglas Levine Narges Norouzi, Scenic Designer Bob Steineck, Lighting Designer Oran Wongpandid, Costume Designer Rachel Wyatt, Assistant Costume Designer Taylor Rouse, Hair and Makeup Designer Briana Sosenheimer, Assistant Director Mark Lamanna, Choreographer Jamie Rafacz, Dance Captain Zachary Rohlwing, Pianist Kathleen Stakenas, Stage Manager Erin Duffey and Sophia Marshall, Assistant Stage Managers Friday, July 8 - 7:30 pm Sunday, July 10 - 2:00 pm Saturday, July 16 - 7:30 pm Saturday, July 23 - 2:00 pm Falk Auditorium, Winchester Thurston School Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one 15-minute intermission. Kiss Me, Kate is presented by arrangement with Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc., 560 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10022 Please turn off all electronic devices upon entering the theater. No photos or use of phones is permitted during the performance.
Cast Fred Graham/Petruchio . . . . . . . . Isaiah Feken Harry Trevor/Baptista . . . . . Matthew Maisano Lois Lane/Bianca . . . . . . . . . . Robin Bradley Ralphie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marisa Karchin Lilli Vanessi/Katherine . . . . . Christina Overton Hattie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura DellaFera Paulette . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shannon Delijani Stage Doorwoman/Ma . . . . . . Elizabeth Bouk Bill Calhoun/Lucentio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miles Wilson-Toliver First Gangster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Valerie Hosler Second Gangster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dimitrie Lazich Harrison Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scott Timm Flynt/Gremio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Smith Gregory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mathew Case Riley/Hortensio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Milosh Philip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Scherch Nathaniel/Cab Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Cummings Haberdasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amelia Love Innkeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria Palombo Padua Inn Waitress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shari Perman Padua Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Beth Shelton Wardrobe Mistress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Wilson Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Cohen, Emily Harmon, Molly Boggess, Fiona McArdle, Jamie Rafacz, Ethan Sagin
"O for a Muse of fire,
that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention..." -William Shakespeare, Henry V
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Musical Numbers ACT 1
ACT 2
Another Op’nin’, Another Show - Ensemble
Too Darn Hot - Paul, Musicians, Stagehands, & Ensemble
Why Can’t You Behave? - Lois and Bill Wunderbar - Fred & Lilli So In Love - Lilli We Open in Venice - Katharine, Petruchio, Bianca, and Lucentio Tom, Dick, or Harry - Bianca, Gremio, Hortensio, & Lucentio I’ve Come To Wive It Wealthily in Padua Petruchio and Men I Hate Men - Katharine Were Thine That Special Face - Petruchio Cantiamo D’Amore - Ensemble Kiss Me, Kate - Petruchio, Katharine, & Ensemble
Where Is The Life That Late I Led? Petruchio Always True to You in My Fashion - Lois Bianca - Bill & Ensemble Reprise: So In Love - Fred Brush Up Your Shakespeare - The Two Gangsters I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple Katharine Reprise: Kiss Me, Kate - Katharine, Petruchio & Company
Director's Note Kiss Me, Kate is a classic "backstage musical comedy" comprised of two stories. First is the backstage story of a grand theatre couple, Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham. Divorced for a year, they're now starring in a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. After several recent theatrical failures, Fred is financially and artistically desperate. Hollywood welcomed Lilli, but she's unfulfilled by her recent success. Reuniting as a team, they hope to regain the magic they've lost. The second story is Taming of the Shrew – the show-within-the-show. The two stories are interwoven, carrying each other forward to tell one complete story. (There is also the backstage story of Lois and Bill, who play Bianca and Lucentio onstage. Lois knows what she wants and fights like a tiger to get it.) Backstage, during their first performance in Baltimore, Lilli discovers that Fred lied earlier that evening about his feelings for her. Enraged, her onstage Katherine becomes a vehicle for her to express things she's bottled up for years. Through the characters of Katherine and Petruchio, Lilli and Fred play out their issues. Fred can't get beyond his insecurity around Lilli's need for a glamorous life that he can't provide. On the surface, Fred needs Lilli's fame to boost ticket sales. But underneath, he's lost without her. Lilli can't quite take responsibility for the fact that the glamour she seeks doesn't move her. Despite their bickering (and a new beau just a phone call away), she admits to herself that she's still in love with him. While it's Fred who's the driving force behind The Taming of the Shrew, it's Lilli who's the driving force in handling the truth that could save their relationship. Onstage, push comes to shove. Lilli's real-life situation (in 1948) meets her character Katherine's situation (circa 1590), and something vital in Lilli is unleashed. Raging at Fred, Lilli energizes Katherine with personal reasons to defy Petruchio's desire to dominate-and-wed her. Lilli strengthens Katherine, and through Katherine, Lilli wakes up. As the onstage antics in Shrew unfold, Fred is forced to reckon with Lilli, who has her own mind. As Fred sees similarities in Petruchio, Lilli's new beau Harrison, and himself, he wakes up as well. Comedy ends in marriage. It takes two. - Mark Lamanna
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The Story Act 1 The cast of a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is in rehearsal. Fred Graham, the director and producer, is starring as Petruchio. His former wife, Lilli Vanessi, will play Katherine. Lilli is angry because Fred is pursuing a young actress, Lois Lane, who is cast as Bianca. Lois' boyfriend, cast as Lucentio, has missed the rehearsal because of a gambling spree and has signed an IOU for $10,000 in Fred's name. Before the opening Lilli shows Fred her engagement ring. It is from a Washington insider, Harrison Howell. She reminds Fred that it is the anniversary of their divorce. Suddenly two gangsters appear to collect the $10,000 from Fred. He denies any knowledge of the IOU. Thy obligingly allow him time to reconsider, promising to return later. Flowers arrive from Fred, which Lilli believes are for her. They are really intended for Lois, but Lilli does not look at the card, preferring, she says, to read it later. The performance begins, embodying Shakespeare's well-known plot. In the wings Lilli reads the floral card. Angry, she walks onto the stage—off-cue—and begins to pummel Fred while everyone else in the cast does their best to remain in character. Offstage, and in a fury, Lilli declares that she is leaving the show. The gangsters reappear, and Fred tells them that Lilli's departure will force cancellation of the production. If she goes, he tells them, he will not be able to honor the IOU. In the midst of their discussion the curtain rises on the scene of Katherine and Petruchio's marriage. The gangsters—now in Shakespearean costume—make sure that Lilli cannot escape. Petruchio implores Katherine for a kiss. She refuses, so in true Shakespearean fashion Fred lifts Lilli over his shoulder and carries her offstage. Act 2 During the intermission, the cast has relaxed in the alley behind the theater, but everyone finds the weather too oppressive. Shortly, the play continues. Petruchio tries to tame Katherine while at the same time mourning his lost bachelor days. Offstage, as Lilli's fiancé Harrison Howell looks for Lilli, he encounters Lois. She recognizes him as a former lover but promises not to reveal the fact to Lilli. When Harrison finds Lilli, she complains that she is being forced by gangsters to stay in the theater. (To untangle the plot) the gangsters discover that their chief has been killed and realize that the IOU is no longer valid. In the meanwhile Lilli flees— without Howell. Even without her the play goes on. Then at the last minute, true comedienne that she is, Lilli reappears for Katherine's final and famous declaration, "I am ashamed that women are so simple..."
Kiss Me, Cole Kiss Me, Kate is the high mark in Cole Porter's career as a composer for the American musical theater. It exceeded one thousand performances when first presented on Broadway. At the time of its debut the distinguished New York Times drama critic, Walter Kerr, commented that Kiss Me, Kate was "one of the loveliest and most lyrical (musicals) yet composed for the contemporary stage." In 1949 Kiss Me, Kate won the first Tony Award for Best Musical. Subsequently it has been mounted in some of the world's most prestigious opera houses—in London, Trieste, Bologna, Stratford, Dresden and the Vienna Volksoper where, to date, it is the greatest box office attraction in the history of that venerable establishment. Curiously, Kiss Me, Kate was the first American musical ever staged in Poland. The production (which enjoyed an extended pre-Broadway tryout in Philadelphia) opened in New York on December 30, 1949. a true New Year's gift. The original cast was legendary: Alfred Drake, Patricia Morrison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang. The most recent production by Opera North was staged this past September. There is also a film version (viewable on YouTube) starring such cinema notables such as Katherine Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, and Keenan Wynn—along with choreographer Bob Fosse—but its effect is marred by garish Technicolor and a lack of the kind of finesse Kiss Me, Kate deserves. Although Kiss Me, Kate receives the most kudos these days, Cole Porter was the creator of some of the most popular musicals of his day: Fifty Thousand Frenchmen, Dubarry Was a Lady, Anything Goes, Can-Can, and Silk Stockings, while his songs retain their popularity— "I Get a Kick Out of You," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (the song that introduced Mary Martin to the American public), and "You're the Top", to name only a few. One question is vexing. Why did Porter choose the name Lois Lane for the second female lead in the musical? Perhaps one should recall that at the precise moment Kiss Me, Kate hit the boards, the comic strip featuring Superman and his sidekick Lois Lane was absorbing the attention of the American public. Was this a sample of Cole Porter's unquenchable humor? Program notes by Jerry Clack, Professor of Classics and Opera Theater Board member
Music by Georges Bizet Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic HalĂŠvy English Translation by Sheldon Harnick Directed by Jonathan Eaton Conducted by Robert Frankenberry Choreographed by Olivia Kissel Reduced Orchestration by Robert Frankenberry Bob Steineck, Lighting Designer Cynthia Albert, Costume Designer Madeleine Steineck, Tour Lighting Designer Taylor Rouse, Hair & Makeup Designer Seamus Ricci, Assistant Director & Tour Manager Joel Goodloe, Assistant Conductor Alec Chapman, Pianist Wednesday, June 22 - 7 pm Thursday, June 23 - 7 pm Sphinx Cafe, Oakland
Michelle Joy Babkes, Tattoo Cousultant Jody Cohen, Stage Manager Jessica Feldman, Assistant Stage Manager
Saturday, June 25 - 7:30 pm Sunday, June 26 - 2 pm Artifacts, West End
Friday, July 1 - 7:30 pm Saturday, July 2 - 7:30 pm Snuggery Farm, Sewickley
Saturday, July 9 - 7:30 pm at Falk Auditorium, Winchester Thurston School Please turn off all electronic devices upon entering the theater. No photos or use of phones is permitted during the performance.
Cast (in order of vocal appearance) Carmen, a Gypsy girl . . . . . . .Kara Cornell Don JosĂŠ, Sgt. of Dragoons . . . . James Flora Escamillo, a toreador . . . .Christopher Scott Michaela, a young woman . . Katie Manukyan Zuniga, Lt. of Dragoons . . . . J. Patrick McGill Morales, Corp. of Dragoons . . . . Ethan Sagin Frasquita, Gypsy companion . . . Emily Baker Mercedes, Gypsy companion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Harmon Innkeeper/Fate/Dance Soloist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olivia Kissel Le Dancaire, a Gypsy smuggler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miles Wilson-Toliver Remendado, a Gypsy smuggler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Milosh
The Story Act 1 Michaela, a childhood friend of Don José, comes to the tavern of Lillas Pastia looking for him. He is on guard duty but soon returns. Michaela tells him that she has come to deliver a letter from his mother and a bit of money. Carmen appears— always flirtatious—with her Gypsy friends. Her attentions to José soon engender a fight between her and Michaela—which ends with Carmen slashing Michaela. Zuniga, commander of the guards, leaves to procure a warrant for Carmen's arrest, and orders José to keep watch over her. Carmen cajoles José into letting her escape. He is punished with three months in jail. Three months later, Carmen and her Gypsy friends Frasquita, Mercedes, Dancaire and Remendado are dancing in the tavern. The famous toreador Escamillo stops by. Boasting about his bravado in the bullring, he flirts with Carmen. When she ignores him, he leaves. José's voice is heard outside. He returns to find himself alone with Carmen and professes his love. A trumpet signals recall to barracks. When José prepares to go, Carmen taunts him. To prove his love for her, he shows her the flower she threw at him when they met. When she suggests that they elope, José tells her that he could never be a deserter. Zuniga appears, ordering José to return to barracks. A fight breaks out. The smugglers burst in and remove Zuniga forcibly. José has been compromised and is forced to flee with the gypsies. Act 2 Mercedes, Frasquita and Carmen while away the time consulting the cards. Carmen discovers that her cards portend death. The gypsy smugglers leave the tavern as Michaela appears searching for José. She hides when Escamillo enters, looking for Carmen. Instead, he finds José. The two men argue and fight, but Carmen intervenes. Escamillo boastfully invites Carmen to his upcoming bullfight. Micaela informs José that his mother is dying. In spite of Carmen's taunts, José sets out for home. On his way to the bullring Escamillo delivers a rose to Carmen. She admits that she loves him. José appears violently jealous. Infuriated by Carmen's rebuff, José murders her in a blind rage.
