Gianni Schicchi
Suor
Angelica
William Lumpkin • Conductor
Nathan Troup • Stage Director
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Gioachino Forzano
Boston University College of Fine Arts
School of Music: Opera Institute and School of Theatre present
Gianni Schicchi & Suor Angelica
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano
William Lumpkin, Conductor
Maria Kurochkina, Conductor - Gianni Schicchi (4/27)
Nathan Troup, Stage Director
Tommaso Rotella, Scenic Design
Eric Tran, Costume Design
Joe Borsch, Lighting Design
Sam Noto, Production Manager
Allison Holloway, Assistant Stage Director
Sofia Merie Maravillas, Production Stage Manager
Allison Voth, Principal Coach & Chorus Master
Matthew Larson, Coach
Oshin Gregorian, Producer
There will be one 15-minute intermission.
By arrangement with Hendon Music, Inc., a Boosey & Hawkes company, Sole Agent in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for Casa Ricordi/Universal Music Publishing Ricordi S.R.L., publisher and copyright owner.
GIANNI SCHICCHI
Gianni Schicchi: *Nathan Savant, +Wanchun Liang
Lauretta: *Abigail Orr, +Amy Wang
Zita: Juliette Lee Kaoudji
Rinuccio: *Ilhee Lee, +Heming Cao (Shuang-xiang Shan, cover)
Gherardo: *Ryan Hanger, +Judd Blake
Nella: *Anne Burgett, +Abigail Cunningham
Gherardino: Zachary Gregorian
Betto di Signa: Ethan Wagner
Simone: *William O’Brien, +Chenxi Fu
Marco: *Noah B. Rogers, +Dalton Rowe
La Ciesca: *Emma Giventer-Braff, +Hannah Prince
Maestro Spinelloccio: *Andrew Steele, +Andrew Mak
Ser Amantio di Nicolao: Libang Wang
Pinellino: Jerome Boxer
Guccio: *Andrew Mak, +Andrew Steele
SUOR ANGELICA
Suor Angelica: *Margaret Tigue, +Avuya Ngcaweni
La Zia Principessa: *Rebekah Daly, +Arielle Rogers-Wilkey
Suor Genovieffa: *Rachel Goh, +Darby Barnett
La Suora Zelatrice (The Monitor): Delaney Finn
La Maestra delle Novizie (Mistress of the Novices): Anna Gaddie
La Badessa (The Abbess): Gwyneth Rix
Una Conversa (A Lay-Sister): Emily Szubielski
Seconda Conversa (Second Lay-Sister): Janae Peterson
Suor Osmina: Louisa Gundeck
Una Novizia (A Novice): Natalia D. Perera-Del Valle
Suor Dolcina: Monika Cachro
La Sorella Infermiera (Nursing Sister): Sadie Habas
Prima Sorella Cercatrice (First Tourière): Rebecca Clark
Seconda Sorella Cercatrice (Second Tourière): Roshan Sivaraman
ENSEMBLE
Hannah Dubroff, J Lamoureux, Rebecca Rae Friedman, Audrey Hyers, Bianca Lucas, Lauren Mahoney, Bianca Rahme, Wanda Sullivan
* Denotes Thursday/Saturday Performances + Denotes Friday/Sunday Performances
PRODUCTION & DESIGN TEAM
Assistant Stage Manager............Lucy Braudis, Ruihan Renee Yang
Production Assistant.........................Max Turman, Lindsey Wildstein
Technical Director................................................................ Xinyu Ye Properties & Paint Coordinator.................................Courtney Licata
Assistant Costume Designer.............................................Kat Mehler
Wardrobe Crew......................Annabel Ji, Sophia Nedick, Sadie Yun
Assistant Lighting Designer............................................. Ivy Comery
Programmer ......................................................................Terry Ford
Production Electrician....................................................Davin Martin
Lighting Board Operator..............................................Zola Gutierrez
Lighting Crew/Spot Operators....................Zola Gutierrez, M Morris, Sakura Rosenthal
SOM Director of Production............................Christopher Dempsey
SOM Ensemble Librarian........................................Ken Yanagisawa
SOM Ensemble Manager...........................................Katharine Hurd
Supertitles.......................................................................Allison Voth
Repetiteur..............................................Wei-Yuan Chen, Yue Zhang
Tsai Center Production Manager....................................JoLaine Hall
Tsai Center Production Specialist...............................Swati Agrawal, Lev K. Laverriere
Lead Usher.................................................Yael Eliani, Rachel Rose
In honor of Opera Institute founder, Metropolitan Opera Soprano and CFA Dean Emerita Phyllis Curtin, the following students have been named
Opera Institute Phyllis Curtin Artists for 2024-2025 ~
Nathan Savant
Margaret Tigue
Phyllis Curtin Artists are chosen based on the qualities of professionalism, artistry, diligent study, and collegiality consistent with both the Opera Institute’s mission and Ms.Curtin’s example.
< Find the full program including performer & designer bios by scanning this QR code with your phone camera.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
William Lumpkin, Conductor
Gianni Schicchi
Violin 1
Malachi Provenzano
Chia-Yi Chen
Cecil Mummey
Amir Ali
Sadie Walker
Ben Rosenhack
Violin 2
Aija Rēķe
Eli Willis
Nat Penn
Alayna Pabon
Adah Kaplan
Linjun Li
Viola
Kara Charles
Hyelim Kong
Zekai Zhang
Lillian Zielinski
Cello
Yichen Zhou
Xiezixuan Wu
Emilia Lacy
Duo Liang
Bass
Jeonghoo (Logan) Lee
Leonard Kang
Yu-Yi Wang
Flute
Jordana Kleiner
Hsin-Ying Chiang
Oboe
Kayla Farnsworth
Clarinet
Jake Pierson
Andrew Battaglia
Bassoon
Benjamin Cargnel
Horn
Nicholas Kneupper
Chris Relyea
Trumpet
Thomas Gray
Tori Gervais
Trombone
Changwon Park
Percussion
Xingyue Xue
Lauren Girouard
Yun-Chen Chou
Dominic Porcelli
Harp
Julia Crosson
Celesta
Yun-Chen Chou
BOSTON UNIVERSITY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
William Lumpkin, Conductor
Suor Angelica
Violin 1
Aija Rēķe
Eli Willis
Nat Penn
Alayna Pabon
Adah Kaplan
Linjun Li
Violin 2
Malachi Provenzano
Chia-Yi Chen
Cecil Mummey
Amir Ali
Sadie Walker
Ben Rosenhack
Viola
Kara Charles
Hyelim Kong
Zekai Zhang
Lillian Zielinski
Cello
Yichen Zhou
Xiezixuan Wu
Emilia Lacy
Duo Liang
Bass
Jeonghoo (Logan) Lee
Leonard Kang
Yu-Yi Wang
Offstage Banda
Dominic Porcelli
Yue Zhang
Wei-Yuan Chen
Hsing-Ho (Simon) Hou
Flute
Jordana Kleiner
Hsin-Ying Chiang
Oboe
Kayla Farnsworth
Clarinet
Jake Pierson
Andrew Battaglia
Bassoon
Benjamin Cargnel
Horn
Mitchell Parus
Chris Relyea
Trumpet
Tori Gervais
Thomas Gray
Trombone
Changwon Park
Percussion
Timp - Xingyue Xue
Lauren Girouard
Yun-Chen Chou
Harp
Yoonsu Cha
Celesta
Yun-Chen Chou
PROGRAM NOTE
“ALL IN THE FAMILY?”
Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi are two of the three one-act operas that make up Puccini’s 1918 Trit-tico (triptych), with both libretti written by Giovacchino Forzano—and the two could not seem more different. So the questions arise, “Do these operas belong together?” and “What was Puccini think-ing?”
Some scholars have noted that they both deal with death. While this is certainly true, one would be hard put to find an opera that did not. Some say that there is a progression in mood from darkness to light, or from negative to happy emotions. But perhaps the operas of the Trittico (which Puccini never called it) are like members of a family. They share DNA— both musical and dramatic—but they are different.
We have a gripping drama and a comedy. How could they possibly be related? Well, relatives, whether close or distant, can be very different... and sometimes difficult. I would like to suggest that Schicchi—a farcical look at feigned familial love—inverts what precedes it, dramatically and musical-ly, to keep it all in the family.
One musical clue is that triple meters —suggestive of lullabies and cradles—are placed prominent spots. They appear in Suor Angelica only in two places: where there is mention of her child’s death and during her reaction to it, the aria “Senza mamma.” Schicchi actually has a quasilullaby moment, when the female trio of Zita, Ciesca and Nella dress the trickster for bed, in a lulling 6/8 meter in close harmony.
As for the dramatic DNA, Angelica is a mother who has lost her son (as did Giorgetta in Il tabarro). But Schicchi is a father trying to save, or at least help, his daughter. So both operas deal with parental love. And Puccini has shown us musically how closely related comedy and tragedy are. The conclusion of Suor Angelica—a tearful moment for many audience members when the nun is miraculously reunited with her son in heaven (if actually staged according to the composer’s wishes)— is immediately fol-lowed by the opening of Schicchi, which uses nothing but tempo to turn laughter into tears, or at least a mock lament. (Later on, Zita says, after discovering that she and the other greedy relatives had been disinherited: “Who would have ever thought that when Buoso died, we would have wept for real!”) As Schicchi begins, the tempo slows by more than half, turning the two-note laughing phrases into la-ments. The joke, in other words, is on the audience.
The musical tonalities follow suit: Suor Angelica ends in the key of C (just as Il tabarro did). It would have been so simple then to end Gianni Schicchi in C as well. But what happens instead is that Gb—the most distant relative of C— becomes the home key of that opera. And with that final leap of a tritone, C to Gb, the tonal order is overturned in the most radical way possible—the musical equiva-lent of the dramatic reversal: a mother loses a son, then a father saves a daughter, tragedy is inverted into comedy.
Does this make the operatic evening seem like a family gathering of annoyed relatives switching the TV channel between Fox and MSNBC? Perhaps, but if the show has been entertaining, maybe you can, as Schicchi begs, let bygones be bygones.
—Deborah Burton, Associate Professor of Music, Boston University College of Fine Arts
GIANNI SCHICCHI
Florence, Italy. The greedy relatives of the wealthy Buoso Donati discover that the deceased has left his fortune to the church. The young Rinuccio suggests that Gianni Schicchi, a shrewd, selfmade man and the father of his girlfriend, Lauretta, can help them. Schicchi appears with his daughter. Disgusted by the hypocrisy and avarice of the aristocratic family, he is about to leave but persuaded to stay by Lauretta who proclaims her intention to marry Rinuccio (“O mio babbino caro”). Reading the will, Schicchi devises a plan to impersonate the dead man. The relatives send for the notary and Schicchi, wearing Buoso’s nightshirt and cap, from his sickbed dictates a new will, in which he leaves the greater part of the estate, including the house they are in, to his “dear friend Gianni Schicchi.” The relatives are furious, and steal what they can from the house, chased out by Schicchi, who remains behind with Lauretta and Rinuccio. Turning to the audience, he points out how happy his fraud has made the young lovers and pleads that he not be judged too harshly.
SUOR ANGELICA
Tuscany. Banished to live in a convent after having an illegitimate child, Sister Angelica has not heard from her family in seven years. Finally a visitor is announced: it is Angelica’s aunt, the princess. Rejecting Angelica’s gestures of affection, she explains that when Angelica’s parents died, she was made guardian of both her and her younger sister. The sister is to be married, and the princess demands Angelica sign her share of the inheritance over to her. Crushed by her aunt’s cruelty, Angelica asks about her little son. The princess coldly tells her that he died two years earlier. The devastated Angelica signs the document, and the princess leaves. Angelica grieves that her child died without her mother by her side (“Senza mamma”). She drinks poison, then suddenly realizes that suicide is a mortal sin. Praying for forgiveness, she dies with a vision of her son greeting her in heaven.
—The Metropolitan Opera
ARTISTIC BIOS
William Lumpkin’s extensive repertoire and career have led to engagements with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Boston Lyric Opera, having previously served on the music staff for Los Angeles Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, and Wolf Trap Opera. Additionally, Maestro Lumpkin led performances of the Mary Zimmerman production of Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s New Wave Festival, having previously conducted world premiere performances at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
Most recently, Mr. Lumpkin conducted performances of Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Opera Grand Rapids with members of the Grand Rapids Symphony in a production directed by Eve Summer and was guest conductor for The Meadows School for the Arts at Southern Methodist University production of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. Mr. Lumpkin conducted the American premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Flight with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and again for Boston Lyric Opera, which Opera News praised, stating ”Dove’s impressive score was conducted wonderfully by another veteran of the Saint Louis production, William Lumpkin.” Additional credits at St. Louis include La bohème, The Magic Flute, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Hansel and Gretel. He also joined Boston Lyric Opera to conduct Così fan tutte. Of this production, Opera News stated “Lumpkin kept his players and singers under firm control, at the same time allowing them sufficient liberty to bring out nuances in their performances,” and the Boston Globe noted “His work had brio, style, and heart, and the orchestra played beautifully for him.”
As Associate Professor of Music and the Artistic Director and Conductor for the Opera Institute at Boston University, he has conducted over 40 opera productions, including a co-production with Glimmerglass Opera of E. Loren Meeker’s production of Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen”, a co-commission with New York City Opera of Tobias Picker’s chamber version of his opera “Dolores Claiborne”, and a concert version of “Vanessa” with Boston University alum Lauren Flanigan. He has also appeared as guest conductor at Indiana University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
As a pianist, Mr. Lumpkin collaborated with Juliana Gondek recording Roger Bour-land’s “Four Quartets of Songs and Arias” for Navona Records.
