La clemenza di Tito

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Libretto by Caterino Mazzolà

William Lumpkin, Conductor

Fernando Gaggini, Conductor (4/21)

Eve Summer, Stage Director

Tessa Barry, Scenic Design

Sydney Hovasse, Costume Design

Hope Debelius, Lighting Design

Nuozhou Wang, Projection Design

Kevin Schlagle, Production Stage Manager

Allison Holloway, Assistant Stage Director

Allison Voth, Principal Coach & Chorus Master

Matthew Larson, Coach

Maria Rabbia, Continuo

Oshin Gregorian, Managing Director

There will be one 15-minute intermission.

Edited for the New Mozart Edition by Franz Giegling

Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, U.S. and Canadian agent for Baerenreiter-Verlag, publisher and copyright owner.

CAST in order of vocal appearance

Vitellia

*Margaret Tigue, +Jiayu Li daughter of the Emperor Vitellius

Sesto

Tito’s friend, in love with Vitellia

Annio

*Sarah Zieba, +Becca Allen

*Annabrett Ruggiero, +Gretchen Struckmeyer

Sesto’s friend, in love with Servilia

Tito

*Ilhee Lee, +Andrew Bearden Brown Emperor

Servilia

Sesto’s sister, in love with Annio

Publio

*Madeleine Lew, +Madalyn Ivy

*William O’Brien, +Wanchun Liang advisor to Tito

*Thursday and Saturday performers

+Friday and Sunday performers

CHORUS

Darby Barnett, Annie Burgett, Jerome Boxer, Monika Cachro, Laura Beth Couch, Rachel Sungmin Goh, Noah B. Rogers, Dalton Rowe, Kira St. Pierre, Michaela Usher

COVERS

Vitellia: Alena Feldman

Sesto: Rebekah Daly

Annio: Laura Beth Couch

Servilia: Kira St. Pierre

Publio: Dalton Rowe

< Find the full program including performer & designer bios by scanning this QR code with your phone camera.

Violin 1

BOSTON UNIVERSITY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

William Lumpkin, Conductor

Natalie Darst Xia, concertmaster

Morgan Heissenbuettel

Isabel Sorebo

Cheng-Yeh Tsou

Aija Reke

Bozhen Xu

Violin 2

Ler Ler Ma, principal

Chia-Lin Chen

Kuan-Pei Chen

Ying-Jhu Gong

Sofia Nangle

Antony Karacic

Viola

Freya Downey, principal

Jiaming Wang

Ko Shen

Yeuk Sen Renee Chan

Cello

Angel Tsou, principal

Monroe Randall

Siqing Shen

Yun-De Tsai

Bass

Leonard Kang, principal

Owen Boyd

Flute

Jordana Kleiner, principal

Catherine Butler

Oboe

Jungmin Kim, principal

Nathalie Graciela Vela

Clarinet

Jake Pierson, principal

Ting Chang

Bassoon

Minchi Chiang, principal

Nora Cannizzaro

Horn

Joeseph Venezia, principal

Michael Bellofatto

Trumpet

Caylan Laundrie, principal

Thomas Gray

Timpani

Julian Saint Denis

Continuo

Maria Rabbia

Assistant Conductor

Fernando Gaggini

PRODUCTION & DESIGN TEAM

Production Manager.....................................................Emily Listner

Assistant Stage Manager..............................Sofia Merie Maravillas

Production Assistant........................Rosalind Fore, Zara Warburton

Technical Supervisor....................................................Emily Listner

Assistant Scenic Designer & Properties Head.....Jacklyn Cinnimon

Assistant Costume Designer......................................Morgan Bailie

Wardrobe Supervisor...............................................Penney Pinette

Wig Stylist..............................................................Brooke Hovasse

Wardrobe...................................................................Sydney Elliott, Webb Hodges, Hannah Johnson,

Assistant Lighting Designer & Programmer..................Valerie Zhao

Production Electrician.........................................Dylan Gozdziewski

Lighting Board Operator..............................................Darius Evans

Lighting Crew/Spot Operators..............................Jasper Bartkovich Darius Evans, Maggie Shen

SOM Director of Production...........................Christopher Dempsey

SOM Stage Manager............................................Anna Richardson

SOM Ensemble Manager.........................................Katharine Hurd

SOM Ensemble Librarian......................................Kiya Klopfenstein

SOT Faculty Project Advisor........................................Mark Stanley

Supertitles......................................................................Allison Voth

Tsai Center Production Manager..................................JoLaine Hall

Tsai Center Production Specialist.............................Swati Agrawal, Lev K. Laverriere

House Manager.......................................................Zachary Kautter

Lead Usher.................................................Arthur Adelmann Brants

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 2023-2024

Andrew Bearden Brown Madeleine Lew

Sarah Zieba

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.