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The Real Carmen It would be interesting to know what Prosper Mérimée's reaction to the opera Carmen might have been, had he lived to attend its premiere in 1875 at the Opéra Comique. Mérimée reports that he had heard the tale of Carmen from the Comtesse de Montijo, the story of a bandito who had murdered his mistress—a euphemism in nineteenth century terms for a gypsy of questionable virtue. Mérimée narrates the story in the first person, as though he had been witness to the tragedy. In his novella, Mérimée, while searching for the site of the battle of Munda, meets José, a fugitive whom he helps to escape from the authorities. Later in Cordoba, Mérimée visits Carmen, a Romani woman, who tells his fortune. Their session is interrupted by José. Although Carmen suggests robbing and murdering Mérimée, José, mindful of their earlier meeting, demurs. Lured into robbery and smuggling, José is informed by one of the gypsy gang that Carmen is already married. When her husband joins the smugglers, José provokes a fight and kills him. The remainder of the story is somewhat the same in both novella and opera, but the thrust of the opera's plot is quite different. The novella details José's moral disintegration, while the opera focuses on Carmen's determination to live her life in freedom. In the novella, José amusingly blames Carmen's parents for their daughter's actions, saying that she was not properly brought up. How might Mérimée have felt, if he had witnessed the opera's premiere? Basically, he would have seen the trappings which appealed to a fin-de-siècle French opera goer: soldiers, choruses, street Arabs, a bevy of females such as Michaela, Mercedes and Frasquita (needed for a trio and part of the famous quintet) none of whom appear in the novella. Gone is Carmen's husband. The picador whom Carmen loves (he never appears in the novella other than in the bull ring) has become a toreador (primed to sing the most famous aria in the opera). And, finally, Carmen herself, who meets her end in the plaza before a bullring, rather than in a lonely mountain spot more appropriate for the novella but less pleasing on the operatic stage. He surely would have complained and perhaps sued composer, librettist and producer. But, alas, there were no copyright laws in 1875. Carmen's metamorphosis has never ceased. As the opera's popularity grew, Georges Bizet's opéra comique was equipped with recitatives—rather than spoken dialogue— so that it might be performed on the stage of the more prestigious Paris Opera. More recently and more familiarly to American audiences it was recast as a Broadway musical. In 2016 SummerFest seeks to return—if not to the essence of Mérimée's tale—at least to the imagined atmosphere of gypsy life which he sought to invoke. Program notes by Jerry Clack, Professor of Classics and Opera Theater Board member
Welcome SummerFest Groups Allegheny Harvard Yale Princeton Club
Aaron Primack Group
Carnegie Mellon University Pre-College Programs
Inessa Tamar Group
Sarah Gross Group
Provident Point Group
Michael West Group
Kreiss-Ramani Group
UPMC Sherwood Oaks Group
Thomas McGill Group
Share the magic of SummerFest as a group and receive a 20-35% discount on tickets. To book your group for this season or next, call 412.326.9687.
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TEXT My Eyes no more shall welcome Sleep; I'll hide me from the sight of Day, And sigh, and sigh my Soul away. He's gone, he's gone, his loss deplore; And I shall never see him more. Scene 2. Celebration of universal harmony Symphony and song for tenor Thus the gloomy World At first began to shine, And from the Power Divine A Glory round about it hurl'd; Which made it bright, And gave it Birth in light. Soprano and chorus Thus Happy and Free, Thus treated are we With nature's chiefest Delights.
Music by George Frederic Handel Libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym English Translation by Paul Trowell Directed by Dan Rigazzi Conducted by Walter Morales Choreographed by Jessica Marino Featuring CHATHAM BAROQUE Narges Norouzi, Scenic Designer Bob Steineck, Lighting Designer Minjee Kasckow, Costume Designer Kyle Huber, Assistant Costume Designer Deirdre Morgan, Hair and Makeup Designer Aaron Dunn, Assistant Director Joel Goodloe, Assistant Conductor/Chorus Master Jon Erik Schreiber, Assistant Conductor Aida Olarte, Pianist Kathleen Stakenas, Stage Manager Sophia Marshall and Emily Gallagher, Assistant Stage Managers Friday, July 15 - 7:30 pm Sunday, July 17 - 2:00 pm Saturday, July 23 - 7:30 pm Falk Auditorium, Winchester Thurston School Approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes with one 15-minute intermission. The Zuckermann harpsichord used in this production has been generously loaned to Opera Theater by First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon Universityhasloanedthe single manual harpsichord built by C. F. Bannister (New Jersey). (Bannister Harpsichords - Hopewell, New Jersey)
Please turn off all electronic devices upon entering the theater. No photos or use of phones is permitted during the performance.
Andrey Nemzer 2011 Winner Experience the drama of young professionals competing for prizes and roles in Opera Theater SummerFest 2017.
Watch for details at otsummerfest.org
Semi-finals & Finals Oct. 29-30
Mildred Miller as Carmen Metropolitan Opera
Cast Julius Caesar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrey Nemzer Cleopatra, future Queen of Egypt . . Lara Lynn McGill Ptolemy, her brother, King of Egypt . . . Min Sang Kim Cornelia, widow of Ptolemy . . . . . Sara Beth Shelton Sextus, her stepson . . . . . . . . . . . Katherine Beck Achillas, Ptolemy's General . . . . . . . . . . James Eder Curio, Ceasar's General . . . . . . . . J. Patrick McGill Nirenus, Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . Zachary Wood
Ensemble Emily Baker Molly Boggess Mathew Case Elizabeth Cohen
Matthew Cummings Shannon Delijani Valerie Hosler Jamie Rafacz
John Scherch Jon Erik Schreiber Mark Tamvakis Migle Zaliukaite
Dancers Kerra Alexander Jamie Erin Murphy
LaTrea Rembert Brady Sanders
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Director's Note Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724) tells the story of the famous Roman leader’s romantic interlude with history’s most famous siren, Cleopatra. When the opera begins, Caesar has just arrived at the port of Alexandria, looking for the fugitive Pompey Magnus. Along with Marcus Crassus, Pompey and Caesar ruled Rome as the first Triumvirate for seven years, beginning in 60 BCE. Pompey, who was a celebrated general in his own right, grew jealous of the younger Caesar’s successful campaigns in Gaul and began to fear that the balance of power was starting to tip in Caesar’s favor. Pompey won the support of the Senate, recalled Caesar to Rome, and asked him to give up his army. Caesar refused, and with his army, crossed the Rubicon into the Italian peninsula and marched on Rome, beginning a civil war. For the next year, the war was fought all over the Roman world, from Spain to Greece. After some early victories, in 48 BCE Caesar found himself cornered, outgunned and outmanned at Pharsalus, Greece. However, in one of the great military upsets in history, Caesar’s forces were victorious and routed Pompey and the Senate’s army. Pompey was able to escape, and fled to Alexandria, Egypt with his family, expecting that King Ptolemy would give him safe harbor and support him against Caesar’s forces. No such luck. King Ptolemy invited Pompey’s ships to land, and had one of his men kill Pompey on sight. Ptolemy knew which way the wind was blowing, and wanted to show his loyalty to Caesar by presenting him with Pompey’s head. When Caesar arrives in Alexandria, he expects to negotiate terms of surrender with Pompey and thereby end the civil war. Ptolemy’s treachery extends the fighting and makes the political situation volatile. Unbeknownst to Caesar, he has also walked into a local dynastic struggle between Ptolemy and his elder sister, Cleopatra. This is where Handel’s opera begins. Caesar must try to preserve the fragile peace that Pompey’s death has brought, and keep a civil war in Egypt from erupting. Cleopatra has to win Caesar’s heart and thereby wrest the Egyptian throne from her brother. - Dan Rigazzi
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The Story Act I Fresh from his victory over Pompey’s army in Greece, Julius Caesar has to come to negotiate a truce in Alexandria, Egypt, where Pompey has sought refuge with King Ptolemy. When Ptolemy's captain, Achillas, presents Caesar with Pompey’s severed head, his widow, Cornelia, and his son, Sextus, throw themselves on Caesar's mercy. Caesar honors the fallen Pompey and displays compassion for Cornelia and Sextus. Achillas is smitten with Cornelia. Sextus vows vengeance on his father's murderer. Cleopatra, King Ptolemy’s older sister, disguises herself as “Lydia” and seeks Caesar's help in securing her succession to the Egyptian throne. Caesar is attracted to her. Ptolemy urges Achillas to assassinate Caesar. As a reward he will give him Cornelia in marriage. Later at a banquet, Sextus challenges Ptolemy to single combat. He is arrested, and Cornelia is sequestered in Ptolemy's harem. Achillas offers freedom to Cornelia and Sextus, if she will accept his love. Caesar is brought to a club, where Lydia gives a private performance. Caesar’s infatuation grows. After the performance he is invited to her apartments. Intermission Act II Caesar and Lydia declare their love for each other, and Lydia reveals that she is really Cleopatra. Suddenly, Curio runs in to tell Caesar that a revolt has broken out and that his life is in danger. At the battle, Caesar finds himself outnumbered and jumps into the sea to escape. The Romans believe that Caesar is dead. However, he has managed to swim ashore. There he finds his army defeated by Ptolemy's troops. From a hiding place he hears Sextus speaking with Achillas who has been mortally wounded. Achillas confesses that he killed Pompey, and voices his remorse. He gives the young man a gold seal, which will enable him to muster one hundred of Achillas’ troops. They are eager to take vengeance on Ptolemy. A battle between the forces of Cleopatra and those of Ptolemy ends in a victory for Ptolemy and Cleopatra’s capture. With command of Achillas’ forces, Caesar is able to defeat Ptolemy and free Cleopatra. Sextus kills Ptolemy in revenge for his father's death. Cleopatra is crowned queen of Egypt. She and Caesar exchange vows of faithfulness and love.
Handel means Business Handel, Händel, Hindel, Hendell—however you may choose to spell it, Georg Friedrich Handel's name in German implies "business." And surely a businessman he was—churning out operas, oratorios, anthems, and concertos of astounding quality and quantity. Throughout his life, but especially in London where he spent the last forty years of his life, he was adored by his audiences, ingratiating himself even more to the British public by Anglicizing the spelling of his name to George Frederick Handel and by becoming a British citizen in 1727. So honored was he that on his death in 1759 he was given a state funeral, was buried in Westminster Abbey, and his name was added to the Episcopal liturgical calendar—July 28—a date which he shares with Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell. It is perhaps noteworthy to mention that Handel built his career during the reign of England's German kings, the Hanoverians George I and George II. Despite its popularity in the 18th century, Handel's music—with the exception of Messiah and a miscellany of less ambitious efforts–languished in the 19th century. In the early 20th century Julius Caesar enjoyed several revivals in England and under the baton of Hans Knappertsbusch and Karl Böhm in Germany, but in the United States the opera was virtually unknown until 1966, when the New York City Opera revived it under the musical supervision of Julius Rudel (who, operagoers will recall, was a champion of Opera Theater of Pittsburgh) and the direction of another Pittsburgh stalwart, Pittsburgh Opera's Tito Capobianco. Beverly Sills thrilled audiences in the role of Cleopatra. It was Julius Caesar which launched her international career. A recording of this production is still available. Known by its Italian name, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, the opera was composed for the Royal Academy of Music and received its premiere on 20 February 1724. The libretto, prepared by Nicola Haym, is an adaptation of at least one other attempt on the subject by the 17th century composer Antonio Sartorio. The use of the same libretto (often with changes to suit the dramatic instincts of the composer) was a common practice in the 17th and 18th centuries. For the curious there exists an 18th century engraving (below) sometimes identified with Julius Caesar. The set is generic, usable for any opera regardless of the location the plot might call for. The male characters are dressed in a pseudoRoman military attire while the women are garbed in the fashion of the day. The engraving is somewhat comical for moderns, since the castrato is portrayed as a gangling giant who towers over the other singers. Julius Caesar is considered by most of Handel's admirers as his finest Italian opera, while the more enthusiastic see it as the best of all examples of opera seria. Program notes by Jerry Clack, Professor of Classics and Opera Theater Board member
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Music by Richard Strauss Libretto by Stefan Zweig Directed by Jonathan Eaton Conducted by Brent McMunn Danila Korogodsky, Scenic Designer Chuck Beard, Projection Designer Cynthia Albert, Costume Designer Madeleine Steineck, Lighting Designer Samantha LaScala, Hair and Makeup Designer Daniel Brylow, Assistant Director Caleb Glickman, Assistant Conductor Stephen Variames, Pianist Kathleen Stakenas, Stage Manager Emily Gallagher and Jessica Feldman, Assistant Stage Managers Friday, July 22 - 7:30 pm Sunday, July 24 - 2:00 pm Falk Auditorium, Winchester Thurston School Approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes with one 15-minute intermission. Opera Theater's production of The Silent Woman is a Pennsylvania premiere. The Silent Woman is presented by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
Please turn off all electronic devices upon entering the theater. No photos or use of phones is permitted during the performance.