A native of Lewisburg, PA, Mr. Lumpkin holds a BM from the Eastman School of Music, an MM in Conducting from UCSB, and a D.M.A. from the University of Southern California.
Nathan Troup is an internationally acclaimed director known for a body of work spanning standard operatic repertoire, new work premieres, uniquely curated site-specific projects, gala events, and distinct collaborations with multidisciplinary artists. Current season highlights include a gala performance of Aïda with Boston Lyric Opera; Dark Sisters with Eugene Opera; and Le nozze di Figaro with the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory.
Additional recent highlights include Wozzeck with Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; John Williams’ 90th Birthday Celebration at Tanglewood; Proving Up and Così fan tutte at Boston University; Susannah, L’étoile, and Hydrogen Jukebox at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee; La traviata and La bohème with Eugene Opera; Eugene Onegin and La bohème with Opera Montata, in addition to projects as part of his ongoing collaborations with Boston Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Santa Fe Opera.
Recent film projects include A Winter’s Night (creator/producer) with Boston Lyric Opera and soprano Gabriella Reyes; a three-part series of Benjamin Britten’s chamber works and Handel’s Resurrezione with Emmanuel Music. Troup’s production of Hoiby’s Bon Appétit! starring Joyce Castle for Des Moines Metro Opera conceived and directed for live televised performance earned a 2020 Regional Emmy Award for Best Arts & Entertainment feature for Iowa PBS.
Troup made his European directorial debut in October 2017 at Ireland’s Wexford Festival with his acclaimed production of Rossini’s La scala di seta described as “neatly dramatised” (Opera Today UK) and “especially well-crafted” (OperaWire). Additional career highlights include collaborations with Jessica Lang Dance on Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater for Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival and The Wanderer/Die schöne Müllerin for BAM’s NextWave Festival; Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s opera Proving Up, serving as associate director for the inaugural Opera Omaha ONE Festival and stage director for the New York premiere presented by the Miller Theater at Columbia University; installation artist Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; visual performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s SONG for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Troup’s work has garnered Best of Boston accolades (2009, 2014), a New England Independent Reviews Award nomination, an Emmy award, and he was named Boston Lyric Opera’s Emerging Artist for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
Troup serves on the opera faculties of Boston University, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and the Chautauqua Institute’s Opera Conservatory, the board of directors for Guerilla Opera, the directing staff of TEDxCambridge, the staging staff of the Los Angeles Opera, the production staff of Santa Fe Opera, and spent a decade as an outreach artist with Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble’s award-winning Outreach Program (“Outstanding Merit and Contribution” by Early Music America), creating access to collaborative musical experiences to neglected and incarcerated youth.
Maria Kurochkina is a Russian conductor currently based in the United States. She graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2020, majoring in orchestral conducting, and is currently completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University. While in Moscow, Maria worked as an Assistant and Guest Conductor with major orchestras, including the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia under Vladimir Jurowski and the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. From 2018 to 2021, she served as Assistant Conductor at the Moscow Conservatory Opera Theatre. In 2019, she conducted the world premiere of Steps, a chamber opera by Ramazan Yunusov, at the Diaghilev Festival in Perm. She also appeared at the Pangea Festival in St. Petersburg, where she led performances of 20th-century r epertoire. In 2018 and 2019, Maria became a Conducting Fellow at the Diaghilev Festival, followed by the Cabrillo Festival in 2021. In 2022, she was selected as one of 14 participants in the La Maestra Competition at the Paris Philharmonie. In the United States, Maria has been closely involved with the Boston University Opera Institute. She served as Assistant Conductor for Little Women by Mark Adamo and conducted Melissa Dunphy’s Alice Tierney at The Fringe Festival. In 2024, she was Music Director and Conductor for Menotti’s The Consul at the Chicago Summer Opera. In the current production of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, she is serving as a Cover and Assistant Conductor and is conducting the final performance of Gianni Schicchi. In summer 2025, she will join the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in Denmark as Assistant Conductor for a recording of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6. In August 2025, Maria begins her tenure as Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities at Northern Illinois University.
Allison Holloway is thrilled to return to Boston University’s Opera Institute to assistant direct this amazing double-bill! During the 2024-2025 season, she directed Menotti’s The Telephone and Poulenc’s La voix humaine with Boston Opera Collaborative. She also directed First Date with Colonial Chorus Players. Last season, she assistant directed La clemenza di Tito with Boston University’s Opera Institute and directed a scenes program featuring restaged moments from the production. Previously, received her Master of Music in Voice Performance at Boston University. During her time at BU, she performed several roles with the Opera Institute and taught acting for Opera Project. Her roles with the Opera Institute include Alma March in Little Women, Nanny in The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace, Young Woman in If I Were You, and Flower in Daniel Catán’s La hija de
Rappaccini. She co-directed the 2023 BU Opera Project Scenes Program which featured scenes from The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Hansel and Gretel, and Old Maid and the Thief.
Joe Borsch is an M.F.A. Lighting Design student in the School of Theatre at Boston University. Joe is deeply grateful to his family, friends, and countless mentors who have supported him in various artistic and career pursuits. Before moving to Boston, Joe was a freelance designer and engineer for corporate events, theatre, and concerts in Pittsburgh, PA. He has always been passionate about music and its ability to serve as a means of nonverbal communication. At its core, Joe believes that lighting design is about bringing your heart and your past to life on stage. Life is about contrast, where some moments feel warm, alive, and vibrant, while others feel cold, dark, sharp, and lonely. This rationale evokes an important question: What will you bring to the brightest days and deepest nights? Through this lens and many more, Joe works hard to craft meaningful and engaging experiences that allow audiences to connect with the heart of music and text in various formats. Joe’s desire for creative exploration and introspective discovery is the driving force behind his artistic journey. Please enjoy the captivating literary and musical dichotomy of Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica.
Lucy Braudis is a first-year stage management student at the School of Theatre and is excited to work on her first opera as an Assistant Stage Manager. Previously, she has stage-managed shows including Mamma Mia, Rock of Ages, and Freaky Friday. At BU, she has worked on Siren Song (Fringe Festival 2024), La Bête, and Mercutio Loves Romeo Loves Juliet Loves. She wants to thank her family and friends for the endless support they have provided.
Oshin Gregorian is the Managing Director and Producer for the Boston University Opera Institute. Previous positions include Director of Operations with the ProArte Chamber Orchestra, and General Manager for Collage New Music. Mr. Gregorian holds a BM in vocal performance from Boston University, a MM in vocal performance from Manhattan School of Music, and is a graduate of the Opera Institute with honors. With the Opera Institute, he has been seen as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Il Podesta in La Finta Giardiniera, and Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, among others. He has performed in numerous concerts and oratorio
works with ensembles such as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus/ Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Newburyport Choral Society, and Boston Youth Symphony, among others. Mr. Gregorian made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2005 under the auspices of Music Armenia.
