Brandon Victor Dixon U of M Musical Theater Seniors
Enrico DiGirolamo
Maria C. Duey
Marianne Endicott
Fern R. Espino
Paul E. Ewing
Mary Ann Fontana
John W. Ingle III
Barbara Kratchman
Arthur C. Liebler
Dexter Mason
Ali Moiin
Donald Morelock
Allan Nachman
Ann Nicholson
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2025
CHAIR
Ethan D. Davidson
VICE CHAIR
Mary Kramer
VICE CHAIR
Denise J. Lewis
VICE CHAIR
Don Manvel
PRESIDENT/CEO
Patty Isacson Sabee
SECRETARY
Gene P. Bowen
TREASURER
Bharat C. Gandhi
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
R. Jamison Williams
Naomi André
Richard A. Brodie
Kevin Dennis
Lisa M. DiChiera
Shauna Ryder Diggs
Sara Pozzi
Carrie Pryor
Paul Ragheb
Irvin D. Reid
Evan D. Ross
Nedda Shayota
Terry Shea
Matthew Simoncini
Richard A. Sonenklar
Lorna Thomas
Jesse Venegas
Barbara Walkowski
Gary L. Wasserman
Ellen Hill Zeringue
DIRECTORS
EMERITI
Elizabeth Brooks
Shelly Cooper
Marjorie M. Fisher
Herman Frankel
Dean Friedman
Jennifer Nasser
Charlotte Podowski
C. Thomas Toppin
Richard Webb
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2025
Lourdes V. Andaya
Naomi André
Harold Mitchell Arrington
Bettye Arrington-Martin
Barbra Bloch
Gene P. Bowen
Richard Brodie
Charles D. Bullock
Thomas Cohn
Peter Cooper
Shelly Cooper
Ethan D. Davidson
Gretchen Davidson
Kevin Dennis
Cristina DiChiera
Lisa M. DiChiera
Shauna Ryder Diggs
Enrico DiGirolamo
Kathleen DiGirolamo
Debbie Dingell
Mary Jane Doerr
Linda Dresner
Maria C. Duey
Kenneth Eisenberg
Frances Eisenberg
Marianne Endicott
Fern R. Espino
Paul E. Ewing
Mary Sue Ewing
Margo Cohen Feinberg
Robert Feinberg
Carl Fontana
Mary Ann Fontana
Bharat C. Gandhi
Lynn Gandhi
Mara Ghafari
Yousif Ghafari
Toby Haberman
Gregory Haynes
John Ingle III
Tara Ingle
Patty Isacson Sabee
Jill Johnson
Ellen Kahn
Stephanie Germack Kerzic
Meredith Korneffel
Mary Kramer
Barbara Kratchman
Michael Kratchman
William Kupsky
Ed Levy Jr.
Denise J. Lewis
Arthur C. Liebler
Nancy Liebler
Marian Loginsky
Stephan Loginsky
Mary Alice Lomason
Don Manvel
Jack Martin
Dexter Mason
Benjamin Meeker
Ronald Michalak
Ali Moiin
Antoinette Morelock
Allan Nachman
Joy Nachman
Linda Orlans
Myrna Partrich
Spencer Partrich
Margaret Pehrson
Sara Pozzi
Waltraud Prechter
Carrie Pryor
Ted Pryor
Amy Ragheb
Paul Ragheb
John Rakolta
Terry Rakolta
Irvin D. Reid
Pamela Trotman Reid
Evan Ross
Kelsey Ross
Anthony Rugiero
Sabrina Rugiero
David Sabee
Nedda Shayota
Terry Shea
Thomas Short
Matthew Simoncini
Mona Simoncini
Sheila Sloan
Richard A. Sonenklar
Mary Ann Stella
Lorna Thomas
Jesse Venegas
Yesenia Venegas
Amy Voigt
Jeff Voigt
Barbara Walkowski
Gary L. Wasserman
Karen Williams
R. Jamison Williams
Jeremy Zeltzer
Ellen Hll Zeringue
TRUSTEES EMERITI
Augustin Arbulu
Dodie David
Larry David
Dede Feldman
Dean Friedman
Aviva Friedman
Mary Happel
Robert Klein
Wally Klein
Charlotte Podowski
Charles Powdowski
Marjorie Sandy
Roberta Starkweather
C. Thomas Toppin
Bernie Toppin
Mary Lou Zieve
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Lynn & Ruth Townsend*
Avern & Joyce Cohn*
John & Mardell* De Carlo
David DiChiera*
Karen VanderKloot DiChiera*
Aaron & Bernice Gershenson*
Donald & Josephine Graves*
Roman & Katherine Gribbs*
John & Gwendolyn Griffin*
Harry & Jennie Jones*
Wade & Dores McCree*
Harry J. Nederlander*
E. Harwood Rydholm*
Neil & Phyllis* F. Snow
Richard & Beatrice Strichartz*
Robert & Clara “Tuttie” VanderKloot*
Sam & Barbara Williams*
Theodore & Virginia Yntema*
KEY
*Deceased
When your event is held here, it's a guarantee.
From walking down the aisle to hosting an annual fundraiser, the theater is all yours. Michigan's premier venue is unmatched, offering versatile spaces for any celebration. Home to world-class performances and legendary productions, the historic Detroit Opera House offers a backdrop of elegance and drama. Between our exclusive lounges, main stage, grand lobby, and 360° panorama-view Sky Deck, this iconic venue is guaranteed to impress your guests.
Discover why we’re Detroit’s destination for show-stopping experiences.
A message from Patty Isacson Sabee
On behalf of Detroit Opera’s family of musicians and artists, staff and board, production crew and volunteers, I’m delighted to welcome you to the historic Detroit Opera House for our 25/26 season.
There is much to inspire in the rich world of opera and dance presentations that you have come to enjoy here. We also hope these presentations will inspire deeper conversations about issues that affect us all, and this season we invite you to journey along with us as we explore American identity, as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Each unique opera and dance production offers us an opportunity to participate in a dialogue around the question: Has America at 250 lived up to its promise?
At Detroit Opera, we remain committed to sharing the beauty and emotional depth of opera, which is the foundation of who we are. At the same time, by presenting diverse programming that celebrates the many ways music and culture can move us, we honor our city’s dynamic artistic spirit and open new doors for audiences to experience the wonder of live performance.
In addition, as our beautiful home enters its 29th year of hosting performances and events for the greater Detroit community, we hope you will join us for more opportunities to experience the vibrancy and variety of what we can bring to this stage.
If Bugs Bunny is what first introduced you to the magical world of opera, please bring family and friends and join us in April for a concert celebrating Bugs’s 85th birthday. Classic Looney Tunes cartoons including “The Rabbit of Seville” and “What’s Opera, Doc?” will be projected on our big screen while the Detroit Opera Orchestra performs the original, iconic scores live!
Or if the magic of our dance presentations inspires you to get your groove on, head down to the Detroit Opera House on January 31 for Symphonic PFunk: Celebrating the Music of Parliament Funkadelic and enjoy the Detroit Opera Orchestra in collaboration with legendary funkmaster George Clinton, joined by special guests Nona Hendryx, Vernon Reid, and Bilal. Clinton’s unique PFunk style blends jazz, rock, pop, classical, and gospel, and this concert will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear Clinton’s songbook with the grandeur of a full orchestra.
Whatever inspires you to join us at Detroit Opera, we thank you for being here. It is so important today for us all to be together, for the transformative power of performance to engage and connect us.
Patty Isacson Sabee President & CEO, Detroit Opera
Youth Chor us
Detroit Opera Youth Chorus (DOYC) is a world class training program for singers ages 8 through high school seniors. Choristers learn from Detroit Opera professionals who skillfully build a solid foundation of artistic expression and music theory. Many of our DOYC alumni have gone on to prestigious conservatories and universities majoring in vocal performance or musical theater.
Upcoming performances:
FRI / NOVEMBER 07, 2025 / 8:00PM SAT / NOVEMBER 08, 2025 / 8:00PM
SUN / NOVEMBER 09, 2025 / 3:00PM
Carmina Burana
with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Tickets @ DSO.org
SUN / DECEMBER 14, 2025 / 2:30PM
A Winter Fantasy
at First Presbyterian Church Royal Oak Tickets @ DetroitOpera.org
SAT / MAY 02, 2026 / 2:00PM Dean Burry’s
The Hobbit
Youth Opera at Detroit Opera House Tickets @ DetroitOpera.org
Sip & Stroll at the DOH
Have you ever strolled by the Detroit Opera House and wanted to know what it looks like inside? Join us for a 90-minute “Sip & Stroll” experience at the Detroit Opera House. Tours offer participants the chance to see our beautiful, historic 1922 theater, designed by renowned architect C. Howard Crane, and include the mainstage and backstage areas, plus a visit to the rooftop for spectacular views of downtown Detroit from our SkyDeck (weather permitting). Sip & Stroll tours include a glass of premium red or white wine, bottled water, and snacks. Must be 21 years old with a valid ID. Visit DetroitOpera.org for available dates and to purchase tickets.
Volunteers are the heart of all we do.
For lovers of opera, dance, theater, history, and community.
Join Detroit Opera’s volunteer community and share your gifts and talents. Have fun and make friends while participating in a multitude of opportunities all supporting Detroit Opera’s mission. Our volunteers are ambassadors for Detroit Opera and the city of Detroit, warmly welcoming patrons from near and far to the beautiful, 103-year-old Detroit Opera House for an experience they will cherish forever.
Easily sign up for events using our online volunteer portal!
“Once, my body belonged to me.”
SUN / MAR 01 / 2:30PM
THU / MAR 05 / 7:30PM SAT / MAR 07 / 7:30PM
Hubbard Street
Dance Chicago
SAT / JAN 24 / 7:30PM
SUN / JAN 25 / 2:30PM
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, one of the most original forces in contemporary dance, was founded by Lou Conte in 1977 with deep roots in theatrical jazz dance—a uniquely American artform. The Detroit program will feature works from top contemporary choreographers plus two works from Tony Award–winning Broadway choreographer Bob Fosse.
25/26 DANCE
Paul Taylor Dance Company
SAT / APR 11 / 7:30PM
SUN / APR 12 / 2:30PM
Since its founding in 1954, the Paul Taylor Dance Company has been a groundbreaking force in American modern dance and has been described by The New York Times as “one of the most exciting, innovative and delightful dance companies in the entire world.” The program salutes the American dance icon with repertory that includes Company B, a seminal piece of Americana that recalls the turbulent era of the Great Depression through the hit songs of the Andrews Sisters, and a 50th anniversary presentation of Taylor’s masterpiece Esplanade described by The New Yorker as “a mythic dimension on ordinary aspects of our daily lives.”
director’s NOTE
from Kaneza Schaal
As we return to a wealth disparity the USA has not seen since the Gilded Age, I am honored to tend two mighty American operas about the many, not the few.
William Grant Still and Kurt Weill are two men who understood margins well. Both knew more than their share about exile. Weill fled Nazi Germany to find refuge in America, making a new home for himself and his music. Still’s life and music were born in the USA. In the 1940s, his Afro-American Symphony was the most frequently performed symphonic work by any American composer, yet Still was systematically excluded from the canon and barred from opportunities on the basis of race.
Both artists cared deeply for Americans—all Americans.
Down in the Valley draws on Weill’s Germanic compositional roots and interest in American folk music. Weill believed in his music reaching many people. He composed Down in the Valley for the radio in order to gather expansive audiences. This creates a unique demand in the score for intimate amplified speaking voices. We lean into the aesthetics of this presentational structure, using both the logic of the recording studio and the folk tradition of quilting to frame the music. Flatness in folk craft is not about the absence of depth—it is about the presence of relation. It is about surfaces that hold history, touch, and communal order; one that values material truth over illusion.