PROGRAM NOTE

Tempus fugit. Mozart was running out of time: not only was his brief life about to end, but (more pressingly), having just arrived in Prague, he had to finish Titus before its September 6th première. Although the ensembles, choruses and recitatives were done, he still needed to write at least twelve arias (after having met the singers), get the score copied, and have the piece ready for the stage in only nine days. He did finish the opera, for the occasion of Leopold II’s coronation as king of Bohemia, one day before its premiere.

The work itself is “out of time” as well, but in a different sense. Although the opera was composed long after Mozart’s revolutionary works, it is in an anachronistic operatic style, opera seria. This genre, best epitomized by Handel’s operas, depicts mythological or historical subjects, usually on a libretto by Metastasio—as La Clemenza indeed does. Opere serie had few ensembles and were mostly recitatives and da capo arias for the principal singers (all of whom had high voices.) These arias contained no proper names so that the highly paid star singers could insert them in whichever opera they were performing, to best show off their flurries of florid coloratura.

Although Mozart’s collaborator, Caterino Mazzolà, updated Metastasio’s libretto to contemporary taste, adding ensembles and arranging it into two large acts—for which Mozart lauded it as “a true opera”—the piece retained the original purpose of flattering a royal autocrat by proxy in Classical costume. The real Titus, emperor of Rome from 79 to 81 gained reputation for mercy when he tried to help his people after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79. He reportedly called any day without a charitable act a diem perdidi (a lost day). And he managed to do these good deeds while still having time to destroy the Temple of Jerusalem, have an affair with a Jewish queen (Berenice), and complete the building of the Coliseum.

Temporal promiscuity also touched Metastasio, who Classicized himself, changing his original Italian name of Trapassi to the more Hellenic version. He originally wrote the Clemenza libretto in 1743 for Caldara, to honor Karl VI’s nameday. But, as Nicholas Till writes, he derived it from Corneille’s play La clemence d’Auguste, 1640, which itself was drawn from Seneca’s dialogue On Clemency, a work dedicated to that most benevolent rule, (Nero!), who had died just a few years before Titus took power.

The choice of the Clemenza libretto for Leopold’s coronation was not surprising: it had been set by many composers, as Till writes,

as an “obligatory vehicle for those engaged in the flattery of numerous petty monarchs of Germany.” What seems anachronistic, though, is that this retrogressive work—in effect, propaganda for a benevolent monarchy—would be selected for the coronation of Leopold II who, like his brother Joseph II, was an enlightened republican. (Joseph can even be quoted as proclaiming “All men are equal at birth.”) Certainly many Enlightenment souls were not against the idea of a benevolent ruler (think Sarastro) But in the prevailing view, monarchical mercy placed the ruler above the law, rather than in a position of upholding it.

The answer to the riddle may lie in who was responsible for this production: not the Imperial Court, where Mozart had fallen out of favor, but by the Bohemian Estates.This representative body of the Bohemian aristocracy was miffed that Leopold and his ruling family had revised the tax code, hitting them hard in the purse. In effect, then, this paean to the ruler was also a swipe at his liberal leadership.

Clemenza di Tito evokes the “good old days” of older traditions, wealthy people worried about tax reform and a controversial leader named. Could it be that now is the perfect time for this opera?

—Deborah Burton, Associate Professor of Music Boston University College of Fine Arts

ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION TEAM 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 Cali-fornia.

Eve Summer (Stage Director) Hailed as having “a gift for translating classic symbolism into familiar detail” with work that is “transfixingly personal,” Eve Summer returns to Boston University having previously staged Little Women and Later the Same Evening for the Opera Institute. Selected directing credits include Trouble in Tahiti at The Glimmerglass Festival, Rigoletto, Tosca, Don Giovanni at Opera Columbus, Albert Herring, Les Mamelles de Tirésias, The Seven Deadly Sins, Così fan tutte at The Curtis Institute, The Barber of Seville at Opera Saratoga, The Little Prince at Tulsa Opera, Don Giovanni at Opera Carolina, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Pirates of Penzance, Don Giovanni, The Mikado, Le docteur Miracle, and Così fan tutte at Opera Grand Rapids, The Pearl Fishers at Opera Tampa, The Tales of Hoffmann, Lizbeth at Opera Orlando, Xerxes at The Connecticut Early Music Festival, The Tales of Hoffmann (upcoming), La bohème, The Magic Flute, The Pearl Fishers at Opera in Williamsburg, Volpone at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Aida, Lucia di Lammermoor at Boheme Opera