Matthew Larson received his Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University under the tutelage of Eckart Sellheim. An accomplished recitalist, Dr. Larson has played over 1,000 performances in the US and Europe. He has worked with such varied artists as Metropolitan Opera stars Carol Vaness, Maria Spacagna, Eric Owens, and Lawrence Brownlee; Academy of Ancient Music director Christopher Hogwood; vocal pedagogy pioneer Richard Miller; and the eminent collaborative artist Dalton Baldwin, with whom Matthew was invited to study in New York. Past positions include Assistant Conductor for Boston Lyric Opera; Music Director for the University of Connecticut Opera Program; Staff Pianist for Yale University Opera; Vocal Coach at Brown University; Staff Pianist for The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria; Music Director of Opera Providence; Vocal Coach at Walnut Hill School for the Arts; Pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Music Director of Cape Cod Opera; and Vocal Coach for Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artist Vocal Program. Currently, Dr. Larson is on faculty at Boston University; Music Director of Seaglass Theater Company of New Bedford MA; and Minister of Music at First Congregational Church of Milton, Massachusetts. In January 2020 he earned a Grammy Award as pianist on Boston Modern Opera Project’s recording of Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Davin Martin (Production Electrician) is a junior lighting major at Boston University where he has recently worked on “The Rink”, “Florencia en el Amazonas”, “Yerma”, and “The Drunken City”. He can usually be found working on a fun project that ended up a little larger than he anticipated. Davin would like to thank Laurel, Dan, Linnea, and all his wonderful friends for their constant support. Visit him at davinmartin.com
Kat Mehler is a Sophomore Theatre Arts DPM student with a focus on musical theatre. This year, she has worked as the Assistant Director/Scenographer on the New Work Manspread, Sound Designer for The Skriker, Crafts Artisan for Florencia, as well as the Stage Manager and Sound Designer on Aurora Borealis. While this was her first time working with the Opera Institute, she has designed lights for the New Rochelle Opera’s productions of
Tosca and Die Fledermaus. In her free time, Kat designs board games and tabletop role-playing games. Enjoy the show!
Sofia Merie Maravillas (she/her) is a 2nd year student pursuing a BFA in Stage Management. This is her first time being the Stage Manager at Boston University. Her past credits at the school include: ASM for “La clemenza di Tito” (2024), ASM for “Entry; or You Think You Know Me”, ASM for “The Rink”, ASM for “Florencia en el Amazonas” (2025). Additionally this past summer she interned with the Shubert Organization in theatre management. Sofia is so excited to be working on the Tsai Opera again, this time in a new and different role with her amazing assistant stage managers Renee and Lucy!
Sam Noto (she/her) is a Boston-based theatre artist from Las Vegas, Nevada, She is currently earning her MFA in Production Management at Boston University. Sam has designed and managed many shows across the country. Her recent credits include Florencia en el Amazonas, and Siren Song at Boston University, The Orchard with Arlekin Players, and Cymbeline, Seven Deadly Sins, and Ubu Roar at Suffolk University. Sam would like to thank her incredible team for all the hard work and dedication put into making this show possible and for the opportunity to create art with some of the most amazing people she knows!
Tommaso Rotella is a 1st year graduate student in MFA Scenic Design at Boston University. This is his first time designing for the Tsai Performance Center, and is so excited for everyone to see what the cast and creative team have come up with for GS/SA. He’d like to say a special thank you to his family and friends back home for all their support throughout the years of him pursuing the arts. Enjoy the show!
Eric Tran is proud to be working with Boston University’s Opera Institute for this exciting double bill production. He is a senior undergraduate studying costume design with a minor in Innovation & Entrepreneurship. His previous design work have been at Boston Playwright’s Theatre and Boston Center for the Arts. As a multifaceted artist, Eric designed, directed, and wrote his first theatrical runway show early this April. He hopes to continue his creative work in the Boston/NYC area.
Allison Voth is an Associate Professor of Music at Boston University and Principal Coach at BU’s Opera Institute. A wellknown coach with a specialty in diction, she has worked with such companies and festivals as Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, Chautauqua Opera, Opera North, Opera Unlimited, The Florence Voice Seminar, and the Athens Music Festival. Also a recognized supertitlist, her titles have been used nationwide, including at Washington Opera and the Chicago Symphony, and, internationally, at the Barbican Festival in London. As a specialist in the music of Paul Bowles, in 1992, she produced and performed in a multi-media performance piece entitled Paul Bowles: One Man, Two Voices at Merkin Hall in New York, and in 1995, she premiered a set of piano preludes in the EOS Ensemble’s Bowles Festival. Ms. Voth is also the Music Director of the Cantata Singers’ Chamber Series and can be heard on CRI recordings.
Ruihan Renee Yang is a 4th-year journalism student at BU with a minor in theatre arts. Selected credits include Mercutio Loves Romeo Loves Juliet Loves (BU School of Theater), Nüwa in Fairyland (CHUANG Stage), and Night on the Galactic Railroad (CHUANG Lab). She wants to uplift the AAPI voices in the theatre industry by being a part of it. Special thanks to Ike and all my friends for encouraging me to take on this journey. Hope you enjoy the show!
Xinyu “CU” Ye is an MFA in Technical Production from the College of Fine Arts, Boston University. Her other works in BU include YERMA and THE RINK. Past works include MAMMA MIA, WITCHES OF THE EASTWICK, £¥€$, and multiple contemporary and classic operas.
Soprano Darby Barnett is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a current Master’s student at Boston University studying under Dr. Alison Trainer. Barnett’s recent engagements include Diana (Siren Song) in Boston University’s Fringe Festival and Atalanta (La corona) with Opera Seme. During her time at BU, she has also been seen as Cathleen in Vaughan-Williams’ Riders to the Sea, Gianetta (L’elisir d’amore) in BU’s Opera Scenes concert, and various opera ensembles (La clemenza di Tito, Cendrillon). In 2023, Barnett performed the roles of Sandman/Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel) with the Miami Music Festival, where she was credited with an “unforced lyric soprano [sound]” that “captured the gentle lyricism in Humperdinck’s writing” (South Florida Classical Review). Barnett received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from DePaul University, where she performed Satirino in (La calisto) with DePaul Opera Theatre. Darby is thrilled to perform the role of Suor Genovieffa as her final performance at Boston University. After graduating, Barnett will be living in Philadelphia and make her Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) debut in June with the Luke Housner Summer Opera Workshop.