Weill’s collaborations with Bertolt Brecht have been widely celebrated. While the two artists understood the theatrical idea of “alienation” differently, they were both inspired by traditions that valued ways of telling stories that privileged truth over illusion, looking toward traditions from early Yiddish theater to Chinese Opera to praise singing.
We tell the love stories you hear tonight through the transformative power embedded in African American quilting traditions: what was discarded made radiant; what was fragmented made whole; infinite histories of resistance and resilience, quilts as maps to safety and freedom, quilts as flags that protect and serve communities. The tapestry design includes echoes from the score, which call to mind Martin Luther King Jr.’s
“Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Alvin Ailey's Rainbow Round My Shoulder, the quilts of Winfred Rembert.
Highway 1, USA is also an American love story about working people. It represents a pivotal moment in American history. On one hand, there is the American Dream: the dream of the 1940s, hard work, meritocracy, the promise of the road and the West, and the kinds of independence that signified for African Americans, indeed for all Americans. Then there is another model of success, a new possibility, when, for the first time, a university education became accessible for so many more folks, for Black folks, for soldiers through the GI Bill. This was another order of aspiration. William Grant Still and librettist Verna Arvey are thinking about this tension, which would eventually be the beginning of the end of the middle class.
Still’s music itself is reaching to build a new world; you feel it in every note. The mythological path of the Highway. Its road of dreams. Its promises. And the filling station to ignite and fuel the journey. Layered into this music are Still’s years studying with Edgard Varèse, W.C. Handy, and Harry Pace at Black Swan Records. Still is unparalleled in his capacity for integrating the polymathematics of music from the margins into the calculus of the canon. While the libretto reads with the crisp clarity of a morality play, the music sends us into the complexity of thought in each character. We’re invited to consider the competing dreams and the different Americas they might birth. Mary begins the opera singing about the fox and
hare, invoking the African American folklore of Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox, trickster figures that journeyed across the Atlantic from Africa into African American traditions in the United States. These tricksters propel our stage and remind us to listen to these struggles beyond moralism. The production is set in Still’s imagination, his own dream of what was possible for Americans, for music, for the future. The piece takes place in the cracks between when Still composed the opera in the 1940s and when it first premiered in the 1960s—that leaves us somewhere between the clean façade and dark underbelly of the 1950s. In that spirit of fracture, I looked at the works of James Rosenquist and Alma Thomas, two American painters, contemporaries of Still, who in very different ways address pieces and wholeness. When I first listened to Highway 1, USA I kept getting swept off my feet into the strings, running around my mind in a film score. Then I remembered that falling is a familiar feeling—it’s the same swell and release of Wagner, or Verdi, or Puccini. In fact, that film score in my mind, that sound, was built in studios in Hollywood by musicians who had played those works and fled in exile, like Weill, to dream a new world.
Tonight is a profoundly American night of music, birthed from layers of exile, war, and dreaming that are baked into the DNA of this country. Let us remember our dreamers, our lovers, the artists who built new worlds, and who left us blueprints to keep imagining a healthy world for the many, not just the few.
With his 1948 radio opera Down in the Valley, Kurt Weill aimed to advance an aesthetic agenda for American opera during a turbulent period in our country’s history.
By Naomi Graber
Throughout his life, Kurt Weill was fascinated by the idea of “America.”
His European works depict America as a capitalist dystopia. But in 1935, as it became clear that Europe was no longer safe for the Jewish Weill, he set sail for the New World and his engagement with America shifted. From that point forward, most of his works concerned the idea of “America.”
This excerpt from scholar Naomi Graber’s Kurt Weill’s America examines his 1948 radio opera Down in the Valley, which became one of the most widely performed of his works in his lifetime.
On the 9 March 1941 episode of the NBC radio program I’m an American!, composer Kurt Weill waxed enthusiastic about the United States:
“I think it is this kinship of the spirit which brings America its new citizens from all lands. Those who come here seeking the freedom, justice, opportunity, and human dignity they miss in their own countries are already Americans before they come.”
Still, Weill worried about complacency, reminding listeners that “the greatest danger to the human race is indifference, and that people “are much too ready to forget what a precious thing it is to be able to live their own lives and they don’t know what they would lose if their way of life would be
destroyed.” To counter this impulse, he hoped to "show on the stage what it really means to be free” and to “show it in simple terms so that it can reach everybody.” Weill proposed to continue the aesthetic work he had begun in Germany, suggesting that the “musical play,” which he defined as "a form of theater which combines the elements of drama, musical comedy, ballet and opera," was best suited to this purpose.
Kurt Weill lived through a turbulent period in U.S. history. From afar, he witnessed the free-wheeling 1920s give way to the devastation of the Great Depression. When he arrived, the United States was beginning to recover from the stock-market crash. The war years saw the nation unite against European fascism, and industrial production rose to meet the demands of the armed forces, ending the Depression.
By September 1945 the war in Europe was over, and Weill and Federal Theatre Project playwright Arnold Sundgaard had written Down in the Valley, a twenty-five-minute piece based on the folk song of the same name. Weill and Sundgaard intended the piece as the first in a series of folk song-based operas for radio, a project instigated by Charles MacArthur and New York music critic Olin Downes. But the program did not get picked up, and the piece went on the shelf until Hans Heinsheimer of Schirmer Publishing (formerly of Universal Edition, Weill’s European publisher) contacted Weill in 1947 to request a “school opera.” Weill obliged with an expanded version of Down in the Valley, which by 1950 was licensed to nearly three hundred schools. On 14 January 1950, NBC broadcast a television performance with Marion Bell, making it the most widely performed of Weill’s works during his lifetime.
Both Downes and Weill hoped that Down in the Valley would shape the national psyche to better serve the democratic ideals of the postwar United States. The story is remarkably similar to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, which premiered on Broadway in 1943. Both Weill and Downes admired Oklahoma! but thought that it was too commercial to be considered the foundation of American opera. Down in the Valley presented their musical response. Down in the Valley and Oklahoma! share many similarities. Both concern the question of who will take the girl to the dance. Brack, like Oklahoma ’s Curly, is an everyman figure, rough around the edges but a good match for the wholesome farm girl. Bouché is a combination of the rival suitor in
the two love triangles in Oklahoma!: Jud, and the peddler Ali Hakim (Will Parker’s rival for Ado Annie in Oklahoma! ), two characters who are linked through their status as outsiders. In Oklahoma! the dance scene shows the community overcoming their differences, not always willingly. The community of Down in the Valley cannot live in peace. If, in Oklahoma! the community that dances together can be a state together, in Down in the Valley, the community that cannot dance together is destined for tragedy.
In Down in the Valley, the possibility of Brack’s innocence renders the ending even more tragic, and speaks to a more uncertain environment in the early postwar era, when issues of guilt and innocence dominated both national and international politics. In wartime, the difference between heroes and villains was clear. In the era of McCarthyism, de-Nazification, and the nascent Cold War, those lines were becoming blurrier by the day. Weill understood that the “city on a hill” was fragile, and that constant vigilance was required to maintain that “light unto the nations.”
Dr. Naomi Graber is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia. She is the recipient of the Rhonda A. and Robert Hillel Silver Award from the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies as well as fellowships to study at the Library of Congress, the Arnold Schönberg-Centre in Vienna, the Kurt Weill Foundation, and the Willson Center for the Humanities at the University of Georgia.
Excerpted from Kurt Weill’s America (Oxford University Press, 2021). Reprinted with permission.
William Grant Still & Kurt Weill in the
By Dr. Austin T. Richey
William Grant Still: Shaping Black Sound on Record
Before becoming a leading symphonic composer, Still worked as an arranger, instrumentalist, and musical fixer for Black Swan Records, the first nationally distributed Black-owned record label, based in Harlem. His arrangements for some of the era’s top artists and ensembles helped define the label’s polished, cosmopolitan sound—an intentional counter to the stereotypes dominating the early recording industry.
Still arranged and performed on several early Black Swan discs, including:
• Nora Holt’s recordings (1921–22)—Though many are now lost, Still’s orchestrations were central to Holt’s polished studio sound.
• Sammi Bryant Orchestra sides (1922)—Still contributed arrangements that blended blues idioms with a more formal instrumental palette.
Still’s recordings showed him in command of every aspect of popular and classical idioms. His arrangements raised production standards for Black artists on record, helped launch major careers (especially Waters), and pushed mainstream labels to pay closer attention to Black musical excellence.
Kurt Weill: A Composer Built for the Age of Recording
Weill rose to international prominence just as electrical recording transformed the industry. His music—lean, rhythmic, and theatrically direct—translated unusually well to 78-rpm discs and radio broadcasts, giving him a reach far beyond the theater.
Key early discs that shaped Weill’s reputation include:
• Berlin cast recording of Die Dreigroschenoper (1930)— A major commercial success; its version of “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer” (“Mack the Knife”) became one of the era’s most circulated tracks.
• Recordings from Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) and Happy End Widely broadcast on European radio, both recordings helped establish the Weill-Brecht sound as a cultural force.
• American cast albums: Street Scene (1949) and Lost in the Stars (1949)—These studio albums preserved Weill’s amalgam of Broadway-operatic styles and helped cement his legacy in the U.S.
Weill was one of the first modern composers to fully embrace the commercial recording landscape. His works circulated through radio, theater discs, and cast albums, allowing his music to cross borders and genres. From Berlin cabaret to Broadway, Weill helped define how theatrical music could live— and thrive—on record.
Austin T. Richey is Detroit Opera’s Storyteller and Digital Media Manager. He recently joined the faculty at College for Creative Studies, where he teaches Introduction to Material Culture and African Visual Narration. He is an ethnomusicologist whose research explores diasporic African music’s role in social movements, identity, and resistance—particularly in Zimbabwe and Detroit.
Synopsis Down in the Valley
The action begins in a jail and is told in flashback form. As the opera opens, the chorus sings “Down in the Valley” and the Leader tells the story of Brack Weaver, who “died for the love of sweet Jennie Parsons.”
Brack Weaver is in prison awaiting his execution the next morning for killing his rival, Thomas Bouché. When the evening train does not bring a letter from his beloved Jennie, he breaks out of prison and rushes to find her. At Jennie’s home, she assures Brack of her undying love for him but tells him that her father has forbidden her to have any contact with him. Brack turns himself in to meet his fate.
A flashback reveals the moment when Jennie and Brack met for the first time at a prayer meeting. As he walks her home, Brack asks Jennie to accompany him to a dance that weekend. Jennie happily agrees. When she arrives home, her father’s business associate, Thomas Bouché, also invites her to the dance. Jennie refuses the offer. Her father tells her that she may not attend with anyone else. Jennie, disobeying her father, goes to the dance with Brack, where Bouché appears with a knife in his hand. A fight ensues and Bouché is killed. Brack is arrested.
At dawn, Brack surrenders. From the jail cell, he sings a final verse of “Down in the Valley” and Jennie and the chorus sing a final reprise.
INTERMISSION
Synopsis Highway 1, USA
Bob and Mary live in a small home connected to a filling station, where Bob earns a living to support them and his brother, Nate. Bob and Mary have worked hard and made sacrifices in order to put Nate through college. Mary dreams of the life they will have once Nate’s education is completed. Bob explains that according to his mother’s deathbed wish, they must support Nate until he has established himself financially. Mary tells Aunt Lou, Bob and Mary’s friend and neighbor, of her hatred for Nate. After finishing his education, Nate remains idle for a year, living with Bob and Mary and contributing nothing. One morning Bob expresses his doubt that Nate will ever get a job. Nate comes in after Bob has left and commences to woo Mary. Mary laughs at him and confirms her love for Bob. Nate becomes enraged and stabs her. Mary’s screams bring Bob running. Thinking that Mary is dead, Bob takes the blame, in order to protect his brother. Mary regains consciousness and names Nate as her assailant. As he is led away, Nate pleads with Bob to help him. Ignoring his pleas, Bob kneels by Mary and promises a brighter future.