New Jersey, Suor Angelica at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Magic Flute at Hartt Opera Theatre, Bluebeard’s Castle at Mid-Ohio Opera, Le nozze di Figaro at Knoxville Opera, dell’Arte Opera, Varna Music Festival, Mobile Opera, Carmen at MassOpera, and the world premiere of Larry Bell’s opera Holy Ghosts at Berklee. Eve has served as staff director and choreographer at companies including Des Moines Metro Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Colorado, Tulsa Opera, Opera Saratoga, and Opera Boston. www.EveSummerDirector.com

Fernando Gaggini (Assistant Conductor) participated in the 2023 Conducting Academy at Domaine Forget de Charlevoix in Québec, Canada, working with Mtros. Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Kensho Watanabe in daily sessions and masterclasses alongside the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. He served as guest assistant conductor to Francisco Noya and the Boston Civic Symphony at Jordan Hall for the past two years. Mr. Gaggini is a Doctoral Candidate in Orchestral Conducting at Boston University under the guidance of James Burton. While at BU, Gaggini has assisted Jonathan McPhee and Mischa Santora and conducted Frank’s Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout, Falla’s El Amor Brujo, Ginastera’s Variaciones Concertantes and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite among others. In a now 3-year-long collaboration with the BU Opera Institute, he has assisted William Lumpkin on mainstage productions of Händel’s Alcina and Heggie’s If I Were You. Additionally, he conducted Daniel Catán’s opera La Hija de Rappacini at the Fringe Festival in October 2022. In 2019 Gaggini studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under Marcus Bosch and Georg Fritzsch conducting the Münchener Kammerorchester, Münchner Symphoniker, Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock and Bad Reichenhaller Philharmoniker both in masterclasses and concerts. Gaggini holds an MM degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he studied with Mark Gibson and Aik-Khai Pung. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, he earned his Bachelor’s in Orchestral Conducting from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina under Carlos Vieu’s guidance.

Tessa Barry is a second year scenic design MFA candidate at BU studying under James Noone. This is her debut production as head scenic designer and is excited to be so warmly welcomed into the Opera Institute. She is originally from Guilford, Connecticut and received her BFA for Visual Art Education from

Endicott College in 2019. She is looking forward to working on Bu’s The Rink this upcoming fall.

Morgan Bailie is second-year undergraduate pursuing a B.F.A in Costume Design from Boston University’s School of Theatre. She is based in the Twin Cities and Boston. She will be working as a Stitching & Dressing Apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera this summer. Her recent Costume Designs include Grow Until (2024) and HALF (2023) at BU. She was the Assistant Costume Designer on One Penny Down (2024), Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (2023), and Wardrobe Lead for Little Women (2023). Morgan would like to thank her friends and family for their endless support.

Hope Debelius is a first year graduate Lighting Design MFA candidate from Baltimore, MD. She graduated from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA with her BFA in Theatre Production: Design. While at BU, Hope has designed the shows Fucking A, and Hot L Baltimore, as well as served as the assistant lighting designer for the Fringe Festival opera, Alice Tierney. Previous professional credits include Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (Preprofessional Showcase), the Pittsburgh Playhouse (Fall Dance Concert), Bristol Valley Theatre (Cowboy Vs. Samurai), Baltimore Center Stage (Tiny Beautiful Things- Asst.), Pittsburgh Public Theatre (Murder on the Orient Express- Asst.), City Theatre Company (The Wanderers- Asst.), and the Juilliard School (May Dance- Asst.). She is extremely grateful for the opportunity to design her first opera and for all of the help her cohort, faculty, and staff have provided throughout the process.

Production Electrician Dylan Gozdziewski (He/They) is a sophomore studying Film/Television with a minor in Theater Arts, focusing on lighting. He typically can be found working in the Student Theater on lighting for the extracurricular theater groups on campus for hours on end. This is their second Tsai Opera, previously working as Board Operator for Alcina last year. He would like to thank his family and friends for constantly supporting him in all his endeavors, as well as Hope for being an amazing person to work with.

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.