Judd Blake, tenor, is grateful and excited to be a part of tonight’s performance. Judd is an avid performer of opera and musical theatre alike. Earlier this year he performed in the ensemble of Boston University’s production of Florencia en el Amazonas. Recent roles include Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and the Male Authority Figure/Corny Collins understudy in Hairspray. He was also featured as Pedrillo in a selection from Die Entführung aus dem Serail as part of BU’s Opera Scenes Program. Judd frequently gives back to the youth of his home community through his work as a Music Director for Cadence Theatre Company and SPARC in Richmond, VA, and he will return this summer to music direct three youth productions. A Virginia native, Judd is a graduate of James Madison University, studying under Dr. Sonya G. Baker. Judd is now a graduate student pursuing a Master of Music in Vocal Performance at Boston University under Dr. Thomas Cannon. He thanks his mother, Melinda, and partner, Kaitlyn, for their love and support, and he dedicates this and all performances to his late grandmother, lovingly known by many as Pawpaw Judy. Love you Pawpaw.
Jerome Boxer, baritone, is an emerging vocalist in the opera world. Twenty years of age, Jerome is completing his Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of Professor James Demler at Boston University. Hailing from New York City, Jerome began vocal studies at the age of nine with renowned Medieval harpist, tenor, and NYU faculty member Christopher Thompson Preston. From 2016 to 2018, and again in 2020, Jerome sang with Young People’s Chorus of New York City under the direction fo Francisco Núñez, singing at venues including Carnegie Hall, Rose Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Church of Saint John the Divine. From 2018 to 2022, Jerome attended New York’s LaGuardia High School, studying with Jana Ballard and participating in La Guardia’s Senior Chorus and Show Choir. It was there Jerome founded LaGuardia’s Doo Wop Club, inspiring his classmates to learn more of the 50s and 60s music style. In his time at Boston University, Jerome has performed twice with BU’s Symphonic Chorus at Boston’s Symphony Hall and sang at various concerts at the United Parish Church in Brookline, Tsai Performance Center, and Christmas concerts at the Congregational Church of Topsfield. He has also participated in two operas with BU’s Opera Institute, singing in Massenet’s Cendrillon and Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. Singing during the summertime, Jerome has participated in the Bel Canto in Tuscany voice program in August 2023 and Vienna Opera Academy in August 2024.
Anne Burgett, a soprano from Swampscott, Massachusetts. is a second-year Master of Voice student under the tutelage of Professor Penelope Bitzas at Boston University. She received her Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University in 2023, studying with Nancy Gustafson. With the Boston University Opera Institute, Anne has performed as Rosalba in Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, Zina in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters, Cathleen in Vaughan William’s Riders to the Sea, Second Esprit in Massenet’s Cendrillon, and Gianetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir D’amore. Previously, Anne has performed Clorinda in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, La Contessa in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Barbarina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Lola in Moore’s Gallantry, and The Sandman in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. Anne was a semi finalist in the Camille Coloratura Competition, a semi-finalist in the Classical Singer Competition, third place winner in the Central Region NATS competition, and the winner of the Calliope’s Call Art Song Competition. In 2024, Anne performed as the soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem with the BU orchestra and choir, and as the soprano soloist with the Festival Chorus at Old North Church. This summer, Anne will be an Emerging Artist
at Opera in the Ozarks, performing Frasquita and covering Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, as well as performing in various concerts and recitals.
Praised by Sing Tao Boston “gorgeous voice and boundless prospects,” Heming Cao is a tenor, chorus conductor and composer based in the Boston area. He has played the role of Nemorino from “L’elisir d’amore”, Tamino from “Die Zauberflöte”, die Knusperhexe from “Hänsel und Gretel” and etc. He has also sung solo roles in much of the standard oratorio and concert Repertoire with Cantata Singers, Emmanuel Music and Bach Institute. As a conductor, Heming has served as director of Student Choir of Nankai University, Tianjin Symphony Orchestra Affiliated Youth Choir and Tianjin Philharmonic Chamber Choir. He participated in and directed “Alexander Nevsky Cantata”, “The Yellow River Cantata”, “The Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature Concert”, “The Springtide of Bo Sea” and music recording works for the movie “108”. As a music educator, he founded Jungle Children Voice and Alma Female Choir in Tianjin. He recently began tenure as Music Director of The New Moon Choirs in Boston area. Heming holds the M.M. degree in voice performance from Longy School of Music of Bard College, and B.S degree in applied physics from Nankai University. He will be pursuing his DMA in voice at Boston University from 2025 Fall.
Winner of the International Vanguard Young Artist Vocal Competition, soprano Rebecca Clark made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2018. Recipient of Encouragement Awards from the Laffont Competition, Camille Coloratura Awards, Sam Vitale & Aaron Caruso Neapolitan Song Competition, she received first place in the Fox Valley Orchestra Chorus Collegiate Vocal Competition, performing in their concert season. As part of the University of Michigan, Miss Clark performed the Little Vixen in Janacek’s “Cunning Little Vixen,” was a featured soloist for Zelenka’s “Magnificat in C Maj” with their Orpheus Singers and Chamber Orchestra, was a Finalist in their Concerto Competition, and sang the role of Orsia in the pre-premiere concert performances of a new opera, “”The Pigeon Keeper.” She performed the title role and acted as co-choreographer in the University’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production of “Patience” in 2023. An avid lover of concert singing, Miss Clark has given numerous solo recitals, and was privileged to give collaborative recitals in Europe in 2023 and 2024 in Germany, Italy, France, Slovenia, and Austria. With the American Austrian Mozart Academy, she made her international operatic debut in the role of Madame Herz in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, and looks
forward to her Italian debut as Amy in “Little Women” summer 2025. Miss Clark is a multi-instrumentalist, including piano, violin, flute, and harp, and has played violin and harp in orchestras such as the Harrt School of Music Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble, and the Vermont Youth Orchestra. She has a passion for premiers, working with new and underrepresented composers on outreach concerts and performances of new operatic and art song repertoire. She has also enjoyed bringing music to hospitals, nursing homes, and cancer centers. Miss Clark is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree, under the tutelage of Lynn Eustis.
Abigail Cunningham, soprano, from Lexington, Kentucky, is a Master of Music student under the tutelage of Dr. Lynn Eustis. Abigail received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University, along with a Certificate in Music Education and Minor in Orchestral Conducting. Abigail is looking forward to her performance in her 4th opera with Boston University. Prior performances at Boston University include: Lucinda/Dark Sisters, Doncella/El Caminante, and Ensemble/ Florencia en el Amazonas. Other notable credits include Despina/ I(Carnegie Mellon University), Tullia/Ottone in Villa (Carnegie Mellon University), Noémie/Cendrillon (Utah Vocal Arts Academy), Papagena/Die Zauberflöte (Harrower Summer Opera Workshop), and Bianca/La Rondine (Opera in the Ozarks). Abigail made her Pittsburgh Opera debut in 2021 as Third Spirit/The Magic Flute. She has also performed in masterclasses presented by notable performers such as: Denyce Graves, Frank Lopardo, and Talise Trevigne.