These performances of Down in the Valley/Highway 1, USA are presented by
With support from
Kaneza Schaal (Director) is generously sponsored by Denise J. Lewis
Nicole Heaston (Jennie / Mary) is generously sponsored in part by The Hon. Jack & Dr. Bettye Arrington Martin
Davóne Tines (Thomas Bouché / Bob) is generously sponsored by Barbara Walkowski
Victor Ryan Robertson (Brack Weaver / Nate) is generously by Carl & Mary Ann Fontana
Rehanna Thelwell (Aunt Lou) is generously sponsored by Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya
Lawrence Mitchell-Matthews (Sheriff / Preacher) is generously sponsored by Lorna Thomas, MD
Babatunde Akinboboye (Leader) is generously sponsored by Ali Moiin & William Kupsky
Costume materials provided in part by Carhartt
Support of the chorus of Down in the Valley is provided by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc.
DOWN IN THE VALLEY
COMPOSER: Kurt Weill
LIBRETTO: Arnold Sundgaard
WORLD PREMIERE: July 15, 1948, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
New production world premiere at Detroit Opera by Kaneza Schaal: December 7, 2025
DURATION: 35 minutes
INTERMISSION: 25 MINUTES
HIGHWAY 1, USA
COMPOSER: William Grant Still
LIBRETTO: Verna Arvey
WORLD PREMIERE: May 12, 1963, University of Miami Festival of American Music, Coral Gables, Florida
A production of Los Angeles Opera.
DURATION: 60 minutes
SUN / DEC 07 / @2:30PM
PRE-PERFORMANCE TALK
@1:30PM WITH ROBERTO KALB, KANEZA SCHAAL, NATHALIE DOUCET
THU / DEC 11 / @7:30PM
PRE-PERFORMANCE TALK
@6:30PM WITH DR. NAOMI ANDR É
SAT / DEC 13 / @7:30PM
PRE-PERFORMANCE TALK
@6:30PM WITH DR. NAOMI ANDR É
No photography or video is allowed during the performance. Please silence all phones.
RUN TIME: 2HRS WITH INTERMISSION
production
DIRECTOR
Kaneza Schaal
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Christopher Myers
SCENIC DESIGNER
Amy Rubin
COSTUME DESIGNER
Charlese Antoinette
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Pablo Santiago
CHOREOGRAPHER
Kiara Benn
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER
Jen Pan
WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER
Joanne Middleton-Weaver
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Tyler Thomas
ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNER
DOWN IN THE VALLEY
A production of Detroit Opera
Set construction by MiddleBrain, LLC
Joey Guthman
CHORUS DIRECTOR
Katherine Kozak
REPETITEUR
John Etsell
STAGE MANAGER
Nan Luchini
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS
Kaila Madison
Hailli Ridsdale
Costumes by Detroit Opera and Los Angeles Opera Costume Shops
HIGHWAY 1, USA
A production of the Los Angeles Opera
Set construction by CBS Television City, Los Angeles
Costumes by the Los Angeles Opera Costume Shop
Wig and Makeup Crew: Erika Broderdorf (crew leader), Carol Taylor (wig styling assistant). Crew: Dayna Winalis, Mallory Maxton, Shea Schoenberg, Vanessa Cassidy, Esther Soto, Cedasha Randolph, Kaitlyn Denzler. Swing: Carol Taylor
SHERIFF ........................... Lawrence Mitchell-Matthews
CHORUS BIT ROLES .......... Matthew Konopacki, Riley Buck, Lily Belle Czartorski, Cameron Barrett Johnson, Didi Cooper, Kimberley Sanders, David Magumba
HARE ................................................... Nekai Abriol
FOX ...................................................... Kiara Benn
DANCERS ............................... Kiara Benn, Nekai Abriol, Andrew Cribbett, Kara Roseborough
WOMAN 2 ........................................... Kiara Glekler* Detroit Opera debut * Spoken roles
DETROIT OPERA CHORUS
Detroit Opera cast and chorus are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists
CHORUS DIRECTOR .......................................
Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local #5, of the American Federation of Musicians
VIOLIN I
Daniel Stachyra* Interim Concertmaster
Yuri Popowycz* Acting Assistant Concertmaster
Bryan Johnston*
Mallory Tabb
Anna Bittar-Weller*
Courtney Lubin
Andrew Wu*
VIOLIN II
Emelyn Bashour* Principal
Henrik Karapetyan*
Solveig Geenen*
David Ormai
Molly Hughes*
Jennifer Berg
VIOLIN III
Velda Kelly * Acting Principal
Beth Kirton*
Jenny Wan*
Judith Teasdle
Sonja Bosca-Harasim
CELLO
Ivana Biliskov* Principal
Benjamin Maxwell*
Andrea Yun*
Robert Paddock
Sabrina Lackey
Robert Reed
BASS
Derek Weller* Principal
Clark Suttle*
Jean Posekany
Alex Zajdel
FLUTE
Andrea Velasquez* Acting Principal
Daniel Fletcher
OBOE
Eli Stefanacci* Principal
CLARINET
Roi Karni* Principal
Ryan King
BASSOON
Daniel Fendrick* Principal
ALTO SAXOPHONE
James Hughes
TENOR SAXOPHONE
Jeffrey Heisler
HORN
Colin Bianchi* Principal
Natalie Sweasy *
TRUMPET
David Ammer* Principal
Derek Lockhart
TROMBONE
Jordan Dove* Principal
Dustin Nguyen*
TIMPANI
Eric Stoss* Principal
PERCUSSION
John Dorsey * Principal
David Taylor
PIANO
John Etsell
GUITAR
Chuck Newsome
* Detroit Opera Core Orchestra Members Members of the violin sections occasionally rotate.
HIGHWAY 1, USA ORCHESTRA
VIOLIN I
Daniel Stachyra*
Interim Concertmaster
Yuri Popowycz* Acting Assistant Concertmaster
Bryan Johnston*
Mallory Tabb
Anna Bittar-Weller*
Courtney Lubin
Andrew Wu*
Velda Kelly *
Beth Kirton*
Sonja Bosca-Harasim
VIOLIN II
Emelyn Bashour*
Principal
Henrik Karapetyan*
Solveig Geenen*
David Ormai
Molly Hughes*
Jennifer Berg
Jenny Wan*
Judith Teasdle
VIOLA
Scott Stefanko* Acting Principal
Jacqueline Hanson*
Chloé Thominet*
James Greer
Joseph Deller
Cathy Franklin
CELLO
Ivana Biliskov* Principal
Benjamin Maxwell*
Andrea Yun*
Robert Paddock
Sabrina Lackey
Robert Reed
BASS
Derek Weller* Principal
Clark Suttle*
Jean Posekany
Alex Zajdel
HARP
Juan Riveros* Principal
FLUTE
Andrea Velasquez* Acting Principal
Daniel Fletcher
PICCOLO
Daniel Fletcher
OBOE
Eli Stefanacci* Principal
Yuki Harding
ENGLISH HORN
Yuki Harding
CLARINET
Roi Karni*
Principal
Ryan King
Shannon Orme
BASS CLARINET
Shannon Orme
BASSOON
Daniel Fendrick* Principal
Peter Ecklund*
HORN
Principal
Colin Bianchi*
Natalie Sweasy *
Susan Mutter
Jake Nowell TRUMPET
David Ammer* Principal
Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local #5, of the American Federation of Musicians * Detroit Opera Core Orchestra Members
Derek Lockhart
TROMBONE
Jordan Dove* Principal
Dustin Nguyen
TIMPANI
Eric Stoss* Principal
PERCUSSION
John Dorsey* Principal
David Taylor
DOWN IN THE VALLEY
KURT WEILL | COMPOSER
Born: Dessau, Germany, March 2, 1900
Died: New York City, April 3, 1950
Kurt Julian Weill was the third of four children of Emma Ackermann and Albert Weill, a cantor in the synagogue of Dessau. He began studies at the Berlin Hochschule in 1918, and studied with composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni at the Arts Academy of Berlin. By the time Weill’s first opera, The Protagonist , was performed in April 1926, he was an established composer. But he had already decided to devote himself to the musical theater, and his works with the playwright Bertolt Brecht soon made him famous. A commission from the Baden-Baden Music Festival in 1927 led to the creation of Weill and Brecht’s Mahagonny (Ein Songspiel). During the 1920s the composer had begun working with Austrian soprano Lotte Lenya, who became his muse and preferred performer. They married in 1926, divorced in 1933, and remarried in 1937. Weill’s 1931 opera Die Bürgschaft and 1932 play-with-music Der Silbersee outraged the Nazis, and riots broke out at several performances and carefully orchestrated propaganda campaigns discouraged productions of his works. In March 1933, Weill fled Germany, immigrating to the United States in 1935. In the 1940s, Weill established himself as a new and original voice in the American musical theater. Weill composed shows that introduced a new level of narrative complexity and cultural significance to the Broadway stage. He worked with Ira Gershwin on the original film musical Where Do We Go from Here? (1945), and adapted Elmer Rice’s Pulitzer-Prize winning drama Street Scene (1946) on Broadway as an American opera, featuring lyrics by the Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. Weill’s folk opera Down in the Valley (1948) received hundreds of productions in schools and communities throughout the nation. Weill’s last Broadway piece was the musical tragedy Lost in the Stars (1949), adapted by playwright Maxwell Anderson from Alan Paton’s novel Cry, the Beloved Country. Weill’s best-known stage works—some composed in Europe, others after he immigrated to the United States—showcase a diverse range of musical influences and include The Threepenny Opera , Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, The Pledge, The Seven Deadly Sins, Street Scene, Lost in the Stars, and Lady in the Dark .
ARNOLD SUNDGAARD | LIBRETTIST
Born: Saint Paul, MN, October 31, 1909
Died: Dallas, TX, October 22, 2006
Arnold Sundgaard was an American playwright, librettist, and lyricist whose work appeared on Broadway and in opera houses across the U.S. He is best known for collaborating with Kurt Weill on Down in the Valley; with Fritz Kreisler and John Latouche on the 1944 operetta Rhapsody, for which he co-wrote the book with Leonard Louis Levinson; and with Victor Ziskin on the short-lived Broadway play The Young Abe Lincoln. Sundgaard wrote librettos for operas including The Lowland Sea by Alec Wilder (1952), and Giants in the Earth by Douglas S. Moore, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1951. For the theater, he wrote the plays The First Crocus (1942), The Great Campaign (1947), and Everywhere I Roam, a collaboration with playwright Marc Connelly (1938-39). In 1938, the Chicago Federal Theater Project produced his play Spirochete, about the spread of the disease syphilis, as part of its “Living Newspapers” series, which created a sensation in Chicago. He wrote articles for publications including The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly. With illustrator Eric Carle, he wrote the children’s book The Lamb and the Butterfly; he also wrote The Bear Who Loved Puccini, illustrated by Dominic Catalano.
HIGHWAY 1, USA
WILLIAM GRANT STILL | COMPOSER
Born: Woodville, Mississippi, May 11, 1895
Died: Los Angeles, CA, December 3, 1978
William Grant Still has been described as the Dean of African American Composers, known for all the firsts he managed to achieve, despite facing significant racial barriers and prejudice. The composer, arranger, conductor, and pioneer of early-20th-century classical music was born in Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He initially enrolled in Ohio’s Wilberforce University to pursue a bachelor of science degree, but left to study violin, composition, and music theory at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. After serving in the Navy in 1918–19, he moved to New York City, where he performed with and arranged music for blues great W.C. Handy. He worked with artists such as Artie Shaw and Sophie Tucker and performed in Broadway pit orchestras, including for Eubie Blake’s smash hit 1921 Shuffle Along, which brought jazz to Broadway for the first time. In 1929, he was hired to arrange music for Paul Whiteman’s celebrated orchestra.