Cast Sir Morosus, a retired Admiral . . . . . . Jeremy Galyon Widow Zimmerlein, his housekeeper . Fiona McArdle Barber Schneidebart . . . . . . . . . . Dimitrie Lazich Henry Morosus, nephew of admiral . . . William Andrews Aminta, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julia Fox Isotta, an opera singer . . . . . . . . . Laura DellaFera Carlotta, an opera singer . . . . . . . . Migle Zaliukaite Morbio, an opera singer . . . . . . . Matthew Maisano Vanuzzi, an opera singer . . . . . . . . . . John Scherch Farfallo, an opera singer . . . . . . . . . James Eder
Ensemble Robin Bradley Lori Carrau Matthew Cummings Caitlin Finnie
Emily Harmon Amelia Love J. Patrick McGill Shari Perman
Joshua Smith Jennifer Wilson Miles Wilson-Toliver
The Story Act 1 Admiral Sir John Morosus lives in retirement. Deafened by the explosion of his ship while he was in service, he has become cantankerous, short tempered, and intolerant of any noise. Moreover, he has cut himself off from society to assure him peace of mind. During his morning shave his barber suggests that he marry a quiet young woman. The barber assures him that he knows a dozen "quiet doves" who would marry such an honorable man as he. Morosus' lost nephew Henry appears. Morosus, forgetting marriage for the moment, declares Henry his son and heir. Then he discovers that Henry and his wife Aminta manage an opera troupe. Distrusting actors, he disinherits Henry and sends the troupe flying. He then instructs the barber to find him a "dove." The barber has an inspiration—a sham marriage with one of his "quiet doves" who, as soon as the wedding ceremony is performed, will turn out to be an insufferable termagant. Her conduct will lead to an equally hasty sham divorce. As the "doves" will be members of Henry's troupe, this will prove to Morosus what an excellent group of actors is under his direction. Intermission Act 2 The barber introduces Morosus to three of his "doves": a "a simple girl", a "noble lady" and lastly Aminta who acts as the shy Timidia. Not surprisingly, she is the one Morosus chooses.The barber procures a notary and two officials (from the troupe) to perform the marriage. Aminta is touched by the affection Morosus shows for her and regrets Henry's attempt to chicane him. Nonetheless, reverting to the role she has been assigned, Aminta wreaks havoc and Henry arrives "to save the day" and puts Timidia in her place. He reassures Morosus and sends the old admiral off to bed. Henry and Aminta sing of their love. Act 3 The barber introduces a "Lord Chief Justice" and two "lawyers", fake witnesses testiying to Timidia's lurid past. Henry admits to carnal relations with her. Morosus is so close to a breakdown that Henry calls off the charade and reveals the purpose of the plot—to regain Morosus' trust by showing off his actors' talents. Aminta asks the admiral's pardon, and Morosus turns to laughter when he realizes the humor of the situation—that he has been so successfully and amusingly duped. He blesses Henry and Aminta's marriage and proclaims Henry once again his heir. Morosus reflects on the insights he has gained: first, with a wink toward Strauss, "How beautiful music is, especially when it's finished," and then on the delights of bachelorhood, "A rare delight it is to find a silent beautiful girl, but it is more delightful when she belongs to another man."
Opera Banned It is ironic that Richard Strauss wrote, at the most trying time of his life, his only true Italianate comic opera. In July of 1929 Hugo von Hofmannsthal suffered a heart attack and died. Hofmannsthal had written the text for the majority of Strauss' operas. Strauss was despondent, believing that he would never find another librettist who could serve his needs. In autumn 1931 Anton Kippenberg, a music lover and director of the Insel book publishing firm, dropped by on his way to a meeting with Stephan Zweig, one of Austria's best known writers. The likelihood of Zweig's interest in preparing a libretto for Strauss entered the conversation—a conversation. Zweig was both a friend of Hofmannsthal and an ardent admirer of Strauss' music. Strauss' first encounter with Zweig was a most cordial one. According to Zweig, they began almost immediately discussing the feasibility of adopting Ben Jonson's satire Epicoene for the operatic stage. Zweig had recently made a translation of Jonson's Volpone, and had become acquainted with this lesser known work. Zweig's adaptation veered in a number of ways from Ben Jonson's play. Inter alia Sir Morosus is portrayed as a much more sympathetic character than Ben Jonson's acerbic "hero." Moreover, the "silent woman" in Zweig's treatment—when she is not playing her role as a termagant—is portrayed as human and loving. Strauss received the first act of The Silent Woman on 14 October 1932, and within two years (on 20 October 1934) had completed the entire score. Delighted with Zweig's libretto, he confided to Zweig that he could find nothing wrong with it, citing in his letter one of his most famous songs, "Ich trage meine Minne," which begins "That I have truly found you is my delight every day." Later, indefatigable pragmatist that he was, Strauss appears to have reviewed his score and is reported to have commented that it contained more notes than anything else he had ever written. It is an astounding score, filled with Strauss' old tricks. Can you in the audience identify his references to well know themes by Mozart, Weber, Wagner, Verdi, Gounod, and Monteverdi that are integrated in the score? One wonders whether the composer and author were so engaged in their project that they were oblivious to the fatal consequences of the 1933 German elections? The Nazis came to power in April of that year. Zweig was Jewish but seems to have had no realization of what was afoot. Shortly after Hitler's rise to power German theaters were forbidden to perform works by non-Aryans. Without warning The Silent Woman became a target of the new government. It was only thanks to Strauss' stubborn insistence and diplomatic skill that he was able to engineer its performance at the Dresden Staatsoper—and that only after an unsubstantiated interview with Hitler himself. Strauss, as President of the Board of Music for the Reich, also insisted that Zweig be listed on the program—but that was to no avail. Program notes by Jerry Clack, Professor of Classics and Opera Theater Board member
Libretto for all operas by Robert Handel Rob Frankenberry, Music Director and Conductor Valkyrie Suite Music by Eric Moe Directed by Aaron Dunn Aida Olarte, Pianist
Moonlight Suite Music by Gilda Lyons Directed by Seamus Ricci Zachary Rohlwing, Pianist
Honeymoon Suite Music by Alberto Demestres Directed by Daniel Brylow Zachary Rohlwing, Pianist
George Washington Suite Music by Daron Hagen Directed by Briana Sosenheimer Zachary Rohlwing, Pianist
Penthouse Suite Music by Roger Zahab Directed by Seamus Ricci Alec Chapman, Pianist Erin Duffey, Stage Manager Sophia Marshall and Jessica Feldman, Assistant Stage Managers Thursday, July 21 - 7:30 pm Sunday, July 24 - 6:30 pm
Hilda Willis Room, Winchester Thurston School Approximately 60 minutes with no intermission The commissioning of Night Caps for the first SummerFest in 2012 was made possible by generous support from OPERA America's Opera Fund. Please turn off all electronic devices upon entering the theater. No photos or use of phones is permitted during the performance.
Cast Miss Darlington’s hotel is a place of romance, mystery and danger. Each of its rooms is enchanted by the decadence of secrets, haunted by the ghosts of presidents and perfumed with the memory of love. Miss Darlington, the Hotel Manager . . . . Kelly Lynch Rudy, the Bell Boy . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Bouk Valkyrie Suite Gerhilde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helmwige . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Waltraute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schwertleite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ortlinde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Siegrune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grimgerde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rossweise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Betty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silent Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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. .Laura DellaFera . . . . Emily Baker . . Molly Boggess . . Fiona McArdle . .Jennifer Wilson . . Katherine Beck . . . . Lori Carrau . . . Shari Perman . . . Caitlin Finnie Jon Erik Schreiber
Honeymoon Suite Fifi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marisa Karchin Rodolfo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Cummings Young Woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Emily Harmon Foreman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Smith Trio of Young Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. Patrick McGill, Ethan Sagin, Jon Erik Schreiber Moonlight Suite Masha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Baker Yasha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isaiah Feken George Washington Suite Christina . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Washington . . . . . . . Trio of Young Men . . . . . . . .
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Amelia Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Cohen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isaiah Feken J. Patrick McGill, Ethan Sagin, Jon Erik Schreiber
Penthouse Suite Torta Gwentrob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria Palombo Buster Peeves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Cummings Dolores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oran Wongpandid Concert Promoter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shannon Delijani Concert Promoter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shari Perman Male Assistants . . . . . . . . . . .J. Patrick McGill, Ethan Sagin, Jon Erik Schreiber, Joshua Smith Female Assistants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Valerie Hosler, Molly Boggess
Music and Libretto by Seymour Barab Directed by Jonathan Eaton Music Directed by Joel Goodloe Agnieszka Sornek, Pianist Dahlia Al-Habieli, Scenic Designer Elizabeth Rishel, Costume Designer Emily Gallagher, Stage Manager Saturday, July 9, 16, 19 - 11:00 am Hilda Willis Room, Winchester Thurston School Approximately 45 minutes with no intermission.
Cast Red Riding Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Valerie Hosler Mother/Grandmother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Candice Shaughnessy Wolf/Woodsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jesse Davis
Please turn off all electronic devices upon entering the theater. No photos or use of phones is permitted during the performance.
The Story Once upon a time there was a young girl, named Little Red Riding Hood, who lived near the woods with her Mother. One day, Little Red’s Grandmother calls to say she is ill and asks to be brought some food by Little Red's Mother. Little Red begs to go herself, promising to be back by dark, not to pick any strawberries, and not to talk to strangers. Along the way, she meets a stranger (The Wolf) who tricks Little Red into giving him directions to Grandmothers house. While Little Red Riding Hood stops to pick strawberries, the Wolf runs ahead to the Grandmother’s house. As Grandmother sings on and on about her trials and tribulations, she is suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. Thinking it’s Little Red, Grandmother opens the door to let her in and is surprised by the Wolf. He tries to eat her, but Grandmother locks herself in the closet. The Wolf pleads with her to come out, but Grandmother refuses. Little Red Riding Hood arrives with the strawberries and other food. The Wolf puts on Grandmother’s cap and pretends to be the Grandmother. At first, Little Red believes that the Wolf IS her Grandmother, thinking that the illness has made her Grandmother’s voice change. She is also concerned that Grandmother’s eyes have changed from brown to blue. And, she is surprised to see how furry and pointed and BIG her Grandmother’s ears have grown. Then when Little Red remarks on her Grandmother’s teeth, the Wolf jumps up, losing his disguise, and chases her. Little Red screams and tries to escape, running around and around the room. Little Red remembers that the Wolf cannot stand to even talk about sweets, much less eat them, and so she starts listing all her favorite desserts. The Wolf runs out of Grandmother’s cottage screaming. Realizing that he has been foiled again and is locked outside of the cottage, the Wolf pounds on the door. Little Red Riding Hood sees a Woodsman through the window. Little Red and Grandmother shout for the Woodsman to catch the Wolf. Off-stage, the the Woodsman chases after the Wolf and finishes him off. Little Red, Grandmother, and the Woodsman all sing together about what they have learned.