Rebekah Daly, mezzo, originally comes from the greater Boston area and is currently in her second year at the Boston University Opera Institute. At the opera institute, Daly performed Ruth (Dark Sisters), Zandra (Alice Tierney) and Madame de la haltière (Cendrillon). This upcoming summer, Daly will return to Santa Fe Opera for her second season as an apprentice artist, covering Schwertleite (Die Walküre), and Giovanna (Rigoletto). She holds a master’s degree in voice and opera performance from Northwestern University and completed her undergraduate training at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Other role highlights include Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Mrs. Herring (Albert Herring), and Mere Marie (Dialogues of the Carmelites).
Chenxi Fu, a bass-baritone from Jiangsu, China, is a second-year Doctor of Musical Arts student at Boston University’s School of Music, where he studies with Professor James Demler. He earned his Master’s degree at the New England Conservatory, studying
with Professor Michael Meraw, and completed his undergraduate studies at Xiamen University. Chenxi has played the role of Capitán in Florencia en el Amazonas, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, and Makoto in An American Dream. He continues to perform actively in opera and concert settings.
Anna Gaddie, soprano from Hebron, Kentucky, is a first-year Master of Voice student studying under David Guzman. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Western Kentucky University in 2024, where she was twice recognized as Performer of the Semester. Her performances with BU Opera Institute include Presendia in Dark Sisters, Doncella Ensemble in El Caminante, chorus in Florencia en el Amazonas, and La Maestra delle Novizie in Suor Angelica. She is the 2020 Cincinnati Overture Award Winner and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honorary Society.
Emma Giventer-Braff is a mezzo-soprano, currently studying in the Masters in Voice program at Boston University under Dr. Thomas Cannon. This season at BU Opera Institute, she is singing the role of Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and covering Lucinda in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters. In addition to her work performing operatic roles, Emma is an avid recitalist, and looks forward to her recital in April with pianist Rebecca Qiu, performing works of Arnold Schoenberg. A native of New York City, Emma attended LaGuardia High School, where she majored in Vocal Studies, earning top accolades. She also attended both Interlochen Arts Camp on scholarship and BU Tanglewood Institute, before beginning at Brown University, where she majored in Academic Music and East Asian Studies. At Brown, Emma was the president of Brown Opera Productions for three years, and also won both the Margery MacColl and the Hope Chatterton Prizes for excellence in Music. Emma also pioneered a recital series there, including a duo Ukraine Aid Concert to raise funds for the Red Cross through performing art songs and arias. Emma is also a former young ambassador of the United States to Germany, working for both the US Department of State and the German Bundestag, all while learning intensive German, studying at Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken, Germany, and working at Oper Frankfurt. Emma brings her love of both the German language and German music to her performances, and continues her work as a bridge between Germany and America.
Rachel Sungmin Goh, a lyric soprano originally from Seoul, South Korea, is currently a second-year Master of Voice student at Boston University, where she studies under the guidance of
Dr. Lynn Eustis. She earned both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Voice from Sookmyung Women’s University. In the 2024 Spring semester, she performed Massenet’s opera Cendrillon, Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, in the Boston University Opera Institute production as the ensemble member. Additionally, in 2024 May, she performed Ralph Vaughan Williams opera Rider’s to the Sea as the role of ‘Nora’ in the BU Booth Theatre. She has also performed as ‘Presendia’ in Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly in Fall 2024 with BU OI during the Fringe Festival. Her previous roles include the principal role of ‘Fiordiligi’ in Cosi fan tutte with the Sookmyung Women’s University Opera Department. Rachel’s academic excellence was recognized with the ‘Honor Student Scholarship’ and ‘Excellent Alumna Scholarship’ during her M.M studies, and she received the ‘Masters of Music Top Recital Award’ as the top performer in the SMWU Music Department.
Zachary Gregorian is a first grader in the Newton Public Schools, and is thrilled to make his operatic debut with the Opera Institute. He has previously performed in the Day-After-Day production of “Newsies”, and will join them for “The Wizard of Oz” later this spring. Zachary enjoys playing on his local soccer, baseball, and basketball teams, swimning, and playing tennis. He also loves reading, ST math, and playing video games in his spare time.
Sadie Habas, mezzo-soprano, is in her senior year at Boston University, pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Lynn Eustis with a minor in Political Science. She is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and grew up singing in the Grammy-Award-Winning San Francisco Girls Chorus where she studied privately with Tonia D’Amelio, soprano. Upon beginning at Boston University, in 2021 she won second place in the N.A.T.S. Boston Competition, and in 2023, she advanced as a finalist in the N.A.T.S. New England Regional Competition. Sadie studied abroad at the Royal College of Music from September to December 2023 with Miranda Wright, soprano, where she also sang in the RCM Chorus under Sir Andrew Davis. After returning from RCM, in 2024, she won First Place in the 2024 N.A.T.S New England Competition, and in 2025, advanced as a Finalist in the N.A.T.S. New England Competition. A lover of new music, she attended a contemporary festival called the Longy School of Music Divergent Studio, and this summer will be a Performance Fellow in the Cortona Sessions for New Music Festival held in the Netherlands, where she will study with Rachel Calloway, mezzo. This spring, she makes her operatic debut as
“La Sorella Infermiera” in Suor Angelica. Sadie is interested in the intersection between social justice and the arts and hopes to use her art form as an outlet for change.
Mezzo-soprano Juliette Lee Kaoudji has had the privilege of performing two Hispanic operas this season with Boston University’s Opera Institute. She most recently portrayed Paula in Daniel Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas and Ginesa in the newly rediscovered Cuban opera El Caminante by Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes under the baton of Maestro William Lumpkin. New music has had a profound impact on Ms. Kaoudji’s love of the classical repertoire. Last fall she played Almera in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters, an atonal work with BUOI. She was a scientist in White Snake Opera’s premiere of Cosmic Cowboys by Elena Ruehr. During her time studying at New England Conservatory, she sang the role of Nada in Ana Sokolovic’s Svadba, an acapella opera for six women, under the baton of Maestro Brett Hodgdon. She also originated the role of Mayrik in Jacob Schulman’s Role Playing Game under the baton of Thomas Kociela at the Somerville Armory. Locally, Ms. Kaoudji has sung in the ensemble of Verdi’s Don Carlo as a Lady in Waiting and in Donizetti’s Norma with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra opera productions under the baton of Maestro Federico Cortese. An alumna of the Boston Arts Academy, Ms. Kaoudji attended New England Conservatory from 2016-2023, receiving her Bachelors, Masters, and Graduate Diploma degrees in Music Vocal Performance under the tutelage of Ms. Carole Haber. There she was given the opportunity to perform several roles including Mrs. Grose in Britten’s Turn of the Screw under the baton of Maestro Connor Covington. She was Dido and covered the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas directed by Leon Major, Chloe in Vicente Martín y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana, Mére Jeanne in Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites, and Maman and Pâtre in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, all under the baton of Maestro Robert Tweten. Ms. Kaoudji is the 2020 Tourjée Alumni Award winner the two time recipient of the Handel and Haydn Society Achievement Award.