Among Still’s numerous “firsts” as a Black composer: he was the first African American to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra (the “Afro-American” Symphony, with the Rochester Philharmonic, in 1931); the first to have an opera produced by New York City Opera (Troubled Island , 1949); and the first to conduct a major orchestra (the Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1936). Still composed more than 150 works, including nine operas, five symphonies, and numerous other works for solo instruments, choral ensembles, and small and large orchestral groups. In the 1930s, Still arranged popular music for two NBC radio shows: Willard Robison’s “Deep River Hour” and Paul Whiteman’s “Old Gold Show.” Still's music fuses classical, blues, and spiritual elements, reflecting his experiences as a Black man in early-20th-century America. He drew inspiration from a wide range of musical styles, creating a unique musical voice that was ahead of its time. His compositions feature intricate rhythms, lyrical melodies, and rich harmonies, and he often used his music to address political and social issues of the day. Still’s legacy paved the way for future generations of African American musicians.
VERNA ARVEY | LIBRETTIST
Born: Los Angeles, CA, February 16, 1910
Died: Los Angeles, CA, November 22, 1987
Verna Arvey was an American librettist, pianist, and writer best known for her musical collaborations with her husband, William Grant Still. The daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Arvey began her career as a pianist accompanying dance rehearsals and recitals. She enjoyed a brief career as a concert pianist, including performances as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Arvey first met Still in 1930 in Los Angeles, and the two married in 1939, after Still's divorce from his first wife. They had to marry in Tijuana, Mexico, because interracial marriage was illegal in California at the time. Their marriage lasted until Still’s death, in 1978, and they had two children together. Throughout Still’s lifetime, Arvey performed and promoted his music and served as librettist for numerous songs and operas. Arvey’s first opera collaboration with Still came when Langston Hughes, the original librettist for his opera Troubled Island , left the country before the project was completed. Arvey wrote the lyrics for three arias: “In Childhood Together,” “This Land, This Dark Land,” and “Love Calls.” Arvey also wrote the librettos to Still's subsequent operas, which include A Bayou Legend , Minette Fontaine, and Highway 1, USA, as well as the scenarios to ballets such as Miss Sally's Party and several art songs. Verna Arvey had a distinguished career as a writer and journalist, and contributed articles to publications including The New York Times, Musical America , Musical Courier, and Opera . Her 1984 book In One Lifetime is a biography of William Grant Still, and her book Choreographic Music: Music for the Dance was published in 1941.
KANEZA SCHAAL DIRECTOR
Kaneza Schaal is a New York City–based artist working in theater, opera, and film. Her work has shown in divergent contexts—from New York galleries, to courtyards in Vietnam, to East African amphitheaters, to European opera houses, to U.S. public housing, to rural auditoriums in the U.A.E. By creating art that speaks many formal, cultural, historical, aesthetic, and experiential languages, she seeks expansive audiences.
Kaneza received a 2025 Doris Duke Artist Award; 2024 LA Opera Stern Artist Award; 2023 Project & Evolving Democracy Fellowship; 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship, and Herb Alpert Award in Theatre; 2019 United States Artists Fellowship, Soros Arts Fellowship, Joyce Award, and LMCC Alumni Award; 2018 Ford Foundation Art for Justice Bearing Witness Award; 2017 MAP Fund Award; and 2016 Creative Capital Award. She was also an Aetna New Voices Fellow at Hartford Stage.
In her commitment to artist-centered institutions, Kaneza co-founded the Gihanga Institute for Contemporary Art in Kigali, Rwanda, and The Collective Practice, a resource-sharing structure for theater makers, and served on the board of P.S. 122/Performance Space New York and the leadership council for the artist-employment and guaranteed-income initiative Creatives Rebuild New York. She is currently a co-director of Under the Radar Festival in New York City.
Kaneza is an arts-in-education advocate. She created arts-exchange platforms at three prisons in upstate New York and a program for New York State’s maximum-security facility for girls. Kaneza’s education work has spanned from universities to community centers to public high schools, and from workshops for professional artists, to professional-development training for teachers, to intergenerational collaborations between elders and teens. Kaneza taught an Atelier course at Princeton University with Elevator Repair Service and has lectured at Yale University, Wesleyan University, New York University, University of the Arts, and Xavier University of Louisiana. She taught a course at Harvard University on theater and social practice and served as the 2021 Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theatre at Fordham University.
Kaneza’s work has also been supported by OPERA America, Onassis Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, a FACE Foundation Contemporary Theater grant, Theatre Communications Group, and a Princess Grace Foundation George C. Wolfe Award. Website: kanezaschaal.com
ROBERTO KALB CONDUCTOR
Mexican-born conductor Roberto Kalb has served as Music Director of Detroit Opera since 2022. He conducted Detroit Opera’s performances of Rinaldo in February–March 2025, La traviata in October 2024, The Cunning Little Vixen in May 2024 and two concerts featuring the Detroit Opera Orchestra and Resident Artists in the fall of 2023. He conducted Yuval Sharon’s new production of La bohème at Detroit Opera in 2022. Additional 2023–24 season performances for Roberto included house debuts at Santa Fe Opera (L’elisir d’amore) and Atlanta Opera (Rigoletto), concerts with the Kansas City Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci at Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Season highlights in 2022–23 included performances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, San Diego Opera, and San Francisco Opera.
In 2019, Roberto concluded a five-year tenure as resident conductor and head of music at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL), where he led the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Awakenings (2022); he also conducted OTSL’s critically acclaimed run of Rigoletto (2019) in collaboration with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Roberto has also conducted at companies including Opéra Orchestra National Montpellier, Florida Grand Opera, Kentucky Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Maine, and Tulsa Opera.
He has conducted performances with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, Orquesta Carlos Chavez in Mexico City, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Palm Beach Symphony, and the Orquestra Sinfonica da USP in São Paulo, Brazil. This season, he will conduct El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego at Lyric Opera of Chicago (March–April 2026), and he makes his Metropolitan Opera conducting debut with La bohème in April 2026.
Roberto holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and in 2021 was awarded the prestigious Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. He is married to soprano Mané Galoyan. Website: robertokalb.com
NICOLE HEASTON
JENNIE / MARY
Nicole Heaston completed her master’s degree in voice at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and received her undergraduate degree in music at the University of Akron. She is a distinguished graduate of Houston Grand Opera’s Butler Studio. In the 2024–25 season, the soprano returned to the role of Claire Devon in the North American premiere of Mazzoli/Vavrek’s The Listeners at Opera Philadelphia. A native Chicagoan, she headlined Lyric Opera of Chicago’s spring 2025 performances in her company debut. With the National Symphony Orchestra, she sang the title role in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa . Other engagements included a Christmas program with Houston’s Mercury Chamber Orchestra, and the fiery role of Armida in Detroit Opera’s production of Handel’s Rinaldo. A richly varied 2023–24 season included Nicole’s returns to Los Angeles Opera, as Mary in Still’s Highway 1, USA, and Houston Grand Opera, as Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff. During the spring, she made her title-role debut in Massenet’s Thaïs with Utah Opera. Nicole began the 2022–23 season with the long-awaited world premiere of The Listeners at Den Norske Opera, and concluded it with her first career performances of Vanessa. Since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni , Nicole has appeared several times with the theater, singing Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (conducted by James Levine), and Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos. Nicole recently sang Despina in Così fan tutte and Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with San Francisco Opera; Countess Almaviva with Boston Lyric Opera; and Musetta in La bohème with the Fort Worth Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and for her debut with New York City Opera alongside Rolando Villazon. She made her debut at the Glimmerglass Festival in New York as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, performing the same role at the Wolf Trap Opera. Nicole has a long-standing relationship with Houston Grand Opera. She debuted with the title role in Roméo et Juliette and has since been heard as Mimì in La bohème , Liù in Turandot , Adina in L’elisir d’amore , Gilda in Rigoletto, Susanna, and Pamina. Instagram: @katy_operamom
DAVÓNE TINES
THOMAS BOUCH É / BOB
Davóne Tines, heralded as an artist “changing what it means to be a classical singer” (The New Yorker) and “[one] of the most powerful voices of our time” (Los Angeles Times), is a pathbreaking artist whose work encompasses a diverse repertoire while exploring the social issues of today. A creator, curator, and performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, he is engaged in work that blends musical genres to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance connecting to all of humanity. Davóne is a musician who takes full agency of his work, devising new programs and pieces. He reflects this ethos in his Recital No. 1: MASS , an examination of the liturgy, comparing Western European, African American, and 21st-century traditions, as well as in his orchestral creations
Concerto No. 1: SERMON, a work he premiered with the Philadelphia and BBC
Symphony Orchestras, and Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM, premiered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Davóne has also premiered operas by today’s leading composers, including Terence Blanchard, Matthew Aucoin, and, most recently, John Adams, whose El Niño he sang at the Metropolitan Opera. His concert appearances include performances of works ranging from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to Kaija Saariaho’s True Fire. Davóne’s first studio album, ROBESON, was released on Nonesuch Records in September 2024. He is Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Artistin-Residence and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale’s first-ever Creative Partner. He recently served as Artist-in-Residence at Detroit Opera, performing the title role of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Davóne is featured on the Grammy-nominated world-premiere recording of the opera released on BMOP/sound in 2022. Davóne is a member of AMOC and co-creator of The Black Clown , a music-theater experience commissioned and premiered by American Repertory Theater. He is Musical America’s 2022 Vocalist of the Year, a winner of the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, a recipient of the 2018 Emerging Artists Award from Lincoln Center, and a recipient of the 2024 Chanel Next Prize. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University, and the recipient of the prestigious 2025 Harvard Arts Medal. Instagram: @alsoanoperasinger
VICTOR RYAN ROBERTSON BRACK WEAVER / NATE
Victor Ryan Robertson is an American musical artist distinguished by the compass and color of his tenor voice. He navigates the classical, contemporary, pop, and Broadway genres to deliver inspiring and thrilling performances on both opera and theatrical stages. His discography includes the soundtrack of the Netflix original film Rustin , music by Branford Marsalis, Verdi’s La traviata as Alfredo with Victory Hall Opera, Carly Simon’s Romulus Hunt with Nashville Opera on the Lexicon Classics label, and Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X as Elijah/Street, recorded for commercial release by Boston Modern Orchestra Project and nominated for a 2023 Grammy Award. Victor made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Raoul in their new production of The Merry Widow, and in the same year he made his Broadway debut as Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera . Last season he returned to the Met as Elijah/Street in Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking and influential opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X—a role he previously performed for Detroit Opera and Opera Omaha. This season, he joins Seattle Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte , Fort Worth Opera as Ramiro in La Cenerentola , and Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Uncle Percy in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s This House. He will also be heard in recitals for Seattle Opera, the University of Michigan, and Sun Valley Opera and Broadway. Instagram: @victorryanrobertson
BABATUNDE AKINBOBOYE LEADER