Little Red Riding Hood introduced hundreds of young students to opera during our February matinees and was also part of the Carnegie Reading Extravaganza and Three Rivers Arts Festival. Contact Joel Goodloe at jgoodloe@otsummerfest.org to schedule a winter 2017 performance for your elementary or home school students.
Young Artist Program With SummerFest, Opera Theater continues a combined professional training and performing program for young artists (singers, pianists and stage directors) with opportunities for solo performance for all participants. Artists perform, as well as cover, appropriate roles and sing in the ensemble of mainstage productions. In addition, they perform in the Late Night Cabaret program. Young Artists work with SummerFest’s world-class directors, conductors, coaches and choreographers both in production rehearsals and in daily training sessions, which include individual vocal and repertoire coaching, master classes, stage character development, movement, dance and career seminars. The Marianne Cornetti Scholarships pay for four young singers to become Resident Artists with our Young Artist Program each season. Please consider contributing to the Marianne Cornetti Scholarship fund; or alternatively consider endowing a scholarship in your own or a loved one’s name; or sponsor a young artist for a season with your $3,000 donation.
The Company Guest Artists: Daphne Alderson Kerra Alexander William Andrews Liam Bonner Malcolm Callery Rob Chafin Jody Cohen Demareus Cooper Kara Cornell Marianne Cornetti Jesse Davis Isaiah Feken James Flora Julia Fox Robert Frankenberry Jeremy Galyon Olivia Kissel Mark Lamanna Dimitrie Lazich Douglas Levine Kelly Lynch Katie Manukyan Jessica Marino Lara Lynn McGill Brent McMunn Mildred Miller Posvar
Guest Artists George Milosh Walter Morales Jamie Erin Murphy Andrey Nemzer Narges Norouzi LaTrea Rembert Daniel Rigazzi Shaun Rolly Brady Sanders Jon Erik Schreiber Christopher Scott Candice Shaughnessy Anna Singer Agnieszka Sornek Kathleen Stakenas Blythe Walker Resident Artist Singers James Eder Christina Overton Resident Artists Pianists Alec Chapman Aida Olarte Zach Rohlwing Stephen Variames
Resident Artist Stage Directors Aaron Dunn Seamus Ricci Daniel Brylow Briana Sosenheimer Featured Artists Katherine Beck Elizabeth Bouk Min Sang Kim Matthew Maisano John Scherch Sara Beth Shelton Zachary Wood Studio Artists Molly Boggess Robin Bradley Lori Carrau Elizabeth Cohen Matthew Cummings Shannon Delijani Caitlin Finnie Marisa Karchin Amelia Love Fiona McArdle J. Patrick McGill Maria Palombo Shari Perman
Studio Artists Ethan Sagin Jennifer Wilson Emily Harmon Migle Zaliukaite Joshua Smith Emily Baker Laura DellaFera Apprentice Artists Jamie Rafacz Mathew Case Miles Wilson-Toliver Valerie Hosler
SummerFest Orchestra Concert Master Jason Neukom - NC, JC, SW Violins Melissa Stewart - CG Ashley Freeburn - SW, KMK John Lardinois - SW Sandro Leal Santiesteban - SW Patrick Forsyth - JC Becky Pernicano - SW Sean Neukom - JC Viola Kristen Linfante - JC Sean Neukom - SW Jason Hohn - SW Cello Nadine Sherman - SW Will Teegarden - JC Katya Janpoladyan - SW, C, NC Bass Andy Kohn - SW, C Cory Palmer - KMK, JC Flute Josephine Kost - C, NC, SW Zoe Sorrell - JC Curtis Johnson - KMK Sarah Steranka - SW
Oboe Renate Sakins - SW Cynthia Warren - SW, JC Taylor Nelson - JC Clarinet Mary Beth Malek - C, SW, NC, KMK Debra Alexander - SW Curtis Johnson - KMK Bassoon David Sogg - SW Renee Anthony Dee - SW French Horn Jason Allison - SW Lindsey Nova - SW Saxophone Curtis Johnson - KMK Mary Beth Malek - KMK Trumpet Andrew Augustine - SW, KMK Trombone Kevin McManus - SW, KMK Accordion Brian Buckley - C
Guitar Scott Elliott - C Piano Alec Chapman - C, NC Stephen Variames - SW Zach Rohlwing - NC Aida Olarte - NC Harpsichord Aida Olarte - JC Percussion Kevin Danchik - SW, NC, KMK Chatham Baroque Scott Pauley, Theorbo Patrica Halverson, Viola da gamba Andrew Fouts, Violin The musicians employed in SummerFest productions are members of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. Key
JC - Julius Caesar C - Carmen KMK - Kiss Me, Kate SW - The Silent Woman NC - Night Caps
Meet our SummerFest Restaurant Partners For 38 years Opera Theater of Pittsburgh has sought to bring opera to the people. In recognition of our move to Winchester Thurston School, Opera Theater SummerFest has entered into partnerships with restaurants in and around the Shadyside area. Sharing business and patronage not only builds revenue but lays the foundation for longer-lasting community relationships. The following restaurants are our 2016 SummerFest Partner Restaurants. Diners who show a SummerFest performance ticket for that day receive 10% off their meal; and diners who show a Partner Restaurant receipt for that day receive a 10% discount off their SummerFest ticket. Bites & Brews 5750 Ellsworth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232 412-361-4425 Open until 2am
Cafe Zinho
Cafe Zinho 238 Spahr St., Pittsburgh, PA 15232 412-363-1500 BYOB Daphne Cafe & Grill 5811 Ellsworth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232 412-441-1130 Turkish & Mediterranean BYOB Lucca Ristorante & Wine Bar 317 S. Craig St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412-682-3310 Tuscan Classics Elbow Room 5744½ Ellsworth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232 412-363-1947 Zarra’s 3887 Bigelow Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412-682-8296 Southern Italian
Special Thanks Winchester Thurston School: Gary J. Niels, Head of School; Dionne Brelsford, Director of Programs; and the WT staff and Board of Trustees. Carlow University and Gwendolyn Stevens for campus housing arrangements Oakland Catholic High School for staff parking support Dan Kamin and Kamin Realty for storage facility
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks and Mrs Shakespeare for pre-show Shakespearean entertainment Mary Ann Heneroty and Gretchen Fay at Catholic Youth Association New Place Collaborations, LLC for marketing consultation Oakland Business Improvement District
Al Filoni for ongoing consultation
University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts - Costume and Props Shops
Alan Lewis and Calvary Episcopal Church
Jesse Davis, Armorist, for knives for Carmen the Gypsy
Carnegie Mellon University Departments of Music and Drama
UPMC Retirement Communities and Nanci Case Prospect Point and Sarah Gross
California University of Pennsylvania for moving lights Michelle Joy Babkes and Gypsy Tattoo Parlor for tattoo makeup design
Carnegie Mellon Music for the use of their harpsichord Harpsichord technicians Joe Bryan and Bill Larson for their assistance during Julius Caesar. Our Carmen the Gypsy tour venues: The Sphinx Café Artifacts Snuggery Farm Our gracicous house party hosts Opera Theater is grateful to our dedicated Housing Hosts, Opera Ambassadors, and Volunteers Philadelphia Candies
Emily Pinkerton, Bill Larson, and First Unitarian Church for the use of their harpsichord
Host Families
A big thank you to our host families, who open their homes (and hearts) to our company members while in residence here in Pittsburgh. Please contact us if you’d like to participate in this rewarding experience for SummerFest 2017. Carol Berger Jane & Larry Breck Dan Catanzaro* & Craig McDonald* Shirley & Jim Cassing Rosemary Coffey Jamini Davies David Finegold Lynne Flavin
Diana Galbraith Pete Geissler Caren Glotfelty Dana Kline Lisa Parker & David Sogg Ansley Robin Susan & Peter Smerd Deb & Jim Van Valkenburgh
Standby Hosts: Elly Fisher Anne & Vincent Lackner Tom Yargo Special Thanks to Phyllis Sidwell for housing support * Cast Party Hosts
Our Donors Opera Theater thanks its season supporters for their generosity. Artist Circle $10,000+ Jerry Clack Hans and Leslie Fleischner Mildred Posvar Michelle RohĂŠ Encore Society $5,000+ Margaretha Casselbrant Pete Geissler and Abby Frich William and Victoria Guy Robert Levin and Kerry Bron Eugene and Barbara Myers Phyllis Sidwell Ovation Society $2,500+ Milton Fine Joyce Candi Grove James Sahovey Patron $1,000+ Joseph Bielecki Edwin and Nadine Bognar James and Margaret Byrne Dale and Hope Cottrill Jamini Davies Anthony Figurelli Albert Filoni Clement George Julian Gil Arthur Kerr Roberta Klatzky Barbara McKenna Etsuro and Yoko Motoyama Robert Page Robert and Joan Peirce Benefactor $500+ Benno and Connie Bernt Lawrence Breck Weia Boelema and Kenneth Manders Mark Mazur Linda Natho and Elizabeth Russell John Reynolds David and Alece Schreiber Lisa Parker and David Sogg Joseph Spirer
Contributor $250+ Patrick Curry and Susan Campbell Joseph Cope Jerry and Dina Fulmer Arlyn Gilboa David and Nancy Green Mary Hosler Elsa Limbach Marilyn and Stephen Coleman Theresa Nimick-Whiteside Aron and Karen Primack Judy Spanos Konrad and Gisela Weis Arthur Weldon Associates $100+ Alan and Barbara Ackerman Nanci Case Maurice and Muriel Deul Patricia Ferrell Cottam Robert and Marsha Fidoten David Finegold Mark Freeman Frances Galardi Stuart and Joan Gaul David Hartmann Sydelle Kessler Milton Kimura Dana Kline Kirby Krieger Jim and Amy Moore Marilyn Painter Wesley Posvar, Jr. Ansley Robin Jerry and Shoshana Rosenberg Ralph and Dodie Roskies Patricia Schroder Bud and Carolyn Smith Sidney Stark John Battaglia and M. Ellen Tarpey Bruce Freeman and Margaret Tarpey Barbara Thompson Marvin Wedeen Bruce Wilder
Friends under $100 Georgianne Arnold Gloria Augustine Ronald and Shirley Barasch Clark Bedford William and Carol Beggs Edith Blattner Patricia Butterfield William and Carolyn Byham Charlene Canty Dharl Chintan Anne Christianson Rosemary Coffey Nancy Coleman Demareus Cooper John and Laurie Culbertson Brian Davis Edward DePersis Bruce Dietrich Ralph and Peggy DiNinno David Dinkin Bernard Doft Elizabeth Donohue Ruth Einhorn Mike Firdman Kenneth Frankenbery Irene Frieze Barbara Funari Jerry Gindele Larry Glasco Gordon Haw John Heath Worthington and Elizabeth Hobbs Charles and Marilyn Honigsberg Walter and Irene Jacob Patricia Jennings Greg and Susan Kaminski Julie Karchin Amy Kellman Marian Kennedy Mary Ellen Kirby Tinsy Lipchak Barbara Love Sally Martin Thomas McCaffrey Nicholas Miskovsky Randall Moore
Friends (con't.) James and Therese Moss Earl Mounts Heidi and Philip Pandolfi Cynthia Pennington Hrvoje Petek and Takako Kiyota Stephanie Ragni Zita Reis Kelsey Rhea Mathew Rosenblum Kathleen Sadler Carolyn Schumacher Loretta Spada Lowell and Janice Steinbrenner Scott Timm John and Karen Uhrin Roger Westman E. Philip Wilson Helen Wilson Roger Zahab Rita Zecher H. J. Zoffer Thomas Zullo
Contributions made from June 22, 2015 through June 21, 2016. For corrections or information about making a tax-deductible gift to Opera Theater of Pittsburgh please contact Scott Timm at 412.621.1499 or stimm@otsummerfest. org. Please check to see if your employer offers a matching gift program.