Allison Holloway returns to the Opera Institute after graduating last year with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from 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. Previously, she was a studio artist with Opera in the Ozarks and performed Papagena in The Magic Flute. Her previous roles also include Lola in Gallantry, The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Carrie in Speed Dating Tonight, and Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel.

Sydney Hovasse is a third-year undergraduate student studying costume design at Boston University. She has previously worked as the Costume Designer for BU Opera Institute’s production of Alice Tierney (2023), Assistant Costume Designer for BU Opera Institute’s productions of Alcina (2023) and Our Town (2022) and Wardrobe Crew Head for BU School of Theatre’s production of Shakespeare in Love (2022). Sydney would like to give thanks to her family and friends for their constant support, and another big thank you to everyone who has helped make this beautiful production possible!

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

Sofia Merie Maravillas is the assistant stage manager for La clemenza di Tito. Sofia is a first-year, Stage Management major at Boston University. She is from New Jersey where she started her stage management career at Bergen County Academies doing events there and in New York. At BU she has been a part of the build crew for the School of Theatre’s quarter 1 shows, the sound board operator for Fucking A, and a part of the costume crew for One Penny Down. La clemenza di Tito is the first opera she has ever worked on, she is so happy to have had this experience. She wants to thank her peers and the Opera Institute for teaching her so much along the way.

Maria Rabbia (she/her) originally hails from Central New York and is graduating with her DMA in Collaborative Piano this May, having studied under the tutelage of Shiela Kibbe. Previously, Maria received her MM in Collaborative Piano from Ithaca College. Coaching and collaborative credits include the IC Opera Studio, Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), International Performing Arts Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany, The Voice Institute of the Finger Lakes, and participation as a Young Artist with Opera Company of Middlebury. Maria worked with regional company Opera Ithaca on several productions including La bohème and Carmen, and recently served as a vocal coach at BUTI and as the Assistant Conductor and Pianist at the Opera Direction Professional Certificate Program in Ithaca, NY. She has greatly enjoyed working with the Boston University Opera Institute throughout her degree on productions of Così fan tutte, Our Town, Little Women, and Hydrogen Jukebox in roles ranging from répétiteur, continuo performer, and orchestral pianist. This

summer, Maria will serve as répétiteur Le nozze di Figaro at the Trentino Music Festival in Mezzano, Italy.

Kevin Schlagle, BU School of Theater Alum returning to the Opera Institute after more than a decade. Previous Opera Institute productions include Antigone, Cosí fan tutte, Susannah, Roméo et Juliette, Three Decembers, Jake Heggie on Jake Heggie, Il Matrimonio Segreto, Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Florencia en el Amazonas. Mr. Schlagle has also worked with Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, Guerilla Opera, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and New England Conservatory. He is currently the Resident Producer at The Huntington.

Allison Voth is an Associate Professor of Music at Boston University and Principal Coach at BU’s Opera Institute. A well-known 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.

Nuozhou Wang is a filmmaker and projection designer based in Boston, Toronto and Shanghai. Her works delves into the lived realities of Asian queer women through a lens that interweaves humor and fantasy. Nuozhou’s work have aired on WCVB and have been featured in The New York Times, Broadway World, The Boston Globe, Vogue, Boston Musical Intelligencer, South China Morning Post, NIKKEI Asia, etc. Her upcoming work includes Pocket Opera with Hunter College in NYC, and It’s Magic!, is a short film celebrating Chinese queer women’s connection in difficult times. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design.

PERFORMER BIOS

Becca Allen is a mezzo-soprano from Seattle, WA. She is finishing the second year of her Performance Diploma in the studio of Dr. Lynn Eustis. Becca’s other roles with the Opera Institute have included Bradamante (Alcina), Meg (Little Women), and the Mezzo-Soprano in Hydrogen Jukebox. Becca has performed several roles across the United States and in Europe, including Carmen (Carmen), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), The Narrator/Mysterious Man (Into the Woods), among others. Becca was named a District Encouragement Award winner in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and was a finalist in BU’s 2024 Soloist Competition. She has performed numerous choral and orchestral works, with highlights such as the Alto solos in Mozart’s Missa Brevis in F Major and Requiem in D minor. Becca received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Soprano Darby Barnett is a native of Chicago, Illinois and a first-year graduate student at Boston University studying under Dr. Alison Trainer. Barnett’s most recent engagements include performing in the chorus of Cendrillon with the BU Opera Institute, Gianetta (L’elisir d’amore) in BU’s Opera Scenes concert, and Sandman/Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel) with the Miami Music Festival. Barnett received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from DePaul University, where she performed Satirino in (La Calisto) in 2021 under the direction of DePaul Opera Theatre. Later this spring, Barnett will be seen as Cathleen in Vaughan-Williams' Riders to the Sea with BU, and this summer, she is thrilled to perform Atalanta in Gluck’s La corona in Arezzo, Italy with Opera Seme.