Babatunde Akinboboye, a Nigerian American baritone, is celebrated for his diverse talents, enthralling stage presence, and innovative approach. He has graced prestigious stages, including the Los Angeles Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Utah Opera. Babatunde’s notable debuts include portraying Niimki in The Industry’s world premiere production of Sweet Land and captivating audiences as Matias Reyes in the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera The Central Park Five. Recent highlights include his performances as Valentin in Detroit Opera’s Faust and Escamillo in Pacific Opera Project’s Carmen. Babatunde remains dedicated to promoting art song and operatic works by African and African American composers, headlining notable events such as the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry awards, where his fusion of opera and traditional African music mesmerized audiences. He has also been a featured performer at esteemed gatherings, including the National Association of Negro Musicians Annual Conference and the African American Art Song Alliance Conference, championing the diversity and richness of classical music. Babatunde’s honors include being a Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a finalist in the International Eisteddfod Vocal Solo Competition in Llangollen, Wales. In December 2018, Babatunde made waves with a viral video that garnered over 10-million views, introducing the world to his groundbreaking fusion genre of classical opera and hip-hop, Hip Hopera. This innovative work caught the attention of respected platforms such as Time.com, Classic FM, MSN.com, and more. In addition, Babatunde released the acclaimed EP Della Citta, expanding his influence and propelling him to social media stardom as “Babatunde_Hip Hopera.” Embracing his role as an opera influencer, he consistently captivates audiences and enlightens listeners about the beauty and intricacies of the art form from his unique perspective. Instagram: @babatunde_hiphopera
LAWRENCE MITCHELL-MATTHEWS PREACHER / SHERIFF
Baritone Lawrence Mitchell-Matthews was the first-place prize winner of the Thomas Wilkins Young Artist of Tomorrow Award, named after the African American conductor in residence for the Detroit Symphony. He sang solo excerpts from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra with conductor Tsung Yeh. Lawrence performed with the Ezio Pinza Council for the American Singers of Opera program in Oderzo, Italy, under the direction of Claudia Pinza. He was awarded first prize in Dr. J LanYe’s 3rd American Spiritual Collegiate Solo Voice Competition. Lawrence performed with the Chautauqua Symphony under the baton of Metropolitan Opera conductor Steven Osgood. He received the Jon Vickers Distinguished Award and the Jessye Norman Most Promising Singer Award. Lawrence performed in the world premiere of the opera As You Like It by Roger Steptoe, based on Shakespeare’s play with Notre Dame Opera. Lawrence’s voice has been described as rich, honey-toned, and crystal clear by the Charleston Herald . Lawrence loves to share his gift and the healing power of music with all. Instagram: @_mrlawrencemm
REHANNA THELWELL
AUNT LOU
Mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell is quickly becoming known for her magnetic performances and expressive vocal power in a wide variety of repertoire. After completing the Washington National Opera Cafritz Young Artists program, she made a notable mainstage debut in the title role of Carmen at the Kennedy Center, with Parterre Box describing her performance as “stupendous.” In the upcoming season, Rehanna will return to several leading opera companies across the country, starting at Detroit Opera with her portrayal of Aunt Lou in Highway 1, USA, then joining Opera Philadelphia to perform the world premiere of Tony Award–winning playwright
Michael R. Jackson’s Complications in Sue. She rounds out the season at Atlanta Opera singing Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. Future seasons will bring exciting house debuts across the globe for Rehanna including a highly anticipated production at Le théâtre royal de la Monnaie in Belgium. Last season, Rehanna returned to Opera Philadelphia to sing Angela Rose in the American premiere of The Listeners, a piece she previously workshopped with Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek. She also performed as Mother Goose at Opera Omaha in The Rake’s Progress, made her debut with Portland Opera as Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff, and joined Nashville Opera and New Orleans Opera as Kendra in The Cook-Off, working alongside the musical duo of Shawn E. Okpebholo and Mark Campbell. Moreover, Rehanna recently performed at San Francisco Opera as Katie Ellen/The Caller and covered Fatima in Omar, made her debut with Atlanta Opera as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream , joined Detroit Opera as the Forester’s Wife/Owl in The Cunning Little Vixen , and appeared at Finger Lakes Opera as Julia in Two Corners by composer B.E. Boykin and librettist Jarrod Lee. Rehanna began her studies in 2009 at Northern Arizona University under the tutelage of Deborah Raymond. She was accepted into the graduate program at the University of Michigan in 2014, where she joined the studio of Nadine Washington, and returned in 2016 for her specialist degree. Instagram: @rehannathelwell
BRIAN MARABLE
MR. PARSONS
Detroit Public Theatre: Detroit ’67, Skeleton Crew, Pipeline ; Baltimore Center Stage: Detroit ’67; The Old Globe and People’s Light: Skeleton Crew ; Performance Network Theater: The Mountaintop (Martin Luther King, Jr.), The Piano Lesson (Boy Willie); Purple Rose Theatre Company: Superior Donuts (Franco); Steppenwolf Theatre Company: The Book of Grace. Film/TV: Have a Little Faith (Hallmark), The Citizen (Monterey Media), Low Winter Sun (AMC), Standing in the Shadows of Motown (James Jamerson). Education: Howard University, Wayne State University. Instagram: @brian.marable.100
CHRISTOPHER MYERS
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Christopher Myers is a multimedia artist, author, and playwright from New York City born in 1974. He earned his BA in art-semiotics and American civilization with a focus on race and culture from Brown University in 1995 and participated in the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Studio Program in 1996. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally at venues including MoMA PS1; Art Institute of Chicago; The Mistake Room, Guadalajara, Mexico; Akron Art Museum; Contrast Gallery, Shanghai; GoetheInstitut, Accra, Ghana; Kigali Genocide Memorial, Rwanda; Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Studio Museum in Harlem. His work is in the permanent collections of institutions including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Lucas Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts; Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; and Studio Museum in Harlem. Christopher’s work across disciplines is rooted in storytelling. He delves into the past to build narratives that speak to the slippages between history and mythology. His diverse practice spans textiles, performance, film, and sculptural objects, often created in collaboration with artisans from around the globe. He has worked with traditional shadowpuppet makers in Jogjakarta, silversmiths in Khartoum, conceptual video artists in Ho Chi Minh City, young musicians in New Orleans, woodcarvers in Accra, weavers in Luxor, metal workers in Kenya, and textile printers in Copenhagen. These collaborations are driven by his interest in understanding how globalization is intimately intertwined with notions of self and community. Christopher won a Caldecott Honor in 1998 for his illustrations in the book Harlem: A Poem , and a Coretta Scott King Award in 2016 for illustrating Firebird by Misty Copeland. Website: kalyban.com Instagram: @kalyban
AMY RUBIN SET DESIGNER
Amy Rubin is a designer of environments for theater, opera, and dance. She is thrilled to be back at Detroit Opera, collaborating once again with Kaneza Schaal. Recent designs include Macbeth (Boston Lyric Opera), Omar (BLO, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, Spoleto), Romeo and Juliet (American Repertory Theater), Highway 1, USA (LA Opera), Orpheus Descending (Theater for a New Audience), Lucy (Audible Theater), The Snowy Day (Houston Grand Opera), Blue (Detroit Opera), Aging Magician (New Victory Theater), Most Happy in Concert (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Octet (Signature Theatre), Cyrano with music by The National (The New Group), Thom Pain (based on nothing) (Signature Theatre), Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth Theatre, ART), Miles for Mary (Playwrights Horizons), and Acquanetta (Prototype Festival).
CHARLESE ANTOINETTE COSTUME DESIGNER
Charlese Antoinette is a Los Angeles–based costume designer known for her work on the two-time Oscar-winning film Judas and the Black Messiah , which earned her a Costume Designers Guild Award nomination. Charlese strives in transcending the wardrobe of real people in stories told on screen. She designed The Instigators, produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, as well as Air, which chronicles the launch of Nike and the creation of the first Air Jordan sneaker. In addition, she designed Highway 1, USA for the Los Angeles Opera, which opened in March 2024. Her work can next be seen in Children of Blood and Bone, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and based on the novel by Tomi Adeyemi. Website: charleseantoinette.com Instagram: @charleseantoinette
PABLO SANTIAGO
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Pablo Santiago is an award-winning lighting designer working in both live performance and digital film. Originally from Chiapas, Mexico, Pablo creates evocative visual landscapes that amplify the emotional core of a piece and transport audiences beyond the stage. His work has been recognized with the Kinetic Lighting Award for distinguished achievement in theatrical design, the Henry Award, the Richard E. Sherwood Award, the Stage Raw Award, and multiple Ovation Award nominations. Pablo has designed for leading opera companies and orchestras, including the Kennedy Center, Santa Fe Opera, LA Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Detroit Opera, San Francisco Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo (Brazil), and Los Angeles Philharmonic. His theater credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, BAM Harvey Theater, and the Hollywood Bowl. Through his lighting, Pablo strives to shape powerful images that spark the imagination and elevate storytelling—bringing light not only to the stage but also to the emotional journey of the audience. Pablo obtained a BA in visual arts at the University of California San Diego (Phi Beta Kappa national honor society) and an MFA in lighting design at UCLA, where he graduated magna cum laude and won the Cirque du Soleil Scholarship. Website: pablosantiagodesign.com Instagram: @pablosdesign
KIARA BENN
CHOREOGRAPHER / DANCER
Kiara Benn is a movement artist and creative producer committed to expanding access to the performing arts. She has collaborated with production companies, artists, and cultural organizations to develop impactful projects in museums, theaters, and community spaces. As project manager at For Freedoms, she helped to produce initiatives like Hear Her Here, a series of murals, programs, and salons highlighting Black femme visions in partnership with Converse. As a choreographer and performer, she contributed to opera productions like Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’s 2022 opera Omar, which was directed by Kaneza Schaal and staged at venues including Spoleto Festival USA, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Carolina Performing Arts—an experience that led to her role as studio producer on Schaal’s team. Alongside her artistic practice, Kiara serves as assistant curator of performance at Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts. Instagram: @kiaramcb
JEN PAN
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER
Jen Pan (she/they) is an Ypsilanti-based fight and intimacy director, stage combat teaching artist, and stunt performer passionate about cultivating inclusivity and sustainability in the performance arts. Their work has recently been seen at Detroit Public Theatre (Fat Ham, Clyde’s), Obsidian Theatre Festival (Black Santa, The Sisters Grey, The Golden Loc, Crooked Parts), Croswell Opera House (Parade, Newsies, The Play That Goes Wrong), The Dio (Misery), University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (Julius Caesar), Eastern Michigan University (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Oakland University (Pipeline), and other regional theaters. They are a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD) and have taught stage combat classes across the country, including in southeast Michigan, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Houston, and Chicago. She is a co-founder and lead instructor at Theatrica Gladiatoria—a year-round academy in Ypsilanti, Michigan, for stage and film combat—and co-coordinator of the Mitten Mayhem Stage Combat Workshop held annually in October. Website: theatricagladiatoria.com/about-jen-pan
JOANNE MIDDLETON-WEAVER
WIG / MAKEUP DESIGN
Born in England, Joanne Middleton-Weaver came to the United States in the late 1980s. She began apprenticing with Elsen Associates at what was then Washington Opera, now Washington National Opera. Joanne has since designed at many opera companies throughout the U.S. during her 30-year career: Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera, to name a few. She has designed for Detroit Opera since 1995. Her credits there include La bohème , The Passenger, Frida , Margaret Garner, Cyrano, Faust , and make-up design for X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.