Administrative and Production Staff Artistic and General Director Jonathan Eaton
Music Administration
Production
Electrics Interns Zachary Straeffer Luke Ahlemann Joshua Austin Rianne Lindsey
Head Pianist Stephen Variames
Technical Director Malcolm Callery
Head of Costumes Cynthia Albert
Music Assistant/ Arranger Caleb Glickman Evan Neely
Production Stage Manager Kathleen Stakenas
Costume Interns Oran Wongpandid Minjee Kasckow Rachel Wyatt Kyle Huber Noa Lipsky Stefanie McGowan Diana Slater
Administration
Music Director Robert Frankenberry
General Manager Scott Timm Box Office and Community Relations Production and Patron Support Director Lynne Squilla Box Office Interns Brynn Hambley Joseph Sandler Dylan Shaffer House Manager Henry St. George Tucker Marketing and Public Relations Marketing Director Yvonne Hudson Resident Graphic Designer Greg Kolls Media Manager Ryan M. McKelvey Marketing & Public Relations Intern Hannah Shea
Artistic Administration
Young Artist Program Intern Harrison Mullins
Stage Manager Jody Cohen
Artistic Administrator Joel Goodloe
Assistant Technical Director Samuel Karas
Music Administration Intern Caleb Glickman
Carmen Tour Manager Seamus Ricci
Young Artist Program Director Robert Chafin
Assistant Stage Managers Sophia Marshall Emily Gallagher Jessica Feldman Erin Duffey
Young Artist Program Faculty Demareus Cooper Mildred Miller Posvar Robert Chafin Robert Frankenberry Blythe Walker Mark Lamanna Milutin Lazich Jonathan Eaton Brent McMunn Anna Singer Daniel Rigazzi Jeremy Galyon
Wigmaster Taylor Rouse Hair and Make up interns Taylor Rouse Deirdre Morgan Samantha LaScala
Carpentry Interns Dominick Corsoe Nicholas Wilson Carly Long Scenic Designer/Paint Charge Narges Norouzi Lighting Designers Bob Steineck Madeleine Steineck
Professional Services Season Graphic Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don Henderson Graphics Marketing and Public Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .New Place Collaborations, LLC Publicity Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Abramowitz, Catherine Aceto Production Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patti Brahim Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Press Craft Printers
The Directors Jonathan Eaton
Artistic and General Director Director, Carmen the Gypsy, The Silent Woman, Little Red Riding Hood Photo by John Bauerlein
Jonathan Eaton has served as Artistic and General Director of Opera Theater of Pittsburgh since 1999 and has led the company in presenting varied and unusual repertoire as well as reimagined classics. Notable productions have included the world’s first Eco-opera A New Kind of Fallout by Gilda Lyons and Tammy Ryan, Weill’s Lost in the Stars conducted by Julius Rudel, a historic revival of Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday, and Daron Hagen's Shining Brow performed on the terraces of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic house, Fallingwater. Among the forty or more productions he has directed for OTP are Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle in Jonathan Dove’s reduced orchestration with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and at Long Beach Opera, and Weill’s Die Bürgschaft/The Bond, which was chosen to open the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau Germany in 2003. In 2010 he spearheaded the company’s transition into becoming a summer festival, also founding a summer Young Artists Program and International Voice Competition. Jonathan has also directed widely in opera houses throughout North America and Europe. His work was was seen at the Lincoln Center every year for fifteen years at New York City Opera with Turandot, Carmen, and a celebrated production of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, which was televised for nationwide broadcast on “Great Performances Live from Lincoln Center.” He has also directed for the Chicago Lyric, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Diego, Kentucky, Indianapolis and Memphis opera companies, and the Santa Fe and Spoleto festivals. In Canada he has directed for the Canadian Opera and Vancouver Opera; in Britain, he has directed at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and Opera North; in Germany, he has directed for the Hannover, Würzburg and Bielefeld operas and the Bochumer Symphoniker. He has also directed at the Netherlands Opera, and in France for the operas of Nantes, Lyons and Nancy. In addition to his work for Opera Theater, Jonathan served as Artistic and Stage Director of !SING - DAY OF SONG for Ruhr 2010 Cultural Capital of Europe. He led a series of projects over three years related to singing, which culminated in June 2010 with more than a million people singing in 53 cities simultaneously, and a fully-staged staged mega-concert with 58,000 singers in the Schalke football stadium in Gelsenkirchen. This project was televised by WDR and broadcast across Europe. Jonathan has also directed plays and musicals at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Actors Theater Louisville, the Repertory Theater of St. Louis and the Pittsburgh Playhouse. He has enjoyed an extended teaching career giving masterclasses at many universities and conservatories around America, and served as Professor of Opera at CCM in Cincinnati, and Director of Opera at Carnegie Mellon University and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
The Directors Mark Lamanna Director, Kiss Me, Kate
Mark Lamanna is a stage director, acting teacher and vocal coach. He has directed productions of La Traviata, The Mikado, La Tragédie de Carmen and Die Fledermaus (Intimate Opera Company); La Traviata (Bakersfield Symphony); Die Fledermaus, Hansel & Gretel, Dido & Aeneas and Cendrillon (Orange County School of the Arts); Lee Hoiby's This Is The Rill Speaking and She Loves Me (Cal State LA), Dido & Aeneas (the Purcell Players), and A Bernstein Celebration (Ridgefield Opera). He added added some staging and movement to Opera Theater of Pittsburgh's Ariadne auf Naxos in 2014, and worked on A New Kind of Fallout last summer. He has staged opera scenes programs for Songfest, Opera New Jersey, and the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, musical theater scenes programs for Opera New Jersey, and the Opera Showcase of the Desert in Palm Springs featuring Metropolitan Opera competition finalists. Mr. Lamanna's work reflects his eclectic and diverse professional training in New York City – two decades of vocal study with Jim Carson and Lynne Vardaman; acting programs at the T. Schreiber Studio and HB Studio, and scholarships to the Joffrey Ballet School and Balanchine's School of American Ballet. In 2007, Classical Singer Magazine named him Stage Director of the Year.
Dan Rigazzi
Director, Julius Caesar Director Dan Rigazzi is thrilled to be making his debut with the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh. This fall will mark his tenth season on the Staging Staff at the Metropolitan Opera. During his tenure there, he has been fortunate enough to assist some of the most influential directors in the American theatre: Susan Stroman, Mary Zimmerman, Jack O’Brien and Bartlett Sher. In addition to his work at the Met, Dan directs at opera companies around the United States. Favorite projects include The Magic Flute for Arizona Opera, Madama Butterfly and La bohème for Ash Lawn Opera, The Tales of Hoffmann for Wolf Trap Opera, and The Rape of Lucretia for Pittsburgh Opera. 2014 saw Dan’s international debut at Teatro alla Scala, assisting Mary Zimmerman with her production of Lucia di Lammermoor. He is a graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and an alumnus of the Drama League Directors Project.
Strong Women: The Theater of Sculpture An exhibition of works by regional artists Melissa Sullivan Patti Menick in the Cabaret Lounge all season long
The Conductors Robert Frankenberry
Festival Music Director and Conductor, Carmen the Gypsy and Night Caps Robert Frankenberry leads a multi‐faceted career as a vocalist, pianist, orchestrator, actor, and conductor. In recent seasons with SummerFest, he has led the premieres of Night Caps, Night Caps International, Happy Hour, A New Kind of Fallout, and the Fallingwater version of Shining Brow, and collaborated with Artistic Director Jonathan Eaton to create Carmen the Gypsy and The Tales of Hoffmann—Retold. He has also been seen on the SummerFest stage as CarlMagnus in A Little Night Music and Bacchus in Ariadne on Naxos. At the piano, Frankenberry performs both traditional classical and contemporary chamber music, and is a member of IonSound, Chrysalis, the Music On the Edge Chamber Ensemble, Trio AnimeBOP, the Phoenix Players, and entelechron. He holds a BM in Piano Performance from Mercyhurst College and an MM in voice performance from Carnegie Mellon University. He currently holds the position of Lecturer in Musical Theatre in the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Theatre Arts.
Walter Morales Conductor, Julius Caesar
Walter Morales is a native of Costa Rica, and is the Music Director of the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. His previous positions include Music Director of Undercroft Opera, Carnegie Mellon University Contemporary Ensemble, Head of Music of Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Principal Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic, Assistant Director of Orchestral Studies at Carnegie Mellon University and Assistant Conductor of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic. He has guest conducted with National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, Butler County Symphony Orchestra, McKeesport Symphony Orchestra, University of Costa Rica Symphony Orchestra, University of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Youth Chamber Orchestra and Rutgers Chamber Orchestra. He has served as a cover conductor for Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2014 he was a semifinalist for the American Prize in Opera Conducting.
Brent McMunn
Conductor, The Silent Woman Brent McMunn is nationally known and admired as a conductor, coach, and pianist. His conducting debut with the New York City Opera in Les contes d’Hoffmann was followed by repeat engagements there in La Bohème and Madama Butterfly. He also conducted their National Touring Company and regularly led readings of new works in their VOX New Works Series. He guest conducts at North American companies including Arizona Opera, Kentucky Opera, Lake George Opera, Opera New Jersey, and Calgary Opera. This is his fifth production as conductor with Opera Theater. He has served as an Assistant and Cover Conductor for well over 100 productions in his years at Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera and the Santa Fe Opera. In 2004, he became the Conductor and Music Director of Opera at the University of Southern California’s prestigious Thornton School of Music.
The Company Kerra Alexander
Emily Baker
Dancer (JC)
Frasquita (C), Michaela* (C), Masha (NC), Helmwige (NC), Ensemble (JC)
Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Dancer, Shana Simmons Dance, Pittsburgh, PA, Educator, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, Dancer, MadHouse, Pittsburgh, PA
Cynthia Albert Costume Designer (C,SW) Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Current Costume Shop Foreman: University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts; Costume Designer: Pitt Repertory Theater. Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Opera, New Daly Repertory Company, City Lights Theater; Costume Designer for film: Diabolique, House Guest, Only You, Kingpin, Achilles Love. OTP: The Merry Widow, Ariadne on Naxos, The Magic Flute, Figaro Redux, A New Kind of Fallout, Capriccio, among others.