Korean tenor Ilhee Lee is currently pursuing a Performance Diploma at the Boston University Opera Institute under the guidance of Penelope Bitzas. He holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music from Seoul National University, as well as a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music. Ilhee has performed in a wide range of roles, including Tito in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Prince in Massenet’s Cendrillon with the Boston University Opera Institute, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Opera in the Ozarks, Endimione in
L’arbore di Diana, Aeneas in Dido & Aeneas, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Quint in The Turn of the Screw with the New England Conservatory. In the upcoming season he will join the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist. Ilhee has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Scholarship, the Tan Family Foundation Scholarship from the New England Conservatory, and the John Moriarty Award from Central City Opera.
Wanchun Liang, Bass baritone, born in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province,China is currently a second-year bass baritone at the Opera institute where he studies with Professor James Demler. In 2015, he was admitted to the Xi’an Conservatory of Music, studying with Chen Yong, director of the Vocal Department, In 2021, he was admitted to the New England Conservatory and studied with Professor Michael Meraw. Wanchun has performed the roles of Prophet/King (Dark Sisters), Publio (La clemenza di Tito), Le surinetendant (Cendrillon), and Bass, (Hydrogen Jukebox) with the Opera Institute. This past summer, he sang the roles of Zuniga (I), and Le Fauteuil (L’enfant et Les Sortilèges) at the Music Academy of the West. This summer, he will be attending the San Francisco Opera Merola program.
Lauren Mahoney is a Boston-based classical/jazz/pop/R&B singer and pianist known for her soulful vocals and dynamic performances. Mahoney is a vocal performance student at Boston University, studying with Dr. Alison Trainer. She is also a Phillips Academy Andover graduate and has opened for KC and the Sunshine Band, LFO, and OTOWN. She performed the National Anthem at Fenway Park at a Red Sox game and sang the National Anthem at TD Garden for the BU Beanpot hockey games. Mahoney made her opera debut in Arezzo, Italy, last summer with Opera Seme, playing Fidalma in Il matrimonio segreto by Domenico Cimarosa. Also, she will return to Arezzo and play Ruggiero in Alcina by George Frideric Handel this summer. Currently, she is in the ensemble for Suor Angelica and plays the featured role of Suor Lucilla with the Boston University Opera Institute.
Soprano, Avuya Ngcaweni earned the Bachelor of Music in Opera from the UKZN, where she sang the role of Aunt Eller in the musical Oklahoma, a collaboration between UKZN and SMU. Avuya revived the role in 2023 with SMU and Nelson Mandela University peers at the Savoy Theatre in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. In 2017 Avuya was awarded a position in the KZN Young performers concert, held at the Playhouse in Durban. She later
sang the role of Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte at the UKZN’s Jubilee Hall. Avuya performed twice in 2018 season with the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, sang the lead role of Mkabayi in Warren Bessey’s uMkabayi Fantasy, and was given a solo performance with the orchestra. In Fall 2020, Miss Ngcaweni won third Place in the TEXOMA NATS Region Virtual Competition, and two months later she won the Audience Prize in the MIOpera competition. In February 2021, she sang the role of Ann Putnam in the SMU Lyric Opera production of The Crucible. Miss Ngcaweni joined The Dallas Opera Educational Outreach program in August 2021 and earned the MM in Voice Performance from SMU in May 2022. Studying with Professor Hill Moore at SMU, Avuya earned the Performer’s Diploma in 2023. In October 2023 miss Ngcaweni went on a tour with a show called BROKEN CHORD which consisted of four leads and a dancer, the show was featured at New York Times and it toured to New York, San Francisco and Connecticut. She sang the title role in Suor Angelica with the SMU Lyric Opera. She also has done exciting roles with the Opera Institute; Eliza in Dark Sisters and Florencia in Florencia en el Amazonas.
William O’Brien is a Bass originally from Ōtautahi, New Zealand. He is in his second year at the Boston University Opera Institute in the studio of Dr. Lynn Eustis. He obtained his Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of baritone Matthew Worth, and where he enjoyed the opportunity to study with renowned faculty members including Susanne Mentzer and Frederica von Stade. At Boston University, his roles include Simone in Gianni Schicchi by Puccini, Capitán in Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catán, The Prophet/King in Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly, Publio in La clemenza di Tito by Mozart, Le Roi in Cendrillon by Massenet, Bass in Hydrogen Jukebox by Philip Glass, and bass soloist for Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor. William is a two-time recipient of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award. He has performed leading roles in the United States, Europe, and his native Aotearoa New Zealand. William’s other recent roles include Bartolo in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Achilla in Handel's Giulio Cesare and the titular role in Jonathan Dove's contemporary opera The Enchanted Pig.
Abigail Orr is a soprano from Montgomery, Texas. Her most recent performances include singing Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas and Diana in Jonathan Dove’s Siren Song at Boston University. Abigail has also recently sung Fiordiligi in Utah Vocal Arts Academy’s production of Così fan tutte and was a
recent alumna of Songfest as a Colburn Fellow recipient. Abigail is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and received her Certificate in Opera Performance from Texas Tech University. During her time at TTU, Abigail performed as a Young Artist at Amarillo Opera where she covered the role of Gilda in Rigoletto and performed in outreach performances of Davies’ The Three Little Pigs under the guidance of Dr. Rebecca Hays and Mary Jane Johnson. Abigail will receive her Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at Boston University this spring while assistant teaching the undergraduate Opera Acting Project. In the fall she will be attending Boston University’s Opera Institute under the tutelage of Dr. Lynn Eustis.
Gwyneth Rix is a mezzo-soprano from Philadelphia, PA. While she began her formal musical studies at the age of six as a pianist, she has been singing her whole life. Gwyneth started studying with Lynn Eustis at BU in 2021. Since moving to Boston, Gwyneth has won awards in the Calliope’s Call competition, New England NATS, and the Camille Coloratura Awards. In 2022, she attended Songfest with the support of the Art Song Foundation of Canada. The following winter, she made her debut in a concert of art song with Calliope’s Call in Lexington, MA. Gwyneth studied abroad in London at the Royal College of Music in 2023. Recent credits include the mezzo solos in both the Duruflé Requiem and the Liszt transcription of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Boston University Singers and Dritte Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and a cover of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Berlin Opera Academy. Gwyneth will sing Arcane in Handel’s Teseo with Ensemble Orquesta this summer, and attend Opera Caledonia’s vocal studio course shortly thereafter. She will start her master’s degree in voice and opera at McGill University this fall.