KATHERINE KOZAK
CHORUS DIRECTOR
Katherine Kozak became Detroit Opera’s Chorus Director and Music Administrator with the start of the 2025–26 season. Previously, Katherine served for three years as Head of Music, Chorus Director, and Principal Coach of Arizona Opera’s Pullin Opera Studio. She has worked on staff at the Glimmerglass Festival for 14 summer seasons, eight of them as Chorus Director. Her work at the Glimmerglass Festival can be heard on Château du Versailles Spectacles’ 2021 multimedia recording of John Corigliano and William M. Hoffman’s opera The Ghosts of Versailles, for which she also performed on celesta and piano. Katherine has worked as chorus director, pianist, and coach at U.S. companies including Florida Grand Opera Chorus, where she prepared approximately 20 productions. She has served as head coach, rehearsal pianist, recitalist, supertitle caller, recitative accompanist, assistant conductor, and administrator at the Dallas Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Colorado, and Central City Opera, among others. She has assisted many conductors, notably Richard Bonynge, Joseph Colaneri, John DeMain, and George Manahan. In addition to working with many top-ranked Young Artist programs, she has also worked with singers at The Juilliard School as associate coach, and at Florida’s University of Miami as visiting assistant professor. Katherine earned her Master of Music degree in vocal coaching and accompanying from the University of Illinois, where she was a student of John Wustman. She has enjoyed collaborating with singers since age 11, when she began accompanying and touring with the Singing Angels, based in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.
Detroit Opera Needs You!
Because of your dedication and support, Detroit Opera continues to provide meaningful artistic experiences for our community and inspires audiences of the future.
Please consider a gift to Detroit Opera this season. Your generosity will ensure that our community has access to the highest caliber of opera productions like Highways and Valleys for years to come!
Charitable contributions generate a significant portion of our overall funding and are investments in the future of performing arts in our community. Without donations, opera and dance cannot thrive in southeast Michigan.
Thank you for all the ways you support us!
Thank you to our donors Contributors to Detroit Opera
Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our corporate, foundation, government, and individual donors whose contributions were received between July 1, 2024, and August 31, 2025. Your generosity is essential to sustaining Detroit Opera as a vibrant cultural resource for our community.
Foundations, Corporate & Government Support
$1,000,000+
William Davidson Foundation
The State of Michigan
$500,000-$999,999
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
$250,000-$499,999
Ford Foundation
Mellon Foundation
$100,000-$249,999
J. Addison Bartush and Marion M. Bartush
Family Foundation
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
Ford Philanthropy
General Motors
Gilbert Family Foundation
Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation
$50,000-$99,999
Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation
Milner Hotels Foundation
$25,000-$49,999
Applebaum Family Philanthropy
Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation
Hudson-Webber Foundation
Kresge Foundation
MGM Grand Detroit
National Endowment for the Arts
The Karen & Drew Peslar Foundation
Rattner and Katz Charitable Foundation
Matilda R. Wilson Fund
Kurt Weill Foundation For Music
$10,000-$24,999
DTE Energy Foundation
Geoinge Foundation
Masco Corporation
Oliver Dewey Marcks Foundation
OPERA America
Penske Corporation
Ralph L. and Winifred E. Polk Foundation
Ida and Conrad H. Smith Endowment for MOT
The Mary Thompson Foundation
$5,000-$9,999
C&N Foundation
Co-Ette Club, Inc.
Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Gerson Family Foundation, Inc.
James and Lynelle Holden Fund
Honigman LLP
Louis and Nellie Sieg Fund
Donald R. and Esther Simon Foundation
Somerset Collection Charitable Foundation
Strum Allesee Family Foundation
The Samuel L. Westerman Foundation
$1,000-$4,999
ABM Janitorial Services
John A. & Marlene L. Boll Foundation
Joyce Cohn Young Artist Fund
Detroit Children’s Choir
Marjorie & Maxwell Jospey Foundation
Josephine Kleiner Foundation
Elmira L. Rhein Family Foundation
Warsh-Mott Funds
Individual Support
The National Circle
Introduced in 2024, the National Circle unites Detroit Opera’s foremost supporters at a pivotal moment in our history. With annual contributions of $25,000 or more, these visionary donors affirm their belief in the transformative power of live performance to inspire meaningful change—both in our city and across the nation.
$100,000+
Richard & Mona* Alonzo
Ethan & Gretchen Davidson
Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr.
David & Christine Provost
Matthew & Mona Simoncini
Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes
Barbara A. Walkowski
$50,000-$99,999
Enrico & Kathleen Digirolamo
Patricia Isacson Sabee & David Sabee
Mary Kramer
Mrs. Phyllis Funk Snow*
Lorna Thomas, MD
Jesse & Yesenia Venegas
R. Jamison & Karen Williams
$25,000-$49,999
Lisa A. Applebaum
Alex Erdeljan
Carl & Mary Ann Fontana
Jane Iacobelli
Michael & Barbara Kratchman
Denise J. Lewis
Nancy & Bud Liebler
The Hon. Jack & Dr. Bettye Arrington Martin
Susanne McMillan
Allan & Joy Nachman Philanthropic Fund
Ann & James B. Nicholson
Ebbie Parsons III & Ayana Parsons
Mrs. Ruth F. Rattner*
Barbara Van Dusen
The DiChiera Society
KEY * Deceased
DiChiera Society members honor the legacy and vision of our founder, David DiChiera, while advancing Detroit Opera’s future as one of the nation’s most significant and innovative opera and dance organizations. Their commitment supports our ongoing focus on community engagement, accessibility, and bold artistic exploration under the leadership of Barbara Walkowski Artistic Director Yuval Sharon.
$10,000-$24,999
Gene P. Bowen
Mr. Thomas Cohn
Lisa DiChiera
Dr. Raina Ernstoff & Mr. Sanford Hansell
Maxine & Stuart Frankel Foundation
Bharat & Lynn Gandhi
Toby Haberman
Jody & Tara Ingle
Ali Moiin & William Kupsky
Ms. Mary C. Mazure
Donald & Antoinette Morelock
Mr. Cyril Moscow*
William & Wendy Powers
Dr. & Mrs. Samir M. Ragheb
Dr. Irvin D. Reid & Dr. Pamela Trotman Reid
Evan & Kelsey Ross
Salome E. Walton
Prof. Michael Wellman
$5,000-$9,999
Ms. Christine Ammer
Nina Abrams
Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya
Dr. Harold M. Arrington
Gregory & Mary Barkley
Wayne Brown & Brenda Kee
Sue Cutler & Jeff Fessler
Walter & Lillian Dean
Maria & David Duey
Nell Duke & David Ammer
Marianne Elrick & Kenneth Myers
Joseph Fontana & Nada Jurisich-Fontana
Ralph & Erica Gerson
Beverly Hall Burns
Ms. Carole Hardy
Ellen Hill Zeringue
William Hulsker & Aris Urbanes
Addison & Deborah Igleheart
Mary B. Letts
Andy Levin & Mary Freeman
Don Manvel
Mrs. L. William Moll
Van Momon & Pamela L. Berry
Robert & Susan Morris
Mr. George & Mrs. Jo Elyn Nyman
Joshua & Rachel Opperer
Ms. Linda Orlans
Sara A. Pozzi, Ph.D.
Waltraud Prechter
Carrie & Ted Pryor
Janice Ross
Mrs. Rosalind B. Sell
Terry Shea & Seigo Nakao
Michael & Stacey Simmons
Christopher Stavrou
Ned & Joan Winkelman
$3,000-$4,999
Sandra & Doug Bitonti Stewart
Paul & Lee Blizman
Bob & Rosemary Brasie
Dr. & Mrs. Ronald T. Burkman
Albert & Janette Cassar
Carolyn Demps & Guy Simons
Marla Donovan
Fern Espino & Tom Short
James & Margo Farber
Sally & Michael Feder
Ms. Laurie R. Frankel
Mr. Lawrence Glowczewski
Mr. & Mrs. Robert & Christine Hage
Barbara Heller
Roberto Kalb & Mane Galoyan
Dr. Glendon M. Gardner & Leslie Landau
Ann Katz
Max Lepler & Rex Dotson
John & Arlene Lewis
Stephan & Marian Loginsky
Ms. Mary McGough
Benjamin Meeker & Meredith Korneffel, MD
Brian & Lisa Meer
Ms. Evelyn Micheletti
Phillip Minch
Brian Murphy & Toni Sanchez-Murphy
Geoffrey Nathan
Friends of Detroit Opera
George & Nancy Nicholson
Brock & Katherine L. Plumb
Lois & Mark Shaevsky
Susan Sills-Levey & Michael Levey
Susan A. Smith
Frank & Susan Sonye
Sharon Tevis Finch
Buzz Thomas & Daniel VanderLey
Joseph & Rosalie Vicari
Stanley Waldon
Dr. John Weber & Dr. Dana Zakalik
Bret & Susanna Williams
Dr. Lucia Zamorano
Every gift helps ensure that opera and dance continue to flourish in our community, bringing to life the indescribable magic that begins when the curtain rises. Friends of Detroit Opera— among our most loyal and essential supporters—sustain this work through annual contributions of $500 or more & enjoy exclusive benefits in recognition of their generosity.
$1,000-$2,999
Thomas & Gretchen Anderson
D.L. Anthony, Ph.D.
Ms. Geraldine Atkinson
Mr. Jason Batke
Martin & Marcia Baum
Mr. Stanislaw Bialoglowski
Ms. Nicole A. Boelstler
Mrs. Marlene L. Boll
Constance Bodurow
Marsha Bruhn
Ilse Calcagno
Harriet Clark
John & Doreen Cole
Tonino & Sarah Corsetti
Ms. Mary J. Doerr
Murray & Alice Ehrinpreis
Ms. Judith Ellis
Burke & Carol Fossee
Carol Gagliardi & David Flesher
Marcelo Ganasevici
Arline Geronimus
Allan Gilmour & Eric Jirgens
Mr. Nathaniel Good
Robert & Ann Greenstone
Kimberly Hastie
Fay & Allen Herman
Adriana Herrera
Julie & Peter Hollinshead
Joel Howell
Mary Ellen Hoy & Jim Keller
Paul Jednak & Tim Kasunic
Richard & Involut Jessup
Marc Keshishian & Susanna Szelestey
Mr. & Mrs. Gerd H. Keuffel
Sam Logan Khaleghi
Gregory Knas
William & Jean Kroger
Jennifer Lindsay Kott
Mrs. Marsha Lynn
Ms. Vera C. Magee
Mr. Loreto A. Manzo
Ms. Janet Groening Marsh
Patrick & Patricia McKeever
Eugene & Lois Miller
Mary F. Miller
Ms. Maryanne Mott
Iuliana & Ovidiu Niculescu
Ms. Pamela Patton-Cone
Margaret Pehrson
Mark & Kyle Peterson
Ms. Irene Piccone
Ankur Rungta & Mayssoun Bydon
Prof. Alvin* & Mrs. Harriet Saperstein
Mary Schlaff & Sanford Koltonow
Kingsley & Lurline Sears
Anthony & Theresa Selvaggio
John Snyder
Ms. Theresa Spear & Mr. Jeff Douma
Gabriel & Martha Stahl
Ms. Mary Anne Stella
Dr. Andrew James Stocking
Andrew J. Sturgess
Manuel Tancer & Claire Stroker
Mr. Jon Teeuwissen
Dr. Jewlee Weah Tweh
Jeff & Amy Voigt
Gary L. Wasserman & Charles A. Kashner
Erica White
Katina Zaninovich
$750-$999
Eric Alonas
Frank & Jenny Brzenk
Carol Johnston
Vincent & Kathy Scanio
Robert & Janet Swanson
Dennis & Jennifer Varian
$500-$749
Antonia Abbey & James Lee
David A. Agius
Wallace Ayotte
Ms. Allison Bach & Mr. Michael Cool
Ms. Mary Anne Barczak
Ms. Kanta Bhambhani
Marceline Bright
Ms. Susan Burns
Stephen Calkins & Joan Wadsworth
Susan Cameron
Paula Lisa Cole
Gerald Davis
Cristina DiChiera & Neal Walsh
Mr. John R. DiLodovico
Manisha Dostert
Daniel H. Ferrier
Yvonne Friday & Stephen Black
John Gierak & Dona Tracey
Joseph & Lois Gilmore
Gil Glassberg & Sandra Seligman
Philip & Martha Gray
Ms. Rosemary Gugino
Beth Hoger & Lisa Swem
Ms. George-Ann Howell
Lawrence John & Lilian Lai
Kimberly Johnson
Ms. Lee Khachaturian
Justin & Joanne Klimko
Ms. Cynthia Kratchman
Mary Jane & Jeff Kupsky
Albert Kurt
Robert & Mary Lou Labe
Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth Levin
John & Arlene Lewis
Mr. John Lovegren & Mr. Daniel Isenschmid
John & Kimi Lowe
Mrs. Marsha Lynn
Dr. Anne Missavage & Mr. Robert Borcherding
Jane Panikkar
Elaine & Bertram Pitt
Garry Post & Robert Hill
Shawn Rieschl Johnson & Christian Kirby
Adam D. Rubin, M.D, Lakeshore Professional Voice Center
Mr. Richard Lee Ruby
Mr. Rodney Michael Rusk
Charles & Pamela Schiffer
Demetrius Shields
Catherine Strumbos
Clara Sumeghy
Mr. Bruce Tackett
Frank Tenkel
Dr. Gretchen Thams
Ms. Janet Beth Weir
Meredith Weston-Band & Jeffery Band
Ms. Richelle Wojtczak
Elliot & Dr. Susan Zeltzer
Gifts in Tribute
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to those who have made generous gifts to Detroit Opera in honor or in memory of loved ones. The names of those being honored or remembered are listed in bold below.