William Andrews Henry (SW) Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Don JosĂŠ, Carmen, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi, Opera per Tutti, Cleveland, OH, Opera Champion of Pittsburgh Winner 2011, Pittsburgh Concert Society Winner 2016 OTP: Rodolfo, Night Caps, Music Director, La Clemenza di Tito
Feeding Hills, MA Engagements: Giorgetta, Il Tabarro, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, Berta, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Indiana University, Bloomington IN, Second Lady, Die ZaubeflĂśte, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, Encouragement Award Winner, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions 2014 Indiana District OTP: Countess Almaviva*, Marriage of Figaro
Katherine Beck Sextus (JC), Siegrune (NC) Bennington, VT Engagements: Frau von Daubek, Frau Schindler, USC Thornton Opera, Los Angeles, CA, Sesto, La Clemenza di Tito, USC Thornton Opera, Los Angeles, CA, Rosina, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Aspen CO, Babette, The English Cat, USC Thornton Opera, Los Angeles, CA, Dorabella, Cosi fan tutte, SUNY Potsdam/Crane Opera Ensemble, Potsdam, NY
Chuck Beard Projection Designer (SW) Bennington, VT Engagements: Projection Design, 'Natural Frequency,' Resonance Works Pittsburgh; Art Director, Pittsburgh Magazine; Photographer, Abandoned Pittsburgh OTP: Projection Design, A New Kind of Fallout
Molly Elizabeth Boggess
Daniel J. Brylow
Ensemble/Lois Lane* (KMK), Mercedes* (C), Ensemble/Ptolemy* (JC), Waltraute (NC), Duet Mezzo (NC)
Assistant Director (SW), Director (NC)
Rochester, NY
Engagements: Writer/Director, The Skylight Ring, Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, Director/Co-translator, Don Giovanni, East Side Chamber Players, Milwaukee, WI, Assistant Director, Song From the Uproar, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, Assistant Director, Hydrogen Jukebox, Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, Assistant Director, El Cimarrón, Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee, WI
Engagements: Pepa, Goyescas, Bare Opera, New York, NY, Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro, Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, Weimar, Germany, Frau Reich, Die lustigen, Weiber von Windsor, Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, Weimar, Germany, Ambizione, La Doriclea, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater, New York, NY, Claire, Bernstein's New York, Manhattan School of Music Summer Voice Festival, New York, NY
Elizabeth Bouk Carmen*, Ensemble (KMK), Rudy the Bellboy (NC) New York, NY USA Engagements: Lucretia, The Rape of Lucretia, Utopia Opera, NY, NY, Amparo, Titus' Rosina, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, NY, NY, Komponist, Ariadne auf Naxos, Utopia Opera, NY, NY, Soloist, Handel's Messiah, Sackets Harbor Vocal Arts, Watertown, NY
Robin Bradley Lois Lane (KMK), Carlotta*/Ensemble (SW) Chicago, IL Engagements: Lucretia, The Rape of Lucretia, Chicago Fringe Opera, Chicago, IL, Emilia, Otello, Winter Opera St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, Ottavia, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Manhattan Summer Voice Festival, New York, NY
Milwaukee, WI
Lori Carrau Cornelia* (JC), Grimgerde (NC), Widow Zimmerlein*/Ensemble (SW) Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Third Lady, The Magic Flute, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Madame de Croissy, Dialogues des Carmélites, Duquesne University Opera Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA, Principessa, Suor Angelica, Duquesne University Opera Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA, Young Artist, Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera, Oderzo, Italy, Alma March, Little Women, Duquesne University Opera Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA
Mathew Case Ensemble (JC), Gregory (KMK) Wexford, PA Engagements: El Dancaïro, Peter Brook's Tradgedy of Carmen, Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music, Sir Despard Murgatroyd, Ruddigore, Baldwin Wallace University, Samuel, Pirates of Penzance, Baldwin Wallace University
The Company Robert Chafin
Jody Cohen
Young Artist Program Director, Voice Faculty
Stage Manager (C), (JC)
Morgantown, West Virginia Engagements: Over 70 roles and critically acclaimed CD and DVD performances of opera and concert including - Salzburg Summer Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Covent Garden, Royal Opera House, Brussels La Monnaie, Toulouse Théåtre du Capitole, Leipzig, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Dresden, Carnegie Hall, NYC, New York City Opera, Frankfurt, Royal Opera Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, Latvia, Luxembourg, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Amsterdam (Concertgebouw and Opera). Currently Assistant Professor at West Virginia Opera. OTP: Hoffmann, The Tales of Hoffmann Retold
Alec Chapman Pianist (NC), Rehearsal Pianist (C) Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: M.M. Music Performance, CMU 2017, Pittsburgh, B.M. Music Performance, Duquesne University 2015, Pittsburgh Choir Director and Organist, Crafton Heights United Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh Jazz Society/BNY Mellon Jazz Scholarship Winner, 2011
Atlanta, Georgia Engagements: Production Manager, Front Porch Theatricals, Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Mellon University, Williamstown Theater Festival, B Street Theater, Busch Gardens Entertainment OTP: Stage Manager, Merry Widow, Night Caps, Assistant Stage Manager, A Little Night Music
Demareus Cooper Atlanta, Georgia Engagements: Principessa (princess) - Suor Angelica, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh Pa. Maria/Serena/Strawberry Lady, Porgy and Bess (semi staged) Canton Symphony, Ohio, Soprano Soloist - Mahler 2 Resurrection, Wheeling Symphony, Wheeling W.Va Contralto Soloist - Messiah Mid-Atlantic Chamber Orchestra (Maryland), Suor Angelica (sister angelica) - Suor Angelica, E.P.C.A.S.O. Oderzo, ItalyRenaissance City Winds, Artist in Residence (H.T. Burleigh), OTP: Erda - Jonathan Dove, "Ring Saga" (condensed)Opera Theater of Pittsburgh/Long Beach Opera, California, Maria - Porgy and Bess, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh
Elizabeth Cohen
Kara Cornell
Cleopatra* (JC), Michaela* (C), Grace (NC), Ensemble (KMK), Ensemble (JC)
Carmen (C)
Wynantskill, NY
Engagements: Alma March, Little Women, Pittsburgh Opera, Dinah/ Trouble in Tahiti, Resonance Works Pittsburgh, PA and Union Avenue Opera St. Louis, MO, Dritte Dame, Die Zauberflote, Opera Saratoga, NY, Minskwoman, Flight (John Dove), Opera Fayetteville, AR, Sesto, Giulio Cesare, Upstate Chamber Opera, NY, NY
Engagements: Magda, La Rondine, IU Opera Work Shop, Bloomington, IN, Antonia, Les Contes D'Hoffmann, Opera in the Ozarks, Eureka Springs, AR, Mrs Gross, The Turn of the Screw, Bard Opera Theater, Red Hook, NY, Annina, La Travita, Opera in the Ozarks, Eureka Springs, AR, Dewman, Hansel und Gretel, Bard Opera Theater, Rhinebeck, NY
Pittsburgh, PA
OTP: Carmen, Carmen the Gypsy
Matthew Cummings
Aaron R. Dunn
Buster Peeves (NC), Rodolfo (NC), Nathaniel/Cab Driver (KMK), Ensemble (JC), Ensemble (SW),
Assistant Director (JC), Director (NC)
Pittsburgh, PA
Wolf/Woodsman (LR)
Engagements: Instructor of Voice and Director of Opera Workshop, Lincoln University, PA, Director: The Mikado, The World Goes Round, Marble City Opera, Knoxville, TN, Bon Appetit and The Four Recipes; Staff Stage Director: Opera NEO, San Diego, CA; Assistant Director: Rinaldo, Agrippina, Oberlin in Italy, Arezzo, Italy, La Rondina, Cosi fan tutte, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Boheme
Woodstown, NJ
James Eder
Engagements: The Officer, Barber of Seville, Pittsburgh Opera Co. Pittsburgh, PA, Sharpless, Madame Butterfly, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Dr. Bartolo, Barber of Seville, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA
Achillas (JC), Farfallo/Morosus* (SW)
Engagements: Little Bat McLean, Susannah, Northwestern University Opera, Evanston, IL, Silvio, Dr. Miracle, Northwestern Chamber Opera Initiative, Evanston, IL, Eckstein Music Scholar, Northwestern University, Evanston IL
Jesse Davis
Shannon Delijani Paulette (KMK), Caesar*/Ensemble (JC), Concert Promoter 2 (NC) Los Angeles, CA Engagements: Dryade, Ariadne auf Naxos, USC Thornton Opera, Los Angeles, CA, Phaedra, Hippolyte et Aricie, USC Chamber Opera, Los Angeles, CA, Spotlight Semifinalist, Music Center, Los Angeles, CA
Laura DellaFera Isotta (SW), Hattie (KMK), Gerhilde (NC) Boston, MA Engagements: Ilia, Idomeneo, Boston Opera Collaborative, Boston MA, Rosalinda, Die Fledermaus, University of Connecticut (guest artist), Storrs CT, Eva Delvigné, An Embarrassing Position, Opera del West, Boston MA, Emily Webb, Our Town, Boston Opera Collaborative, Boston MA, Suor Genovieffa, Suor Angelica, MetroWest Opera, Boston MA OTP: Barbarina, Figaro Redux
Pasadena, MD
Cleveland, OH Engagements: Leporello, Don Giovanni, University of Tennessee Opera Theatre, Knoxville, TN, Bonze, Madama Butterfly, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Chattanooga, TN, Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte, Janiec Opera Company, Brevard, NC, Secret Police Agent, The Consul, University of Tennessee Opera Theatre, Knoxville, TN, Baron Zeta, The Merry Widow, Janiec Opera Company, Brevard, NC
Isaiah Feken Fred Graham (KMK), George Washington/Yasha (NC), Barber Schneidebart (SW) Tulsa, OK Engagements: Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, University of Georgia Theater Dept., Athens, GA, Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, UGA Opera Theater, Athens, GA, Count Danilo Danilovitsch, The Merry Widow, UGA Opera Theater, Athens, GA,
The Company Caitlin Finnie
Joel Goodloe
Frasquita* (C), Ensemble (SW), Betty (NC) The Woodlands, TX
Assistant Conductor (C) (JC), Morales* (C), Morbio* (SW)
Engagements: Wife, The King and I, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago, IL, Nella, Gianni Schicchi, Northwestern Student Production, Northwestern University, Musetta, La Boheme, International Operatic Performace Experience, Mercatello, Italy, Meg, Little Women, Northwestern Wirtz Theatre, Northwestern University
Hanover, Virginia
James Flora Don José (C) Columbus, OH Engagements: Fenton, Falstaff, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Romeo, Romeo and Juliet, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh, PA, Tamino, Die Zauberflote, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Erie, PA, Rodolfo, La Boheme, Opera Columbus, Columbus, OH, Laurie, Little Women, Opera on the James, Nicias, Thais, Opera Company Middlebury OTP: Don José, Carmen
Julia Fox Aminta (SW) Houston, TX Engagements: Amore, Orfeo ed Euridice, Opera in the Heights, Houston, TX, Cunegonde, Candide, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, Belinda, Dido and Aeneus, Empire Opera, New York, NY, La Poesie, Les arts florissants, Ars Lyrica, Houston, TX, Gina, The Puffed-Up Prima Donna, Houston Grand Opera's Opera to Go!, Houston, TX, Cinderella, Cinderella in Spain!, Houston Grand Opera's Opera to Go!, Houston, TX, Angelina, The Pastry Prince, Houston Grand Opera's Opera to Go!, Houston, TX OTP: Dodo, The Merry Widow, Najad*, Ariadne on Naxos, Betty, Happy Hour, Applegate, Damn Yankees, Italian Singer, Capriccio
Engagements: Assistant Conductor, CMU All University Orchestra; Elder Ott, Susannah, Ash Lawn Opera; Avram, Fiddler on the Roof, Ash Lawn Opera; Lockit, Beggar’s Opera, CMU Opera Theater; Baritone Soloist, Bach Cantata No. 56, Chatham Baroque; Baritone Soloist, Messiah, Apollo’s Fire.