Tenor Andrew Bearden Brown is in his second year pursuing a Performance Diploma at the BU Opera Institute in the studio of Dr. Lynn Eustis. Hailing from Washington DC, he has performed with the Opera Institute as Le Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), the Stage Manager (Our Town), Laurie (Little Women), Oronte (Alcina), and the Tenor (Hydrogen Jukebox). Recent operatic roles include Torquemada (L’heure espagnole, Royal College of Music), Ferrando (Così fan tutte, Felici Opera), and Marzio (Mitridate, Opera Neo). Upcoming roles include covering John Singer Sargent in the world premiere of Damien Geter’s American Apollo as an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera. Andrew obtained his bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Brown

University, as well as a master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Royal College of Music.

Jerome Boxer is a baritone hailing from New York City. He is a sophomore vocal performance major studying with James Demler. In the Summer of 2023, Jerome played The Count in Mozart’s “Le Nozze Di Figaro” in a scenes program with Bel Canto Tuscany Young Arts Vocal Program. This summer he will be the cover to Masetto in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” at the Vienna Opera Academy.

Anne Burgett, from Swampscott, Massachusetts, is a soprano in the chorus of La Clemenza di Tito. She is a first year Master’s student at Boston University, studying with Professor Penelope Bitzas. She graduated from Northwestern University with a Bach elor of Music in 2023, having double majored in vocal performance and philosophy. While at Boston University, Anne has performed the role of Second Esprit in Cendrillon by Massenet, as well as the role of Gianetta in a scene from L'elisir D'amore by Donizetti. Before attending Boston University, Anne has performed the roles of La Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart, Lola in Gallantry by Moore, Second Spirit in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart, and the Sandman in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. Anne was a semifinalist in the Music International Grand Prix Competition this year, a semifinalist in the Classical Singer Competition in 2022, and a third place winner of NATS in 2020. This spring, Anne is thrilled to be performing the role of Cathleen from Riders to the Sea by Vaughn Williams with Boston University Opera Theater. This summer, she will be performing the role of Clorinda in La Cenerentola by Rossini, with the Varna International Music Academy in Italy.

A native of Lake Zurich, Illinois, Polish-American soprano Monika Cachro graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from DePaul University. Continuing her education, Ms. Cachro has started her studies at Boston University this year and is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. This season at Boston University, Ms. Cachro took part in the production of Cendrillon by Massenet and she will also be performing the role of Nora from Vaughan Williams chamber opera Riders to the Sea. Ms. Cachro is very grateful to have had the opportunity to study with notable professors Dr. Alison Trainer, Dr. Viktoria Vizin, and Stephen Smith. Ms. Cachro has participated in productions of Hansel and Gretel, Falstaff, and Candide whilst at DePaul University. Whilst in Europe, Ms. Cachro

also had the opportunity to perform the role of Suor Dolcina and cover the role of Suor Genovieffe in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Ms. Cachro was also a young artist at Chicago Summer Opera’s virtual academy where she studied and performed the role of Zerlina from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Outside of academia, Ms. Cachro is an active musician and has placed in several competitions, receiving 1st Place at the Charleston International Romantic Music Competition.

Laura Beth Couch is a mezzo-soprano from Montgomery, New Jersey. She is covering Annio in La clemenza di Tito and will be singing in the Chorus. Laura is a second-year graduate Performance Diploma student at Boston University and studies voice with Jim Demler. She earned her B.M. in Music Education from Rutgers, and her M.M. in Voice Performance at Shenandoah University. With the Opera Institute, Laura performed as Dorothée in Cendrillon, Alice 2 in Alice Tierney, Friedrich Bhaer in Little Women, and covered Bradamante in Alcina. Other previous roles include La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, La Zelatrice in Suor Angelica, and Babette in Beauty and the Beast at Bay View Music Festival; Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor and Dorothée in Cendrillon at Opera in the Ozarks; and Dorabella in Così fan tutte at Shenandoah University. In addition to opera, Laura has been the mezzo-soprano soloist for numerous concerts in the Boston area, including Bononcini’s Stabat Mater, Fanny Hensel’s Lobegesang, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem, Coronation Mass, and Regina coeli, along with Marianna Martines’s Dixit Dominus Coming up, Laura will be singing an entirely food-related program for her graduation recital. She will perform Lee Hoiby’s one act opera, Bon Appétit, where she will bake a chocolate cake while singing as Julia Child in her famous cooking show. This Summer, Laura will return to Bay View Music Festival to perform Tisbe in La Cenerentola, cover the role of Angelina, and serve as the festival’s Social Media Manager.