IN HONOR OF
Armando Delicatio
Judith Gordon & Lawrence Banka
Lisa DiChiera
Mrs. Ruth F. Rattner*
Carl & Mary Ann Fontana
Mrs. Nina Dodge Abrams
Paul & Orvilla Ashely
Thomas E. Barron
Michael J. Bartoy
Beverly Anne Bloomberg
Andre Boulanger
Wilson Curle
Mary Jo & Donald Dawson
David Feeny
Pamela Fontana
Cynthia Gitt
Peter Gude
Patricia Isacson Sabee & David Sabee
Theresa Johnson
Mary Kramer
Allen A. Lewis
James Peggs & Margaret Talburtt
Sarah Siwek
Teresa Taranta
Sara Valenti
Rick Warner
Robert Wittenberg
Patricia Isacson Sabee
William Austin
Juliano Bitonti Stewart
Katrina Fasulo
Angela Nelson-Heesch
Brenda Kee
Dr. Ali Moiin & Dr. William Kupsky
Mrs. Ruth F. Rattner*
Dr. Ali Moiin & Dr. William Kupsky
David Kupsky Law Group, LLC
Mary Jane & Jeff Kupsky
Mrs. Mary Jane Kupsky
William & Elizabeth S. Kupsky Household
Shane Pliska & Karl Lievense
Dr. Ali Moiin & Dr. William Kupsky
Brett Scott
Marcelo Ganasevici
Jon Teeuwissen
Manisha Dostert
Lorna Thomas, MD
Paul & Lee Blizman
Barbara Walkowski
Neal S. Goren
IN MEMORY OF
Wickam Allen
Beth Buzzelli Carlson
Armando Delicatio
Patricia Bentley
Jacqueline Shuster
Carol DeVore
Mr. Mark S. DeVore
David DiChiera
Louis & Nellie Sieg Fund
Sandy Duncan
R. Jamison & Karen Williams
Grant Eldridge
Tracy Barr
Drs. Julie B. Finn & Bradley Rowens
Heather Gehring
Shawn Rieschl Johnson & Christian Kirby
Al Lucarelli
R. Jamison & Karen Williams
George & Ann Marisl
Thomas Dickson & Carol Dick
Ruth Rattner
Jody & Gary Astrein
David & Nancy Barbour Household
Ms. Lori Cohn
Elle Elder
Marianne Elrick & Kenneth Myers
Beth & Earle Erman
Ann Fishman
Amy Folbe
Richard & Eleanore Gabrys
Marilyn Goldberg
Mrs. Marilyn Goldberg
Renee Handelsman
David & Rose Handleman
Barbara Heller
Patty Isacson Sabee & David Sabee
Richard Katz
Ann Katz
Mrs. Barbara Kratchman
Michael & Barbara Kratchman
Victor Lebovici
Dr. Jay Levinson
Nancy & Bud Liebler
Howard Luckoff
Alex & Lisa MacDonald Household
Ali Moiin & William Kupsky
Angela Nelson-Heesch
Bluma Schechter
Mrs. Bluma Schechter
Ms. Lisa Schwartz
Grace Serra
Martha Siefman
Mr. Mark Sussman
Mr. William Volz
Gary L. Wasserman & Charles A. Kashner
Rick & Karen Williams
Sharon Zimmerman
Suzann Kaye Ripple
Ms. Catherine Pappas
Miss Alison Piech
Gladys Santiago
Angeline Rooks
Maria McMullen
William Sandy
Julie & Peter Hollinshead
Tamara Whitty
Phyllis Osler
Every effort has been made to accurately reflect donor, honoree, and memorial names for gifts received between July 1, 2024 and August 31, 2025. Should you find an error or omission please contact Angela Nelson-Heesch at anelsonheesch@detroitopera.org or 313.237.3438.
Avanti Society Members Setting the Stage for Tomorrow
Found throughout Italian opera, the word avanti means “ahead” or “forward.” The Avanti Society— Detroit Opera’s planned giving recognition program—honors a special group of donors whose generosity is guided by vision and foresight. By including Detroit Opera in their estate plans, members ensure that the transformative power of opera and dance will continue to inspire audiences in our community and across the nation for generations to come. With deep gratitude, we thank our Avanti Society members for shaping the future of Detroit Opera.
Douglas* & Sarah Allison
Richard & Mona* Alonzo
Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya§
Mr. & Mrs. Agustin Arbulu§
Chester* & Emilia Arnold§
Dr. Leora Bar-Levav
Lee & Floy Barthel
Brett & Veronica Batterson§
Richard & Gwen Bowlby
Mrs. Doreen Bull
Roy E.* & Ilse Calcagno§
Dr. & Mrs. Thomas & Dorothy* Carson
Dr. & Mrs. Victor J.* & Katherine Cervenak
Father Paul F. Chateau
Mary Christner
Mr. Gary L. Ciampa
Prof. Kenneth Collinson
Douglas & Minka Cornelsen
Dr. Robert A. Cornette§#
Mr. Thomas J. Delaney
Walter & Adel Dissett
Ms. Mary J. Doerr§
Mrs. Helen Ophelia Dove-Jones
Maria Dudlar
Marianne T. Endicott§#
David & Jennifer Fischer
Herbert & Betty Fisher§
Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak§#
Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel§#
Byron & Marilyn Georgeson§
Albert & Barbara Glover
Robert Green
Mr. Ernest Gutierrez
Stephen & Aline Hagopian
Mr. Lawrence Hall§
Jerome & Margot Halperin§
Heather Hamilton
Charlene Handleman
Preston* & Mary Happel
Mr. Kenneth E. Hart§
Eugene & Donna Hartwig§
Dr. & Mrs. Gerhardt A. & Rebecca P. Hein
Fay & Allen Herman
Derek & Karen* Hodgson
Andrew & Carol Howell
Dr. Cindy Hung§
Eleanor & Alan Israel
Ms. Kristin R. Jaramillo§
Don Jensen & Leo Dovelle§
John Jickling
Patrick J.* & Stephanie Germack Kerzic
Josephine Kessler
Edward & Barbara Klarman
Robert & Wally Klein#
Erwin H. & Suzanne Klopfer§#
Myron & Joyce LaBan
Paul Lavins*
Max Lepler & Rex Dotson
Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr.
Mr. Hannan Lis
Florence LoPatin
Stephen Lord
Ms. Denise Lutz
Laura & Mitchell Malicki
Ms. Jane C. McKee§
Bruce Miller
Orlando & Dorothy Miller§
Ms. Monica Moffat & Mr. Pat McGuire
Drs. Stephen & Barbara Munk
Harold Munson & Libby Berger
Tiffany Nance
Mr. Jonathan F. Orser
Ms. Julie Owens
Mr. Dale J. Pangonis§
Charles A. & Mary Parkhill
Daniel Valentino Peacock
Allison Prost
Mr. Richard M. Raisin§#
Ms. Deborah Remer
Dr. Joshua Rest
James & Marguerite S. Rigby§
Mr. Bryan L. Rives
Ms. Patricia H. Rodzik§
David & Beverly Rorabacher
Dulcie Rosenfeld
Professor Alvin* & Mrs. Harriet Saperstein
Bashar Sarraf
Ms. Susan Schooner§
Mark & Sally Schwartz
Arlene Shaler§
Ms. Ellen Sharp
Ms. Edna J Pak Shin
Harold & June Siebert
Mrs. Loretta Skewes
Ms. Anne Sullivan Smith
Ms. Betsy R. Spratt
Richard* & Roberta Starkweather§#
Ms. Mary Anne Stella
Stanford C. Stoddard
Ronald F. Switzer§ & Jim McClure
Lillie Tabor
Peter & Ellen Thurber
Alice* & Paul Tomboulian
Jonathan* & Salome E. Walton
Susan Weidinger
Mr. Andrew Wise
Larry* & Mary Lou Zangerle
We express profound thanks to these Avanti Society members whose planned gifts to Detroit Opera have been realized.
Robert G. Abgarian
Robert & Margaret Allesee#
Serena Ailes Stevens
Mr. & Mrs. J. Addison Bartush§#
Mr. & Mrs. Mandell Berman
Margaret & Douglas Borden
Charles M. Broh
Milena T. Brown
Charlotte Bush Failing
The Gladys L. Caldroney
Mary C. Caggegi
Allen B. Christman
Miss Halla F. Claffey
Ms. Virginia M. Clementi
Hon. Avern Cohn & Ms. Lois Pincus
Robert C. & RoseAnn B. Comstock
Mrs. Mary Rita Cuddohy
Marjorie E. DeVlieg
Nance Dewar
James P. Diamond
Dr. David DiChiera
Mrs. Karen V. DiChiera
Nina S. Drolias
Charles & Mary Jane Duncan§
Mr. Wayne C. Everly
Dr. Evelyn J. Fisher
Mrs. Anne E. Ford
Ms. Pamela R. Francis§
Mrs. Rema Frankel
Barbara Lucking Freedman
Edward P. Frohlich
The Priscilla A.B. Goodell
Freda K. Goodman
Priscilla R. Greenberg, Ph.D. §#
Maliha Hamady
Ms. Nancy B. Henk
Mary Adelaide Hester
Ms. Patricia Hobar
Gordon V. Hoialmen
Carl J. Huss
Mr. John Jesser
H. Barbara Johnston
Maxwell & Marjorie Jospey
Mrs. Josephine Kleiner
Misses Phyllis & Selma Korn§#
Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Krolikowski§
Leslie Lazzerin
Mr. Philip Leon
Dores & Wade McCree
Vivien McDonald
Lucie B. Meininger
Helen M. Miller
Ella M. Montroy
Ronald K. Morrison
Ruth Mott
Clarice Odgers Percox
Elizabeth M. Pecsenye
Thomas G. Porter
Magdalena Predeteanu
Mrs. Ruth F. Rattner
Mitchell Romanowski
Ms. Joanne B. Rooney
Concetta Ross
Mr. & Mrs. Giles L. & Beverly Ross
Ms. Merle H. Scheibner
Drs. Heinz & Alice Platt
Schwarz§
Ms. Laura Sias
Mrs. Marge Slezak
Ms. Phyllis Funk Snow§
Edward L. Stahl
Dr. Mildred Ponder Stennis
Mary Ellen Tappan
Margaret D. Thurber
Mr. & Mrs. George & Inge Vincent§#
Herman W. Weinreich
J. Ernest Wilde
Mrs. Ruth Wilkins
Helen B. Wittenberg
Mr. & Mrs. Walter & Elizabeth Work§
Joseph J. Zafarana
George & Pearl Zeltzer§
KEY
§ Founding Members
# Touch the Future donors
* Deceased
Membership in the Avanti Society is open to all who wish to declare their intention for a planned gift to Detroit Opera. Call Demetrius Shields to learn more, 313.309.8255.
