Sarah and Ernest Butler Concertmaster Chair Concertmaster Texas native Denise Tarrant started her professional violin career at the age of 16 with the Midland-Odessa (Texas) Symphony. Afterward she studied at the University of Houston, Rice University, Trinity University (London), and the Royal College of Music (London). She became HGO’s concertmaster under the baton of Patrick Summers in 1999. Highlights of her work at HGO include the world premieres of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The House without a Christmas Tree (2017), Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life (2016), Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree (2000) and Tod Machover’s Resurrection (1999), as well as Floyd’s Of Mice and Men (2002) and Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas (2001), all of which have been released on CD. She further performed in the world premieres of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players (2016); André Previn’s Brief Encounter (2009); Heggie’s Three Decembers (2008) and The End of the Affair (2004); Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata (2005); Catán’s Salsipuedes (2004); and Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince (2003). She performed onstage as the solo violinist in Julius Caesar last season and also when the production debuted in 2003. She has been concertmaster of the Houston Ballet Orchestra since 1988 and has been featured as a violin soloist in numerous Houston Ballet productions including Stanton Welch’s Maninyas (Ross Edward’s Violin Concerto), Clear (Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe), The Four Seasons (Vivaldi), and Natalie Weir’s Steppenwolf (Bruch Violin Concerto). ANDRZEJ DOBBER (POLAND)
Baritone—The Dutchman Andrzej Dobber made his HGO debut as Scarpia in Tosca (2015). In the 2018–19 season, he will perform the title role in Nabucco at the Semperoper Dresden and will sing Scarpia both in Dresden and at the Berlin State Opera. He is seen regularly with the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra national de Paris (Bastille), the Teatro Comunale in Florence, Dutch National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Vienna State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and the Savonlinna Opera Festival and the Glyndebourne Festival. In November 2010, Dobber made his role debut as Jochanaan in Salome at the Hamburg State Opera, under the baton of Simone Young. Since 2007, he has been closely associated with the Hamburg
Opera, singing the title roles in Simon Boccanegra, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Falstaff, and Prince Igor, as well as Amonasro in Aida, Amfortas in Parsifal, Tomski in The Queen of Spades, Giorgio Germont in La traviata, Francesco Foscari in I due Foscari, and Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West, to name a few. In 2015, Dobber was appointed Kammersänger by the Senate of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, where he performed the role of Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten in 2017. Last February, he gave his role debut as the Dutchman at the Semperoper Dresden; more performances followed in July. He recently appeared as Rigoletto at the Teatr Wielki in Lodz.
THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
DENISE TARRANT
MELODY MOORE (UNITED STATES)
Soprano—Senta Melody Moore has been seen at HGO previously as Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Freia in Das Rheingold, and Marta in The Passenger, both on the main stage and on tour to the Lincoln Center Festival (all in 2014); and Julie LaVerne in Show Boat (2013). This season she returns to Los Angeles Opera to make her role debut as Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel under James Conlon; makes her debut with the Dresden Philharmonic as Giorgetta in Il tabarro and Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, both of which will be recorded for commercial release by Pentatone; revisits her critically acclaimed portrayal of Strauss’s Salome in Daegu, South Korea; and records a solo album of American music with pianist Bradley Moore for Pentatone. Last season, she made three major role debuts: Elisabetta in Don Carlo at Washington National Opera, the title role in Salome at Florida Grand Opera, and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at Hawaii Opera Theater. She also performed her signature roles of Tosca (Opéra de Montréal and Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile), and Senta (Atlanta Opera). Other recent career highlights include a house and role debut at Seattle Opera in the title role in Janáček’s Katya Kabanova, appearances with San Francisco Opera in the title role of Tosca, Susan Rescorla in Heart of a Soldier, Mimì in La bohème, and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro; and performances in Francesca Zambello’s Ring cycle at Washington National Opera. She returns to HGO as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni later this season. KRISTINN SIGMUNDSSON (ICELAND)
Bass—Daland Kristinn Sigmundsson was most recently seen at HGO as Fasolt in Das Rheingold (2014); he also performed Rocco in Fidelio (2011) and Sarastro in The Magic Flute (2004) and will return
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