Jeremy Galyon Morosus (SW), Voice Faculty Hillsdale NJ Engagements: Osmin, Abduction from Seraglio, Dayton Opera, Dayton, OH, Commendatore and Masetto, Don Giovanni, New Orleans Opera, New Orleans, LA, Fasolt, Das Rheingold, Minnesota Opera, MN, Nourabad, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Tulsa Opera, OK OTP: La Roche, Capriccio
Emily Harmon Mercedes (C), Young Woman (NC), Ensemble/Dresser (KMK), Ensemble (SW) Boston, MA Engagements: Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro, Tuscia Operafestival, Viterbo, Italy, Dido, Dido and Aeneas, Boston University Opera, Boston, MA, Dorothée, Cendrillon, Boston University Opera, Boston, MA, Estelle Ogelthorpe, Later the Same Evening, Boston University Opera, Boston, MA, Ruth, Dark Sisters, Boston University Opera, Boston, MA
Valerie Hosler
Olivia Kissel
Little Red (LR), 1st Gangster (KMK), Ensemble (JC), Duet (NC)
Choreographer/Innkeeper/Fate/Dance Soloist (C)
Wexford, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Engagements: Cleopatra, Giulio Cesare, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Ida, Die Fledermaus, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Zombie Chorus, Night of the Living Dead, Microscopic Opera, Pittsburgh, PA
OTP: Choreographer/Dancer, Djemileh
OTP: Smokey, Damn Yankees, Pig 2, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Townswoman, A New Kind of Fallout
Marisa Karchin Fifi (NC), Ralphie (KMK) New York, NY Engagements: Shirley Temple, DUST (Robert Ashley), The New School, New York, NY, Venus, King Arthur, Utopia Opera, New York, NY, Poppea, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Yale Baroque Opera Project, New Haven, CT, Anne Trulove (Partial Role), The Rake's Progress, Mannes Opera Scenes, New York, NY, Susanna, Le Nozze di Figaro, Opera Theater of Yale College, New Haven, CT
Min Sang Kim Ptolemy (JC), Recitalist Daegu, South Korea Engagements: Secrecy/Mopsa, The Fairy Queen, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, HI, Madame de la Haltière, Cendrillon, Peabody Opera Theater, Baltimore, MD, Oberon, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Peabody Opera Theater, Baltimore, MD, Ixion, La descente d’Orphée aux enfers, Baltimore Theater Project, Baltimore, MD, Nerone, Agrippina, Opera NEO, San Diego, CO, Ottone/Valetto, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Aspen, CO
Dimitrie Lazich 2nd Gangster (KMK), Barber Schneidebart (SW) New York, NY Engagements: Schaunard, La Boheme, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Dancaïre, Carmen, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Wittenburgh Student, Doktor Faust, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Escamillo, Carmen, Longborough Festival Opera, UK, Dandini, La Cenerentola, Skylight Music Theatre OTP: Papageno, The Magic Flute, Danilo, The Merry Widow, The Villains,
Mulutin Lazich Voice Faculty Engagements: Dr. Basilio, The Barber of Seville, Undercroft Opera; Oroveso, Norma, Undercroft Opera; King Philip of Spain, Don Carlo, Undercroft Opera; Ramfis, Aida, Undercroft Opera OTP: Bartolo, Figaro Redux; Alfieri, A View from the Bridge; Donner, The Valkyre; Dr. Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro
Amelia Love Christina (NC), Haberdasher (KMK), Ensemble (SW) Houston, TX Engagements: Musetta, La Femme Bohème, LOLA Productions, Austin, TX, Susanna, Le Nozze di Figaro, Midwest Institute of Opera, Bloomington, IL, Barbarina, Le Nozze di Figaro, Austin Lyric Opera, Austin, TX, Zerlina, Don Giovanni, University of Texas Butler Opera Center, Austin, TX, Adele, Die Fledermaus, University of Texas Butler Opera Center, Austin, TX
The Company Kelly Fiona Lynch
Fiona McArdle
Miss Darlington (NC)
Widow Zimmerlein (SW), Schwerteite (NC), Ensemble/Hattie* (KMK)
Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Aida, Aida, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh PA, Norma, Norma, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Giorgetta, Il tabarro, Undercroft Opera Pittsburgh PA, Suor Angelica, Suor Angelica, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh PA, Lizbeth, Lizbeth (an opera about Lizzy Borden), Microscopic Opera, Pittsburgh, PA
Matthew Maisano Morbio (SW), Escamillo* (C), Harry Trevor/Ensemble (KMK) Wallingford, PA Engagements: Count Almaviva, Le nozze di Figaro, Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater, Cleveland, OH, Claudio, Béatrice et Bénédict, Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater, Cleveland, OH, Pandolfe, Cendrillon, Miami Music Festival, Miami, FL, Huascar, Les Indes galantes, Amherst Early Music Festival, New London, CT, Albert, Werther, Delaware Valley Opera Company, Philadelphia, PA, Marco, Gianni Schicchi, Temple University Opera Theater, Philadelphia, PA, Dr. Falke, Die Fledermaus, Temple University Opera Theater, Philadelphia, PA
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Engagements: Flosshilde, the Essential Ring Part 1, Lexington Symphony and Symphony New Hampshire, Lexington, MA and Nashua, NH, Dorabella, Così fan tutte, Co-Opera Australia, touring production, Suzuki, Madama Butterfly, Co-Opera Australia, touring production, Witch, Hansel and Gretel, Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide Australia, Narciso, Agrippina, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA
Lara Lynn McGill Cleopatra (JC) Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Donna Anna, Don Giovanni, Opera Western Reserve, Youngstown, OH, Pamina, The Magic Flute, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA,The Foreign Woman, The Consul, Opera New Jersey, Princeton, NJ OTP: Alice Front, A New Kind of Fallout, Mamah Cheney, Shining Brow, Antonia, Tales of Hoffmann, University Opera, Boston, MA
J. Patrick McGill
Katie Manukyan
Zuniga (C), Curio (JC), Vanuzzi*/Ensemble (SW)
Michaela (C)
Washington, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Engagements: Gasparo, Rita, Duquesne University Opera Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA, Unnamed Bass, Too Many Sopranos, Slippery Rock University Opera, Slippery Rock, PA, Chorister, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA
Engagements: Butterfly, Madama Butterfly, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Gorislava, Ruslan and Ludmila, Bel Cantanti Opera, Silver Spring, MD, Mabel, Pirates of Penzance, Pittsburgh Savoyards, Pittsburgh, PA, Pamina, The Magic Flute, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA OTP: Winnie Blocker, A New Kind of Fallout, Gloria Thorpe, Damn Yankees
Jessica Marino Choreographer (JC) Pittsburgh, PA OTP: Choreographer, The Merry Widow
George Milosh Remendado (C), Riley/Hortentio (KMK) Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Office intern, Trio, Trouble in Tahiti, Resonance Works, Pittsburgh, PA, Alfred, Die Fledermaus, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Man 1, Frida, Microscopic Opera, Pittsburgh, PA
Jamie Erin Murphy
Christina Overton
Dancer (JC)
Lilli Vanessi (KMK)
Pittsburgh, PA
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Engagements: Dancer at Shana Simmons Dance, Pittsburgh, PA, Educator and Choreographer at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Pittsburgh, PA, Independent Artist and Choreographer located in Pittsburgh, PA
Engagements: Featured artist, Peppermint Pops Concert, The Evansville Philharmonic, Evansville, IN, Third Lady, The Magic Flute, The Orlando Philharmonic, Orlando, FL, Third Lady, The Magic Flute, Chatham Opera and Festival of the ARTS Boca, Boca Raton, FL, Dorabella, Cosรฌ Fan Tutte, Opera Fusion, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Julie La Verne, Show Boat, Opera Naples, Naples, FL, Cherubino, Le Nozze di Figaro, Miami Music Festival, Miami, FL
Andrey Nemzer Julius Caesar (JC), Recitalist Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Alto soloist, St. John's Passion, Pittsburgh Symphony, Pittsburgh, PA, Prince Orlofsky, Die Fledermaus, Metropolitan Opera, New York, NY, Autolycus, The Winter's Tale, Quantum Theater, Pittsburgh, PA, Alto soloist, Carmina Burana, Chautauqua Symphony, Chautauqua, NY OTP: Monostatos, Magic Flute Old Lady, Candide
Narges Norouzi Scenic Designer (JC), Scenic Designer (KMK), Associate Scenic Designer (SW) Long Beach, CA Engagements: Scenic designer: Westmont Fringe Festival, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA, The Clean House, California Repertory Company, Long Beach, CA, The Pavilion, California Repertory Company, Long Beach, CA, The goat, or who is Sylvia?, California Repertory Company, Long Beach, CA; Assistant Scenic Designer, Iphigenie, USC Bing Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Aida Olarte Rehearsal Pianist (JC) Pianist (NC) Bogotรก, Colombia
Mildred Miller Posvar OTP Founder and Past Artistic Director, Voice Faculty Cleveland, OH Engagements: Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro; Carmen, Carmen; Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Metropolitan Opera
Maria Palombo Lilli Vanessi*/Innkeeper/Ensemble (KMK), Torta Gwentrob (NC) Durham, NC Engagements: Monica, The Medium, New York University, New York, NY, Zweite Dame, Die Zauberflรถte, New York Lyric Opera, New York, NY, Cendrillon, Cendrillon, New York University, New York, NY, Servillia, La clemenza di Tito, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
The Company Shari Perman
Seamus Ricci
Isotta*/Ensemble (SW), Padua Inn Waitress/Ensemble (KMK), Rossweise/ Concert Promoter 1 (NC)
Assistant Director/Tour Manager (C), Director (NC)
Malibu, CA Engagements: La Contessa, Mese Mariano (Giordano), Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, SC, Juliette (partial role), Roméo et Juliette, Mannes Opera, New York, NY, Blanche, Dialogues des Carmélites, Mannes Opera, New York, NY, Ensemble, Le Villi, Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, SC, Ensemble, Kepler, Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, SC, Soprano Soloist, Il Trionfo del Tempo e della Verità, Mannes Baroque Chamber Orchestra, New York, NY, Soprano Soloist, Elijah, Westminster Festival Orchestra, Princeton, NJ
Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Director: Don Giovanni, Neighborhood Opera Company, Pittsburgh, PA, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Franklin Civic Operetta Association, Franklin, PA, Jesus Christ Superstar, Stage 62, Pittsburgh, PA
Zach Rohlwing
Rehearsal Pianist (KMK), Pianist (NC) Pittsburgh, PA Engagements: Adjunct Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg, PA, Chorister, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Chorister, Pittsburgh Camerata, Pittsburgh, PA
Jamie Rafacz
Dance Captain/Ensemble (KMK), Gypsy Dancer* (C), Ensemble (JC)
Fight Choreographer (C)
Enon Valley, PA Engagements: Maria Rainer/ Choreographer, The Sound of Music, The New Castle Playhouse, New Castle, PA, Christine Daae, The Phantom of the Opera, Mohawk High School, Bessemer, PA, Marion Paroo, The Music Man, Mohawk High School, Bessemer, PA, The Performing Arts Award, The Hoyt Institute For The Arts, New Castle, PA, Talent Award Winner, DYW National Scholarship Program, Lawrence County, PA
LaTrea Rembert Dancer (JC) Enon Valley, PA Engagements: Dancer, Staycee Pearl Dance Project, Pittsburgh PA; Dancer, CSA Artist: Anthony Williams-Loving Black, New Hazlett Theater, Pittsburgh PA; Junior Davis, Choir Boy, The REP Theater Co., Pittsburgh PA
Shaun Rolly
Pittsburgh, PA
Ethan Sagin Moralès/Dancaire* (C), Ensemble/Bill/ Lucentio* (KMK), Bass 1 (NC) Cumberland, MD Engagements: Belcore, L'elisir d'amore, Longy Opera Studio, Cambridge, MA, Aristone, La grotta di Trofonio (U. S. premiere), Lowell House Opera at Harvard, Cambridge, MA, Rockin' Robbie Fraiser, The Final Battle for Love (world premiere), Thompson Street Opera, Louisville, KY, Young Artist, American Bach Soloists Academy, San Francisco, CA
Brady Sanders
Candice Shaughnessy
Dancer (JC)
Mother/Grandmother (LR)
Oswego, IL
Pittsburgh, PA
Engagements: Dancer, Thodos Dance Chicago, Chicago, IL, Dancer, Aida, Pittsburgh Opera (Attack Theatre), Pittsburgh, PA, Dancer, Murphy/Smith Dance Collective, Pittsburgh, PA, Dancer, Shana Simmons Dance, Pittsburgh, PA, Artistic Director, Pride of Cincinnati Dance Ensemble, Cincinnati, OH
Engagements: Ruth, Pirates of Penzance, Pittsburgh Savoyards, Pittsburgh, PA, Leila, Iolanthe, Pittsburgh Savoyards, Pittsburgh, PA, Florence Pike, Albert Herring, Miami Summer Music Festival, Miami, FL, Second Lady, The Magic Flute, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Marcellina, Le Nozze di Figaro, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh,
John T.K. Scherch Vanuzzi, (SW), Zuniga* (C), Ensemble/ Achillas* (JC), Philip/Ensemble (KMK)
Sara Beth Shelton
Pittsburgh, PA
Rock Hill, SC
Engagements: Frank Maurrant, Street Scene, Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, MD, Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte, Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, MD, Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte, ViVaCE, Vancouver, BC, Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro, Portland Summer Opera Workshop, Portland, OR, Gremin, Eugene Onegin, Russian Opera Workshop, Philadelphia, PA
Engagements: Aunt Cecilia March, Little Women, MetroWest Opera, Boston, MA, Tamara's Nurse, The Demon, Russian Opera Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, Madame de la Haltiere, Cendrillon, Boston University Opera, Boston, MA, Hannah Pitt, Angels in America, Boston University Opera, Boston, MA, Thelma Yablonski, Later the Same Evening, Boston University Opera, Boston, MA
Jon Erik Schreiber Assistant Conductor and Ensemble (JC), Tenor (NC) Pittsburgh, PA
Cornelia (JC), Padua Priest (KMK)
Anna Singer Voice Faculty Pittsburgh, PA
Engagements: Associate Conductor, Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, Adjunct Voice Faculty, Pittsburgh CAPA High School, Pittsburgh, PA, Artistic Director, Indiana Community Choir, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, Evangelist, St. John Passion, Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Engagements: Madame de la Haltiere, Cendrillon, Resonance Works, Pittsburgh, PA, Julia Child, Bon Appetit, Resonance Works, Pittsburgh, PA, Cio cio san, Madama Butterfly, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Duchess of Krakenthorp, The Daughter of the Regiment, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA
Christopher Scott
OTP: YAP Faculty
Escamillo (C) Butler, PA Engagements: Guest vocalist in Ned Rorem's Evidence of Things Not Seen with Resonance Works, Faculty Recital at Slippery Rock University, Cabaret Recital in Dresden, Germany with fiancée Emily Burns OTP: Jack Front, A New Kind of Fallout, Olivier, Capriccio
The Company Joshua Louis Smith
Bob Steineck
Flynt/Gremio (KMK), Foreman/Tenor 1 (NC), Ensemble (SW), Remendado* (C
Lighting Designer (KMK, C, JC)
Valley Stream, NY
Engagements: Current resident lighting designer for Reed Dance, Squonk Opera, Mercyhurst University Dance Dept., Texture Contemporary Ballet, off the WALL Productions, Pittsburgh Playwright’s Theatre, and Recording Artist, Maria Del Rey. National tours for dance and theater.