Detroit Opera Honor Roll
Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges these distinguished donors for their lifetime giving. Their extraordinary generosity has shaped the history of our company— from its founding in 1971 by Dr. David DiChiera as Michigan Opera Theatre, to the opening of the Detroit Opera House in 1996, and to our bold transformation into Detroit Opera in 2022 under the leadership of Barbara Walkowski Artistic Director Yuval Sharon. Their visionary support sustains the vitality of Detroit Opera today, making possible world-class opera and dance performances as well as acclaimed community programs that inspire and engage audiences throughout our region.
$10,000,000+
The William Davidson Foundation
Ford Motor Company Fund
The State of Michigan
$5,000,000+
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
General Motors
John S. & James L. Knight Foundation
The Kresge Foundation
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
$2,000,000+
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas* & Sarah Allison
Mr. Lee & Mrs. Floy Barthel
Marvin, Betty & Joanne Danto
Dance Endowment & Marvin & Betty
Danto Family Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Herman & Sharon Frankel
Lear Corporation
Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr.
Masco Corporation
McGregor Fund
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Skillman Foundation
R. Jamison & Karen Williams
KEY
* Deceased
$1,000,000+
Richard & Mona* Alonzo
AT&T
Bank of America
Mandell L. & Madeleine H. Berman Foundation
Mr.* & Mrs. John A. Boll Sr.
Compuware Corporation
Robert & RoseAnn Comstock
Joanne Danto & Arnold Weingarden
Ethan & Gretchen Davidson
DTE Energy Foundation
The Fred A. & Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation
Mrs. Margo Cohen Feinberg & Mr. Robert Feinberg
Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation
Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak
Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Frankel*
Hudson-Webber Foundation
JPMorgan Chase
Paul Lavins
National Endowment for the Arts
Matthew & Mona Simoncini
Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes
Dr. & Mrs. Sam B. Williams*
Matilda R. Wilson Fund
Every effort has been made to accurately reflect donor names and gift levels. Should you find an error or omission, please contact Angela Nelson-Heesch at anelsonheesch@detroitopera.org or 313.237.3438
Orchestra
Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local #5, of the American Federation of Musicians
VIOLIN
Daniel Stachyra
Interim Concertmaster
Yuri Popowycz
Acting Asst. Concertmaster
Emelyn Bashour
Principal Second Violin
Anna Bittar-Weller
Solveig Geenen
Molly Hughes
Bryan Johnston
Henrik Karapetyan
Velda Kelly
Beth Kirton
Jenny Wan
Andrew Wu
VIOLA
John Madison
Principal
Jacqueline Hanson
Scott Stefanko
Chloé Thominet
CELLO
Ivana Biliskov
Principal
Benjamin Maxwell
Andrea Yun
BASS
Derek Weller
Principal
Clark Suttle
HARP
Juan Riveros
Principal FLUTE
Collin Stavinoha
Principal
Andrea Velasquez
PICCOLO
Andrea Velasquez
OBOE
Eli Stefanacci
Principal
Mark Doerr
ENGLISH HORN
Mark Doerr
CLARINET
Roi Karni
Principal
J. William King
BASS CLARINET
J. William King
BASSOON
Daniel Fendrick
Principal
Peter Ecklund
HORN
Colin Bianchi
Principal
Natalie Sweasy
TRUMPET
David Ammer
Principal
TROMBONE
Jordan Dove
Principal
Dustin Nguyen
TIMPANI
Eric Stoss
Principal
PERCUSSION
John Dorsey
Principal
Administration & Staff
LEADERSHIP
Patty Isacson Sabee, President & CEO
Yuval Sharon, Barbara Walkowski Artistic Director
Roberto Kalb, Music Director
Andrew Berg, Chief Development Officer
Daniel T. Brinker, General Manager, Detroit Opera House & Parking Center
Shawn Rieschl Johnson, Chief Programming & Production Officer
Jon Teeuwissen, Artistic Advisor for Dance
Samantha Teter, Chief Marketing Officer
Ataul Usman, Senior Director of Human Resources
ADMINISTRATION
William Austin, Executive Assistant
ARTISTIC DEPARTMENT
Nathalie Doucet, Head of Music & Director of Detroit Opera Resident Artist Program
Elizabeth Anderson, Artistic Administrator
DANCE
Kim Smith, Dance Administrator
DETROIT OPERA YOUTH CHORUS
Twannette Nash, Chorus Administrator
Jane Arvidson Panikkar, Preparatory Chorus Conductor
Rebecca O-G Eaddy, Principal Chorus Conductor
Maria Cimarelli, Preparatory Chorus Accompanist
Joseph Jackson, Principal Chorus Accompanist
DEVELOPMENT
Juliano Bitonti Stewart, Director of Development
Chelsea S. Kotula, Director of Institutional Giving
Angela Nelson-Heesch, Director, Data Analytics & Operations
Valentino Peacock, Manager of Data & Operations
Demetrius Shields, Manager of Individual Giving
EDUCATION
Branden Hood, Director of Education
Alaina Brown, Program Coordinator: Education & Community Programs
Eliza Beutler, Program Administrator
FACILITIES
Vanessa Boyd, Facilities Manager
Juan Benavides, Building Engineer
Kevie Crumb, Facilities & Event Technician
FINANCE
Kimberley Burgess, Accountant
Rita Winters, Accountant
HUMAN RESOURCES
Denver Harvey, Human Resources Coordinator
MARKETING/COMMUNICATIONS
Leah Hill, Director of Marketing
Anna Herscher, Lead Graphic Designer
Jennifer Melick, Communications & Media Relations Manager
Deirdre Michael, Website Administrator
Austin Richey, Digital Media Manager & Storyteller
Arthur White, Director of Community & Audience Engagement Position is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
MUSIC
DEPARTMENT
Katherine Kozak, Chorus Director & Music Administrator
Molly Hughes, Orchestra Personnel Manager
Jean Posekany, Orchestra Librarian
PRODUCTION
Elizabeth Anderson, Production Coordinator
Kathleen Bennett, Production Finance Administrator
Jeff Beyersdorf, Technical Director
Eden Cope, Assistant Technical Director
Brian Dambacher, Production Manager
Monika Essen, Property Master
Suzanne Hanna, Costume Director
Kaila Madison, Technical Assistant
Brodrick Whittley, Assistant Technical Director
COSTUMES
Suzanne Hanna, Costume Director
Michaela Tanskley, Wardrobe Supervisor
Patricia Sova Jr., First Hand
Mary Ellen Shuffett, Fitting Assistant
Eileen Thorna , Tailor
Maureen Abele, Paul Moran, Lupe Vazquez, Stitchers
WIGS & MAKEUP
Erika Broderdorf, Wig & Makeup Crew Coordinator
STAGE CREW
John Kinsora, Head Carpenter
Jerome Bowie, Head Electrician
Pat McGee, Head Propertyman
Chris Baker, Head of Sound
Pat Tobin, Head Flyman
Dee Dorsey, Surtitle Operator
Mary Ellen Shuffett, Head of Wardrobe
IATSE Local #38 Stage Crew
IATSE Local #786 Wardrobe
SAFETY AND SECURITY
Rock Monroe, Director of Safety & Security
Lieutenant Lorraine Monroe
Sergeant Demetrius Newbold
Officer Gary Cabean
Officer A.M. Hightower
Officer Michelle Johnson
Officer Terrence Hunter
Officer Vernon Smith
Officer Khalil Nalis
TICKETING & BOX OFFICE
Amy Brown, Director of Ticketing and Booking
Stephanie Stoiko, Box Office Manager
Evan Carr, System Administrator
Holly McDermott, Box Office Associate
Alex Robinson, Box Office Associate
Chris Simpson, Box Office Associate
Ellen Smith, Group Sales Associate
VENUE OPERATIONS
Alexis Means, Director of Operations & Patron Experiences
Holly Clement, Senior Manager of Events & Rentals
Jennifer George-Consiglio, Manager of Venue Operations
Michael Hauser, Curator of History & Architecture
Kathie Booth, Volunteer Coordinator
USHERS
Max Aghili, Christine Berryman, Ellen Bishop, Kathie Booth, Lori Burkhardt, Randall Davis, Erin Doakes, Suzanne Erbes, Pamela Fergusson, Jo-Ann Hale, Sue Hargrave, Myrna Mazure, Ennis Mcgee, Steven McReynolds, Heddie O’Connor, Bill Ried, Kimberly Ried, Edna Rubin, Ida Vance, Sheryl Weinan-Yee
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
Please observe the lighted exit signs located throughout the theater. In the event of an emergency, remain calm and walk, do not run, to the nearest exit. Ushers and security personnel are trained to assist. An emergency medical technician (EMT) is on-site during most events. Contact an usher or staff member if you need medical assistance.
GUEST SERVICES:
Vincent Lobby and Broadway Lounge
There are a variety of amenities for your comfort and use located in both guest services locations. Wheelchairs, booster seats*, earplugs, assisted listening devices, feminine hygiene products, basic first aid items, and more are complimentary and available for your convenience. Coat check is also available. The Vincent Lobby is located on the Madison Street side of the building and the Broadway Lounge is located on the Broadway Street side of the building.
*Limited quantity
PHOTOGRAPHY, RECORDING, AND CELL PHONE USE
Photography and/or recording during any performance is strictly prohibited. Photographs taken in the lobby areas, before or after a performance, and during intermission are welcome. As a courtesy to all guests, please turn off all electronic devices and refrain from use during the performance.
RESTROOMS
Women’s restrooms are located off the Ford Lobby (Broadway Street entrance) and down the stairs, and on third floor (Madison Street entrance). Men’s restrooms are located under the Grand Staircase and on the third floor (Broadway Street side). There are two sets of elevators or stairs available to access all third-floor restrooms. All third-floor restrooms are wheelchair accessible (women’s restroom, press 3R in the elevator). There are single-use unisex wheelchair accessible restrooms on the first floor of the Broadway Street side of the building and the Madison Street side of the building. There is also a wheelchair accessible women’s restroom on the Broadway Street side of the building.
NO SMOKING
The Detroit Opera House is a non-smoking facility. This includes e-cigarettes, vapes, and other “smokeless” products.
USHERS
Ushers are stationed throughout the building to assist patrons as needed. Please direct questions, concerns, and feedback to them during your visit. Enjoy volunteering? Please go to guest services or the Detroit Opera website, DetroitOpera.org/support/volunteer, for information on becoming a volunteer.
LOST AND FOUND
During the performance, lost and found is located in guest services. Unclaimed items are logged and taken to the Safety and Security office after each performance. To inquire about a misplaced or lost item, please call 313.961.3500. Items left over 30 days will be discarded or donated.
RECORDING IN PROGRESS
Entry and presence on the event premises constitute your consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded, and to the release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction of any and all recorded media for any purpose whatsoever in perpetuity in connection with Detroit Opera and its initiatives. By entering the event premises, you waive and release any claims you may have related to the use of recorded media of you at the event.
DETROIT OPERA HOUSE, IN ASSOCIATION WITH CHEW ENTERTAINMENT, PRESENTS
Symphonic PFunk: Celebrating The Music of Parliament Funkadelic
AND THE DETROIT
Featuring George Clinton with Nona Hendryx, Vernon Reid, and Rahsaan Patterson