Alena Feldman, soprano, is in her second year pursuing her Master of Music at Boston University College of Fine Arts in the studio of Professor Penelope Bitzas. She received her Bachelor of Music from Boston Conservatory at Berklee studying under Frank Kelley. The roles Ms. Feldman has sung with the Opera Institute include: La Voix de Lointain (Cendrillon), Alice 3 (Alice Tierney), and Friederich Bhaer (Little Women), as well as in the ensemble of Cendrillon and Our Town. Last summer, Ms. Feldman had the privilege of covering the role of Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze

Figaro with Chicago Summer Opera. Additionally, she has also performed the Boston premiere of Ruth Post in Whaling Women and has appeared as the title role in Dido and Aeneas with the Classical Musicians Coalition at Berklee. She has also sung the role of Idamante (Idomeneo) in the Act III quartet with the Boston Conservatory at Berklee Opera studio. Ms. Feldman has appeared as a soloist with the Boston University Symphonic Chorus as Aurelio from L’assedio di Calais, and with the Boston Conservatory Chorale. Feldman returned to sing with the Boston University Symphonic Chorus this winter as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem in D minor. Aside from operatic performance Ms. Feldman has been featured as a recording artist at Berklee College of Music and performed the title role in the musical Bernarda Alba with Superhuman Arts. Ms. Feldman is pursuing a certificate in the Alexander Technique at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and will graduate this fall. This summer, Ms. Feldman is looking forward to her debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Varna International.

Rachel Sungmin Goh is a soprano originally from Seoul, South Korea. She is in her 1st year at the Boston University Masters of Voice Performance and studies with Dr. Lynn Eustis. She received her Bachelors and Masters of Music in Voice from Sookmyung Women’s University. At Sookmyung Women’s University, Rachel took top rank and first place for music performance in both degree programs. She has been selected through audition as a soloist for the Annual School of Music 85th Concert to perform with the SMWU Symphony orchestra (conducted by Kyung hee Kim). Rachel has earned ‘Honor Student Scholarship’ and ‘Excellent Alumna Scholarship’ during her Bachelors and Masters. She has been awarded the ‘Masters of Music Top Graduation Recital Award’ as the best recital performer of all students in the Music Department. She landed the main role as Fiordiligi in ‘Cosi fan tutte’ for Sook myung Women’s University Opera. In 2024 Spring semester, she performed Massenet’s opera ‘Cendrillon’ in BUOI’s production as an ensemble member. This coming spring(May), she will be performing in the opera ‘Rider’s to the Sea’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams as the role of ‘Nora’ in the BU Booth Theatre.

Madalyn Ivy, a soprano from Kansas City, Missouri, is honored to be portraying the role of Servilia in the Opera Institute’s production of La clemenza di Tito. She is completing the final semester of her Master’s of Music degree in Voice Performance at Boston University, under the guidance of Dr. Lynn Eustis. She earned her Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance in 2021 from

Roosevelt University in Chicago. During her time at BU, Madalyn made her debut as Quinn in Alice Tierney in the fall Fringe Festival, per formed two scenes from L’elisir d’amore as Adina, and covered the role of Oberto in Alcina. Other notable roles include Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro with Prague Summer Nights (2023) and Babs in Just for the Night at Roosevelt (2021). This summer, she will make her debut as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Varna International Music Academy.

Korean tenor Ilhee Lee is currently pursuing a Performance Diploma at the Boston University Opera Institute under the tutelage of Penelope Bitzas. He pursued a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree from Seoul National University, as well as a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music. Ilhee Lee has showcased his talent in various roles, including Prince in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Endimione in L’arbore di Diana, Aeneas in Dido & Aeneas, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Quint in The Turn of the Screw, Luigi in Il Tabarro, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. In the upcoming season, he will perform the role of Trin in Puccini’s opera “La fanciulla del West” and covering the role of Sam in the opera “Street Scene” with the Central City Opera. Ilhee Lee has earned prestigious scholarships throughout his career, including the Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Full-Ride Scholarship and the Tan Family Foundation Scholarship at the New England Conservatory.