Rising baritone Noah B. Rogers is in his second year at the Boston University Opera Institute, where he studies with James Demler. A recent graduate of the University of Michigan, Mr. Rogers performed numerous lead roles during his tenure there, including the Forester in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen in the original Czech, Bob in William Grant Still’s one-act opera Highway 1, U.S.A., and Henry Horatio Hobson in the world-premiere reading of Tom Cipullo’s 2023 opera Hobson’s Choice. Equally comfortable on the musical theatre stage as he is in the opera hall, Mr. Rogers recently starred as the Baker in Into the Woods as a 2024 Resident Artist with Opera North as well as El Gallo in The Fantasticks during his time as a 2022 Young Artist with Ohio Light Opera. Other recent credits include Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon (BUOI), Maestro Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi (Cedar
Rapids Opera), and Public Opinion in Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers (Opera North).
Nathan Savant, praised as a “charismatic bass-baritone” with “vocal power,” is currently pursuing a Performance Diploma at Boston University’s Opera Institute, studying with Penelope Bitzas. This season, he will perform Jonathan in Siren Song (Dove), Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas (Catán), and the title role in Gianni Schicchi (Puccini). This summer, Nathan joins Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist, singing in the chorus of Die Fledermaus and the Center Stage Concert with the St. Louis Symphony under Daniela Candillari. He will cover Snug and Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Milton in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House. Nathan spent the 2022 and 2024 seasons as a Resident Artist at Opera North, where he performed Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Marchese d’Obigny (La Traviata), John Styx (Orphée aux enfers), Rapunzel’s Prince/Wolf (Into the Woods), and Count Monterone (Rigoletto). In 2023, he was a Studio Artist at Chautauqua Opera, covering Escamillo (La tragédie de Carmen) and singing in the ensemble of Sweeney Todd. A native of Oakland, CA, Nathan holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University, where his roles included Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Marcello (La Bohème), Putnam (If I Were You), and Mr. Gobineau (The Medium). He earned his bachelor’s from Eastman School of Music, singing roles such as Maestro (Prima la musica), the title role in Der Schauspieldirektor, and multiple characters in Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree. For more information please visit: www.nathansavantsinger.com
Soprano Wanda Sullivan is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance here at Boston University, where she studies with Dr. Alison Trainer. She spent the fall semester studying abroad at the Royal College of Music in London, and recently performed her junior recital at BU. This summer, Wanda is looking forward to Company Managing/Assistant Stage Managing for the Opera Company of Middlebury’s La Bohème, and performing Morgana in Alcina with Opera Seme in Italy. She is excited to prepare and present a recital next fall as a co-recipient of the BU Ellalou Dimmock Award. Previously, Wanda was an Apprentice Young Artist and intern with OCM where she sang Sally in A Hand of Bridge, and was an ensemble member in their productions of La fille du régiment and Fidelio. A native of Vermont, Wanda’s love for performance began with dance and musical theatre. This spread to the world of opera through the Youth Opera Company of OCM, where she sang Adele in an
abridged production of Die Fledermaus, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance.
Praised by OperaWire for “a power and seeming effortlessness that [is] quite amazing...”, Margaret Tigue is a soprano currently based in Boston and New York. Her 2025 season includes Carnegie Hall’s 2025 SongStudio workshop, and the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Last season, Margaret sang Cendrillon and Vitellia in BU’s productions of Cendrillon and La Clemenza di Tito. She has been a featured soloist in concert with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Orchestra Now, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra.
Natalia Desirée Perera Del Valle, soprano from Carolina, Puerto Rico, began her formal musical studies at the age of five in the San Juan Children’s Choir (Coro de Niños de San Juan) after a parent saw her marking the beat with her foot in a ballet class when she was 4. From a young age, she learned music theory, aural skills, the piano, guitar, and how to collaborate with others in a choir setting. She has been singing since. Perera-Del Valle is in her final year of undergraduate studies pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a minor in Psychology at Boston University, studying voice under James Demler. Starting her third year, she spent a semester studying abroad in London at the Royal College of Music. Recent renderings include Erste Dame in the opening scene of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Anne from Offenbach’s Le Mariage aux Lanternes, soprano solo in the Liszt transcription of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Boston University Singers, and soprano solo in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with Boston University Symphonic Chorus. She will sing Una Novizia in Suor Angelica at Boston University in the spring. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies in Boston, Perera-Del Valle plans to pursue a PsyD degree in Clinical Psychology while simultaneously continuing her vocal studies.
Ethan Wagner is a baritone from Geneva, NY. He is a first year Master’s student in the Voice Performance program at Boston University College of Fine Arts studying under Professor James Demler. He attended the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam where he received a Bachelor’s of Music in Voice Performance and Music Education. Wagner’s notable roles include the title role in Don Giovanni at the Voci Nel Montefeltro Opera Festival in 2023, as well as King Hildebrand (The Enchanted Pig by Jonathan Dove) with the Crane Opera Ensemble in 2023. At BU, he has performed as the title role of Orpheus (Orpheus and Euridice by Matthew Aucoin) in the opera
scenes program and was in the ensemble of Florencia en el Amazonas.
Amy Lanlan Wang, soprano, from Princeton, New Jersey, is a first-year Master of Voice student under the tutelage of Dr. Lynn Eustis. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Vocal Performance with a Journalism double major at New York University. This is Amy’s third opera at Boston University, with past roles as Zina in “Dark Sisters” and ensemble in “Florencia en el Amazonas”. Previous credits include “Speed Dating Tonight” and “Amahl and the Night Visitors” at NYU. She has also received awards in multiple NATS competitions in New York and New Jersey, as well as the NATS Eastern Regional competition in March of 2024.”
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is a community of artist-scholars and scholarartists who are passionate about the fine and performing arts, committed to diversity and inclusion, and determined to improve the lives of others through art. With programs in music, theatre, and visual arts, CFA prepares students for a meaningful creative life by developing their intellectual capacity to create art, shift perspective, and think broadly. CFA offers a wide array of precollege, undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as a range of online degrees and certificates. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS SCHOOL OF MUSIC: OPERA INSTITUTE
The Opera Institute at CFA School of Music is an intensive, highly selective two-year performance-based training program for emerging operatic artists. A professional faculty and renowned guest artists provide personal support and training in all areas pertinent to a career in opera, including voice, acting, languages, and movement styles. Additionally, the Opera Institute selects undergraduate and graduate singers from the School of Music who demonstrate true operatic potential and have mastered an intermediate integration of acting, vocal, and movement skills for the Opera Theater, Opera Workshop, and Opera Project programs. Find more at bu.edu/cfa/opera/season.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS SCHOOL OF THEATRE
The School of Theatre at the College of Fine Arts at Boston University is a leading conservatory for the study of performance, design, production, and management, and all aspects of the theatre profession. These programs of study are enriched by the School’s access to the greater liberal arts programs at Boston University. The School of Theatre values the notion of “the new conservatory” and seeks to provide students with opportunities for artistic growth through a rigorous curriculum, professional connections, and an emphasis on collaboration and new work.
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS ADMINISTRATION
Harvey Young, Dean
Michael Reynolds, Director, School of Music
Kirsten Greenidge, Director, School of Theatre
Marc Schepens, Director, School of Visual Arts