Engagements: Nemorino, L'Elisir D'amore, Longy Conservatory Orchestra, Cambridge, MA, Michele, The Saint of Bleecker Street, Longy Conservatory Orchestra, Cambridge, MA, Gonzalve, L'heure Espagnole, Longy Conservatory Orchestra, Cambridge, MA, Brack, Down in the Valley, Longy Conservatory Orchestra, Cambridge, MA OTP: Sister, Damn Yankees, Scientist, A New Kind of Fallout, Servant, Capriccio
Briana Sosenheimer Director (NC), Assistant Director (KMK) Fort Wayne, IN
Engagements: Director: Sam the Snake Saves the Day, Ball State Children's Opera Company, Muncie, IN, The Old Maid and the Thief by Menotti, Ball State University Opera Workshop, Muncie, IN; Lucy, The Billy Goats Gruff by John Davies, Indianapolis Opera, Indianapolis, IN, Musetta, La Boheme by Puccini, Ball State University and International Lyric Academy, Muncie, IN and Viterbo, Italy, Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro, Bowling Green State University and FrancoAmerican Vocal Academy, Bowling Green, OH and Salzburg, Austria, Cherubino, The Three Little Pigs, Bowling Green Children's Opera, Bowling Green, OH, Micaëla, La Tragédie de Carmen, Ball State University, Muncie, IN
Pittsburgh PA
Television/Video/DVD: The Dizzy Gillespie Allstar Big Band (A&E), Sypro Gyra (PBS), Loon for Maria Del Rey, among others. OTP: The Marriage of Figaro, Capriccio.
Madeleine Steineck Lighting Designer (C-tour, SW) Pittsburgh PA Engagements: off the WALL Productions, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, Mercyhurst Univerisity, Morgantown. OTP: Damn Yankees, A New Kind of Fallout, Master Electrician
Mark Tamvakis Ensemble (JC) Park Ridge, IL
Production Stage Manager
Engagements: Minstrel, Spamalot, Maine South Highschool, IL, Chorus, Legally Blonde, Maine South Highschool, IL, Chorus, Chicago, Maine South Highschool, IL, Jojo, Seussical the Musical, Maine East Highschool, IL, Grumpy, Snow White, Chicago Folks Operetta, IL
New York, NY
Scott Timm
Engagements: Assistant Director: Don Pasquale, Florida Grand Opera, Miami, FL; Production Stage Manager: Carmen, El Paso Opera, El Paso, TX, La Boheme, Syracuse Opera, Syracuse, NY, The Barber of Seville, Opera Omaha, Omaha, NE; Associate Director: The Barber of Seville, Florida Grand Opera, Miami, FL
General Harrison Howell (KMK)
Kathleen S. Stakenas
Troy, OH Engagements: Njegus, The Merry Widow, Opera Theater Summerfest; Frosch, Die Fledermaus, Undercroft Opera. Current position: Opera Theater General Manager
Stephen Variames
Miles Wilson-Toliver
Head Pianist, Pianist (SW)
Bill Calhoun (KMK), Dancaire (C), Ensemble (SW)
Allen, TX engagements: Rehearsal pianist, Albert Herring, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati, OH
Blythe Walker Voice Faculty Irwin, PA Engagements: Metropolitan Opera National Council Winner, Najade, Ariadne auf Naxos, Metropolitan Opera company debut, Mrs. Nordstrom, A Little Night Music, NYCO company debut, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Voice/Music Theatre, University of Cincinnati/College-Conservatory of Music, MM candidate, Voice Pedagogy, Penn State University, expected graduation May 2017
Hartford, CT Engagements: Leporello and Figaro in Carnegie Mellon's Mozart Scenes, Giove, La Calisto, Francesco Cavalli, Carnegie Mellon, Coalhouse Walker, Ragtime, Greater Hartford Academy Of The Arts, Scholarship winner of the Ensign- Darling Fellowship foundation for two consecutive years, Bushnell Center for Performing Arts
Zachary Wood Nirenus (JC), Recitalist Oakmont, PA
Ensemble/Aminta* (SW), Ortlinde, (NC), Wardrobe Lady/Ensemble (KMK)
Engagements: Unulfo, Rodelinda, Pittsburgh Opera RA Show, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Fiorello, Barber of Seville, Pittsburgh Opera Student Matinee, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Messenger, La Traviata, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, PA, Tolomeo, Giulio Cesare, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh, PA
St. Louis, MO
Migle Zaliukaite-Limantas
Engagements: Hanna Glawari, The Merry Widow, Central Florida Lyric Opera, The Villages, FL, Chorus, Don Pasquale, Palm Beach Opera, West Palm Beach, FL, Flora, La Traviata, Central Florida Lyric Opera, The Villages, FL, Pamina, The Magic Flute, New England Conservatory Outreach Program, Boston, MA
Carlotta (SW), Sextus* (JC), Ensemble (JC)
Jennifer Wilson
OTP: Science*, A New Kind of Fallout, Rocky, Damn Yankees
Rochester, NY Engagements: Florence Pike, Albert Herring, Chicago Summer Opera, Chicago, IL, Principessa, Contessa, Eastman Theater, Rochester, NY, Madame de La Haltiere, Halifax Summer Festival, Halifax, CA, Bridget, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY OTP- Opera Theater of Pittsburgh C- Carmen the Gypsy JC- Julius Caesar
SW- The Silent Woman NC- Night Caps LR- Little Red Riding Hood *cover
Opera Theater of Pittsburgh is a member of OPERA America, the national service organization for opera.
@otsummerfest
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Patron Information
The Twentieth Century Club Patron Information
4201 Bigelow Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Parking Box Office Founded in 1894, The Twentieth Century Club occupies aparking distinguished position in Convenient is located in the inner Three ways to purchase tickets: the rich cultural history of Pittsburgh. The original Club, a brick and terra cotta building courtyard lot at Winchester Thurston • ●Order online anytime at designed by local architect George H. SchwanSchool was erected in 1910. Twenty Avenue). years later (entrance on Ellsworth otsummerfest.org in 1930, Pittsburgh architect Benno Janssen was hired to redesign the Club, doubling Additional street parking is located withinits • ●Call us at 412.326.9687 immediate vicinity,which and is isfree after size. The interior, designed by Marion Gheen,the features a ballroom now one6 pm of and in all the dayUnited on Sundays. Tuesday - Sunday - 8 pm the best examples of 10 Artam Deco design remaining StatesPlease today.check posted street signs for any special restrictions. • ●Visit us on-site in Winchester Pre-matinee Sunday Brunches with Box Office Food and Drink Thurston’s lobby the Liebeslieder Waltzes Phone: 412-326-9687 fare provided by Fabled Table will Tues–Sat 10 am–5 pm, Sun 1 pm–4 pm, Light Brahms and Brunch! Bring the family for Phone 10 am - 5 pm be available for purchase before the andHours duringT-F all performances sumptuousand brunch prior to Sunday Online Order Anytime: otSummerFest.org aperformance during intermission. matinees, SummerFest will treat The Box Office will open at least one hour A cash bar and is available at this time, as On-site Box Office at The Twentieth you to entertainment in three-quarter before every performance. well as after the performances for all Century Club. Main entrance time withNight Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes. Opening Parties and Free Cabarets. Accessibility Four singers, four hands at the piano, Walk-up hours through July 21, one Winchester Thurston is equipped with Winchester School offers a level and expression of love and watera boundless fountains, perfect for filling up your hour beforeThurston performances entrance and route to the Falk Auditorium water bottles. passion. Fridays 4 pm - 10 pm (via elevator) and the Hilda Willis Room. Please note: Only water willSundays be permitted Brunch served from 1 pm and Saturdays 2 pm - 10 pm Wheelchair seat locations offer removable into the theatre. on Saturday, 7/20. $25 Sundays 12 pm -easy 5 pm armrests to facilitate entry and exit. Each accessible seat is paired with High Dining - Call 412-621-2353 BeforeTea Selected Performances aEnjoy companion seat, although Join us on Saturday, July 20staff at 4and pm only the amenities of oneadditional of the city’s Pre-show talks with artistic companion seatsprivate are available. An elevator for tea and cakes, presided over by Artismost beautiful clubs—open Shakespearean entertainment by Pittsburgh is available in the building should patrons tic Director Jonathan Eaton, served in the exclusively to SummerFest patrons during Shakespeare in the Parks take place before need to access other floors. selectedstyle! opera$17 and musical performances. July—including the lovely Members Dining English
Room. Small parties may book a private dining room. Call the Club in advance to make your reservation, then pay for your meal at the table.
After the Show Late-Night Cabaret follows each evening performance in the Cabaret Lounge.
Night Cap mini-operas follow mainstage SchoolJuly 11-13, 19-21. Pre-Opera DinnersWinchester Thurston productions, Enjoy a gourmet prix fixe beforeAve, all Pittsburgh, PA 15213 555dinner Morewood mainstage evening operas. Dinner served Accessibility Winchester Thurston School is a nationally recognized co- a The Twentieth Century Club offers from 6 pm. $45 educational independentlevel school in Pittsburgh, PA with a pre-K–5 entrance and route to main floor campus in Allison Park and a pre-K–12(via campus in Shadyside. of auditorium elevator). Wheelchair Winchester Thurston actively engages with each companion student in a challenging seat locations seats are and inspiring learning process that develops the mind, motivates available; contact the box office for the the passion to achieve, and cultivates the character to serve. location of these seats.
2016-17 2016-17 2016-17 SeaSon SeaSon SeaSon Featuring Featuring Featuring the the the World World World Premiere Premiere Premiere ofofof The The Summer Summer King—The King—The Josh Josh Gibson Gibson Story Story The Summer King—The Josh Gibson Story
Verdi’s traviata Verdi’s Verdi’slala latraviata traviata• •October • October October8,8,8,11,11,11, 14,14, 14, 161616 Strauss’s salome R.R.Strauss’s Strauss’ssalome salome• •November • November November5,5,8, 5,8,8, 11,11,11, 131313 Puccini’s turandot •••March april Puccini’s Puccini’s Puccini’sturandot turandot turandot• March March March25,25, 25, 25,28,28, 28, 28, 31;31; 31;31; april april april 2 222 Daniel Sonenberg’s the summer king •• •april May Daniel DanielSonenberg’s Sonenberg’s Sonenberg’sthe the thesummer summer summerking king king• april april april 29;29; 29; 29; May May May 2,2,2,5,2,5,5,75,77 7 Handel’s richard the lionheart Handel’s Handel’srichard richard richardthe the thelionheart lionheart lionheart• ••January • January January January 21,21, 21,21, 24,24, 24, 24, 27,27, 27,27, 2929 2929 Laura Kaminsky’s as one • February 18, 21, 24, 26 Laura LauraKaminsky’s Kaminsky’s Kaminsky’sasas asone one one• •February • February February18,18, 18, 21,21,21, 24,24, 24, 262626
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