California native Madeleine Lew is a soprano completing her second season at the BU Opera Institute in the studio of Penelope Bitzas. There this season she portrayed La Fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito, and Quinn in Melissa Dunphy’s Alice Tierney. Last season at the Opera Institute, Madeleine performed the roles of Amy in Little Women, Morgana in Handel’s Alcina, and the title role of Beatriz in Catan’s La Hija de Rappaccini. Madeleine received her Masters at the University of Southern California and is a recent graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Madeleine made her European debut in Helsinki, Finland in March 2022, creating the leading role of the Bear in Uljas Pulkiss’s world premiere of All the Truths We Cannot See. Madeleine is a winner of the 2023 Frank Huntington Beebe Fund grant, the 2023 Boston District of the Laffont Metropolitan Opera Competition, 2019 East Bay Opera League Competition, and 2019 Bell Encouragement Award winner of the James Toland Vocal Arts competition. This season she is a finalist in the art song and opera categories for the 2024 American Prize. Later this month, Madeleine will be featured as the soprano

soloist in BU’s performance of Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece Dona nobis pacem at Symphony Hall. This June she will perform with NEMPAC Boston as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.

Wanchun Liang is a bass baritone originally from Shijiazhuang, China. He is in his 1st year at the Boston University Opera Institute and studies voice with James Demler. He received his Bachelors in Xi’an conservatory of music and Masters of Music in Voice and Opera Performance from New England Conservatory. At BU, Wanchun has performed as Le Surintendant des plaisirs (Cendrillon) and Bass (Hydrogen Jukebox). This summer, he will sing Zuniga (Carmen) with the Music Academy of West in Santa Barbara.

Jiayu Li, is a soprano originally from Kunming, China. She is a second-year Performance Diploma student under the tutelage of Professor Penelope Bitzas. Jiayu received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Master of Music in Voice Performance from Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she was the recipient of the Artistic Excellence Award. Her recent engagements with Peabody Opera Theatre include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Helene in Hin und Zurück, and Lady with the Cake Box in Postcard from Morocco in honor of Peabody Composition Department’s 150th Anniversary. She has also appeared as the soprano soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Boston Conservatory Orchestra. Jiayu made her company debut with Opera Steamboat, Colorado, in 2021 as Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito. She returned to Opera Steamboat in June 2022 for her role debut as Musetta in La Bohème. In spring of 2023, Jiayu was seen in the role of Betsey Morey in Jodi Goble’s Whaling Women at BU and covered the title role of Alcina with Opera Institute. Jiayu has also been named the finalist in American Virtuoso International Music Competition and a semi-finalist in Camerata Bardi Vocal Academy International Vocal Competition.

William O’Brien is a bass originally from Canterbury, New Zealand. He is in his first 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 also enjoyed the opportunity to study with renowned faculty members including Susanne Mentzer and Frederica von Stade. At Boston University, his roles include Bass in Hydrogen Jukebox by Philip Glass (Oct 2023), bass soloist for Mozart’s Requiem in D

Minor (Dec 2023), Le Roi in Cendrillon by Massenet (Feb 2024) and Publio in La clemenza di Tito by Mozart (April 2024). William has performed other leading roles across the United States, Europe, and his native New Zealand, including both Figaro and Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Achilla in Giulio Cesare, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, as well as contemporary repertoire including the titular role in Jonathan Dove’s The Enchanted Pig. William is a two-time recipient of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award.

Rising baritone Noah B. Rogers is in his first 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 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 starred as the Beast in the University of Missouri Summer Repertory Theatre’s 2020 production of Beauty and the Beast as well as Hubert in The Student Prince during his time as a 2022 Young Artist with The Ohio Light Opera. Other recent credits include Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon (BUOI), Maestro Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi (Cedar Rapids Opera), and the baritone in Philip Glass’s Hydrogen Jukebox (BUOI). This summer, Mr. Rogers makes his debut as the Baker in Into the Woods and Public Opinion in Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers as a Resident Artist with Opera North.

Dalton Rowe, baritone, is a first-year Master’s student at the Boston University School of Music, where he studies voice with Dr. Lynn Eustis. Dalton was born in Oxford, Alabama, and received a degree in Music Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2022. At UAB, he studied voice with Dr. Emily Jaworski Koriath (BU SoM’18). Before moving to Boston, Dalton taught math at his hometown high school. Earlier this year, Dalton made his first foray into opera in BU Opera Institute’s production of Massenet’s Cendrillon. In Cendrillon, Dalton sang the role of Le Premier Ministre and was a member of the chorus. In May, he will play Bartley in his opera theater class’s production of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Riders to the Sea. Beyond BU, Dalton is on staff at the Church of the Advent, where he is a chorister and soloist.

Annabrett Ruggiero, Mezzo-Soprano, is from Orlando, Florida, is a second-year Master of Voice Student studying under Penelope Bitzas. This is Annabrett’s fourth time performing with Opera institute. At BU She has performed the roles of Zandra in Alice Tierney, Cecilia March in Little Women, L’esprit in Cendrillon. Her other repertoire includes Zita in Gianni Schicchi, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, Emma Jones in Street Scene, and First Lady in Die Zauberflöte. In 2021 Annabrett became a winner of Stetson University’s Giffin Competition. Additionally, she was granted the honor of representing the voice department in the Stetson Showcase.

Kira St. Pierre is a soprano originally from DeLand, Florida. She is in her 2nd year of her masters at Boston University and studies voice with Alison Trainer. She received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Stetson University. At BU, Kira has performed as Alice 3 in Alice Tierney. At Stetson, she most notably performed as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi. This spring, she portrayed the 3rd spirit in Cendrillon and will be covering Servillia in La clemenza di Tito as well as singing in the chorus.

Gretchen Struckmeyer, soprano, from Raleigh, North Carolina, is a second year Master’s of Voice student at Boston University under the tutelage of Dr. Alison Trainer. She received her Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance from Appalachian State University. She was most recently seen at BU as Noémie in Massenet’s Cendrillon. Previous appearances at BU include Soprano 1 in Hydrogen Jukebox, the chorus and cover of Oberto in Handel’s Alcina, the chorus of Adamo’s Little Women, and Lady in the Balcony/Chorus in Our Town. Previous roles outside BU include Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte (both with Appalachian Opera Theatre). She is the winner of the Hayes School of Music Concerto/Aria Competition (Boone, NC) as well as a semifinalist for the Heafner/Williams Competition (Lincolnton, NC).

Margaret Tigue is a soprano from Long Island, New York. This is Margaret’s first year in the Opera Institute, where she studies with Penelope Bitzas. Recently, Margaret was named a winner of the Boston District of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2023 Laffont Competition, and she has been a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center (2019, 2022) and Music Academy (2023). Her Opera credits include the title role in Cendrillon with the Opera Institute, Mimì (La Bohème) and Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

Margaret has been a featured soloist with the Orchestra Now, the Albany Symphony, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra.

Michaela Usher is a mezzo-soprano from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a second-year graduate student studying voice with Dr. Allison Trainer. At Boston University, she has performed as a L’esprit in Cendrillon, Alice 2 in Alice Tierney and in the ensemble for Our Town. Miss Usher’s past engagements have included the roles of Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, Madame Flora in The Medium. Additionally, she has performed in the premiere of the opera American Spring by Sam Mulloy. This summer, Michaela will be featured as the guest soloist with the Black Diaspora Symphony Orchestra premiering works of composer Autumn Maria Reed.

Sarah Zieba is a Polish-American mezzo-soprano who is currently a part of the Boston University Opera Institute studying with Penelope Bitzas. She recently received her Master of Music from Northwestern University in Voice and Opera Performance. She received a BM in Voice and BA in Biochemistry from there as well. In past summers, Zieba attended the Chautauqua Institution for Voice where she was the mezzo soloist in Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and performed on recitals coached by Craig Rutenberg and Ricky Ian Gordon. In 2018 she performed Mrs. Grose in Britten’s Turn of the Screw with the Northwestern Opera Theater and had the lead role of Brittomara in Jake Heggie’s Midwest premiere of If I Were You in February 2022. With the Opera Institute, she sang the role of Jo in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina, the title role in Cendrillon, and Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito this season. Recently, she won the RICCO Collegiate Vocal Competition and was featured as the alto soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra this spring. Previously, Zieba has performed in masterclasses with Marlena Malas, Brian Zeger, and Barbara Bonney. She is originally from Orland Park, Illinois.

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 acting, stage management, design, production, 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

Gregory Melchor-Barz, Director, School of Music

Susan Mickey, Director, School of Theatre

Dana Clancy, Director, School of Visual Arts